Chicago-JFK-Tokyo: The adventure has begun. I stayed up last night until 2am packing and there were some winners and losers. Winners: my medicine, camera, laptop are going on the trip with me. Loser: the backpack is staying in Chicago (sorry Kitty). I have one mini backpack weighing 500 lbs (camera, laptop, adaptors, transformers, books) and one carryon. I couldn’t make it with 2 backpacks.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I booked my flight from Chicago to Newark for my connection to JFK. I thought it was 30-40 minutes away. For those that want to use the same connection, please allow yourself a minimum of 4 HOURS to connect. Fortunately I had a van driver (we tipped him really well!) that bypassed the clogged expressways during rush hour and took side streets almost exclusively to JFK airport. I got a rather pleasant tour of Staten & Coney Island along with Brooklyn and New Jersey. I don’t recommend it however if you are in a rush to make your connection. He did it in 2 hours 45 minutes which enabled me to enjoy the 1st class ANA lounge for 3 minutes. (Needless to say, I stocked up on fruit bars, crackers, and cheese to last me my entire journey in SE Asia).
There were only 4 passengers in 1st class (Eat your heart out plebeians…or is that “Let them eat cake”?). I really didn’t look the Donald Trump type however in my 11 pocket/fiesta waistband cargo pants. My private suite on the plane was bigger than my hotel room in Tokyo (more on that later). It took me 6 hours of the flight to figure how to move my seat and turn on the lights. There was even a compartment to store my glasses (see photos). For dinner I decided to eat like the natives. I had some of the most delicious green, white, black, yellow, purple and red food in all of my life. I recognized some fish and seaweed but not sure what everything else was.
Thirteen hours and two minutes after leaving New York (6,934 miles), I have arrived on leg one of the most glorious adventure!
