Off to Canada

I got everything all packed and everything done this morning. Phew! I even had a bit of time to relax before heading off to the airport. Then I got a cab pretty much right away, so was able to stand around for 10 minutes on the train platform waiting for the train. No stress!

So, you know you've been away from home a long time when you go to get money changed at the airport and they give you Canadian funds and you look at it and think "What the heck is that?". I didn't know that they had changed all the money in Canada! It looks funny LOL

I checked into the airport no problem. Wandered into duty free and picked up a face cleanser and a lip liner. Cheap there. Then off to the lounge. Varig was using Air France's lounge. It sucked. There was an unenclosed smoking area, no snacks and crap newspapers. Oh well. At least I was able to pick up some European newspapers for Hiroshi (he likes trying to read them).

The flight ended up being really good. Someone ended up sitting next to me, so I moved over onto an aisle seat in the center of the plane because the middle seat was free. More room for both of us then. And I didn't want to talk to the guy for the whole flight. They gave out little amenity kits that were nice. They have a scrumptious almond lip balm.

The food on the flight was awesome. The appetizer was asparagus wrapped in salmon, haddock and proscuitto (separately, not all together). I had the foie gras with beef tenderloin as my entre. It came with carrots and pumpkin. There was a nice fresh salad and hot rolls with lots of butter too. Dessert was strawberry mousse or cheese and fruit. Then they came around after dinner with chocolates. Oh, and this is the first flight I have ever been on where the wine was good! I had a very nice white.

The wine was just enough to put me to sleep for about five hours which was good. I woke up just before breakfast. Another yummy meal. There was a plate of sliced cheeses, ham and a piece of chicken loaf (which I didn't eat). There was also fresh bread and muffins (I had a delicious blueberry one), fresh fruit and a hot sandwich that they served which didn't sound all that great but was quite tasty.

We arrived in LA pretty much on time, but then had to sit on the tarmac waiting for a gate to open up for us. Let me off the plane! LOL Customs was absolutely nuts. I don't have a readable passport because I renewed mine at the embassy in Tokyo. Basically I got the lecture about getting a new one that is readable. I'm not paying a hundred bucks and then taking two days off week later on to change over my visas to stay in Japan. Too much hassle. I'll get it done next year.

I found the other terminal easily enough and had to stand in line for a bit to check in. They don't have a very good system there. After checking in, I had to stand in this huge line to get my baggage xrayed! Umm, shouldn't that be done before you check in? Very weird. I arrived at the counter to check in at around 2:30 - 1 hour before the earlier flight to Detroit. I asked if I could change to that flight but she said I wouldn't make it onto the plane, and that flying standby was not fun.

I was confused about the not making it onto the plane comment (1 hour before a domestic flight) until I saw the huge line to screen carry-on baggage. Wow. It was absolutely nuts. There were escalators leading up to that area and they had to block them off because people would get to the top and there was nowhere to go!

Of course, because of all the people, I missed the alleged signs that said to take your laptop out of your bag. This caused some trouble. In addition to that, I set off the beeper. It is so sensitive! I had to be patted down. I don't mind too much - I'd rather be secure. Getting the wand pressed up against your crotch in full public view isn't fun though. I think it was the clips on my bra that set the thing off too. Weird.

Then I had to deal with my bag. I had bought a tea set in Thailand for my parents and it was wall wrapped up in bubble packs. It looked like packs of drugs! She had to swab my entire bag down for residue (bomb or drugs I'm not sure) just because I had left my laptop inside it! Then I had to get the bag rescanned, and the laptop inspected and I was free to go. Phew!

The lounge for Northwest also sucked. I can't believe they don't have internet! That's bad. Then I boarded the plane and was disappointed. I was all excited about flying first class, and it was really cramped. Dinner was chicken south-west with salad and rice. It tasted pretty good, but what a difference from Varig! They did have a huge piece of chocolate cake for dessert though. I just had a bit of it. Despite the decline in seat space and quality of food, the flight attendant was very pleasant and nice.

That flight was uneventful and arrived on time. We were the only arrival in the airport, but we parked at the end of the terminal. There is usually a skytrain that operates to the baggage claim area - but not that late at night. So we all had to walk 3 skytrain stops. How weird is that? No one is in the terminal, and there were no other planes, why not let us park right up close?? Oh well.

Dad came in to meet me just as the baggage was coming off and I was home!