’06 AT: Uchi Focus Lens
Day 1
Had a flight out of San Jose. Got there about three and a half hours early because of all the security warnings. Spent about two hours cooling my jets in the airport. Would have liked the extra hour of sleep but I did enjoy not having to rush or worry and stress about missing my flight.
I always forget how much I hate the flight to Japan. It is way too long to spend bottled up in a small tube 36,000 feet above the water. I sat next to a wonderful young lady named Stephanie. She was headed to Japan to begin her college education at Temple University’s Tokyo campus. Her major is Asian Studies which was also my major. We talked quite a bit. I had two young children sitting behind me, one of whom talked loud and long. I got no sleep on the flight.
Arrived without incident. Got through immigration and customs in a record 30 minutes. Jumped the bus to the domestic airport. Checked into my hotel and then went back out to take what I thought would be a short sight seeing trip to the city where I used to live. It was a lot farther away than I thought. Wow! Got down there and had a short walk about. The apartment is still there, exactly the same as when I lived there. The bar that I spent way too much time in has changed hands. I didn’t go in. Looks the same on the outside. Very different on the inside. Dealt with a flood of memories. I would have really liked to go around and see more of the area. Someday I’d like to come back and spend a few days there.
I had planned to spend about 4 hours. It ended up taking six. I got back to my hotel at midnight. I was really tired so I thought I would fall fast asleep. In fact, I was worried that I would sleep through the alarm and miss my flight. Unfounded fears. Jet lag kicked in. I didn’t sleep a wink the whole night. This is usually the easy direction.
Aloha
[posted with ecto]