ON OUR WAY

After a while, we were offered lunch. We could choose from sukiyaki (beef with scrambled eggs and peas over steamed rice) or teriyaki salmon (with mashed potatoes, broccoli and carrots). I usually don’t eat beef or salmon, but the mashed potatoes and veggies sounded good. I figured Larry would eat the salmon. He suggested we each order a different entrée. I could eat the parts I wanted, and he would finish everything else.

Oh, my goodness. What a terrific and abundant meal!

I had the salmon. I tried a taste and had to reassess my previous dislike of it. With the teriyaki sauce, it was delicious! The potatoes and veggies were every bit as good as I had anticipated. Larry enjoyed his meal as well. (I saved more than half of the salmon for him since I knew he would love it. He did.)

In addition to the entrée, both meals were accompanied by a tiny green salad with fat-free Italian dressing, and a separate cup with a one-inch cube each of watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, and honeydew melon. In, addition we each had a small serving of soba noodles with Jell-o and other strange bits. (It reminded me of some of the items on the “salad bar” at the jobsite.) Finally, there was a small container with salami and potato salad.)

I ate my green salad and about half the entrée. I also received a lovely roll. I ate half of it and gave Larry the remainder. He ate all the rest of my sides as well as his own. (He loves all kinds of Japanese food. I am much pickier!)

At the end of the meal, the cabin staff circulated with small containers of vanilla ice cream. A sweet ending to an impressive meal.

After lunch, I began to watch movies. The first was Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. I couldn’t decide whether or not I actually liked it, but the acting was terrific. The plot was very confusing, and some of the characters actually had several different personas. I was glad I had watched it on the plane and not in the theater. Later in the flight, Larry watched it, too. I think he liked it better than I did, but he agreed with my assessment of the acting.

Next, I watched another film I had meant to see some time ago, The Fault in Our Stars. Loved this bittersweet story.

I followed it up with Sweet November, an even older film. This one, I hated. The acting was okay, but the story was stupid and the characters’ motivations and chemistry were lacking.

I ended up switching from Disney music to the flight route for the remainder of the trip.

About an hour before landing, we were served dinner: pizza, another mini salad, and fruit yogurt. I ate the piece of pizza and about half the yogurt. I skipped this salad. Good but too much food.

7:00 p.m. March 26, 2024

We landed about an hour late. Turbulence had slowed us down and caused us to swing away from a direct approach from the south to an arc allowing us to reach the airport from the west.

Disembarking took a while, as did customs. However, they have streamlined the process since we were last at Kansai International. Of course, it has been thirteen years!

Larry slept for a while through the flight, but I was unable to do so. (I have rarely been able to sleep on a plane.)

Once in the arrival lobby, we were supposed to be met by a transport company to take us to the hotel. Larry had made arrangements before we left home. No sign with our name on it.

Fortunately, they called him to make sure our driver had arrived. He hadn’t. But at least they knew where we were.

By this time, I was getting punchy. So, I sat with the luggage while Larry set out to locate the driver. It only took a few minutes, but I had hit the wall.

I managed to follow them to the familiar parking structure (not everything is different) and poured myself into the van. (I’m getting too old for those long flights!)

After a nice half-hour-long drive, during which I recognized very little in the way of familiar places, we arrived at the hotel at about 8:30 p.m., a day later than we had left California because of the international dateline. (We’ll catch up when we return home.)

Hotel Universal Port

They were ready for us and had our room—with a king-size bed—waiting.

We are on the 13^th floor with a great view of the park entrance. This room seems smaller than the one we had last time, but it is non-smoking and very nice.

We didn’t take long to drop our luggage and get to bed, exhausted from the flight and busy day.

We’ll check out the area tomorrow. Fortunately, we have a couple of days at the beginning of the trip without planned activities since the end will be packed.