We made it to Kyoto!

Alan, Penni, and Deidre arrive in Tokyo!

Thursday, November 13th

We were up for about 23 hours straight, with occasional head nodding along the way. Even though Alan booked us the front row of Comfort Plus on Delta, with lots of leg room, it was still hard to find a comfortable sleeping position! But that will be the end of my whinging! (Whinge: British English, to complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way.)

We weren’t able to see Mount Rainier on the way in or out of SeaTac because of the side of the plane we were seated on, but we could see it from the airport. It always feels like home flying into Seattle, recognizing landmarks as we fly in. 

Leaving Seattle, I wish I would’ve had my phone out and ready on the jetway as we were walking towards the plane! There was no one ahead of us, and Deidre suddenly started to skip and sing, “We’re going to Japan!” Oh, my momma bear heart melted. 

The three flights were all beautiful and smooth, with little cloud cover, making for a memorable moment when we first saw Mount Fuji. Deidre turned to me and said, “It’s really happening!” It was too far away for a photo from the window, and we thought we could get a picture from the next flight to Osaka, but it grew dark by 6 p.m. and we didn’t get that opportunity. We will not leave Japan without a photo of Mount Fuji! (Post Script: We didn't get a photo of Mt. Fuji, but that's okay--there were plenty of other beautiful views that we were able to capture.)

Haneda airport in Tokyo is the biggest airport I’ve ever seen, or at least it felt bigger than Heathrow. Just taxiing to the gate took 30 minutes. And I will never complain about how far we have to walk in the Salt Lake City Airport again, Haneda beat that record! And the mass of humanity lined up to go through customs! Well, I tried to take a picture surreptitiously, and got away with it.

The longest queue ever! We snaked around many times!

Every employee we encountered in the airport was so friendly and helpful, and most were able to speak English. I have to throw in this story. On our way out of Seattle, the Japanese flight attendant was very short and stood at the front of our row asking if there was a tall man who could help her shut the overhead bins. Alan jumped right up and helped her. He had to maneuver a few carry-on bags to get the doors shut, and she was so appreciative. Every time she walked past him, she would slightly bow and say, “Thank you sir for helping me!” 

I’m so grateful that Alan and Deidre prepared so well for this trip. They got us signed up for the important QR code we needed to get through immigration and customs, and Deidre was able to get the permission she needed ahead of time to bring her medications with her. It was a blessing that she was able to speak a little Japanese to the agent in customs about her meds and show him the paperwork to allow her through, because he didn’t speak English. 

On our way to out to Terminal 2, for domestic flights.

Our most memorable experience from yesterday was a cute Japanese couple that approached us while we were waiting for Alan to get his boarding pass to Osaka. The husband was very tall and thin, with salt-and-pepper hair, and she was very short! They bowed and said, “Excuse us, do you speak English?” Both Deidre and I smiled very wide, and delightedly answered, “Yes!” They asked if they could practice English with us! 

So, we began a conversation, and they asked us lots of questions! They told us they were planning their first visit to the United States next year and have been practicing by watching American television programs. Then Alan walked up and I introduced him as my husband, and the other man brightened up and began talking with him. When Alan mentioned that we flew out of Seattle and asked if they planned to visit there, the man said, “Ichiro!” Well, if you know Alan . . . that got him going on about the Seattle Mariners’ former player Ichiro Suzuki and the recent World Series, and those two had a fun time conversing. The husband joked about how they have changed their allegiance to Ohtani and the Dodgers now! Our only regret is that we didn’t ask their names as we parted!

Our ANA plane to Osaka

Well, it’s 7 a.m. in Kyoto, and time for me to get out of bed and get ready to start exploring the area around our hotel and scout for breakfast! I will talk about our cute, compact hotel room in the next blog post. Deidre will be resting today.