Greetings all!

It's been some time getting back into the swing of things. Didn't find the old post about the wedding, so here's a new one which I hope will answer questions and curiosities you all might have.

Firstly, the flight from Texas to Bangkok took something like 27 hours. It was non-stop from Dallas, Texas, to Narita, Japan (about 13.? hours). Then several hours waiting for the next flight. Then an additional 11 or 12 hours from Japan to Bangkok. I flew over a lot of states covered in snow, mountains, and finally around the north Pacific as the flight went in an arch near Alaska. The flight from Japan to Thailand was at night, so didn't see much. With the time zone change, I lost a day and suddenly felt my much needed vacation was going way too quickly and I hadn't even landed.

Narita was a blast, and was easy to get around. There are cute Japanese girls who stand around directing passengers to the correct gates for their next flights. I didn't have to use a word of Japanese to get around. English is indeed very universal. There is a Starbucks in Terminal 2, btw, if you get the craving for some coffee. But you'll have to leave Terminal 1 through customs just as if you are going to stay in Japan. You have to fill in the paperwork for customs and another stating if you have done any crimes. American citizens do not need a visa. To get to Terminal 2 you'll have to catch a yellow buss #6 (the only one, and it's marked outside) and the instructions are in both Japanese and English. Just keep a sharp ear to what the recordings say. Starbucks is on the second floor of Terminal 2, near American Airlines.

Thailand was rather nice. I'll see about posting some photos. I don't speak a word of Thai yet, so getting around would probably be a challenge. Everything is taxi oriented. Many various taxi companies in many colors. You can easily tell them. Never assume they will take you anywhere, always ask if they will go to where you want to go before getting in.

The wedding took all day. It started about 6:30 am for the ceremony. Then later that night came the reception at a restaurant and that took some hours. A lot of photos, a lot of food, and a lot of formality for the whole thing. The Japanese have the bow, which I am used to, but Thailand has the wai (sounds like "why").. which I understand foreigners usually mess up. I had to get used to it and when to wai and to whom.

The wedding was on a bluemoon, and on a lunar eclipse, and New Years Eve.

The toy stores in Thailand are like in most places in Asia, they are usually in department stores. Imagine Sears of the early 80's with a very large toy department. A lot of Asian countries do not have a lot of space to build wide and out, so they go up. The best toy area was in the city's center, which was the nicest part of BKK too. It was a 6+ floor mall (I only went to the 6th floor). Marble floors, walls, very polished, very nice. Lots of good food, manga/anime shops, furniture stores, and big department stores. One is called Zen which has a toy section almost as big as all of TRU there, which was also at that mall. Zen is like a Sears.. with appliances and other stuff in other departments.

There are a lot of Japanese toys, a lot of Gundam models, Zoids, and all sorts of items I never seen in the states. There is a doll house like series for girls which resemble the same scales as the school room that Haradrel and others here have taken pics of. But other sets, and built so that a girl can stack them one on top of each other (remember, space is a premium in Asia.) There's a lot more too for the doll sets, like kitchen, bathroom, food, bedroom, den, and other things you can imagine a girl would want to decorate her doll house with. All of them just about Joe scale. Some a bit larger.

The toys from Japan are all sold in cardboard boxes so that you can not see the actual content. No clear plastic window. The shelves are full of these boxes. There usually is one display case where the toy is taken out of the box and put on display. But you have to figure out what you have in hand is what you see in a box. TRU has the same setup.

A lot of BnB for crazy prices. All the American toys are very expensive. There is an import fee tacked on which makes all the BnB and Joe toys too expensive to buy there. Joes were about twice there than in the states. The Japanese toys did not have this fee and were better priced.

All in all, the trip was fun. I recommend flying JAL or ANA over AA. The food was way better, and the flight attendents on JAL and ANA were very cute.

The flight back was just as long, but went straight across the Pacific. No northern route. AA really packs ppl in.

The wife came two days later and I've been busy ever since. All in all, a good trip. Next time I plan to take it more slowly, because as you might guess, there were things there I had to do, like fill in forms at the US Embassy, etc. Only one day to rest and I got sick on that day. So if anyone is contemplating taking an overseas trip, it's a lot of fun, and take a lot of over-the-counter meds incase you do get sick.

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