Have a great trip, and drop us a line if you have a chance!

Lucy

have fun

i see that its warming up in tokyo, low 60s, however, with the high temp. comes pollen. tokyo presently has a very high pollen count, so, if you have allergies, don't forget your medication.

i am sure you are just about packed, and ready to go.

itte rashai.

Aw, shucks. And now that you've alerted me, kuranosuke, the Allegra for allergies is on the bed getting ready to get stuffed in the suitcase! I wonder, can you put prescription bottles in those vaccuum packer bags and make then little?
With the warm weather also comes the possibility that the cherry blossoms may pop open a bit earlier, a good thing...
I will likely send you an email or two as my son needs to find internet cafes to keep up w/the county's school website for homework assignments.
rhkkmk, NWA tried to take away my 747 63A&C seats. I had to fight to get them back and a fodors post I did to you is what got them back for me. They couldn't dispute the fact that I had secured those seats after they read the post.
You guys are the best. =D>

Bon Voyage, Emd and EmdJr !

Have fun, eat well, and come back with plenty of great memories (and then start immediately planning the next trip) !

Have a great trip, emd. Thanks to your posting I went up to the Japanrail office in Rock Center the other day and got the paper JR schedule.
Enjoy,
Mara

emd, have a great trip, safe travelling and fun times!

Mara, I'm glad you got a schedule. Isn't is so much better than hyperdia (as long as you have a JR pass and aren't in need of individual train costs)?

mrwunrfl: I love bagel and egg sandwiches! I've put one last recommendation on the "food and dining" page of my notebook for Doutor at the JR stations. I forgot the eyeshades and earplugs. I do have clothespins to close the drapes in the hotel room and I never sleep on planes or trains anyway, so I'm ok without the eyeshades. But earplugs I could use...maybe they sell them somewhere at DCA.
Ok believe it or not I am not packed yet, so I'm off to try out the amazing vaccuum seal bags now-- to just shrink away my entire life into one little 21 inch suitcase.

how did you get them to look at the post??

I was on the phone w/the 5th NWA supervisor I had spoken to last Sunday after they told me I had no seat reservations, and I walked her through the process of going into the fodors Asia forum and finding the New Years post I did where I thanked you and said how I had gotten up in the middle of the night to call and get those seats as soon as they opened up! She read it and put me on hold, and 10 min later came back and announced that I now had those seats.
Sometimes alot of things go wrong, but this was one of those moments like in Annie Hall when Woodie Allen is standing in line in NY to go to the movies w/Annie and he has that irritating guy behind him espousing on his take on the meaning of a movie, and Marshall "the medium is the message" McLuhan walks out of nowhere to Woodie Allen's rescue and sets the irritating guy straight on the real meaning of the movie. It was just one of those rare classic moments in life where things go as you really would like them to.

Hi emd, I hope you enjoy the most amazing trip! Oh, how I hope to get to Japan one of these days--do I ever have trip envy! Wishing you safe and happy travels!

that is amazing....i had a very good experience recently with world vacations....we booked a trip and were told that we would get 5M bonus miles...when the e mail came through it listed 2500...i phoned and talked to a supervisor and he said he would fix it but not until our return...he put me on his calendar for july and gave me his direct dial number if i do not see the miles....what more could you ask for....i'm sticking with nwa....and seat 63!!!!

Have a GREAT time!!!!!

rhkkmk: It was more than amazing. I passed 12 hrs. in 63A and it felt like 4 hrs. I have had worse flights to L.A. from D.C.! We had SO MUCH room next to the seats- I was able to fit my carry on that had my notebooks of printouts from this forum and all the other valuable info that the trip could not go forward without, plus my son's daypack w/all his school work, and everything else. It was great!

I hope you have the best trip. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Oh, do I have good info for you, monkeyrhino... that capsule place *geestore* was great, and I can help you find it- it isn't all that easy to find. Ghibli was top notch. More later.

i just did my last seat assignments and we got 63 for both trans pacific flights....they now are using air busses for nrt to bkk so that will be something new but we are in row 19 which should not be too bad...

emd1...I am saving lots of money for the capsule toy store! When do we get to hear everything about your trip...I am on the edge of my seat. I got some good info when I was in NYC, but I have a feeling your hands-on will be priceless!

I developed a medical problem the last few days in Japan and decided to hold off on seeking medical attn. til I got home, so I am dealing w/that now. And unpacking. And trying to reassimilate back into the U.S. (I am really noticing how LOUD everyone is here compared to Japan). If I have to take another medical day tomorrow then I hope to start the report then.
It is much more difficult being back than I ever thought it would be, and much harder than any other trip I've ever been on. As my son said this morning at breakfast, "Where's the miso?"
But to whet your appetite even more, I'll tell you that I just finshed unpacking the capsule collection I got for my daughter (frogs) and for myself (samurai) and put them in the display cases I brought back from Gee-store and they are just so cool.

On the 330's as the seating is 2 x 4 x 2 it's nice to get a pair if seats and never have to worry about who's sitting with you in a set of 3 seats!