Three hours goes by quickly when you are excited..or nervous...:)
Back for a 7.5 hour flight to Bangkok. Narita was relatively small compared to what I would find in Bangkok... .As big as O'hare...maybe bigger...but with 'odd' writing...symbols....actually Thai language...they do have English to help direct you.....

So here I was...I have traveled 9000 miles to meet my Charmaine......I could feel my heart beating quickly. After getting my luggage (yes it made it....but more on that when I get to Songkhla....) I looked at the large terminal and thought to myself, "Hmmm...if I were a small Filipina ...where would I be in this large airport...?" I just felt it in my heart to turn left at the crowd of people waiting to meet their arriving guest....and there she was! Blushing and a bit shy (at first) Charmaine was awaiting to greet me. I kept my 'promise' to her...by "Giving her a kiss before she heard my voice in person" and then we sat down to 'collect' ourselves. I can't even begin to explain how I felt inside.

Charmaine and I are 'thrifty' (ok..I'm cheap!) so we asked for a 'resonable hotel' (they negotiate about everything here)   We were taken there by a taxi driver...which gave me my first experfience with 'crazy drivers' over here.......you have to see this in person...I'm sure I'll have stories for you later on....He took us to the Grand.....Room 303 at the 'Grand"..and we stayed at a small, "under contruction"  hotel. .well I couldn't wait to take a shower (try being on a plane for most of the day.....) First thing that confused me was the 'lack' of a shower stall...you basically get water all over everything in the room (always remember to first remove the paper products...).
As you could imagine Charmaine and I had much to talk about (hmmm...quite a bit of just looking in each others eyes and wondering if you are dreaming...it's a bit of a surreal feeling is the best I can explain....) We did manage a few hours of sleep before packing up and getting ready for our trip south to Charmaine's home. Breakfast was 'American" bacon, eggs and sausage...but the meat product was a bit under cooked..no one e;lse in the room was complaining....so neither did I...:) Our host receptionist a very tall Thai girl named 'Natalie' (Western version of a very long Thai name...) She was 6'1 or so (180 cm)...so I was not the tallest one in the room, although for the most part I am.......being the tallest...something new for me..

Off to the airport for the next leg...I will post pics here soon.....I"m playing post catch up and still adjusting to 'internet cafes'....