Around The World, Part Five
- Saturday, March 15 2008 @ 02:51 PM CST
- Contributed by: filbert
- Views: 2,369
Our Round The World Trip home page is here.
Part Four is here.
October 7 (Sunday, Day 6, Tokyo, continued) –
We needed to sit down so we bought small sodas at McDonald’s and watched the world go by. It was an open air McD’s and we sat in the front row. We saw a 10K Fun Run go by (and the runners had to run on the sidewalks and they had to stop for traffic lights). A lady came up and put her purse on the chair next to Filbert and then proceeded to go “inside” and order. We couldn’t believe how trusting she was of us as well as all of the people that were walking by on the sidewalk. Tokyo is incredibly safe, that’s for sure. We then walked all over Harajuku which is a part of Tokyo that teens and 20 year olds go to on Sundays in various weird outfits. We saw several girls wearing maid outfits with fur and one was kind of in a Strawberry Shortcake outfit. It’s their way of showing individuality. We ended up eating lunch at an Indian curry place in order to get ready for our next part of our around the world adventure.
Arisa-san came to the Hyatt and the three of us enjoyed a final “dinner” at the Regency Club for a couple of hours. Now it’s time to pack for Bangkok.
October 8 (Monday, Day 7, Tokyo to Bangkok) –
We took the 7 AM Limo Bus to Narita. Today is a Japanese public holiday, National Sports Day, which meant that there was no traffic on the streets. It’s usually pretty empty this early anyway, but there weren’t even taxis running around. We got to Narita in record time! We walked all over Terminal 1 and Filbert took a bunch of pictures of all of the different airplanes – Aeroflot, Austrian, Scandinavian – and enjoyed his airport time. The duty free shops were giving out samples of 18 year old Chivas, cognac and green tea and that was fun, too. We finished our walk and went to the ANA Lounge around 9:30 AM.
Thank goodness for having gold status with US Airways due to signing up for a free credit card in the past year! This gave us access to the ANA Lounge. We enjoyed ALL it had to offer – little sandwiches, brownie cakes, individual wrapped packages of rice crackers, cookies and nuts, fresh sushi and rice rolls (Filbert enjoyed these, not me), the noodle bar where we ordered soba (buckwheat noodles) and udon (like spaghetti) so that Filbert could experience both. He preferred soba over udon but I know that I like udon better so it all worked out. Both were served the same way – a bunch of noodles in a miso broth with a piece of fish paste on the top along with a clump of seaweed and two more clumps of stuff that I can’t remember but they are basically always served with soba and udon. Anyway, the miso broth is excellent and the whole bowlful just makes a great soup. Filbert REALLY enjoyed the automated beer machine, too, and even took a video. The glass tipped so that the beer was poured in at an angle and then at the very end a little bit of foam was put on the top for the head. Those whacky Japanese!!! I saw a sign that said ice cream was available and to ask the staff so of course I did. The woman brought me a little container of excellent chocolate ice cream. So, Filbert enjoyed his morning beer and I enjoyed my morning ice cream!
While we were in the bustling, huge ANA Lounge, a Japanese man came to sit by us and put his luggage down and then went off in search of food. The Japanese are a very trusting society. Filbert and I looked at each other in disbelief. It sure would be nice to not have to worry about leaving personal items on your seat while walking away for a few minutes. But, I sure wouldn’t do it anywhere in the U.S.!
We boarded the plane at 10:30 AM and settled in for a short 6 1/2 hour flight. We had an empty seat between us which was nice. Although we were kind of full from the ANA Lounge “snacks”, we managed to finish the meal that was served to us (Filbert had the Japanese one which was salted broiled salmon and crab and I had the pork and bean ragout). I watched one movie and ANA has “on demand” video so I could pause it at any time. Maybe our airlines will catch up. (On the flight from Chicago to Narita on American Airlines, you had to watch the movies when they started. You couldn’t stop them or fast forward or anything.)
We landed about 30 minutes early and both of us commented that it was a short flight. We got through immigration and customs with no problem, got baht at the ATM and caught a taxi for the Grand Hyatt.
We got settled in our room on the 18th floor. At 440 sq. feet it is smaller than the one we had in Tokyo, but it is still very nice. It overlooks the skytrain tracks, a police hospital (?) and a horse race track that has a golf course on the infield. The races are just on Sundays and the golf course appears to be in constant use during daylight.
We hit the Regency Club for the evening cocktails and appetizers. The spread here is even better than Tokyo! There were platters of meats, cheeses and breads, pickled cauliflower, a frittata, sausage in puff pastry, dumplings, various dips for the fresh vegetables, roast coconut, shrimp, peanut and shallots on beetle leaves (?) with shrimp paste, green mango and mushroom salad, crispy chicken wings, roasted chicken on a lentil salad, salty crispy fish and pumpkin “fritters” with gorgonzola dip. Dessert included thong yip (it tasted like honey added to a paste of some kind – very, very sweet), tropical fruit salad, mini pandan sponge (a cake with fruits on the top made out of bean paste), coconut tart, pineapple upside down cake, assorted macaroons and 5 kinds of homemade cookies. I drank my ice water with lemon and Filbert drank either Singha beer or Kloster Bier (also made in Thailand, although it sure looks and sounds German to me!).
The trip continues in Part Six, here.
Part Four is here.
Our Round The World Trip home page is here.
Part Four is here.
October 7 (Sunday, Day 6, Tokyo, continued) –
We needed to sit down so we bought small sodas at McDonald’s and watched the world go by. It was an open air McD’s and we sat in the front row. We saw a 10K Fun Run go by (and the runners had to run on the sidewalks and they had to stop for traffic lights). A lady came up and put her purse on the chair next to Filbert and then proceeded to go “inside” and order. We couldn’t believe how trusting she was of us as well as all of the people that were walking by on the sidewalk. Tokyo is incredibly safe, that’s for sure. We then walked all over Harajuku which is a part of Tokyo that teens and 20 year olds go to on Sundays in various weird outfits. We saw several girls wearing maid outfits with fur and one was kind of in a Strawberry Shortcake outfit. It’s their way of showing individuality. We ended up eating lunch at an Indian curry place in order to get ready for our next part of our around the world adventure.
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| Peoplewatching |
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| Harajuku |
 |
| Filbert, Arisa, Snookums |
Arisa-san came to the Hyatt and the three of us enjoyed a final “dinner” at the Regency Club for a couple of hours. Now it’s time to pack for Bangkok.
 |
| Tokyo sunset |
October 8 (Monday, Day 7, Tokyo to Bangkok) –
We took the 7 AM Limo Bus to Narita. Today is a Japanese public holiday, National Sports Day, which meant that there was no traffic on the streets. It’s usually pretty empty this early anyway, but there weren’t even taxis running around. We got to Narita in record time! We walked all over Terminal 1 and Filbert took a bunch of pictures of all of the different airplanes – Aeroflot, Austrian, Scandinavian – and enjoyed his airport time. The duty free shops were giving out samples of 18 year old Chivas, cognac and green tea and that was fun, too. We finished our walk and went to the ANA Lounge around 9:30 AM.
 |
| Beer machine! |
Thank goodness for having gold status with US Airways due to signing up for a free credit card in the past year! This gave us access to the ANA Lounge. We enjoyed ALL it had to offer – little sandwiches, brownie cakes, individual wrapped packages of rice crackers, cookies and nuts, fresh sushi and rice rolls (Filbert enjoyed these, not me), the noodle bar where we ordered soba (buckwheat noodles) and udon (like spaghetti) so that Filbert could experience both. He preferred soba over udon but I know that I like udon better so it all worked out. Both were served the same way – a bunch of noodles in a miso broth with a piece of fish paste on the top along with a clump of seaweed and two more clumps of stuff that I can’t remember but they are basically always served with soba and udon. Anyway, the miso broth is excellent and the whole bowlful just makes a great soup. Filbert REALLY enjoyed the automated beer machine, too, and even took a video. The glass tipped so that the beer was poured in at an angle and then at the very end a little bit of foam was put on the top for the head. Those whacky Japanese!!! I saw a sign that said ice cream was available and to ask the staff so of course I did. The woman brought me a little container of excellent chocolate ice cream. So, Filbert enjoyed his morning beer and I enjoyed my morning ice cream!
While we were in the bustling, huge ANA Lounge, a Japanese man came to sit by us and put his luggage down and then went off in search of food. The Japanese are a very trusting society. Filbert and I looked at each other in disbelief. It sure would be nice to not have to worry about leaving personal items on your seat while walking away for a few minutes. But, I sure wouldn’t do it anywhere in the U.S.!
 |
| ANA |
We boarded the plane at 10:30 AM and settled in for a short 6 1/2 hour flight. We had an empty seat between us which was nice. Although we were kind of full from the ANA Lounge “snacks”, we managed to finish the meal that was served to us (Filbert had the Japanese one which was salted broiled salmon and crab and I had the pork and bean ragout). I watched one movie and ANA has “on demand” video so I could pause it at any time. Maybe our airlines will catch up. (On the flight from Chicago to Narita on American Airlines, you had to watch the movies when they started. You couldn’t stop them or fast forward or anything.)
 |
| Avoiding Formosa |
 |
| Da Nang from the air |
We landed about 30 minutes early and both of us commented that it was a short flight. We got through immigration and customs with no problem, got baht at the ATM and caught a taxi for the Grand Hyatt.
We got settled in our room on the 18th floor. At 440 sq. feet it is smaller than the one we had in Tokyo, but it is still very nice. It overlooks the skytrain tracks, a police hospital (?) and a horse race track that has a golf course on the infield. The races are just on Sundays and the golf course appears to be in constant use during daylight.
We hit the Regency Club for the evening cocktails and appetizers. The spread here is even better than Tokyo! There were platters of meats, cheeses and breads, pickled cauliflower, a frittata, sausage in puff pastry, dumplings, various dips for the fresh vegetables, roast coconut, shrimp, peanut and shallots on beetle leaves (?) with shrimp paste, green mango and mushroom salad, crispy chicken wings, roasted chicken on a lentil salad, salty crispy fish and pumpkin “fritters” with gorgonzola dip. Dessert included thong yip (it tasted like honey added to a paste of some kind – very, very sweet), tropical fruit salad, mini pandan sponge (a cake with fruits on the top made out of bean paste), coconut tart, pineapple upside down cake, assorted macaroons and 5 kinds of homemade cookies. I drank my ice water with lemon and Filbert drank either Singha beer or Kloster Bier (also made in Thailand, although it sure looks and sounds German to me!).
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| Bangkok room |
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| Bangkok hotel room view |
The trip continues in Part Six, here.
Part Four is here.
Our Round The World Trip home page is here.