why is it always on the short ones?

My trip back from Singapore was off from a decent start. I had arrived in Tokyo a little early, managed myself well, and had a pretty good 24 hours in Japan, as I mentioned in my previous entry.

Not looking forward to the 12 hour flight across the Pacific, it actually went pretty well. I did enjoy communicating and helping the elderly couple next to me, the communication being a key part, as they spoke no English, and myself, no native Asian languages whatsoever. I was disappointed on the 747, because although a single screen is for movies and information is typical on most flights, I had been spoiled with personally controlled screens at each seat with a large selection of movies and games on both of my flights between Singapore and Tokyo. However, the movie selection made up for it, as I greatly enjoyed all three movies, The Bridge to Terabithea, 61*, and The Astronaut Farmer - even though I slept through a large portion of the third.

Due to arrive at 2:40pm in Detroit, we were actually well ahead of schedule and were ready for landing at just a few minutes after 2pm. But, the voyage took a turn for the worst when we began circling in the air, as at first there was not space for us to land, then we began to have quite a bit of turbulence and increased altitude to get above the incoming thunderstorm. We continued circling for the next 45 minutes, only to be informed that our flight plans had been changed and we would be landing in Toledo to refuel and determine what we would do from there. The supposedly quick, 25 minute max, landing in Toledo changed into over 2 hours grounded in Detroit with no food, water, or toilet (okay, maybe not that extreme on the lack, but the quote from Meet the Parents is just what came to mind). We finally departed back to Detroit, and after what had accumulated to a 3 and a half hour delay on the airplane, I once again set foot on land - or, in a building that is.

We proceeded to wait for luggage for nearly a half hour, and as my final flight from Detroit to home was due for departure at 5:29pm, I was ready for my next delay. While waiting for luggage, I began to joke with a Northwest agent that was standing nearby, and then asked her where I would go to see about changing my flight. She then asked me where I was headed and after I responded, she showed a look of concern and replied with a "not too many flights there...let me go check on that..." What came next was her returning with a new boarding pass for me on a flight that would leave at 9:06pm, again, 3 and a half hours later than the original, and whispered "shhhh...not supposed to do this". A few people around caught on to what had just happened, and kindly began to ask her similar questions - she jokingly said "See, I told you! Now everyone's going to want it". Soon after a single piece of luggage had made several rounds on the pickup, more began to come. We cracked jokes about identifying luggage, a woman beside me saying "I can see mine, it's white with a bright red stripe", to which a man behind me responded with "I can tell when it's mine, too - mine is black." I turned and said "Yours is black? Mine is black! What a coincidence!" Soon enough, however, I was humored by the fact that I caught my black piece of luggage coming out on the opposite side, but did not rub it in that I was able to pick mine out rather quickly.

I then proceeded to go through customs, which was actually quite easy - they didn't really ask me anything - rechecked my luggage and headed to just verify my new boarding pass. I had already glanced at it and saw that I was in a C seat, and was like "stink, that better be a window or an aisle". I had practically fought for an aisle for my flights back after my 12 and 8 hour flights going there where I was stuck inside. I was soon to ask if I could have my seat changed to make sure it was what I desired, when I noticed that my seat was not listed as an Economy Class seat, but as a First Class seat! I definitely verified this, and was excited.

Smirking at being so lucky, I thought of the one other time my flight had been upgraded for free; and then I realized, my previous upgrade had been on the shortest flight of my multi-landing trip, just over an hour, and this would also, at just under 2 hours.

Why can I never get this on the 12 hour flights?

if anyone knows of a better way...

Luckily, English is a standard in Singapore. I would love to be multilingual, but I am not. However, I did start some online Mandarin lessons last night, and I believe I am doing pretty well. 100% so far on my "tests" of tonal recognition.

Anyway, neither Mandarin nor English is a standard in Japan, or at least, Tokyo. So, I managed to find my way around Tokyo, from the airport to a bus terminal, to a hotel, around "electric town" Akihabara, (getting semi-lost in the process...I swear that these maps are upside down / backwards - same thing in Singapore - I wasn't lost in relation to the hotel, just in relation to what I was trying to find - I did stumble across a building with the official title being the Nintendo logo), and eventually back to the airport the next day after a little touring this morning. While I feel I did well, I must accredit basically everything to a friend of mine, from booking the hotel to giving me directions via email.

So, back to the issue with English vs. Japanese. In my attempts to use my google account, or just google in general, I had to figure out how to get it displayed in English. I finally deciphered that the url required "hl=en" attached in order to set the default to English. After trying to make setting changes, I still could not get the pages to remain in English - even when I tried to make this post. So, I added the "hl=en" to the url and found success. The new problem was that with each link clicked, I would be on a new page with everything once again in Japanese. I initially tried to conquer this by using Picasa on my computer to make the blog post, but to no avail...
So, I want back to the direct way have added "hl=en" to every new url. When I go to add these images, it's still in Japanese, with no url display up at the top to edit (the address bar can be changed to always display, but I just didn't bother...)

So, that's that. Which gives way to my request. If anyone knows of a better way, let me know!

amazing bachelor party...

While I haven't been to very many, I must say that the bachelor party we held for my no longer single friend was just amazing. The morning started with us holding a picnic at the beach with the family and friends of bride and groom. With a massage therapist on hand, we also happened to hold a fundraiser to help with the costs of the "B.P." event. After raising $90 (Singapore dollars) and a great lunch provided by the bride's family, seven singles headed off to start our fun.

We started out with more fun in the water, then moved on to a great dinner followed by even more fun at the pool. The evening was unforgettable, the enjoyment of reminding the groom of his antics in the past, warning of his future, and just having fun! The laughter as we played cards, gave gag gifts, and got the groom to say some things that he may never say again, and the pure and genuine time with friends was what made this so amazing.

Crossing the Pacific!

After waking at 4:00am for a 6:00am flight to Detroit, a 7 hour layover with a 1 hour delay once on the plane before my 13 hour flight to Tokyo, then a 2 hour layover that extended to 8 hours before my next 7 hour flight, I finally met an old friend at about 4:30am in Singapore.

After driving to his house, I finally went to sleep by about 5:30am, then slept until about 5:15pm.

I soon met his family and went with them to have a great dinner with them in a small, packed restaurant with a to go line comparable to the soup kitchen, but alas, no Soup Nazi.