Daily Report: On Top Of The World

Sunday night, it was off to the airport (Mike providing a lift, Pui and Pot in attendance) for my flight to New York.

For the first time, I took the nonstop Thai airways BKK-to-JFK flight... 18 hours with no stops. I also flew in the new class, called "premium economy", which is a business class seat but with economy class meals. For an additional $200 round trip, I figured why not?

It was the right choice to make, if I do say so: The seat is wide enough to accommodate my beach ball backside with room to spare, the arm rests are a good 10 inches wide, there is a pop up leg rest, and it is simply impossible to hit your knees on the seat in front of you. (And when it comes to the food, well, Thai Airways don't do too bad with their economy class food, so when you compare $1,800 for this ticket compared to $5,000... an additional $3,200 for what boils down to essentially first class service/food, well... I suppose if you can afford it.)

The only bummer was that I couldn't get a window seat, so I couldn't do my favorite flight pass-time, which is to watch the world go by.

The flight left right on time at 12:40 a.m., and flew straight north for about 10½ hours, and then flew straight south for about 7½ hours... right over the north pole. (Which is why I am lamenting the lack of a window seat: It would have been cool to see the North Pole... even if there is nothing specifically to see.)

One thing that is weird about the flight is that out of the 18 hours of flying time, they keep the cabin in the dark for about 15 hours of the flight. I guess they figured that is the best way to combat jet lag or something.

Anyway, I landed in New York, got through immigration with barely a wait and no hassle whatsoever. Transferred to my domestic flight up to Rochester, was picked up by my mother, and was back on the family homestead (or more accurately, my mother's prefab little ranch house in a prefab little old-folks neighborhood).

Oh: Got to drink Dr. Pepper for the first time in 5 years... forgot how tasty that is.

Anyway, 7:00 p.m. EST, or about 34 hours after I started my trip, I'm ready to beat the jet lag properly, and go to bed.