I'm trying to think If I've ever had a longer day than the one I just experienced and I'm having a hard time coming up with anything that comes close. There were long bus trips in Sumatra and Flores, long train journeys in Australia and Java, but nothing really compares to the this day. Let me explain.

My flight left Bali around midnight. Don't ask me why, but all flights off the island seem to leave at some ungodly hour. It's 7 hours to Narita where I had an 8 hour lay over. Luckily, I had done that before, so I knew where to go. I spent the day wandering around the temples in Narita. I had great sushi. It was fantastic. Back to the airport, it was about 9 hours from Narita to SFO. I arrived in one piece, collected my bags and headed home.

I had about 2 hours to get everything sorted out. I showered, changed, unpacked, repacked, reacquainted myself with the cats and hightailed it to Oakland airport to catch the JetBlue to Boston. I had to change planes in JFK because of a late change in itinerary because of the Asia trip. That turned out to be a nightmare.

I made the connection fine, but my luggage didn't. I had that sinking feeling while I was sitting watching the bags circle the carousel and was completely demoralized when it stopped and my bag was nowhere to be found.

JetBlue was less than helpful. I was dealing with Rachael in lost luggage. What a peach. It was after midnight and if anyone wanted to get out of the airport worse than me, it was Rachel. No excuse for being a callow bitch though. She's in customer service. Anyway, she was less than sympathetic when she explained that my baggage was still in New York and wouldn't be arriving until the next morning.

Now I had a business meeting the next morning and the prospect of wearing the same clothes as I currently had on my back, sweaty and dirty from the cross country flight, plus not having a toothbrush, plus being on various planes and waiting at 6 different airports for this and that didn't put me in the best of humors. I couldn't believe JetBlue was so nonchalant about it. I couldn't believe that they didn't offer some compensation. We're so sorry. We know how difficult this can be. We'll try to get your bags as soon as possible. Meanwhile, here's 20 bucks to buy some toiletries. There was nothing. I yelled a little. It made me feel better, but didn't conjure up my luggage. So I left in huff, not feeling very good about anything.

I waited at the airport for another 20 minutes until finally a taxi that would accept credit cards arrived. Apparently, this is a real problem in Boston. My hotel, the Interncontinental, was only about a 20 dollar ride to the airport, so it was close, but when I got there, more bad news. The place was full. No rooms. I said, how could this be. I called earlier today to confirm my room and let you know about my late arrival. We're sorry, they said. Some people who were supposed to check out didn't and there's nothing we can do. Kick them out, I thought, but didn't say. At this point, I just wanted this nightmare over.

At least the Incontental was cordial. They gave me 40 bucks in cash for the taxi that would take me to another hotel. I thought, 40 bucks? where is this fucking place, but it turned out to be just around the corner. The ride cost 3 dollars and change. The people at the next hotel, The Langham, were expecting me and exceedingly gracious. I signed something, I think, and they gave me a key. The room was fine. I was so happy to have a bed I nearly cried. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Here was a vale bringing a toothbrush, toothpaste and a shaving kit. i slept like a baby.

The nxt morning, I walked the two blocks back to the Intercontinental. Not having any luggage made this very easy. When I checked in, they put me in a suite. The room was amazing.

So all's well that ends well, I suppose. I did have to go to the first day of the meeting in my dirty air-traveled clothes, but my luggage arrived that morning and I was ale to take a shower and change at lunch in my massive suite. Pretty sweet.

I haven't really calculated how long I was in the air and in transit, but, beleive me, it was a long ass time. At least 20 hours in the air and almost as many in between flights. 6 airports, Denpassar, Narita, SFO, Oakland, JFK and Logan. 4 flights. 3 layovers. Only 1 lost bag.

Posted by andrew at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made it home safely. The cats didn't seem to destory anything (Mak is purring on my lap as I type this. I've unpacked, showered, now I have 18 minutes before the taxi shows up to take me to Oakland airport. This is insanity.

I slept most of the way from Narita. I actually feel pretty good. We'll see if that changes after another 5 hours to JFK and short puddle jump to Logan. The meeting starts tomorrow morning at 8:30. I'm going to need a good infusion of caffeine if I'm going to be of use to anyone.

Posted by andrew at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In about 10 minutes I'll board my NWA flight from Tokyo to SFO. 9 hours of pure ambien induced bliss awaits. Then I have a whole 2 hours before I have to get to Oakland airport to fly to Boston. It should give me just enough time to unpack, repack, shower, reacquiant myself with my cats and hit the road.

I spent the day walking around Narita, checking out temples and eating sushi. I'm zonked.

I have 92 seconds left before this thing kicks me. So I'm outta here.

Posted by andrew at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I first ate satay at this street side vendor when I was in Bali in 2002. I stayed for 3 weeks just down the street in the Tebesaya section of Ubud and would pass this guy every afternoon, always stopping to pick up some satay and rice. It's the most delicious thing in the world. When I heard I was coming back to Bali, I started salivating at the prospect of returning to visit the orang satay (satay man).

He has an amazing set up. Everything he need is within arm's reach. He sits cross legged on the sidewalk with a massive tub of marinating satay skewers on his left. Directly in front of him, the grill. There is a small bag of charcoal to replenish the brazier. On his right, a bag filled with rice cooked in bamboo baskets and a bag of chili salt. There's a small rubbish bin and a box of small waters. Somewhere he was a wallet to make change. That's it. It's as basic as street, or any food for that matter, gets.

A wicker plate covered in paper with 8 sticks of satay (pork) and a mound of sticky rice will set you back less than 40 cents. Hard to beat. More pictures are posted on Flickr.

Posted by andrew at 08:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...are now posted on Flikr in their new feature, called collections. This is something that users like me have been asking for, for a long time now. Sets of sets. So this set or collection has about 10 sets with several hundred photos from my trip so far. I hope you enjoy them.

Posted by andrew at 08:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My feet are killing me. They have been since the first day in Bangkok where I walked all over the place with sandals that I hadn't worn in a long time. I didn't think there was a problem with them, but clearly I should have. At the end of the day I had two massive blisters on my right foot and some mystery ailment in my left--maybe a strained tendon--I don't know, but it's killing me when I walk. This is a huge problem because I just can't help myself. I need to walk and get out an see.

Then I have a massive patch of redness on my inner left thigh where bed bugs from Thailand(?) feasted on my blood. It's doesn't hurt. It's just irritating.

And finally, no surprise here, I've been savaged by mosquitoes despite nets and repellent and long clothing. I don't know what I did wrong, but clearly nothing worked.

These are the sorts of things that make me, despite myself and my ever present need to get out and explore, just want to stay home. It's tragic.

Posted by andrew at 08:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm in the Bangkok airport waiting for Thai Airways steerage class flight to Denpasar (Bali). There's been a delay (for "technical reasons" which is never good) so I have time to catch up and put some photos on Flickr. There are going up now, totally unedited. I'll add titles and delete the crap ones when I have a chance.

Posted by andrew at 05:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just got an email from some guy named Declan something or other who claims to work for FHM Australia and they want to buy and print a few of my images from Marineworld. How cool is that?

Posted by andrew at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before I headed out to the airport this morning, I made a little humanitarian mission. Last week I received a letter that should have gone to my same address on 57th street, but the handwriting wasn't shit hot, so it ended up in my mailbox on 59th street. It was from an inmate at San Quentin State Pen.

As soon as I got it, I was torn about whether or not to open it up. I was just so curious. Wouldn't you be?The letter sat on my coffee table for a couple of days before I picked up. To my surprise (but I shouldn't have been surprised), it wasn't sealed. The inmates probably don't bother since the guards probably read evrything that leaves the prison anyway.

The letter was mostly a plea for this guy's mom to get him a lawyer. He was innocent (of course) and had been transferred to San Quentin, which clearly didn't agree with him. He was adament about his mom retaining a lady lawyer. I wonder why that should be?

Posted by andrew at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just landed in Tokyo for a little layover. It's surreal being here. Japan is just such an odd place. It's hard to describe. I might do a better job if I wasn't so out of it. I couldn't sleep much on the flight, no big surprise there. Might have to drug myself up for the next leg.

I arrive in Bangkok right around midnight, which I'm not thrilled about. I'll probably just take a taxi to the hotel and crash. Then again, I might get there and not feel tired if I can get some winks on the flight. I'm in business class, so I should have an easier go of it than normal, but I'm wouldn't bet on a natural rest.

Posted by andrew at 12:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm sititng in the Northwest Airlines WorldLounge at SFO about to embark on another journey. I was invited to speak at a meeting in Bali. Pretty sweet. It's not til the 28th, but I decided to take some well needed PTO. Orignally I was just going to o to Bali, hang out in Ubud among the rice paddies and the mokies and the artisans, but when corporate travel booked my flight, it went through Bangkok, so I'm going to spend a few nights back in Bangkok before heading to Bali.

I haven't been in Southeast Asia since early 2002. I was in Bali and Lombok for 6 weeks in spring 2002 and in Bangkok in transit to Cambodia just after 9/11, so I'm pretty excited. This will be first trip to the east since I've had a digital camera, so I should come home with tons of great pictures.

The flight leaves in about an hour. I'm armed with several movies, some beef jerky and abien so it shouldn't be so. I'm in business class for the leg from here to Bangkok (via Tokyo), so that's nice, but I'll be in steerage on JAL and NWA from Denpasar to Narita and SFO. Then I have a few hours to check in with the cats before going back to the airport for a flight to Boston. More work. A three day meeting. Then it's back for one day of regular work and then a 3 day offsite in the city. No rest for the weary.

I will try to do some posting from the road and get some pics online at Flickr, but I've thought I'd be able to do this before on other trips, Costa Rica most notably, and I haven't been able to one reason or another. I do have my computer with this time, so it might be different.

Posted by andrew at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, so I'm not 50. Not even close. But I did get an ivitation to join the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) that accused me of being 50. While it's flattering to be invited to join thier club with all the rights and privleges, etc., and as much as I'd like to retire and become a man of leisure, I can think I can wait a few years.

Posted by andrew at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Has it really been two months? Wow! I can hardly believe it. It's not like I've doing anything special. Just blowing this site off for one reason or another. Sorry

Posted by andrew at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)