The Week in Review

We spent a very pleasant weekend in Seattle last weekend – it is hard to believe today is already another Saturday! The Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle was in an excellent location for us to enjoy several local attractions. Our favorite was Pike Place Market, which we visited first with our friends, Mick and Jinny Tantasirikorn and their two children, Garan and Tichada. We walked back there a couple more times to further partake of the delicious food (both for the eyes and the stomach).

To see more photos of the Seattle weekend, go to:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjyGjtm2

Since we could not check in for the Patriot Express plane from Seattle to Yokota (Tokyo) until 0130 Tuesday morning, we were pleased that Starwood Properties' new policy permitted Platinum members a very late check-out on Monday - they allowed us to stay until 1800. It was still way too early to head to the airport, so we went to see the movie, "Incredibly Long and Unbearably Slow," or something like that. It is what I call "a feel bad movie." At least it passed the time, and “Yes, I cried at the ending.”
We took The Link train back to SEATAC and checked in on time, but then we had to hang out at the USO until 0400 for roll call to get our seats and check our luggage. It was then another two hours before we boarded, so it took all night to be processed for the flight - almost longer than it took to fly to Yokota. Fortunately, the USO provided us some tasty tuna salad sandwiches and a bunk for a short nap.
The flight itself was good. We each had three seats to ourselves and we were able to sleep for about five hours - about half the flight. It was a surprise when they served us two nice meals and a couple of snacks. We arrived on time in Japan, passed through Customs (where they searched each of our bags). Note to self: do not pack Sudafed when traveling into or through Japan. Customs confiscated our whole package!

Kanto Lodge (AF Inn) was only a short walk from the terminal. We had a suite with a washer/dryer and were able to catch up on laundry and I was able to get a haircut.
An early morning departure from Yokota meant a walk back to the terminal in sub-freezing weather, but we made it OK (my hands were about to fall off from the cold, though--living in Charleston has made us soft, I guess.) We boarded a tanker configured for 45 passengers, but only carried 25 or so, so again we had lots of leg room for the seven hour flight to Singapore. The worst part was the box lunch: they gave us PB&J sandwiches, but just put all the ingredients in for us to make our own sandwiches.
When we got to Singapore, all bundled up in our winter jackets, we were immediately hit with 88-degree temp. Sweat started pouring off us as soon as we hit the tarmac, but it was good to be warm again. The search for lodging along with two dozen other passengers was competitive, difficult, and time-consuming. There was an Air Show in town, and, as a result, most places were booked. Finally we found a place in the Joo Chiat neighborhood, part of the Hotel 81 chain. We would stay at that chain again, but we would look for a newer one – the one where we stayed was clean, quiet and safe, but it was pretty run down.
One of our fellow Space A passengers had shared a car with us from the terminal, and I guess he thought we were on the buddy system, because he called our room at 0500 next morning to ask if we wanted to share a ride to Changi Airport. Our flight was not scheduled to leave until 1500 that afternoon. Even with jet lag, we were able to get back to sleep after the call, fortunately. The taxi ride to Changi later in the morning was only about fifteen minutes and cost $15 SGD.
The flight from Changi to Suvarnabhumi was delayed for take-off by an hour, but we finally arrived in Bangkok. The taxi ride to our hotel took over an hour – Friday afternoon traffic in Bangkok is the worst of the worst. We returned to our old neighborhood from last spring and have settled in at the Renaissance Ratchaprasong. Incidentally, it is the 41st anniversary of the day we first met.
Today we visited Toy at the jewelry store where she works and made plans for what we will do when we get together during her days off next week. I have been trying to get our iPhones set up to use here – found a SIM card deal that will give us unlimited international calls for a low rate.

Sawasdee!
goldenbear70 & his honey
18 February 2012