The Log Dog Blog: Asian Adventure 2020: Day 1

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Asian Adventure 2020: Day 1

Just as I did when we went to Tokyo in 2017, I'm going to write short blog post each day because it will be more manageable than trying to write about the whole trip when we get home, which I usually what I do!

This is an adventure we'd been planning for a year! C found a sale on airline tickets last winter and since we'd never been to Thailand or Singapore, we decided to book a trip! I wasn't working at the time – I was home with my mom – so my schedule wasn't an issue, and we figured if we were going to travel so far, we'd go for two weeks.

Fast forward to June, when the Reading Specialist job became available. Although I really, really, really wanted the job, before I applied, I emailed my principal and told her I had a trip planned for the first two weeks of February that could not be changed or cancelled. I knew it might be a deal breaker, but I was more than willing to take the time unpaid, and since that position does not require a substitute in the case of absences, my principal graciously agreed and the rest is history! I'm so fortunate that things worked out as they did!

On Friday morning, January 31, went left our house at 8:00 am and my mom kindly drove us to the airport. Our flight left at 11:00 am and landed 13 hours and 40 minutes later in Tokyo. We had a 3 hour layover, and then a 7 hour flight from Tokyo to Bangkok. Fortunately, the first flight was a 2-4-3 plane, so we had a pair of seats to ourselves, and then we lucked out with an empty middle seat between us on the second flight, which was awesome. We flew on ANA, which is the airline we flew on when we went to Tokyo, and I really can't say a bad word about them. Their flight attendants are wonderful and the customer service is top notch. The only thing I wasn't thrilled about was that on our first flight, the temperature in the cabin was ridiculous stifling, and yet people wore coats and hats and slept under blankets, so maybe it was just us? We do both like it to be cold and I guess we are in the minority because clearly no one was complaining about how hot the plane was!

The flights were otherwise fantastic, the layover in Tokyo was relaxing (there was a 7-Eleven in the airport and the 7-Elevens in Tokyo have amazing sandwiches and snacks, so we were super excited!), and even passport control in Bangkok, while busy, was perfectly fine. We are staying at a hotel near the airport for one night, just because it was convenient after such a long day of travel and arriving so late at night (after 1:00 am).

We are very tired, and the change in time zones has already messed us up a bit, but these are small prices to pay for the privilege of traveling!

My beloved work wife sent me the most adorable crocheted rainbow Dachshund for Christmas, and I brought it along on this trip since we can't bring our actual dogs when we travel! I decided I'm going to take pictures of it throughout the trip in different places we visit because I like to do weird, adorable things like that!