Butt-Kicker

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The travel day was a real butt-kicker. Having just finished the RFID conference in Las Vegas, I met Mike at the SLC airport in time to catch our 11:00am flight out. The first leg took us to Portland, where we flew right by Mount Rainier. We were very close on our pass, and it was quite a sight to see. Other volcanos were obvious, though I don't know which ones we saw. I didn't have my camera out, but wish I had even to get a lame shot from the airplane window.

I also found it very interesting that, from the air, you can see patches in the forest (some very symmetrical and others more random), where the timber has been harvested and replanted. My view was very limited since I was seated in an aisle seat, but when the plane would bank, I was able to get some glimpses. It wasn't just a few spots here and there, but VERY obvious and visible, much like a patchwork quilt. I felt a bit of an appreciation for the efforts to slow the lumbering just because of the scars that were evident on the landscape.

Mike had arranged to meet his Dad (Don) at the airport, so we exited the gate area and had lunch with them. We went into a reasonably priced restaurant that had a definite Japanese theme that featured sushi (you'd think we'd want a true American eatery like KFC or something). There was other fare as well, and I tried their version of a Reuben sandwich... different from any other Reuben I'd had because it was made with smoked turkey instead of corned beef. The marbled rye bread (with thoughts of Seinfeld racing through my head) was very good, and the sandwich tasty, though I still prefer the traditional Reuben sandwich.

I picked up a travel pillow in the airport shops, knowing that a long flight was ahead of us, and I hoped I would be able to find a comfortable position from which to grab some sleep. It was a fun visit, and I enjoyed meeting and talking with Mike's dad. Work interrupted us twice with ASN problems, but still, we enjoyed our rendezvous.

We boarded the plane to Tokyo with the other 150,000,000 passengers for the flight (not an empty seat to be found). It was a wide-body Airbus, and I was seated in the very last row. Thoughts of Deb and I returning from Hawaii began to haunt me. That trip was extremely crowded and cramped, and with my long legs, I was unable to get any sleep coming home.

The same was true for this leg of our journey. The only saving grace was that we had our own in-seat video and it was all on-demand, so I occupied my sleepless hours with a couple of movies ("Man on Fire" and "Tristan and Isolde"). Hey... no comments about chick flicks...

I had seen most of the other movies, so I spent some time listening to a little of the music offered, and messing with the mapping features a little to drill down to the cities we would be visiting. It wasn't like Google Earth, and stopped well above any recognizable features, but it was somewhat interesting to note the geography of the cities on our trip and also to visit some of the old cities I spent time in while I was on my mission in Korea.

When we got to Tokyo, I was exhausted, and must have looked it because Mike commented that I looked terrible. We found our next gate assignment and settled in for the wait for our leg to Shanghai. We grabbed lunch at a little shop nearby, and I sampled the Tempura noodles. They were pretty good, with thick rice noodles, and greasy, but tasty broth, and tempura battered onions.

Now I hesitated briefly before trying them because onions give me gas, but I figured that the chances of me seeing any of these people again were very rare, and if the worst happened, at least they'd have stories to tell about their recent trip. I can see it now... a family, sitting cross-legged on the floor around their "coffee" table laughing at stories of flatulence (hmm... sounds like home). Maybe it could be a sequel to the book "The Gas We Pass" called, "The Gas HE Passed."

When they called us for boarding, it was comical and typical of the oriental culture. Instead of using the intercom system, they sent three or four people into the crowd to begin to organize the boarding process. They often cupped their hands around their mouths megaphone style to shout their instructions. They had one area/line reserved for World Perks travellers (Northwest Airlines) and throughout the process, even when the line was empty, would not let anyone past the point of entry. Instead, they funneled all the other "cattle" to the left and through the second boarding point.

One of the "cattle callers" held a sign aloft that showed which rows were boarding and they were very strict about not letting you through if your pass was not in the boarding rows. We watched them turn back numerous offenders. The thing I found most memorable and comical was how the passengers (mostly oriental) thought nothing of butting in front of you. Of course, this would be totally unacceptable in the western world, and would illicit more than one tongue-lashing by an irate line-stander if it happened in the US, but it brought back a flow of memories from Korea, and I found myself outwardly chuckling and laughing several times.

In fact, when we got to Shanghai, and we were shuffling through the customs entry area, I showed Mike how to just grab our bags and butt in, to prove that they could care less. It is normal practice and was fun to again witness.

The flight to Shanghai was pleasantly shorter than expected... only 2 1/2 hours. The bad news is that we stood around the baggage carousel (of which I had warned Mike that there would be a huge crowd all pushing up against it - no surprise having witnessed the "butting" that was going one), only to have a good laugh when they shut it off and Mike's bag still wasn't there. I should clarify "laugh"... actually, I felt very bad that his bag didn't make it, but we were able to find a little humor in it all - proof that we were exhausted and just wanted to rest.

The "lost baggage" area was very helpful and they told us it would be in Shanghai "tomorrow." We just hope it isn't one of those cultural things where they don't want to give you the bad news, and tomorrow they tell us it will be here "tomorrow." I don't know how many will appreciate that, but it's all a big part of the oriental culture and not wanting to hurt your feelings. I remember plenty of appointments arranged (back to the days in Korea) that were never realized because they just don't want to say "no."

We exchanged some of our cash for Chinese money, avoided getting ripped off by someone offering us a ride to our hotel for only 400 or 600 dollars ($32-48), and caught a curbside cab with a driver that couldn't read the address Mike had written in English, but with help from another driver, got us to our hotel for much less.

Checked in... made a few phone calls back to the states to check in with work and family... fell exhausted into bed around midnight... only to awake at 4:30am unable to go back to sleep. I failed to mention that I slept the entire flight from Tokyo to Shanghai, and was awakened by Mike telling me I had to fill out the customs and entry forms before landing. I left my reading glasses at work (on purpose, since they are broken), and struggled filling in the forms. If I got far enough away to read it, I couldn't write... the light was poor and when I would write, the shadow would cover the area I was trying to write in making it even harder to see... and if I got close enough to write, I couldn't differentiate the boxes I needed to fill in. I found I laughed at myself several times in the process.

I didn't realize it (having slept the entire flight), but the person next to me was a Korean. When we stood to disembark, he mentioned to his buddy in front of him to look at this guy and how tall he is (kee-ku-dah). I almost said "hey... knock it off" (commani-easu-bwarra), but decided he'd probably have something to say back in Korean and I'd be lost. My pride wouldn't let that happen.

The hotel (Howard Johnson's Plaza) is very nice. I'll try to get some pics today (yes, it's early morning here - when you can't sleep, you can blog) to post of the city and sights and such. We have our first vendor meeting with Sun Tooling today.

Let the fun begin.