Day 3

We forgot to request an accessible room (as opposed to those hotel rooms that no one can get into) but standing in front of tub brought the need into clear focus. A "normal" bathtub is about 15 inches high at the most. The tub in the Hyatt was embedded in tile to look nice and most folks would have no problem with getting into the tub. I'm not most folk. I grab the shower pole and attempt to swing my right leg over and in. Darn good thing.

After a good night's sleep we went to the hotel restaurant for our free breakfast and had just a minute to say safe trip to Leah and Sean knowing we'd see them that evening in Chaing Mai. We had a few hours to spend before our flight so we took the Airport Train to Seoul Station to walk around. We walked through the underground and surfaced about 5 minutes from Namdaemun (Great South Gate Market Sean says) shopping area.

After walking around the shopping area we went to a bank to break a few large bills. Found a bakery to spend a few small bills on the mandatory tea/coffee snack.

We retraced our steps through the subway tunnels and pathways to the airport train. At the airport we thought of getting our seats but we at least found where to go. Got the shuttle to the Hyatt for our free lunch. (who says you can't have a free lunch? (I know, we paid for it!))

When I return home I'm going to try to find out Korean Air's real policy about asking for and getting bulkhead seating. We arrived three hours ahead of departure and were told the bulkheads were taken. Families with bassinet get priority we were told. Reserving  is not possible we were told. We were told you could pay for them ahead of time which is somehow different from reserving. When we got on the plane there were no kids but two noisy old guys.

After lunch we headed out for the airport got our seats and cleared the security check and had three hours to wait. Real fast free Internet let me do an update to the PlayBook as RIM just released a 500 mb major update. Nothing like doing an in-place update without a backup.

Met a couple from Hawaii who filled us in on where not to go and another couple who wanted help getting their iPad online. I sat in a booth where folks were painting traditional somethings or others. Apparently these things are used to tie rope or string on.

Got on the plane (not bulkhead) and sat back for the six-hour flight to Chaing Mai. Arrived and got the shuttle to the Rainforest Boutique Hotel. Woke up Leah from the front desk and visited a bit then hit the sack.

Day 2.5

So the plane landed as a plane should. People didn't clap. People used to clap when planes landed. We cleared customs and there were Leah and Sean to greet us. Group hugs followed by individual hugs. Then, as we are obedient Canadians, we followed Christian's instructions and went off to find the Korean Air transit desk. Got the hotel voucher and Sheila fanangled two single rooms for the same free price as one double. So Leah and Sean had a non-adjoining room next to ours. Five minute ride to hotel and we check in. Leah and Sean use our dinner vouchers as Sheila and I need more food like the winners on "Greatest Losers"! It takes one clarification with the server about not charging for two extra meals!


After dinner we returned to the room and caught up. Although we have been Skyping regularly there is nothing like true reality in HD! Plans were made for Day 4 and then my feet needed attention. The first three toes on my right foot have almost no feeling and the second toe looked like it should be in pain, but it wasn't. My left ankle is often a sore point. Both issues are a result of my operations as a kid. Sheila asks Leah to get the Uremol anti-itch cream from the bathroom. Leah, moments later, replies that there is no urinal in the bathroom. Laughing abounds but she returns with the tube that seems to match the description. Sheila applies it to the toes and ankle. I catch a glimpse of the tube and say decisively "that's Preparation H!" Full-on laughter. Joking about shrinking feet and toes etc. Preparation H is typically used for one of two applications: shrinking baggy eyes I'm told, and the other I know! After that we all calm down and decide it's time to hit the sack so L & S head out to their room and S & J crash.

Departure day minus one

Departure day minus one
Since Sheila wanted to book seats on the flight we went off to the Flight Centre to see what we could do. It was a good idea for sure! It turns out that they had just received an alert on our file. But the alert only showed up on the guy's email who set up the original booking. The fact that Sheila had asked a question about our booking allowed them to see the issue.

What was the issue? Well Korean Air changed the departure time of our connection enough to cause the system to cancel it as there was not enough time to get to the connection. The solution was just to ask us to kindly travel the next day. Not going to happen.

So Christian (the Flight Centre guy's name and possibly religion but we didn't go there) did his best to get us to Chaing Mai without losing time with the kids.

He got us on a flight a day early with the same Seoul to Chaing Mai connection AND Korea Air pays the hotel.

Nice job Christian!

As Sheila is permanently prepared (and me tagging along looking pretty) it wasn't that difficult to change plans: call Dave re drive; ask neighbour to drop off library books; a few last minute things to take care of and off we go bags in tow on foot to catch the 70x bus. 5:41 departure gets a 6:30 arrival at the ferry. Sheila sends a few emails to the walking group explaining her absence Monday morning. Dave got distracted by his new Lazy Boy electric chair but did arrive just as we walked outside.

Geek talk, cheese flavored pop corn snacks followed by bed.

Departure day
Isn't traveling grand. Not sure if that is a question or not. Shower, no shave, etc -- Dave's coffee and breakfast and off we go. Hotel Dave is a great place to stay. Highly recommend it. Amazed it's not in the travel books!1:00 pm flight (Thirteen hundred for those aviation types.) but arrive at ten to get bulkhead seats. Succeed and walk around a bit. Suddenly the security line is very long.  I mean like within five minutes it was way down the hall. I went back to the Korean Air desk while Sheila held our place in the queue. I got two green stickers for our boarding passes that let us bypass the line. I beeped but Sheila didn't. Our bags drew attention! Ooops. An engraved JDS Uniphase / James Flood really small  pocket knife into the trash. Sorry Jamie!

Now it's 11 hours 40 min of sitting, eating, writing, and reading and meet Leah and Sean in Day Two.

A short version of life after Jimmie's Story

Family stuff

• Married to Sheila in 1975
• We have two great kids
• Jamie [now in Japan with his own English business and Kazusa his significant other] 
• Leah [about to begin traveling with Sean her significant other, after finishing teaching in Wonju, South Korea]. 

Education stuff

• Grade School Stratford, Ontario
• High School Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island 
• University in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Other stuff

• Joined the Baha'i Faith in 1973, Sheila in 1974, 
• Moved around the Maritimes a lot, then on to Ontario for 4 years; then Ste-Anne, Guadeloupe FWI for 7 years, Quebec City area for 7 years; lived in Ottawa, ON, for 5 years. In June 2003 we moved to Victoria, BC to get away from winter! 

Work stuff

• Marketing Manager [EXFO  fibre optics]
• Director of Communications for a  [r/d tech non-destructive testing company which got bought by Olympus]
• Web Services  manager for JDS Uniphase. I got laid off in October 2008 following the financial crash in the United States
• Started a computer business and then got hired by BC Assessment as their Senior Web Analyst. 

That's it for now.

ok, i'm back. i'll try to write more often ...