Today I leave for Tokyo around noon. Taking a look back on my Bangkok stay, I sort of wish I had picked a different location, since I'd been here previously. My original plan was to go to Mumbai, India but I had some people convince me otherwise. I wished I'd gone with my first instinct. The best part of my stay was actually taking the side trip to Kathmandu, Nepal.
Nevertheless, I jammed everything into two cases instead of three. So my 60 lbs bag in more like 70 lbs. but it still should be under the limit for international bag allowance. But in order to get back into the US Im going to have to get it down 50 lbs. I'm not sure why there is such a difference, but then again there are differences in flying international carriers vs. US international carriers. The most noticeable is customer service, which international airlines do such a better job. The check-in process is much more efficient. I never had to wait in a line for more than 5 minutes. There always seem to be several more agents than you would find in the states. Probably the most noticeable is the on-board personnel. The experiences I had, either as a coach or business class patron, were generally above anything you would find on a US international carrier. The food was much more tasty and seem to have a real diverse menu as well.
I arrive at Bangkok Airport, which I think I expressed earlier is now one of my favorites. I roll my 2 bags and carry my heavy back-pack up to a different airline, China Airlines, and check-in. I will be flying business again and hope they don't spoil my already positive feelings about international airline service. Again, there is no waiting in line. I get a premium pass to get through security more quickly, though as usual I'm two hours ahead of my flight time. I get through immigration very quickly, again no line, and head toward China Airlines security check-in. Now I run into a problem. They do not let me take a bottle of my expensive cologne and a half tube of toothpaste through because they are both over by 1 ounce! Really! I've been through security around the world and never had a problem. They insist that I can not take these through and suggest going back to the ticket confer to arrange to have them put in my suitcase, which quite frankly couldn't hold even a pair of socks its so jammed packed. Of course, I don't want the hassle of going back to the counter, so I reluctantly give them up. So, tonight there will be some security person smelling good for his wife/girl friend tonight.
I have a pass for the executive lounge and had quite a time trying to find it in the maize of stores and other lounges in the airport. I get to the lounge and it is quite full. The entire lounge is entirely made up of Chinese and Japanese and with my Caucasian look I get stared at by all. The lounge is fully equipped with food and drink, all Asian. I grab a bowl of miso soup and some bread and I'm all set. I don't have much of an appetite due to the Benadryl and Advil that I'm taking for this "crud" that I have picked up along the way. I leave the lounge after an hour and head to the gate. The waiting area is quite crowded and no seats empty. So since I will be seating for the next hour on this B-747, I'll stand for a bit. We are called to board and again no problem in the boarding process. I'm offered a WSJ to read and champagne to drink, but I'll have to pass and have OJ instead.
We will be taking a flight to Tokyo with a stop in Taipei. I will digress here to explain to my grandkids and the people that didn't pay attention in their world geography class, who and what is Taipei.
Taipei is a large island off the coast of Mainland China that is not communist, but a separate Chinese democracy . Here is a bit of history about Taipei. On December 7, 1949, the Kuomintang (KMT) government under Chiang Kai-shek, which was opposed to the communist takeover by Mao-Tse-tung, a communist leader, established Taipei as the provisional capital of the ROC after the Communists forced them to flee mainland China. Taipei was also the capital of Taiwan Province until the 1956 when the provincial administration was moved to Chunghsing Village in central Taiwan. However, the PRC does not recognize this move and still regards Taipei as the provincial capital of Taiwan. The primary difference in the two countries is that China is communist controlled, while Taipei is democratic controlled. Thus the US helps support Taipei militarily and economically, which is not acceptable to China.
In order to get to Taipei, our stop before transferring to another China Airlines flight to Narita Airport in Tokyo, we will fly over Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam before heading over the South China Sea.
The arrival is late 50 minutes into Taipei City and my connecting flight is due to leave in 10 minutes. But again that customer service is there to solve the problem. There is a gate agent that has two names on a board that are to transfer to the Tokyo gate escorted by her. The nice young lady in her pink and beige colored official looking uniform escorts us directly to the gate, while bypassing the security line in the transfer hall. We get to the gate and we are about 10 minutes past flight time, but they waited for us. I can't say that ever happened to me in the US! So my entire time in Taipei on the ground was about 30 minutes, so can I count that on my "having been there" list as being in the country?
The flight to Tokyo was very good and I enjoyed a typical Japanese meal, with only chopsticks. I'm pretty good with the chopsticks so I don't have to embarrass myself in asking for a fork. I'm still feeling a bit on the rough side with this cold or flu whatever it is that I have, so I by pass the great wine offerings.
We arrive on time at Narita Airport, which is still quite far from the central area of Ginza, where I eventually will stay. I knew we would be getting in late, so I arranged a hotel at the airport weeks ago, so I wouldn't be trying to negotiate my way to the downtown area late at night. I sure glad I did that because of how I'm feeling.
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