We've done the fourteen-hour flight from Detroit to Narita at least 8 times over the past several years. Because I don't sleep on planes — the shifting light, the murmur of other passengers, and the roar of the engines shatter all my feeble efforts to drift off to sleep — that loooongest leg of the trip to Bangkok always requires some Jedi mental tricks to get through.
This time, though, I took one of friend Jeri's little white pills — I won't use the name here, because I don't want the site slammed with comment spam from online pharmacies — and my experience of the crossing was remarkably different. We had a drink. We had dinner. I had a pill. I wondered how long it would be before the pill kicked in. And then, weirdly, they served me breakfast and we landed in Narita.
So here I sit in the Delta Sky Club, waiting for the final, six-hour leg of our trip to begin. The space is startling clean and white, almost futuristic, especially compared to Delta's clubs in Atlanta, which appear to be converted broom closets smeared with 1970's decor. In Atlanta, you get Pepperidge Farms cookies; in Narita, you get a free all-you-can-eat sushi bar with Italian veggie sandwiches, apple tarts, and self-serve beverages.
While typing this, I'm in a comfy chair, watching Sumo wrestlers on the Japanese version of ESPN and scarfing down a spicy tuna roll. That's livin'!
Next stop: Bangkok. We arrive at midnight local time, so I'm going to try to stay awake until we get there. (Shouldn't be hard to do, since I slept about eight hours on the Detroit/Tokyo flight!) This will be our first stay at the brand-new President Palace hotel, where the top–of-the-line room we booked comes with free unlimited soft drinks, beer, wi-fi, conference room use, breakfast, and evening snacks.
I may never leave the hotel.
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