Not To Rub It In Or Anything...

...but at least the suitcase that DID arrive had a clean pair of pants...for me!

Only one out of two bags arrived with our flight to Tokyo. We had split up our clothes between the two bags just in case this happened, but, for whatever reason, Mrs. TBF had not planned properly. You know what I mean? One of those things where you end up with a bunch of socks, underwear, and shirts, but no "smart casual" clothes for dinner, and no other pants to change into.

Bummer!

Between having done a better job of separating my clothes AND the advanced Japanese toilet technology, I was FRESH as a DAISY!

I'm not really sure why, but the lady who took our information at the British Airways lost baggage counter just handed Mrs. TBF a Citibank card with 200 Pounds loaded into it for all our troubles. I mean, Mrs. TBF didn't even ask for it; the lady just gave it to her. Nice! After going through customs, we just walked to a bank machine, inserted the card, and got something like 45,000 yen. Sa-WEEEEET.

The bag ended up coming a couple of days later, so it wasn't too bad. We just got by using the hotel laundry service.

Oh, and speaking of laundry...

Why is it that dry cleaning/laundry at A HOTEL in Tokyo costs about the same as a dry cleaner in Basel? Plus, the laundry is done in a matter of hours rather than a week, AND it's folded nicely with tissue on the inside of shirts, AND it's wrapped up all nice and neat in a plastic bag. Yes, that's Mrs. TBF's underwear. I'm sure she'll be happy about this picture...NOT!

GOD...I LOVED the laundry service! If we ever go back to Japan again, I might just bring my entire wardrobe and have it laundered at a hotel.

Oh...and another thing...

Why are taxis in Japan one-third the cost of taxis in Switzerland? Huh? HUH? Plus, the passenger door is opened automatically by the uniformed driver (including hat and white gloves), AND the seats are covered in a white lace fabric.

Oh...AND 7-Elevens everywhere!!! Why are there still no freakin' 7-Elevens in Switzerland, for God's sake?!?!?!?!?

The Tokyo Adventures Of Sugar Mama And Travel Diva...

We're alive and well in Tokyo. Here's what we've done so far:

FLIGHT - I ask you: Now that I've experienced First Class, how will I ever go back to Business Class again? Unfortunately, one of our bags didn't make it (so Mrs. TBF's been forced to wear the same jeans since we got here...YUCK!), but we just received word that the bag will arrive later this evening. We enjoyed a great Japanese dinner at our hotel, and then we pretty much crashed after that.

FISH MARKET - We set the alarm for 4 a.m. our first morning here so that we could go to the fish market and watch the tuna auctions. Unbelievably, we actually managed to pull ourselves out of bed, take a taxi to the market, watch the fish auctions, and then enjoyed a sushi and beer breakfast - all before 7:30 a.m. Then, we took the subway (where we enjoyed watching the locals falling into a deep sleep while sitting up, and then magically waking up seconds before arriving at their stop) back to our hotel where our two-hour nap turned into a four-hour nap. After shaking out the cobwebs, we walked around a bit and took in some sights in the late afternoon. Later that evening, we went to Roppongi for a Yakatori dinner, came back to the hotel for a drink, and then crashed (again).

BRUNCH - This morning, we took the subway to Ueno where we reserved some train tickets for a day-trip we'll be taking tomorrow, watched more champion Japanese nappers waking up seconds before they had to get off at their stops, and returned to our hotel where we had a nice mid-day brunch. Then, it was back to the room for another nap, and...now I'm here blogging.

I know...not too exciting so far. However, the worst of the jet lag seems to be behind me, our missing bag will be here in a couple of hours, and we're ready go!

More soon...

- posted in Tokyo

Just Like Christmas...

I don't BEE-LIEVE what I'm seeing!

Could it be?

Is it...possible?

My suitcase is...

...A-LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVVEEE!!!

Three weeks to the day after my arrival from Chicago via London, my suitcase finally made it to Basel. However, I wasn't the only one...

I read in several articles about how BA had, at one point, anywhere from 20,000 - 25,000 bags just sitting unsorted either because of...a zillion different excuses. My bag actually went to Milan, where it was sorted (along with thousands of other bags), processed, and shipped to me in Basel...VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS (Geez...how much did that cost 'em?)!!!

What-evah!

I figured the bag would arrive at some point, and I never was too worried about, or inconvenienced by, its absence. Probably the thing I missed most was the little thing-a-ma-bob I wear on my front teeth that keeps me from clenching my teeth at night (NOTE TO SELF: Pack anti-clenching-thing-a-ma-bob in carry-on bag!); not having that kind of sucked! But, it seemed that Mrs. TBF (being a BA super-duper-double-secret-inner-circle-frequent-flier member) was much more annoyed by it than I was, and fully intends on voicing her concerns to the BA Executive Club...um...executives.

What-evah! Shit happens!

All I know is that my bag - locked, apparently never opened, and completely undamaged - is back in my clutches. And I have to say that opening it was a little like opening gifts on Christmas; there were things in there that I'd bought in Canada/Chicago about which I'd completely forgotten.

My friend Andy will be surprised to hear that my packing job (i.e., tequila bottle wrapped in bubble-wrap, inside a ziploc bag, stuffed inside a 7-Eleven Double Gulp cup), didn't set off any security alarms, and everything arrived in perfect shape. I even celebrated the bag's arrival last night with a little sip of the aforementioned tequila.

Tonight...we'll celebrate with something else from the "goodie" bag!

You'll love it! Just wait and see...