The Global Grandma: A Flight to Tokyo from LAX.

A Flight to Tokyo

From the series, "Japan, or, an American Retiree's Extreme Vacation"

"My Bucket List"

Have you heard of a "Bucket list"? Yes? No? Just in case, I'll explain (if you know what it is, feel free to skip this paragraph).

So, about a year ago, I retired. Like anyone who retires, my thoughts of "well, it's not the end yet, but it's time to take stock" were replaced by others like, "oh, I need to get things done..." While the list of my life's accomplishments is long, the list of unfulfilled wishes, promises, and unfinished projects is uncountable. That means I needed to quickly make a list of things I absolutely have to do, food I want to cook, and places I want to visit! Even if it's just to try, to attempt, because I want it so much that I need to make an effort to do it. That's what a "Bucket list" is—a list of things you want to achieve before, as the American idiom goes, you "kick the bucket." To be honest, I had a list of unfulfilled wishes long before I retired.

The first thing on that list was travel. I'd traveled before, but in retirement, it's serious business: first came Alaska, and now, Japan. It may seem like all you need is money to buy a plane ticket and fly away. In reality, it's a whole story.

It all started with COVID. Back then, our educational center was open, but there was only one group and just three teachers. Now I remember that time as the most carefree time of my professional life. That's when Mary, with whom I had worked in the same classroom for 15 years, and I decided that as soon as COVID was over, we'd go. Japan had been a long-held dream for both of us. And not just Japan, but a cruise on a liner. A cruise around Japan would be even better. About a year and a half ago, we looked online: a cruise ship called the "Celebrity Millennium" sails around Japan... Oh, how wonderful! Around Japan, just as we wanted, for 13 days, calling at eight ports and visiting nine cities... A dream! Rosalie, Mary's cousin, decided to join us. (It worked out absolutely wonderfully, not only because I gained a new travel friend, but you can't forget the financial side of the trip: many things are cheaper when you travel as a trio. Remind me to tell you about the money later.) We booked a cabin (this was about a year and a half ago, so if you want to go on this cruise around Japan now, it won't be possible this year—you can book a cabin for August 2026 and for the summer of 2027. We're not the only ones who want to go on a cruise to Japan.) Six months before the trip, we booked hotels, bought plane tickets, and planned what we wanted to see in Japan.

All three of us flew out of Los Angeles. The flight there was 11 hours. The flight attendants were Japanese and didn't speak English (at least, not to us, but they understood).

The mandatory safety briefing was in Japanese, with an English translation on the screen. Of course, no one would listen or read it anyway (do you carefully read all safety instructions? all the papers that come with electrical appliances? a microwave? do you listen to how to fasten your seatbelt on a plane and know where the life jackets are? Don't lie!), so no one would listen or read the translation, but the anime was funny and entertaining, and I instinctively grabbed my phone to capture it.

And here is an anime about "no smoking", a flying pink ball with angry blue eyes.

To be honest, I don’t know how to react to this, I want to laugh.

I sat by the window. We flew non-stop, the whole way over the Pacific Ocean, so the view from the porthole barely changed.

Only in the first hour of the flight the cirrus clouds were stunningly beautiful. Like feathers for a musketeer's hat!

This was the second time I'd flown on a plane with portholes that had no shades; the windows can be darkened, and the level of darkness can be adjusted with a simple button.

(I even talked to an artificial intelligence about how that's done.)

You might ask about the food? The flight attendant gave me a picture with explanations in Japanese, English, and Chinese (I think).

You just point at the picture to show what you want - no words needed. The food, by the way, was delicious, which is unusual lately (okay, okay, I know, I'm spoiled).

And the presence of small boxes with different salads was a delight. The second meal - breakfast - was just as plentiful and no worse than dinner.

We tried not to sleep during the whole flight to make it easier to acclimate. Luckily, I found a couple of good movies, so it wasn't hard to stay awake. We arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. The time difference between Los Angeles and Tokyo is 16 hours: we flew out at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, with an 11-hour flight plus a 16-hour time difference, and arrived in Tokyo at 9 p.m. on Thursday!

(That's all for today. Don't be mad that I'm writing slowly; the return flight was harder on me, and I can't get my sleep cycle back on track, and when you can't sleep properly, you're not in the mood for stories. Tomorrow, I'll try to write about our first hotel in Japan—it was funny!) I hope there will be a continuation...

P.S.

One month later...

Miniature in Japan.

https://theglobalgrandma67.blogspot.com/2025/11/miniature-in-japan-from-series-japan-or.html

A Sunrise, or A Declaration of Love. Celerbity Millennium cruise.

https://theglobalgrandma67.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-sunrise-or-declaration-of-love.html

When it's Time toForget about Diets. Celebrity Millennium Cruise.

https://theglobalgrandma67.blogspot.com/2025/11/when-its-time-to-forget-about-diets.html

Going to Restaurants Too Often. Celebrity Millennium cruise.

https://theglobalgrandma67.blogspot.com/2025/11/going-to-restaurants-too-often-japan.html

Kochi, or Off the Beaten Track.

Story One: The Bridge.