12.19.07
Well let’s see if I can re-create the magic of the 32 hour trip from Minneapolis to Chiang Mai in short order.
Wake up 6am Minneapolis, say bye to wife and son as they head off to work and daycare. Run around the house getting stuff together, pack everything into a backpack – no checked luggage. Get on the elliptical rider to wear myself out for the long trip. Run in to work to do some stuff and pick up some things. Go over last minute stuff with Emily, then back to the house. Remember that I should take my passport, order the cab at 11.15am, get to the airport at 11.30 for the 1pm flight to Bangkok via Tokyo.
Flight takes off at 1.15, it's a 747 which is nice, and I bought an up-gradable ticket, so I am up in the rarefied world of the top floor (something I always get a great childlike kick out of). It's a 11 hour plane ride to Tokyo that can best be summed up by what I eat, drink and watch:
Half glass of champagne before takeoff (it's not very good champagne, but I'm going on a trip and got upgraded, so I may as well make an effort).
Water.
Watch the movie “The Replacements” for it's mindlessness.
Glass of wine.
Dinner – bad tasting curry.
Port and dessert
End of mindless movie
Bottle of water.
Get up, stretch
Try to sleep in reclining seat, no luck.
Watch Death at a Funeral – actually pretty funny British film
More water
End of movie
Get up stretch
Try to sleep, no luck.
6 hours in, 5 to go on this flight
Another bottle of water
Watch “The Beach” which seemed appropriate as I am going to Thailand, although not to some remote forbidden island, but the movie was pretty good for what it was.
Bottle of water
End of movie.
Get up and stretch
Try to sleep, fake it for an hour.
Get up and stretch.
Lunch is served (breakfast gets skipped because of the time zone change)
More water
Watch the cartoon “Cars” until we are landing and it shuts off.
Off the plane at Narita, Japan.
Up to Northwest lounge, freshen up, brush teeth, settle into the lounge and go online, send some e-mails, an hour later back down to the gate for the 7 hour flight to Bangkok. It's now 6ish pm Tokyo time, been at it since wake up for 21 hours.
Onto the next plane, still in the upgraded seats which is nice.
Half glass of champagne before takeoff.
In the air, an hour later – dinner service of nice cold cuts, prawns and cured salmon, glass of chardonnay.
Bottle of water.
Finish the cartoon movie Cars (it's the same entertainment list as the other plane)
Manage at last to sleep for a whole two hours.
Wake up, two hours left of the 7 hour flight.
Walk around and stretch
Bottle of water.
Remember that I only watched half of the movie Dodgeball on most likely the same flight last year, fast forward to where I left off and finish the movie, most likely with drool running down my chin as my mind becomes more and more addled from these mindless movies I’m watching.
Land in Bangkok at 11.15pm local time.
Walk out of the terminal, through the parking ramp to the nice Novotel hotel, check into the room, go on line to check e-mails, have a $5 beer from the mini bar, watch BBC (trying to make up for the brain damage I did with the in flight movies), stare at the ceiling (it's 12 noon as far as I’m concerned). Finally after 32 hours of travel I crash at 1am Bangkok time, wake up on and off through the night, finally giving in at 6.45am. Five hours and 45 minutes of interrupted sleep.
Go down to the really quite nice buffet at the hotel, eat to my heart’s content, caffinate myself, go back to the room, shower, shave, more e-mails, pack up, check out and walk back to the airport for the 10.30am flight to Chiang Mai.
Land in Chiang Mai at 11.15, head straight to the cab, get to the nice little boutique hotel Manathai Village and check in. Switch out of the room they put me in (soft bed), get new room. Get settled in, sit down and start writing this gibberish while I wait for a copy of my passport that I can then give to the scooter rental place – get the copy, get the scooter and make my way around town to see what’s new.
Actually found a few interesting places, the trick is to see if they get the idea that I have to re-sell this stuff so I need a good price, or if they already sell to some other wholesaler in which case, forget it. But even so, it's a surprising start in a good way. One of them has already been in touch with me as I am writing this to set up a meeting at their factory.
Go back to hotel and have a nice spicy salad, read a bit and try to get in an hours nap so I don’t crash early – it's the night Bazaar tonight, so I need to stay awake. Up after 45 minutes of a mediocre nap, but that’s actually ok. I feel pretty good and am ready to hit the bazaar. At the bazaar I meet with two of my main suppliers there and come up with some good pieces. I’ll meet one more time with each of them to look at more stuff – at other locations away from the bazaar that they have, and make final selections by the end of the trip. 9pm, back to the hotel, e-mails, watch the movie The Big Labowski on my laptop, send e-mails, bed at 1am Chiang Mai time. All in a day’s work.
Tomorrow its a full day of meetings with two dealers. Should be a good day. . . no flights, no really bad in-flight movies.