Indo, Day 1: Boxen

Today was the first day of what I think will be around 18. I’m not too sure because of all the time changes and other nonsense. But it’s Wednesday. At least I think it is. The day started out like any other, go to work, scramble to get things done. Except I had been up until 2am packing and only got 4 hours of sleep. After two weeks of working 75-ish hours each. So I’m pretty tired to start out. Then I get on a plane for 10 hours. I was asleep before takeoff.

I opted to use some of my frequent flier benefits and skip the lines. I was funneled through the "priority" security line and they really didn't check my stuff at all. Because my little travel toiletries were NOT properly bagged. They didn't look twice. Maybe not even once. At the gate, I usually wait until the last minute to get on the plane because who wants to be on there any longer than you have to? But for some reason their "elite" passengers go first. I never got that. But today, after looking at the HUGE line to get on the plane, I decided to try it out. It was a little more relaxing getting on without a couple hundred other people pushing around you.

It’s been a good flight (still on it). My first international with Northwest. They’ve done a lot of things I like. Hot towels were distributed right after takeoff (does anyone REALLY know what those are for?). There’s been a lot of food (snack, dinner, snack, breakfast) which hasn’t been bad, and it’s about as comfortable as it can be. I don’t particularly like Airbus’ seats compared to Boeing, but sitting in one position for that long on ANYTHING makes me hurt. They have the cool entertainment system with like three dozen on-demand movies and music and stuff. I haven’t watched any of them, but they’re there! And if you’re in the forward cabin, there’s a power outlet at every seat! I didn't use a single drop of battery power the whole trip.

The crew has been pretty good. There’s one lady who feels the need to walk up and down the aisles yelling “seatbelts on!” whenever the captain turns on the light. There’s a baby wailing in another cabin, but, thankfully, I can’t really hear it. There are some interesting passengers. It’s always fun to see who you end up trapped with. The guy next to me is a Filipino doctor, and he’s been doing paperwork almost the whole time. He doesn’t seem to recognize the armrest is an imaginary wall between my world and his, but at least he’s not falling asleep on me!

I do think the invention of the reclining seat is the worst move in aviation history. I never use it myself because I know how irritating it is to be on the receiving end. It’s not bad under normal circumstances, but if you have a laptop you want on the tray table, the reclining seat ruins the angle so you can’t. And if it’s on your lap, you can type, but the screen angle is at the lower limits of readable. I find it terribly inconsiderate not only to recline, but then put as much pressure on the seat as possible so it reclines FURTHER than it’s supposed to. I don’t know how he’s doing it, but I think I’m getting crushed.

Yeah, not much to write about when you spend your day on a plane. We’re at the northern tip of Japan now, some 40,000 feet up. I think we have around an hour and a half left. Ha! Guess I probably should have mentioned my first stop is Tokyo. I have day layover there, so I’ll get out of the airport and see a little of the city. I opted to stay in a hostel, so we’ll see how that goes. Could be really fun.

That’s about all I can muster at this point. Tomorrow should be more interesting. I’m going to try to keep the post-a-day thing going, even though they may not show up for a couple days, depending on my Internet availability.