Yesterday was pretty boring. I ate bananas, applesauce, and Rice Krispie Treats. I packed. I shipped some stuff home (Priority Mail this time. I learned my lesson.).

This morning, Suka made some miso soup with tofu. It was the most substantial food I had had in almost three days and tasted absolutely delicious.

Airport security was quite the runaround. First, I weighed my main suitcase and had to remove things to bring within tolerable range of the weight limits. Fortunately, I had an almost empty bag between the things I left behind and the things I consumed, gave away, or sold.

Then I went through the bag security inspection and got to the checkin desk to find out that the computer flagged me (supposedly randomly) for a security re-inspection. This time they took everything apart. At least in Saipan they do it in front of you. That was I was able to verbally walk them through unpacking and repacking the bicycle, even if I wasn't allowed to touch it. I actually attracted four inspectors by the time it was done. They all wanted to know how much the bike cost. They also appreciated knowing how to handle that kind of case in the future. Much better than the US inspectors who managed to break my bike a couple of years ago by inspecting it with no clue how to repack it properly.

I finally got my boarding passes and sat in the cafe with Suka until she had to leave for work. When I tried to go into the security area for boarding, I discovered that when they reprinted my boarding passes (with the dreaded row of Ss in the bottom right), they neglected to stamp them with the DA/OK stamp indicating that my identity was verified. That was solved by a quick trip back to the check-in desk. But of course the row of Ss meant that they had to go through all my carry on luggage with a fine-toothed comb, as well.

Once I was through with that, it was clear sailing. Or flying, I mean. We took off early and got into Nagoya early, as well.