Jet lag and the Japanese leg

Newcastle, 7:00pm Sunday
It's funny how the brain condenses memory. About 36 hours ago (it's hard to be sure after traveling through 12 time zones) we were in Osaka, Japan for 18 hours, marveling at the culture, the people and the orderly way airports and hotels work. Now it seems just a blip in an ever growing landscape of travel stories.
To add perspective, we were only in the Hotel Nikko, about 5 minutes walk from Kansai Airport, so we could hardly say we were immersed in Japanese culture. But compared to its western counterparts, the experience was one of if not the best I've had in my travel history. We were escorted from airport to hotel and back again by airport and hotel staff - and such was the respect and dignity afforded us, we wanted to cancel the rest of the trip and stay. Well, nearly. The only drawback was that only single rooms were accessible and, at ¥25,000, we only wanted one. But wait, there's more! Even though they assume disabled people have no friends, partners, etc, when they found one who did, they went the extra mile - check out these funky bath adaptations:


Air NZ's new premium economy class seems to be code for: "the place you pay a bit more to sit and watch people in business class, wishing you had enough to pay for it." That said, it didn't take us long to get used to being watched. The new business layout takes a bit more getting used to - particularly sitting across the aisle from ones traveling companion but having the reclined feet of the stranger sitting behind you at your fingertips - but again, once that became five minutes old, we were free to sit back and enjoy the luxury we paid for.
And finally, before I pass out at 8:45pm after one glass of wine and a car ride from Manchester (our one night stopover opposite the United football grounds), we are now in Newcastle, our first official stop. For me, work starts Tuesday. More then.

Claire in Manchester hotel lobby