Notes on Thailand, Day 1

It's strange to begin a trip at noon on Sunday and arrive at your destination on what is essentially 1 a.m. Tuesday. But, that's what it's like to fly from D.C. to Bangkok. It's about as long of a trip as it is to Australia, although the nice thing about this is that I got in late, so I could go right to bed.

During the flights – there were two of them, one from Dulles to Tokyo (direct) and a second from Tokyo to Bangkok — and on my cab ride from the airport to the hotel, I jotted down some things of interest. So, here goes my notes from day 1 (or is it days 1-3?).

I flew United, which was good for my miles, though probably less so for my stomach (see my Flickr feed of "Food from my trip to Thailand -- which I'll continue to update), and continue to be somewhat impressed by United's use of the Internet. I don't fly enough different airlines to know how they all make use of the Web, but being able to check in, select my seat, print my boarding pass, etc., all ahead of time is great. However, it is annoying how many different little upgrades they offer. I bought Economy Plus for some extra legroom (being 6' 5", I need it!), but $40 for expedited security? What, like a terrorist would be too cheap to buy that?

While waiting to board the flight, I got a breakfast sandwich at Potbelly Express and noticed a shelf of hot peppers. "Who would buy a jar of hot pepper from a fast food restaurant at an airport?" I thought. It seemed a ridiculous notion. Literally 10 seconds later, a man next to me in line said, "I'll have a jar of those hot peppers. They're really good." I don't know if there's a God or not, but if there is, he must enjoy fucking with me.

Anyway, I took my sandwich and plugged into the power bar, so I could be at tip-top power for my flight. (That ended up being only moderately helpful... my two MacBook Pro batteries each lasted barely 90 minutes.) And, I also took the opportunity to get some Yen and Baht, though I probably needn't have bothered... especially with the Yen, as the Tokyo airport accepted U.S. dollars -- and I didn't even buy anything. Still, the money is beautiful.

Once we boarded the 777 -- my first trip on the new Boeing -- the trip officially got underway. More on that in my next post.