Coming Home!

I'm 8 miles high, out over the Pacific Ocean on my way home.  Just had the most extraordinary meal for "breakfast"!  I was brought a tray with a little wooden box, with an elegant black paper wrapping and a red cord.  Inside was:
Nori Over Rice
Grilled Salmon
Deep Fried Fish Cake with Nori
Japanese Home-style Omelet
Boiled Green Vegetables
Pickled Plum with Honey
Pickles (these were daikon radish pickles, I believe)
I was also offered a cup of Miso Soup, which I accepted and Orange Juice and Coffee.

Everything in the box was 'just so' and amazingly delicious, though there was too much rice for me to finish.  So elegant.

I managed to sleep a bit even though I'm an idiot and forgot that I could recline my seat!  I only remembered toward the end of my sleep cycle and it made a very big difference.  Oh well.  I asked for a bulkhead seat, and that was a good move, as I can stretch out my legs (though the video screen is much smaller).

The first leg of the trip was on Royal Thai Airways and it was very nice.  The seats were roomy and the food was also delicious (Thai, of course).  This is such a wonderful upgrade over China Air, with its crammed seating and bare bones amenities.

I'll be getting home around 7:30pm local time, but for my body it will seem like 10:30am!  I guess.  Even so, it should be easy to sleep tonight, I think.

I had one strange surprise in Tokyo.  I was pretty sure we landed around 9pm local time and boarding was for 11:30pm.  But after checking my email and Facebook, and putting on a long sleeve shirt in the bathroom, and exchanging a $20 bill for some yen, it was suddenly time to board!  I couldn't figure out where the 2.5 hours went.  I had to go right back to the money exchange and turn in my yen, at a $2 loss, I might add.

I was actually quite glad to get on with the trip, but I had thought to traverse the Tokyo terminal and maybe buy a few souvenirs for the kids.  Whatever.

As I was dozing in and out of sleep, my mind was ranging back and forth across this wonderful trip--meeting Alana and Jacques, and the kids at LCP, my more recent friends Ice and Dr. Ignapa and of course Dr. Nalinee!  And her brother Sam and his wife Branee.  And all my lovely students and clients, and the woman who was so intent on setting up EFT teams to cope with earthquake trauma in her village.

And there were good folks at Cave Lodge and Chiang Mai.  I remember the wonderful Burmese waiter at the Peppermint Cafe and Tapanee.  And on and on.  So many people and an endless stream of sights flooding in through my eyes.  Just the few hours of seeing Apo coral and fish is enough for years of remembering!  It's all stored away, just waiting for story telling and discussions to allow it to stream back into my conscious memory.  I feel deeply grateful that I was able to take this trip.  Grateful to all the people who sponsored me, and hosted me, and especially to my wife Krista, who kept our home life running and even dealt with new braces (not to mention homework) for Eden.

I'll be home soon