Tuesday, I left bright and early (not so bright since it was 4 AM when I left the house) for nyc. I had a brief layover in Miami, and randomly got lucky and had a seat in business class for the flight from Miami to NYC. I only had a night in NYC before I took off on the long 13 hour flight to Tokyo, which is only a 4 hour layover before I get to my final destination of Taipei.
I have never been on a plane that long in my life. My feet are swollen, my back hurts (I’m not a back sleeper), and it seems like all we did on the plane was eat, watch movies, and sleep. The first meal they served was so over the top too–Chicken curry with rice and carrots, one piece of sushi, a piece of sashimi, a block of cheddar cheese (more like cheese whiz in solid form), two crackers, a roll, a brownie, and some water (I think that was it). Then they fed us a ham and american cheese sandwich with some biscotti. Finally a choice of chicken and rice and carrots or pizza, with a fruit cup, water, milano cookies. All of that with 3 or 4 movies and not moving.
I think the worst part of it is that I haven’t seen darkness in what seems like a long time. It’s going on 5 PM in the Tokyo airport as I write this but it’s going on 3 AM back in New Orleans. And the entire flight it was super bright outside to the point where we couldn’t keep the window shades open. The (soon to be) twelve hour time difference between New Orleans and Taipei will be an interesting adjustment. I feel the way that I do when I pull all-nighter for school and my body is slow shutting down. And I only have about two weeks to adjust to Taipei before I’m back in the US again, and then for only about 10 days before I’m in South Africa.
Lord help me–I hope I don’t get really sick.
This airport is quite different. The only stores are either amalgamations of packaged foods/souvenirs, duty free shops, and very high end stores (Hermés, Tiffany’s, Bulgari, etc.). What’s been funny is the alternative kit kat bars here–strawberry flavored and green tea flavored! But the nice thing is it is super clean, recycling bins everywhere, and FREE wifi–which you’d be hard pressed to find in most US airports. I haven’t bought any souvenirs yet, but I still have the return flight back to do so. I took a few photos, but I realize none of them say Japan or Tokyo or anything like that, but at this point I’m to0 wiped out to get up and find a sign to take a picture of.
Anyway, I’m still trying to figure out what day it is and looking forward to sleeping tonight in the Taipei YMCA.
like black butterflies 