The Plane Ride

I skipped my workout today so that I could blog.

Not really. I skipped my workout because I don't have the energy to do it and I don't feel like it. And I'd rather walk outside with the natures and the dog and my hubby than while watching shitty cable news on the treadmill. And my workout buddies have all given up working out or changed their schedule.

Wait, this is all about the plane ride, right?

I mentioned before that I've never made it to First Class. There's an upperdeck for only first class passengers, but my seat wasn't there. Instead it was near the front and no one was near me. They gave me a package of items in addition to a pillow and a large blanket.
So I examined everything.

I now had socks, chapstick, shoe polish, acetone, a blind fold, ear plugs, a shoe horn, lotion and a toothbrush and toothpaste.

I felt like the luckiest girl alive. I'd really just settled in with my full kindle charged (this is important for later) when I was offered my first alcoholic drink. Wine? Champagne? 
REALLY? I thought.
Then they brought out a basket of fruit and chips and snacks. Have as many as you want. Whenever you want it.  As much booze, too.

Ok, champagne, that sounds good.

My predecessor coworkers all warned me to SLEEP on the plane. You won't get sleep later and it is hard to adjust if you don't. My flight was 16 hours--13 to Narita and 3 to Manila)

OK! I said. I will sleep on the plane. The champagne will help me get there. And everything about jet lag says to avoid booze on the flight. But one little glass is OK. (Writing this now, I think I'd kill to drink again!)

We took off and accelerated to a nice cruising speed.  I texted a few people from the plane about my packet of delightful items. A SHOE HORN! I said.  About 20 minutes into the flight, I grabbed Game of Thrones, book 5, and started to read on my kindle. I charged the kindle ALL NIGHT LONG for this flight and the battery life is about 1 month. Dan asked me about it again before I left.  "No problem, it will last forever, I said."

For-E-VER.

 It was already dead. Turns out you need to turn wifi "off" or else it will search for a signal. That doesn't work very well 35K feet above ground.  I panicked for about 5 minutes. NO READING? NO READING? MY BOOKS ARE GONE? (First class does not offer chargers or outlets, sadly).  Then the blinking movie light options came at me.  I had my own TV in my own seat. I could watch whatever I wanted at any time.  So I turned on the movie about the surfer who has her arm bitten off by a shark in Hawaii. And I reclined my seat. And I extended the foot rest and the head rest---so I was almost laying flat. The seats would go to 170 degrees flat--which later would prove to be quite vexing.

I stretched out my new blankie, which was big enough for my whole body.  I cried at the movie about  the surfer because her family was so nice and supportive and I couldn't imagine mine being like hers at all. I'm pretty sure if a shark bit my arm off, my parents would have yelled at me and blamed me for it.  They definitely would never have let me cook dinner for them with my feet. And they'd probably mock me the whole time for having one arm. They definitely wouldn't have built a surf board designed for my new disability and been that encouraging.

I was given a menu of what to eat mid-flight. Now I can't remember the choices, but it was all really nice items that you don't usually see on an airplane. (Side note: I flew Delta and they were great to me), I don't remember what I ordered because I slept through the meal and had to eat it later.  The flight attendants were happy to help me reheat it and serve it.

The next movie I chose to watch was Jane Eyre. I fell asleep during that one, too. Or tried to sleep, but mostly it was in and out  of sleep. I was forcing myself to sleep at around 5-6 PM, which was not natural, so I had another glass of booze. Wine this time.  And thus my flight went on and on and on and on. I did get to the point where I thought it would never, ever end. When 170 degrees is not the same as 180 degrees and you slide around and move. When you have to brush your teeth again and your lips are dry.  These are all petty complaints though, and eventually I landed in Narita and then in Philippines.

My boss instructed me to just enjoy the flight and prepare for the experience.
So I did.

Now that this entry is over, it seems like I've blogged about the flight before.

Oh well. I will blog about getting picked up at the airport and the rest of the trip later.