Wabi Sabi- Perfection in the Imperfections: Traveling to the Japan

Okay I finally have my photos uploaded on my computer, I will put the highlights up on the blog and eventually get all of the photos up on facebook!

I arrived at the airport in Kansas City and hour late, the ticket counter opened at 5 and I did not get there till close to 6 and my flight left at 6:30... and I had a dog to check and a cat flying in cabin, It was CRAZY... the check in counter guy almost had a heart attack getting me on that plane and I guess right before I got there a deer had run up the baggage conveyor into the airport and it was locked in an office next to the check in counter... wierd... anyway so we finally got Kona back to the plane and I was trying to get through security and of course they had to pull me aside to check my bag, as they asked me to step out of line I heard "final bourding call Lisa Gee" on the intercom... at this point I was like hyperventilating and freaking out! The security dude was like ma'am you cant have this water bottle and I said just throw it away... but he said if it was for the cat he could let it pass, so I said yes yes its for the cat I have to go!!! and he said RUN so I ran to my gate and got on the plane and was taxiing away in like 10 min. WHEW that was too close! (later when I am getting off the plane at Tokyo I see a razor in my bag that I hadn't seen before and freaked out... went straight to the bathroom, wiped it free of fingerprints and threw it away... That could have been bad!)

This is Sebastian underneath the seat in front of me. He was not happy at all, I had drug to give him that he definitely needed, I just pried his mouth open and dropped them down his throat. At one point he woke up and tried to eat his way out of the bag... he was almost successful... But each time when I went to get off the plane everyone around me said "Oh my gosh you had a cat, I had no idea"... thank goodness that went well...

This is flying over the rocky mountains!!! They were gorgeous! I think I saw 9 ski resorts...

This is the giant airplane that took me across the Pacific Ocean... The plane really was not that full which was really nice, I had a window seat and the seat next to me was empty, there were whole rows in the middle of the plane with no one sitting in them that I would have gone laid down in if there was no cat with me. I was exhausted from mothers day and trying to see everyone before I left the country that I popped a sleeping pill and slept the entire 11 hour flight! I only woke up for meals! It was amazing and I woke up in Japan at 1 pm so I was completely adjusted to the time change... I really experienced zero jet lag!!!

The morning that I left I had a handful of doritos for breakfast and that was it ( it was so early I wasn't hungry yet) and then I was late for the plane and I didn't get off at the stop in Denver cuase I didn't want to drag a cat around the airport with me and it was only a 45 min stop, my flight change was so fast in San Fransisco that I didn't have time to stop and get food so this meal a couple hours into the flight to Tokyo was the first real food I had all day... and was SOOO good! I am not joking, I don't know if it was really good or if I was just so hungry that it tasted like heaven? It was salsbury steak, mashed potatos, carrots, salad with ranch dressing, a roll and a brownie... yum!

This was the second meal... it was not as good... I was not as hungry... it was noodles with yogurt and a cookie... hmm well 1 out of 2 isnt bad!

They had this little movie of the airplane crossing the ocean that showed where we were throughout the flight, it came up in between the movies and tv shows, which i watched none of cuase I was asleep! anyway this is our approach to TOKYO!!! so exciting, I had no idea what to expect!

I was not expecting this... but I guess its not strange for Japan, everyone here wears masks... anyways we had to fill out health questionairs when we were on the plane and when we arrived we were required to wear masks and get our body temperature scanned before we were allowed off of the plane. It was pretty bisare, are guess to prevent the entry of swine flu. But at this point the airplane was off and it was so hot and it took like two hours... ugh

Here are the people collecting questionairs, this was after we were all scanned for temperatures.. I like the tape up the back of the scrubs.... classy.. So I finally get off the plane, throw away my razor, find the pet hotel... drop off the animals... find the shuttle to my hotel... get to my hotel and...

My room number was 666... I thought that was really really funny. I had to take a picture... I walked around a bit to find some food other then the expensive hotel food, but much to my dismay in my two hours of wandering I only found parking lots... Narita where I landed is actually outside of Tokyo by about an hour so there was nothing exciting nearby that I could find... I was very happy about my experience in Japan so far though because the people were sooo nice, getting around in the Japanese airport was easier even with a giant dog and a cat and a backpack and a bag because the people were so helpfull. It was awesome!