Back in Asia

October 5-7

We left Newark a bit after 11 in the morning on Thursday for the long flight to Tokyo, a little more than 13 hours non-stop to Narita airport.

It is a grueling run, and you have to remember to get up and walk up and down the cabin aisle from time to time. The Boeing 787 gave us headroom to stand in front of our seats, too.

I was trying out a new back brace, which Joanna had recommended. It worked wonders making the long trip a lot more comfortable, but still, after more than a dozen hours, my back was sore and my ass more so.

It seems that every time I go through Narita, something is different. Last time Joanna and I walked from gate to gate. The first time, when I was alone, had to go through conventional passport control.

This time, there was a quick pass through a passport check. One glance at your boarding pass and passport, and they let you through.

Of course, I’m usually so rocky by the time I get to Tokyo that maybe it’s the same every time, and I just remember only parts of it.

We got to Narita around 1:30 p.m. local time, which was about 13 hours ahead of daylight saving time in New Jersey.

I don’t know what meal we had—late dinner, maybe, or early breakfast—at a place called Avion, where we can sit by the window and watch the planes come and go.

We had a soup called udon and gyoza dumplings. I’m not sure what is in the dumplings, but they are very tasty.

I came across something new, to me at least, a black brew called Yebisu, which is like a slightly lighter version of Guinness. It’s a dry stout on nitrogen draft, which gives it a smooth, creamy texture. 

We had about five hours to kill, so Joanna took a nap while I went walking around the terminal. I came across another bar which had a tap for Asahi black, also new to me. It was another nitro stout, dry and smooth. 

The Yebisu and Asahi black were among the best local beers I’ve had in Asia.

The flight to Bangkok took about five hours. We got a couple of hours’ sleep on the  second leg of the trip and landed at Suvarnabhumi a little after 11 p.m. on the 6th.

While we waited to get our bags from the overhead, Joanna started to chat with the woman sitting next to her by the window. Turns out, she is an American, a student at the University of Arizona, who has come to Thailand to work with elephants.

Her group rescues domestic elephants and retrains them to be released into the wild. 

The trip from Newark to Bangkok takes about 25 hours travel and layover time, but the clock advances 36 hours because of the time difference.

I guess we got to our hotel, the Centric Place, around 1 a.m.

There was a message for Joanna. Her son Gregory asked her to phone him when we arrived at the hotel.

We didn’t have working phones. Maybe we could use Skype. But it was easier than that. The man at the desk offered Joanna the use of his cell.

Joanna called, fearing an emergency, but learned that Greg and his wife, Eugenia, wanted to let her know they were in town.

That was a surprise. Joanna knew that her niece Kimberly, who lives in the Philippines, was coming to Thailand during part of our stay here, but Greg and Eugie apparently had decided on short notice to come to Bangkok for a quick trip, too.

We slept until about 7:30 and went downstairs to breakfast. The Asian option was a rice porridge that in Cantonese is called cheok (sounds almost like “joke”) and a selection of mix-or-match ingredients—deep-fried dried fish, peanuts, cubes of chicken, preserved vegetable—to go into it. 

I’ve developed quite a taste for cheok, and Joanna grew up with it. 

There was also a salad described as spicy pickles. It consisted of pickled cabbage and sliced chiles. 

For dessert we had a small omelet.

Larry came to the hotel around 11 and we headed out to buy SIM cards for our phones. We had bought the phones in Bangkok a year and a half ago. The cards had expired, so we needed new ones.

We went to a mall not far from the hotel, and after a couple of false starts bought cards and then taxied to Larry’s new enterprise.

Larry’s significant other, Noi, is a barber ,and they have set up a small shop in I don’t know exactly where because we took a taxi to get there. It’s called The Barber by L & N. So if you get a chance, go and like it on Facebook.

We came bearing clippers, Clubman talc, and Barbicide for the shop. They were actually cheaper to buy in the States and ship to Joanna’s house, where I packed them in my suitcase, than to buy them and have them shipped directly to Thailand.

We met Noi for the first time and watched her set up her new toys. Then we left for a short stroll that took us to one of those rough-looking eating places that are so good in Thailand.

This one had a roof, long tables, and no walls. Outside, by the sidewalk, they were grilling fish dressed in salt.

That fish was tender and flavored by the salt that had worked through the skin.

We had that and a leafy green sometimes called morning glories. Then came a spicy wild boar, made with cocoanut milk. Very unusual, and very new to me.

We cabbed back to the hotel. The place doesn’t seem easy to find. 

Last night at the airport, we gave our driver a printout of the address, and he had to call someone for directions over the phone. Then he took us right to it.

This time the driver got lost. He circled a couple of blocks and then asked someone for directions. After that it was a straight run. Even with the fare for lost time, the meter read 63 baht—a little more than $1.80.

I find jet lag to be a wonderful feeling—that sense of disorientation, the inability to tell if you’re high or just tired—but it can play tricks on you. I lay down for a nap and expected to be up in maybe two hours. I was out for almost four.

Larry met us at the hotel again shortly before 7 and led us a few blocks to a Mexican fusion restaurant called OMG.

Most of the taps were dry because there had been a big party the night before, but the place specializes in local craft beers. Larry told us that it is technically illegal to brew craft beer in Thailand, but even so, it is a growing phenomenon.

I had a draft double IPA from Happy New Beer that ran a little more than 8 percent alcohol by volume. It was mildly fragrant, a little sweet (maybe from the alcohol), but nonetheless very drinkable.

I also drank a bottled milder version that ran 6.5 percent.

Joanna and I had beans and rice and shared a plate of chicken fajitas. The food was amazingly good.  And that’s not even considering that we were eating Mexican in Bangkok and the cook-proprietor was native Indian who had grown up in Thailand.

He came out to chat with us for a while. In addition to running the restaurant, he is a musician involved in various cover bands, one for 60s and 70s, another for heavy metal.

Travel is broadening. Especially if you like the beer and the food.

Good night, all, and stay well.

Harry