Posting for Thursday

The alarm went off at 6:45 as usual. I took a shower as Mary dressed. Then I went down to the internet room to check e-mail before breakfast. My dollar did not last long there. Then we met at the Emporium for our usual buffet. This time I ordered 4 soft-boiled eggs. But the yolks were solid. Oh well, at least I know no additives or preservatives were added. We lingered over our meal. The ladies from yesterday were at a table nearby and wanted to take our picture. Se we gathered in front of the fireplace and I took their picture too. Then we went to our rooms to get our purchases and took them downstairs to the pack-and-wrap. We had thought to MPS all in one box to Yongsan, but the man said it would be too heavy to carry. So we used two boxes. One is going to Mary's addy and one to mine. Then we went back upstairs to pack for the plane. I put all my stuff in my duffle bag. After checking out, we left our luggage in a special room at the hotel and took the #6 bus to the end of its line, where there was a quilt shop nearby. We were told there were discounted fabric packs in the basement, but they were not comprised of fat quarters, but 10 inch squares - so not the bargain we were expecting. We did have fun looking. They had other floors of knits, fancy fabrics, and craft stuff. We also saw Hachi, the statue of a dog from a famous story. Then we caught the bus back to the hotel. Did I mention it cost $2.50 each way? Travel in Japan is expensive.
The others stopped at the cafe for coffee and I went to the ATM for another 5000 yen ($62.50). We snacked a little at the cafe instead of lunch. We collected our luggage at the hotel. I decided to MPS my duffle bag because it was so heavy, but the APO desk was on a 90 minute lunch break. (They open late, close early and they get 90 minutes for lunch). Pack-and-wrap was open though. Heavily loaded, I walked with the others to the subway. We took two lines to Nippouri. Yes, we came back even though we had too much to carry already. I did not find my gloves there, although that must be where I lost them. We asked at lost-and-found. They were able to show us where to find lockers, though. Sue picked a big one, and we got all our luggage in there. We were near the Skyliner, so we bought tickets for the 3:45 train to the airport. It was a high-speed, high-tech train, and the tickets were $30 each. Then we headed out for the discount stores. I think we all bought more at the place where I spent all my money the day before. This time I was buying for Cathy and I picked brown and teal fabrics so at least she would have a coordinated set. I even bought a few others for me. Since our tickets were paid for, I could spend all my remaining yen on fabric. It was insane to buy more when I was already having trouble carrying what I had, but I did it. Mary and I went next door to the Tomato place and she found some more fabrics. We saw the cutest little kids, must have been quadruplets. Like ducks in a row, running through the aisles of fabric rolls. When we all met up again, we picked up our luggage and went to the waiting room for the Skyliner. We hadn't stopped for lunch, so I ate my two remaining natto packs. A Japanese man eyed me strangely then asked if I liked it. I told him yes.
When the train came, we boarded and put our luggage up front, then settled in. Mary and Sue at the cakes they bought at a bakery near the lockers. We enjoyed our train ride to the airport. We alighted and carried our baggage through a security check that was only for passports. But they had to check both of mine for some reason. Then it was up numerous escalators to find the check-in desk. Last year it was a fiasco. But this year check-in was smooth as silk. I checked my duffle because the other ladies checked stuff too, so we would have to go to baggage claim in any case. Then we went through security and I had to drink all the water in my steel water bottle before I could go through. No problems there. We found our gate and waited to board. By then I had a raging headache from carrying all the weight. It had been cutting off the circulation in my shoulders. When we got in line to board, we were instructed to scan our tickets like we do our subway cards. (So I still have my boarding pass.) There was no extra bag check for boarding the place like when we left Korea. We were seated in the same row as on the other flight, second to last. I closed my eyes, and tried to think of pleasant things to lessen my headache and pass the time. My Sudoku book was in my checked luggage. After the plane took off, they passed out the customs forms. I wished they had them in a large print version. Judy read it to me so I could fill it in. Then I closed my eyes again. It wasn't very dark, so I asked for a eyemask. But they gave me a light tan one. It wasn't very effective, but I did get the rest I needed. By the time the plane landed, my headache was mostly gone and I didn't have any trouble with my ears. We took the passenger train to the main terminal. We went through immigration, baggage claim, and customs in record time considering the crowd of people we followed to those places. The immigration man looked at both of my passports, then told me to only use the brown one in the future. Then we split up. Sue and Judy went to catch a hotel bus. Mary and I checked the USO desk for the next bus to Yongsan, but it was almost an hour away. So we took the commuter train. It was housed in a new building next to the terminal. The train itself was new, too. We were able to use our subway cards. And although it cost more than the typical subway ride, it was only like $1.20 to the brown line, and another $1.20 to the Noksapyong station. The train was heated, but the stations were cold. Cold enough to see our breath. I was wearing Sue's sweater in addition to my shirt and coat. Thankfully she did not need it back right away. When we got out of Noksapyong station I was wishing I had put on all my dirty clothes instead of carrying them. Snow everywhere. I stopped to call Chris when we alighted from the train, and he drove up just as we came in the gate. He brought me gloves as I requested. Then we came home. It was good to be warm, good to get in my own bed (quiet sheets) and good to be next to Chris. I thanked him for making the trip to Japan so enjoyable. He is such a good provider that I didn't have to worry about every yen I spent. I was able to do all the things the other ladies did. A few years ago I would have fretted terribly over all the incidental charges.