My alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. and I really didn’t feel like getting up. I lingered in bed for probably 45 minutes longer and was about to get in the shower when the telephone rang with my wake up call. I’m never fast out of a shower so when I did get out I had less than 15 minutes to get my bags packed and be downstairs for the airport shuttle. I was just about packed when the airport shuttle driver called saying hurry up we got to get to the airport. I slammed all my stuff into my bags and headed out the door to the elevator. I left the elevator on the first floor and my bag was grabbed by the airport shuttle driver. I jumped in the minivan and off to the airport we went. When I arrived I was almost three hours early. I didn’t mind because I wanted to walk around some and look at the different shops. I wanted to find some souvenirs because all the way through Europe, Ukraine and Russia I didn’t find any to purchase. If I did find souvenirs there was no room to carry them on my motorcycle. Anyway, I checked in first and that all went smoothly. No problems with the passport. I was given my ticket, gate number and off I went looking for souvenirs. En route to Burger King I walked past a currency exchange and decided to change all my Korean Wan to Dollars. I had like $400 of Korean Wan I needed to change. So I pulled out this wad of Korean Wan and asked the lady to change it. She asked if I wanted U.S. Dollars or Canadian Dollars. I said all U.S. Dollars and she said you get more money if you change it all to Canadian Dollars. So I told to her change it all to Canadian Dollars. I was putting my money away when I pulled out more Korean Wan from my pocket and second wallet. The lady sighed and recalculated the currency again. I spotted a Burger King and bought myself some breakfast. I’m getting into the swing of this fast food. I just realized I converted all my Korean Yen into Canadian Dollars. How am I going to pay for this food? Just then I saw a sign on the cash register that said U.S. Dollars were accepted. I was saved by a sign again. My Whopper went down smoothly. I moved on to the first shop and looked around. Nothing here I want. As I was leaving I saw a Harley-Davidson poster. I went over and checked it out closer. Here they were selling H-D clothing and accessories. I bought myself two Korean Official Licensed Harley-Davidson T-shirts. They will be a nice addition to my collection of H-D T-shirts that I have. I went through security with no problems and then continued browsing the duty free shops along the way for more souvenirs without much luck. I was looking for something special for Mary but she has more jewelry than she can wear in a year. I left all the shops empty handed. I was bummed out. I was still too early to go to my gate so I found an area where I could sit and work on my blog until my flight was ready to leave. It’s still hard to believe I left Russia but now I’m leaving South Korea and tomorrow I will be in Vancouver, B.C. Things are moving very fast and it still seems like only yesterday I was in Russia. Here is something else that is kind of funny……………I still want to answer all questions in Russian. Well it’s time for me to head to my gate. I flew business class out of Korea to Tokyo, Japan. There was a long line when I walked up to ticket counter to get on the airplane and I received my share of suspicious looks. i.e. does this guy really think he is going to the head of the line. Normally that wouldn’t be a big deal except I looked a little too dusty to be flying business class. My red jacket and shoes were covered with Russian dust from when I rode my motorcycle from Vladivostok to the Port of Zarubino. That was a very dusty day for the short distance I traveled. The dust covered and got into everything. I also didn’t dust myself off very well. Much to everyone’s surprise the ticket counter people took my ticket and I continued walking onto the plane. The stewardess showed me my seat and I gave her my jacket to stow away. I’m a novice business or first class flyer and was quite surprised to see only about a quarter of these seats were filled. About the only thing I had to do on this flight was to fill out the customs and immigration forms for Japan. The rest was free time and I really didn’t feel like working on my blog. The reality of me going back to the states still seems in the future even though I’m one day away. Next stop Tokyo, Japan.
We landed, pulled up to the gate and disembarked the airplane. Everything I needed to know about getting through the airport was in English so I had no problems navigating the place. Next I headed toward customs and immigration. I stopped and ask what counter or line I should stand in and was misdirected to the wrong area. After about twenty minutes of standing in this mass of humanity I kind of was thinking something is wrong and I’ve got to find out if I’m standing in the right line. They had an information person answering questions a short distance from my line. I showed him my ticket and custom forms and he said you don’t belong here. He pointed in the opposite direction and said go upstairs. Off I went. I climbed the stairs and went through security again. I now was in the secure area where I could read the incoming flights and outgoing flights. My flight wasn’t on the board yet and according to my ticket I had a five hour layover. I bought something to eat from McDonalds. Yes our very own McDonalds and again they accepted dollars. I headed off to a lounge area where you could sit or lie down and ate my Big Mac, French Fries and a Strawberry Shake. After that I continued work on my blog. I met a woman working on her laptop who was from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She had just left Bejing, China and was a staff member at the University of Minnesota. She taught/worked in the area of Chinese studies and spoke Chinese and maybe wrote it. It’s always odd/weird/interesting when you meet people from your town in another part of the world. Here are another couple instances of it. I was in Santiago, Chile in the Holiday Inn going up to my room in the elevator. I asked the woman in the elevator with me where she was from. I was pretty sure she was American. She said she was from a small town in Minnesota and I’d never know where it is. I told her I was from St. Paul, Minnesota. She half heartily believed that. She then told me she was from Stillwater, Minnesota and I asked her a question that only a person in the area would know i.e. like did you ever take the cave tour down on Main Street? She looked at me a little strange like Oh my God, he really is from St Paul, Minnesota. Another was when I was diving on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. This woman walked up to me and said I hear you’re from St Paul, Minnesota. I said yes and she said I’m from Hastings, Minnesota. I said I’ll be darned. She asked me if I had any messages I’d like relayed to my family. I said no, all my family members are scattered around the U.S. and you’d have to pay for long distant calls in order to contact them etc. etc. It still was a nice gesture on her part and I thanked her. Now back to Tokyo. I continued working on my blog until my battery ran out. I couldn’t find an outlet I could plug in. They were all taken or I could find one open. I’m not sure when I will continue this blog……………….so don’t hold your breath.
I just read the Incoming and Outgoing Flights Board and my flight has been delayed an hour so I continue to wait. I walked down to the gate and people are starting to amass. I find an empty chair and park. The plane finally arrives, everybody disembarks and the plane has to be cleaned. By the time the plane is ready to fly we are actually leaving more like two hours late. The announcement is made that it’s time to board. I started thinking maybe I’d better go to the bathroom and get a drink before this process gets too far along. I take off, do my business and return. The line is real long with passengers getting on the plane. Again I walk to the head of the line with my ticket, with one major difference. Someone escorted me to the ticket counter expecting problems and when I handed them my ticket they tore it off and let me on the plane. The security person disappeared. I seem to be magnet for security people for some reason. I’m beginning to believe I never do anything the right way. I walk through the front door of the airplane and whoa. What am I walking into? These don’t look like the first class seats I know. I find my seat and park. I give my coat to the stewardess to hang up and stow my carry-on luggage. I sit down in my seat and try to figure this whole thing out. It has its own TV screen, 110v power outlet, ear headsets and my God, I can lay down and sleep! This is a totally new experience for me. It took me a while to figure out how the chair reclines into a bed. The flight from Tokyo, Japan was food, filling out custom and immigration forms, two movies, sleep, more food and landing in Vancouver, B.C. We crossed the International Dateline while flying to Vancouver so we lost a day. I left Tokyo on 5 August 2009 and landed in Vancouver, B.C. on 5 August 2009. That’s science for you. We disembarked the plane, walked to the baggage claim area and then on to customs and immigration. It was a bit of wait to get through customs and immigration. When I finally got to the window the customs agent wanted to know why I was coming to Canada. I said I was picking my motorcycle up. He asked if I bought it in Canada. I said no, I shipped it here from South Korea and then proceeded to tell him I had just ridden my motorcycle around the world. He asked which countries I had ridden through and I rattled them off and once I said Russia he stamped my passport and waved me on. He didn’t want to listen to me anymore. He knew I knew what I was talking about and that it was not some kind of a snow job. I was home free and it felt like I just used my Get Out of Jail Free card. No more problems with customs and immigration. I waited for the shuttle to the Days Inn Airport location. I arrived at the Days Inn and inquired about my room I had made a reservation for. They checked their e-mails. Nope, David Reinhold did not make any reservations. They did have a room for me which I paid for. Then a woman stuck her head out of the office and said some shipping company called asking for me. Days Inn told them we have no David Reinhold registered at the hotel. They said they would call back later and check again. I went up to my room and decided to test my cell phone to see if it works. I called the number Wendy Choi told me to call when I arrived in Vancouver to check on the arrival of my motorcycle. They answered and said yes, they have my motorcycle and it’s ready to be picked up. I asked the hours they were open and they said it’s too late to pick it up today. Come tomorrow, we’re open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I said ok. I took a shower, checked my e-mails and went to bed.
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