Having spent a couple of nights laying over in Bangkok, we were ready for the next airplane jaunt — this time to Japan, which we had last visited in 2006. And we’d have a chance to spend some time with friends there that we had not seen in several years.

After arguing a bit about how to get to the airport, we finally called a cab and headed out– with a driver, as usual, who squeezed as many baht as possible out of our pocketbooks.

Leaving Bangkok

It was a late night flight, so we had 12 hours to wait — we’d had to check out of our AirBnB, and we didn’t really want the hassle of going anywhere else and having to figure out what to do with our bags.

Killing Time at the Suvarnabhumi Airport

Some people don’t like waiting in airports, but we find it fascinating, at least when it’s a nice airport like Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi. There’s something poetic and inspiring about the plane traffic on the runway, and the foot traffic of travelers from all over the world, and just the fact of being in a location where you can go out and get onto one of those planes and go just about anywhere on the planet.

Like a huge stage (something we’re well acquainted with) with thousands of people in a procession of performance art, an airport is endlessly engrossing to observe. A group of dozens of excited fans rushed after some pop star celebrity. Who? We never knew. But the fans themselves were the real show. The one thing, of course, that is usually less than inspiring about an airport is the available cuisine, as it were. Which is why we always try to pack our own.

It was an overnight flight, and an uneventful one — we had no air turbulence, and no obnoxious fellow passengers, so we slept reasonably well, and touched down at about 8:00 in our new time zone. Where we were met by our friend Yukari, and her husband and daughter.

Reunited with our Japanese Family

Yukari and Kimberly have been friends for many years, going back to their teenage time, when Yukari was an exchange student in the U.S. and stayed with Kimberly’s family. We’ve met up with her several times since then, both in the U.S. and Japan. We also met her husband Toshihide when we came to Japan, and we’ve seen their “little girl” Ayaka (now pushing 30) several times as well. (They also have a son who was not with them, but we’d see him later.)

Not only did they come to pick us up, but they’d stayed overnight in a nearby hotel to do it. Narita Airport is a drive of nearly 3 hours from their home in Saitama Prefecture, up north. (In fact, it’s quite a drive from Tokyo, even though it’s the main airport in the Tokyo area.)

First we had to wait about 45 minutes for a shuttle to take us from the airport to their hotel, where they picked up their bags. And before starting the long drive, we went into the hotel coffee shop — a somewhat ritzy establishment — to fortify ourselves with coffee and tea. (We insisted on picking up the tab, the least we could do.)

Then we headed out on the lengthy commute, on which we napped a good deal of the time. At lunchtime, we stopped at a Lawson — a chain of quick shops like 7-11 (of which there are also plenty in Japan) except that the deli case selection is much better.

Home in Japan

Arriving at their home, we found, as usual, that Yukari had outdone herself with regard to hospitality. And she was just getting warmed up. She always made some meals that were not only delicious, but introduced us to a staggering variety of Japanese dishes. (Deftly meeting the challenge, as well, of feeding vegetarians.) And, recalling from our last visit that Dennis is fond of decaf coffee (which is practically impossible to find in Japan), she’d ordered a supply on Amazon. Along with a stash of black tea, which we also like to indulge in. And some western-style breakfast cereals.

The last time we’d come to Japan, it was during a sweltering summer. This time, the temperatures were quite chilly, even borderline freezing. And we were quite unprepared for winter, having packed as lightly as possible, and spending nearly all of our time in tropical or near tropical climates. Not to worry, our hosts had rounded up coats for us.

After dinner, we had some customary Japanese tea and, among other things, got an introduction to Shogi, which is also known as Japanese chess. But the pieces number more than chess pieces, and their moves are sometimes considerably more complex. There was no way we were going to master this game in two weeks.

At bedtime, we made use of something else Yukari had obtained for us — comfortable velour suits that made very suitable cozy pajamas. And we had a very satisfactory night’s sleep in our 14th and last country to visit on this 15 month trip around the world.

2/23-24/2023