blogging... (yes, i know it doesn't work as well as "speed") but trust me speed is going to have nothing to do with this blog... so go ahead make some popcorn, get settled in and come with me on a tale that is a cross between the princess bride and the alchemist, and yes a little top gun for good measure...
so... our story begins in a little apartment on 9th street in santa monica, california... the boy who lives there has led a very blessed life and tries his best not to forget it... however, he never ceases to be amazed at how amazing the universal principles are... and how consistent they are. These are the rules that the universe follows and if we are in alignment with them and using them for good, life is a constant flow of magic... if however we are unaware of them or using them in a negative way we suffer... it's written about it every tradition and taught by every great teacher that has ever walked this planet, yet most still seem to be unaware of it or in denial of its truth...
what I'm talking about specifically is what Earl Nightingale called the Strangest Secret in the world... after making a study of the most successful people throughout history which lasted over 25 years, looking for the secret as to why some people seemed to get everything they wanted while the rest seemed to be at the mercy of circumstance and constantly struggling from one trial to the next... he reduced everything he learned down to a single sentence... "we become what we think about"
maybe you've heard...
"thoughts become things"
"we reap what we sow"
"pray believing that you already have, and it shall be yours"
from marcus arelius and Alexander the Great, from Jesus the Christ to the Dali Lama, from Oprah Winfrey to Dorthy from the wizard of oz... they all said the same thing... "there's no place like home"... and... "you become what you think about."
so for me... my trip was to be a celebration of all life from the highest in spirituality to the most primal in the secular... and so that was my intention. One specific part being that I would really like to deepen my knowledge and practice of meditation while here... these two countries are steeped in spiritual tradition and practice and their ancient roots have always spoken to me.
so there it is, my intention... then released... not attached to anything happening but open to everything... I'm a "yes" if the universe offers... and so here's a brief glimpse of what has unfolded so far...
my hosts' Noo and Jung are deeply spiritual and Noo in particular has been studying meditation for many many years, knows many of the great monks personally and it's probably his favorite topic to talk about... pretty good start.
then, having absolutely no solid idea of what I was going to do when I landed... they asked me what my plan was... i repeated my intention to them which I had previously shared and said that I was totally open... did they have any suggestions... after realizing my seriousness about meditation they began to help me look for temples that offered classes. I made a list of some of them and went out the next day to get more info. By the end of the day I was no closer to finding what I was looking for on my end and was a little beat down by the extreme heat of the day... I called to check in and Jung said she thought she had some good news... "what?" I asked
she said that she had called a friend, and well that friend has a connection with one of the highest ranking monks from Malaysia, who just happens to be having a meditation retreat in Bangkok next week, and it's one of only two all year that he opens to foreigners, and that although normally there are anywhere between 200-300 people per retreat, this one was being capped at 15... and even though all of his retreats are booked for at least 6 months in advance, including this one... she was able to get me a spot, did I want it?
hell ya!!! so that is happening next week and there will be more on that for sure... if I don't sponteneously burst into the enlightened samadi state from which I merge with all there is... (i wonder if they have blogging in the higher realms... God I hope so...but back to the present.
so the day after receiving that bit of amazing news my friends take me and Master Ananda to the ancient city... this is a place that has replicas of all of the major spiritual spots in thailand... it is the fast track for spiritual seekers... which is what our group is all on : ) and after a beautiful morning of learning history, myth, tradition, and ritual, brewed together with the magical blending of all of our unique individual journeys, the US, India, Thailand, and China all represented (Jung's family is chinese) Noo wanted to take us to a temple of a certain forest monk who was the teacher of his teacher. This place has a special mortorium where they keep the bones of the aleman from Thailand. The alamen are the monks who have achieved enlightenment and have been freed from the cycle of reincarnation... what is of particular interest is that this is one of the temples that has an actual bone from the buddha... the tradition here is for people to be cremated when they die and their bone remnants kept in a sacred urn... however they have found that the bones of enlightened beings turn into glass after cremation... a powerful example of the clarity and purity of consciousness that they attained while here.
So, Noo wanted us to see the glass bones, which of course I was totally enthralled to see... as I know that several of the Christian saints after being buried for years, many have not decayed at all... so glass bones seems entirely possible and another reminder that there is so much more happening than we can see.
So after paying our respects, Noo went to get a couple souveneur shop while Ananda, Jung and I took a few more pictures... as we were meeting back up with Noo, who was talking with a Nun who had just sold him some books, he said that there was a monk who lived here that spoke english and did i want to meet him... "yes" and next thing I knew the Nun handed me the phone and said talk to him...
I said hello, and he asked me my name... I said Jeff... he said not name, "aim"... oh... okay that was a trick question... okay aim, what's my aim... is this a riddle... quit thinking and just speak from your heart man... okay... I said, my aim is to know myself more fully... He said meet him by the library in 10 minutes.
We all headed to the library and we were all very excited, except the pressure was on... I was going to get to speak with him for a couple of minutes... but how do I make this count... I gotta have a good question... maybe something like...I'm a big fan of the robes, but why orange... no that's stupid... how about, Ive always thought of being a monk... I mean you guys aren't allowed to work, people just give you money, your are extremely respected, but the short hair thing is a dealbreaker, any loopholes for that one?... no, no, time was running out... we were almost there... relax man, relax, just be yourself...
so, he came and immediately started talking to Ananda, and after a minute or so, I was like, hey what about me... Ananda's already a guru... I'm the one that needs help... just look at my hair! but I would get my time as would everyone else... for the next 1 1/2 hours this monk shared with us techniques to help us with our meditations, specific insights into each of our lives, with a guidance that is spoken in that simple riddle kind of way... where you know that he is seeing so much more than he is sharing but that he knows what we are ready to hear and won't reveal more. He even lead us in a 10-15 minute meditation after which we each got to ask personal questions about our lives, our missions, energy, and for a glimpse at what the next level of consciousness was like (i mean this is a guy who has been devoted to spiritual practices his entire life, has meditated for over 20 hours straight and from his penetrating eyes and sponteneous laughter, if anyone knew it was him)... then we asked to take his picture which we did in front of an amazing statue of the buddha with the huge temple as a backdrop. We left in awe... Noo said that in all of his years of coming to this temple, (his grandfather even lived on the grounds for several years) he had never heard of getting this much one on one time with one of the high ranking monks. Ananda said that in his 2 1/2 years in thailand he had never actually spoken to a monk one on one... and for me well you would have thought I just got to sit in Santa's lap and tell him that I wanted a red rider bb gun for Christmas... but instead of shooting my eye out, this santa gave me hints on opening an extra eye...
I took pages of notes on the way home... jotting everything I could remember down... I will be writing that, but some of it was very personal it probably won't make the blog, but I would be happy to share it off line if anyone is ever interested. However, the gist of it of it is similar to Santiago who traveled the world in search of his personal legend and ended up meeting the enlightened alchemist who shared... "it is indeed our destiny to find our personal legend, but we must listen to the voice inside and act upon the clues it gives us and follow the omens... and in the end, even though our journey may take us to the four corners of the world, the treasure we seek is inside and often found right back at the place we began."
and so each night here I have gone to bed with more and more of a feeling that I am indeed in a fairy tale and yet it couldn't be more real. I have so much gratitude for God (you can call him whatever you want) but the truth is that this first week here has reminded me he is ever present, all knowing, and all powerful and that we do indeed experience what we think about... and God's response to all our thoughts... echos Westley's consistent response to Princess Buttercup's every whim...
"As you wish"
as for the top gun part of this tale... everyone here has call names... Noo means little mouse, Jung means messy... and they are still working on one for me... they are thinking of something to do with cool water or ice since I have been struggling with the heat...and if they go with ice... just remember... that's Mr. Iceman to you...
all right that's enough for now, Baietto requesting flyby... yep, gonna have to buzz the tower...
(fade out and cue "highway to the dangerzone" as the credits roll)
over and out,
ice
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
and on the 7th day...
hello... my name is jeff and I'm a blogger... it's be less than 12 hours since my last entry...
(hello Jeff) said in unison (that's your part)
I know the traditional story says that on the 7th day, God rested, but obviously he end up at the floating market just outside of Bangkok after creating the universe as we know it... otherwise i'm sure it would have read... and on the 7th day, God ate.
I have been amazed at how little food i've needed the last week. First it's hot and then there's all the excitement, but i really have felt fine on one meal a day, a snack or two and lots of liquids... however yesterday i think i ate somewhere near 45 different meals.
I had a coconut and egg omelette, grilled pork on a stick, duck that literally fell of the bone... I had a dessert called phuk (that could be wrong, and by could be, I mean it's wrong for sure) that had batter with sugar and coconut milk, I also had burnt cocunut, and jack fruit, little mango like things that can only be found in Thailand... then of course there where the real mangos, that are served with sticky rice and a sweet sauce, and I can't forget the 3 different dishes othat started with thai noodles as the base, then topped with garlic and chicken, bamboo sprouts and coconut sause and then something else that was probably my favorite but can't pronounce any of the ingredients... then there was another desert that resembled fruit cocktail except much better again with not a single item that I could tell you with any certainty... and in between the was of course the fruit smoothies, the chocolate sprinke covered little dough sticks and I almost forgot the tofu with spicy sauce and the fried bananas that started the whole thing...
that was most of it, although I'm sure i'm forgetting a few things... i seem to be having a little trouble thinking straight... let me get a little lunch and then I'll try again : )
seems like the market isn't the only thing that might go floating down the river
ciao for now....
j
(hello Jeff) said in unison (that's your part)
I know the traditional story says that on the 7th day, God rested, but obviously he end up at the floating market just outside of Bangkok after creating the universe as we know it... otherwise i'm sure it would have read... and on the 7th day, God ate.
I have been amazed at how little food i've needed the last week. First it's hot and then there's all the excitement, but i really have felt fine on one meal a day, a snack or two and lots of liquids... however yesterday i think i ate somewhere near 45 different meals.
I had a coconut and egg omelette, grilled pork on a stick, duck that literally fell of the bone... I had a dessert called phuk (that could be wrong, and by could be, I mean it's wrong for sure) that had batter with sugar and coconut milk, I also had burnt cocunut, and jack fruit, little mango like things that can only be found in Thailand... then of course there where the real mangos, that are served with sticky rice and a sweet sauce, and I can't forget the 3 different dishes othat started with thai noodles as the base, then topped with garlic and chicken, bamboo sprouts and coconut sause and then something else that was probably my favorite but can't pronounce any of the ingredients... then there was another desert that resembled fruit cocktail except much better again with not a single item that I could tell you with any certainty... and in between the was of course the fruit smoothies, the chocolate sprinke covered little dough sticks and I almost forgot the tofu with spicy sauce and the fried bananas that started the whole thing...
that was most of it, although I'm sure i'm forgetting a few things... i seem to be having a little trouble thinking straight... let me get a little lunch and then I'll try again : )
seems like the market isn't the only thing that might go floating down the river
ciao for now....
j
a little one on one anyone?
As an American there are many things that we are unequivicably the best in the world at... apple pie, movies, fast food, speaking louder and louder in foreign countries with no idea how they could possibly not understand us... and, of course, basketball... and this is where our story begins...
on friday I was invited to take a couple yoga classes from two Indian masters... Master Ananda and Master Suman...
now I still consider myself a beginning yogi but I have been practicing 4-5/week for the last couple of years, only to say that I have been to a fare amount of classes with a variety of teachers. But, with all do respect, these guys were in a totally different league. I felt like I had been playing basketball for the Chilian national team in 1994 and then drew the United States in round one of the 94 Olympics. Jordan, Pippen, Magic, Ewing, Karl Malone... I mean that was simply not fair.
Because basketball is ours, it just is... period. and sure every now and then there will be a Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitski, wait a second, now that I think about it I'm not sure I know any American players currently in the NBA... but you know what I'm saying
and when it comes to yoga... the Indians... well it's just different. I wish I could explain what their bodies could do, how the poses actually really look like their name... for example, when master suman did cobra, well let's just say I didn't want to make any abrupt movements...then there was master ananda's eye exercises, yes just moving my eyes could exhaust me in 15 seconds and then invoke a jolt of energy similar to a double shot of espresso. It reminded me of a scene with yoda and young skywalker... and not only because of the seeming jedi tricks that he could do but also the height difference and the funny accent... it's actually a very good analogy...
anyway, I was the only American, the only one that didn't speak thai, and the only one over 5 feet tall... making it hard to just blend in... so I got lots of direct attention... making me realize that even my most basic poses leave a lot to be desired... And after an hour of both of their classes I was both invigorated and extremely humbled.
Now they were very sweet and patient with me during class and after they were very gracious, thanking me for coming and inviting me to join them for as many classes as I wished while I was here... however I can't help but think they were having a good laugh at the tall white boy who was struggling in his cat/cows... and I have to admit that there was a small but very present part of my wounded ego that wanted nothing more than to remind them how lucky they were that there club didn't have a basketball court... because I would love to see how their perfect posture, superhuman core strength and ridiculous flexibility would help them when I started draining 3's all over their little guru selves.
anyway... it was an amazing experience and I felt so good that after a shower... I decided to get a treat from their snack bar... a big piece of apple pie... however I asked in several times to no avail and then I remembered, I just needed to speak louder...
then two nice guys grabbed me by the arms, escorted me to the door and pointed down the street, and then said several things to me in thai, (an obvious appology for not having what i wanted, and pointed to where I could find a piece of well deserved pie... although I didn't think they needed to push me so strongly in the direction of the pie place... I wasn't really in that big of hurry.
jeff "jordan" baietto
on friday I was invited to take a couple yoga classes from two Indian masters... Master Ananda and Master Suman...
now I still consider myself a beginning yogi but I have been practicing 4-5/week for the last couple of years, only to say that I have been to a fare amount of classes with a variety of teachers. But, with all do respect, these guys were in a totally different league. I felt like I had been playing basketball for the Chilian national team in 1994 and then drew the United States in round one of the 94 Olympics. Jordan, Pippen, Magic, Ewing, Karl Malone... I mean that was simply not fair.
Because basketball is ours, it just is... period. and sure every now and then there will be a Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitski, wait a second, now that I think about it I'm not sure I know any American players currently in the NBA... but you know what I'm saying
and when it comes to yoga... the Indians... well it's just different. I wish I could explain what their bodies could do, how the poses actually really look like their name... for example, when master suman did cobra, well let's just say I didn't want to make any abrupt movements...then there was master ananda's eye exercises, yes just moving my eyes could exhaust me in 15 seconds and then invoke a jolt of energy similar to a double shot of espresso. It reminded me of a scene with yoda and young skywalker... and not only because of the seeming jedi tricks that he could do but also the height difference and the funny accent... it's actually a very good analogy...
anyway, I was the only American, the only one that didn't speak thai, and the only one over 5 feet tall... making it hard to just blend in... so I got lots of direct attention... making me realize that even my most basic poses leave a lot to be desired... And after an hour of both of their classes I was both invigorated and extremely humbled.
Now they were very sweet and patient with me during class and after they were very gracious, thanking me for coming and inviting me to join them for as many classes as I wished while I was here... however I can't help but think they were having a good laugh at the tall white boy who was struggling in his cat/cows... and I have to admit that there was a small but very present part of my wounded ego that wanted nothing more than to remind them how lucky they were that there club didn't have a basketball court... because I would love to see how their perfect posture, superhuman core strength and ridiculous flexibility would help them when I started draining 3's all over their little guru selves.
anyway... it was an amazing experience and I felt so good that after a shower... I decided to get a treat from their snack bar... a big piece of apple pie... however I asked in several times to no avail and then I remembered, I just needed to speak louder...
then two nice guys grabbed me by the arms, escorted me to the door and pointed down the street, and then said several things to me in thai, (an obvious appology for not having what i wanted, and pointed to where I could find a piece of well deserved pie... although I didn't think they needed to push me so strongly in the direction of the pie place... I wasn't really in that big of hurry.
jeff "jordan" baietto
Friday, March 27, 2009
For everything else there's mastercard
So, I have to admit I'm not only really getting a hang of this blog thing, but I'm loving it... thus the 7500 word first entry yesterday... or whatever day that was... I'm on the other side of the world which makes your today my yesterday and my tomorrow your last week... but whenever you're reading this one, please know that it is guaranteed to only be a maximum of 14 minutes of reading time because that's all the time I have on my internet card... so here goes...
our story begins upon arrival.... i was greeted by Noo and Jung the only two people I know in Thailand. Noo was a foreign exchange student who stayed with my family for like a weekend about 25 years ago... then he and his wife Jung came when they got married and visited us as part of their US trip... that was 20 years ago.... well they had always invited us to come visit them and at first I'm sure they meant it, but come on let's face it there's got to be a statute of limitations on invites for families that took you in for a couple weekends when you were in college and the only thing you had to offer was hospitality when, but really IF, your host family ever came to Thailand. But really that's more a formality than a real offer...right? I mean you kind of think you are safe offering a family from a tiny town in Wisconsin to come visit you halfway around the world when most of the state i'm from considers Wisconsin Dells a getaway vacation (go ahead and google it if you don't get why that's funny) so...what exactly would you do if the oldest son of the family that you stayed with over 25 years ago suddenly contacted you and told you that he'd like to take you up on the offer that you made on coming to visit?
well one thing that you could do would be to not respond to his email, plenty of good excuses... didn't get it... computer crashed, i thought I replied, you didn't get it... huh that's weird... any one of these would have more than sufficed... but no... what do they do...
they not only actually want to see me, but insist that I stay at a sister's, city apartment (she lives in the south and won't be using it for the month I'm there) for as long as i want... and did they mention it's on the 22nd floor in downtown overlooking the whole city... close to everything and well, please treat it like it's mine...WHAT?
so, i wake up the next morning and sure enough there's the city, my city it feels like, in a Gordon Geko kind of way (again google it) and so i'm off to explore...
within an hour i've figured out how to get 3 stations on the sky train and jump in a tuk tuk, one of those 3 wheeled taxi rickshaw things that despite there rickety nature (thus the name) they can do about 90 no problem... at least it felt like that, and with no seat belts and a driver that seemed determined to break his previous record for driving regulations in a single trip I feel that I may truly have one the one night in Bangkok that they write songs about...
but miraculously i arrive, where, you ask? where else does someone on an extreme budget go on the first day of a two month trip... shopping of course... now in my defense I thought I clearly asked my driver to take me to a temple or a floating garden or a buddha of any kind but I guess what he heard was that I really wanted to go shopping for suits... and boy was he right.
within minutes i was trying things on and absolutely convinced that I had to have a new suit, I mean I can only wear my blue and grey hoodies so long before they both have to go in the wash at the same time.
So for the next couple hours I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, the second time she went shopping.... man do I love attention and they loved my money so we were a match made in heaven...
in the end I got two custom made suits, one armani cut, one hugo boss, and something like 7 shirts and 4 ties... for a couple hundred dollars... frickin amazing... and the best part... i look really, really good in them... now if I can only find some reason to wear them when I get back... anyone need a date for a wedding... or a funeral, bat mitzfa (sorry on spelling jewish friends) whatever, I'm in... I have just the thing to wear....
and so that brings me to the overused but always captivating title of this entry...
-business class flight from LA to Bangkok.......... (free... miles)
-penthouse suite overlooking city (free... taking in foreign exchange students has it's priviledges)
-complete new wardrobe of custom made suits, shirts and ties.... couple hundred dollars
-coming back to the states after a 2 month dream adventure looking even better than when I left........ PRICELESS
sawadee my friends,
j
our story begins upon arrival.... i was greeted by Noo and Jung the only two people I know in Thailand. Noo was a foreign exchange student who stayed with my family for like a weekend about 25 years ago... then he and his wife Jung came when they got married and visited us as part of their US trip... that was 20 years ago.... well they had always invited us to come visit them and at first I'm sure they meant it, but come on let's face it there's got to be a statute of limitations on invites for families that took you in for a couple weekends when you were in college and the only thing you had to offer was hospitality when, but really IF, your host family ever came to Thailand. But really that's more a formality than a real offer...right? I mean you kind of think you are safe offering a family from a tiny town in Wisconsin to come visit you halfway around the world when most of the state i'm from considers Wisconsin Dells a getaway vacation (go ahead and google it if you don't get why that's funny) so...what exactly would you do if the oldest son of the family that you stayed with over 25 years ago suddenly contacted you and told you that he'd like to take you up on the offer that you made on coming to visit?
well one thing that you could do would be to not respond to his email, plenty of good excuses... didn't get it... computer crashed, i thought I replied, you didn't get it... huh that's weird... any one of these would have more than sufficed... but no... what do they do...
they not only actually want to see me, but insist that I stay at a sister's, city apartment (she lives in the south and won't be using it for the month I'm there) for as long as i want... and did they mention it's on the 22nd floor in downtown overlooking the whole city... close to everything and well, please treat it like it's mine...WHAT?
so, i wake up the next morning and sure enough there's the city, my city it feels like, in a Gordon Geko kind of way (again google it) and so i'm off to explore...
within an hour i've figured out how to get 3 stations on the sky train and jump in a tuk tuk, one of those 3 wheeled taxi rickshaw things that despite there rickety nature (thus the name) they can do about 90 no problem... at least it felt like that, and with no seat belts and a driver that seemed determined to break his previous record for driving regulations in a single trip I feel that I may truly have one the one night in Bangkok that they write songs about...
but miraculously i arrive, where, you ask? where else does someone on an extreme budget go on the first day of a two month trip... shopping of course... now in my defense I thought I clearly asked my driver to take me to a temple or a floating garden or a buddha of any kind but I guess what he heard was that I really wanted to go shopping for suits... and boy was he right.
within minutes i was trying things on and absolutely convinced that I had to have a new suit, I mean I can only wear my blue and grey hoodies so long before they both have to go in the wash at the same time.
So for the next couple hours I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, the second time she went shopping.... man do I love attention and they loved my money so we were a match made in heaven...
in the end I got two custom made suits, one armani cut, one hugo boss, and something like 7 shirts and 4 ties... for a couple hundred dollars... frickin amazing... and the best part... i look really, really good in them... now if I can only find some reason to wear them when I get back... anyone need a date for a wedding... or a funeral, bat mitzfa (sorry on spelling jewish friends) whatever, I'm in... I have just the thing to wear....
and so that brings me to the overused but always captivating title of this entry...
-business class flight from LA to Bangkok.......... (free... miles)
-penthouse suite overlooking city (free... taking in foreign exchange students has it's priviledges)
-complete new wardrobe of custom made suits, shirts and ties.... couple hundred dollars
-coming back to the states after a 2 month dream adventure looking even better than when I left........ PRICELESS
sawadee my friends,
j
Thursday, March 26, 2009
My real first blog (from Thailand)
So, I'm officially a techie...(although i have no idea how to spell it or work spell check on this foreign version of windows... i know I just negated my first claim as to being a techie buy stay with me) i'm posting from Siam center, in Bangkok, and I guess what Siam means in Thai is big shopping center just like in the US) but here I am nonetheless writing a blog... so let me get to something interesting, to me anyway, and hope that I don't hit the key that turns everything into Thai...
So, for those of you, and i'm sure there are too many to count that have been tireously tracking my itinerary, you may already know that i was flying through tokyo on my way into Bangkok. And this is where our adventure begins, and by our, i mean mine. Okay, hours before we were set to land, a fed-ex plan crashed upon landing at the Narita airport which was horrific for obvious reasons, the least of which was that it caused every plane coming in to be redirected. So, I found myself with a new destination, Hankaido... which I learned was not a light chicken gravy used in japanese delicacies but rather an island that belongs to or is actually part of japan. Now the details that follow are just a fraction of why the japanese rose from the ashes after WWII to be an economic powerhouse in a matter of months, okay years but for my first time on their soil, I have to tell you, they are frickin machines with the hearts the size of watermelons (or insert whatever reference you like that means really big for you) now we don't even have a word in english for the amount of efficiency that they exhibited... and that coupled with the fact that since i'm on a 2 month trip, and was just so glad that the plane that crashed wasn't mine... my motto quickly became, "because I absolutely, positively, DON'T have to be there overnight," me and the japanese couldn't have been a better team.
Now since it wasn't there fault they didn't need to do anything in terms of accomodations, taxis, etc. but they gave me 7000 yen at the first airport to put towards hotel, food, sake, or whatever i wished... then at the second airport they decided to pick up the hotel bill and shuttle me there... free of charge. Now that would be great enough but I need to back up to when I first got on the plane in LA.
My first experience with Japan Airlines, a business class ticket gotten with American airline miles... I've been saving for a while. So, as I'm checking in i realize we are on a plane that has an upper deck, which is also business class... I ask to be switched upstairs but they apologize and say that everyone has confirmed and no more seats upstairs or anywhere for that matter. No worries, and on the plane I go. After getting settled in, a glass of chardonney, several hot towels, and a 4 course dinner that would rival Spago's on their best night, I go to recline my full length bed chair for a little shut eye. And my chair won't go back. Now, i try a couple of times but maybe, im not doing it right... this was before i became full fledged techie. So one of the very cute, very petite japanese attendants gave it a try, to the same end, and after digging up the instruction manual we realized we were indeed doing it correctly but it didn't alot for a menu from an earlier flight being caught in the crease where one of the rollers went back to recline. So there it was my seat didn't recline because of a tiny piece of paper that I couldn't have gotten stuck in there if I had 20 years and the best equipment in the world.
Well to save face, they came back apologizing profusely for the inconvience, and asked me if I would mind moving upstairs to a seat that did work... upstairs I went... which again would have been a happy ending to the story but there's more... upon arrival a team of cute attendants who had in one way or another done their very best to make my trip as enjoyable as possible came up to me with a voucher. Again apologizing for the inconvenience of my first seat they asked me to accept a voucher towards a future flight as a token of their apology.
The possibilities of everything that happened being coincendence is mathematically impossible and I would again humbly take my hat off to the big guy upstairs...not my upstairs, the way upstairs, as working his magic in ways that only he can.... but maybe he was feeling particularly randy because the following morning as I boarded my new plane from Tokyo to Bangkok, still business class, still very cute flight attendants... and still a totally full flight.
I get nestled in and go to watch a movie, although probably not a whole one as I'm ready for some serious shut-eye... my movies won't work...actually just the menu bar for the movies doesn't work... again I ask for help, again it seems that I have the only malfunctioning piece of equipment on the plane... I say no worries and go to sleep...waking up hours later just in time for another meal and a soft landing... but before we land again the crew came up to me with a now familiar piece of paper apologizing profusely and hoping that I would accept this voucher on their behalf and give Japan Airlines another try in the future... hummmmmmmmm let me think about that one...
so to all of you for reading this diluge (not sure if that is the word I want, but if not, I meant a really really long first blog) and to the Japanese...
domo arrigato
mr. robato
So, for those of you, and i'm sure there are too many to count that have been tireously tracking my itinerary, you may already know that i was flying through tokyo on my way into Bangkok. And this is where our adventure begins, and by our, i mean mine. Okay, hours before we were set to land, a fed-ex plan crashed upon landing at the Narita airport which was horrific for obvious reasons, the least of which was that it caused every plane coming in to be redirected. So, I found myself with a new destination, Hankaido... which I learned was not a light chicken gravy used in japanese delicacies but rather an island that belongs to or is actually part of japan. Now the details that follow are just a fraction of why the japanese rose from the ashes after WWII to be an economic powerhouse in a matter of months, okay years but for my first time on their soil, I have to tell you, they are frickin machines with the hearts the size of watermelons (or insert whatever reference you like that means really big for you) now we don't even have a word in english for the amount of efficiency that they exhibited... and that coupled with the fact that since i'm on a 2 month trip, and was just so glad that the plane that crashed wasn't mine... my motto quickly became, "because I absolutely, positively, DON'T have to be there overnight," me and the japanese couldn't have been a better team.
Now since it wasn't there fault they didn't need to do anything in terms of accomodations, taxis, etc. but they gave me 7000 yen at the first airport to put towards hotel, food, sake, or whatever i wished... then at the second airport they decided to pick up the hotel bill and shuttle me there... free of charge. Now that would be great enough but I need to back up to when I first got on the plane in LA.
My first experience with Japan Airlines, a business class ticket gotten with American airline miles... I've been saving for a while. So, as I'm checking in i realize we are on a plane that has an upper deck, which is also business class... I ask to be switched upstairs but they apologize and say that everyone has confirmed and no more seats upstairs or anywhere for that matter. No worries, and on the plane I go. After getting settled in, a glass of chardonney, several hot towels, and a 4 course dinner that would rival Spago's on their best night, I go to recline my full length bed chair for a little shut eye. And my chair won't go back. Now, i try a couple of times but maybe, im not doing it right... this was before i became full fledged techie. So one of the very cute, very petite japanese attendants gave it a try, to the same end, and after digging up the instruction manual we realized we were indeed doing it correctly but it didn't alot for a menu from an earlier flight being caught in the crease where one of the rollers went back to recline. So there it was my seat didn't recline because of a tiny piece of paper that I couldn't have gotten stuck in there if I had 20 years and the best equipment in the world.
Well to save face, they came back apologizing profusely for the inconvience, and asked me if I would mind moving upstairs to a seat that did work... upstairs I went... which again would have been a happy ending to the story but there's more... upon arrival a team of cute attendants who had in one way or another done their very best to make my trip as enjoyable as possible came up to me with a voucher. Again apologizing for the inconvenience of my first seat they asked me to accept a voucher towards a future flight as a token of their apology.
The possibilities of everything that happened being coincendence is mathematically impossible and I would again humbly take my hat off to the big guy upstairs...not my upstairs, the way upstairs, as working his magic in ways that only he can.... but maybe he was feeling particularly randy because the following morning as I boarded my new plane from Tokyo to Bangkok, still business class, still very cute flight attendants... and still a totally full flight.
I get nestled in and go to watch a movie, although probably not a whole one as I'm ready for some serious shut-eye... my movies won't work...actually just the menu bar for the movies doesn't work... again I ask for help, again it seems that I have the only malfunctioning piece of equipment on the plane... I say no worries and go to sleep...waking up hours later just in time for another meal and a soft landing... but before we land again the crew came up to me with a now familiar piece of paper apologizing profusely and hoping that I would accept this voucher on their behalf and give Japan Airlines another try in the future... hummmmmmmmm let me think about that one...
so to all of you for reading this diluge (not sure if that is the word I want, but if not, I meant a really really long first blog) and to the Japanese...
domo arrigato
mr. robato
Thursday, March 19, 2009
my first blog
although the catholic part of me feels guilty about the shameless vanity and self-promotional nature of a personal travel blog... the LEO inside feels like it's about time you all stopped thinking about yourselves so much and started thinking more about me, : )
I'm leaving on Sunday for the East, not Boston east, way easter... think Thailand and Bali east... Now, I have no idea how the blog will go or even if I'll ever post to it again. However, if you are ever having a bad day and just need a little pick me up, please don't check out my blog... because it will definitely only remind you that I am indeed having more fun than you : )
But seriously, this is a pivotal moment in my life, one in which I'm realizing a long time dream and saying yes to a new way of life which truly makes the world my home. And I would love to have you all stay neighbors, at least electronically... and for the few of you who just can't wait 2 months to see me again or get that itch that can only be scratched by taking a spontaneous trip to the other side of the world, this blog will let you know where to find me... I'll be the one in the pirate hat : )
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