Day 22 - Arrived at Narita/Tokyo airport at 6:30AM, and settled in for a 12 hour lay over. They checked my bag and box all the way to DFW. This may turn out to be a bad thing. I had to clear immigration and customs and get a boarding pass, but the AA counter didn't open until noon, so I went and had noodles and seafood for breakfast. By the time the counter opened, my flight had been delayed 2 1/2 hours. I now depart at 9:45PM arriving at DFW around 5:30PM, the same day. I slept a few hours on a bench. I thought about taking a 40 min. high-speed train to downtown Tokyo, but it is ~40F outside and I'm not dressed for that.

I got tired of the airport and decided to explore Narita. Everyone was very helpful getting me there and back. I took the train into town to see the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple. This is a large Buddhist temple and school complex built in 920 AD.

There was a service going on in one of the temples. I took my shoes off and entered. Lots of chanting, drumming and fire. This place is dedicated to Fudomyo-o their god of fire. I then left looking for a late lunch. The 15 minute walk from the train was down a street lined with shops and restaurants. I stopped at a place whose specialty was fresh eel. After I saw how fresh, I moved on.

I then talked to a restaurant owner who was in traditional Japanese dress. She spoke very good English and convinced me to dine at her place. They too had eel, but I decided on a tempura plater that was outstanding.

Well this will be my last blog post, unless something exciting happens in the next three hours before my flight. Today Friday Feb. 4th, I have seen the sun rise and set on Japan, and will see it rise again on Friday Feb. 4th somewhere around the Aleutian Islands and see it setting again heading into Dallas. I hope you have enjoyed this, I know I have.

Day 21 - Get away day. There are lots of Chinese New Year activities around the hotel. The entire hotel staff is here and they have a gauntlet set up from the elevator to the front door. They are waiting to receive Hóng Bāo, which is money in a red envelope. There are performing groups in front of the hotel, that travel around putting on shows for Hóng Bāo.

This performance group was sponsored some rich guy who supposedly owned most of Bukit Bintang, that area around the hotel. His custom built Bufori Geneva was prominently parked out front.

It was then off to the airport for a 10:50PM flight to Tokyo. My limo driver told me about his 2 wives and 10 kids. He said this was common practice and that the government provides supports to families with 10+ kids. Besides a driver, he told me he sells fruit and is a part-time actor. I had a small issue at check due to the weight of my suitcase. I had to box up some items so that my bag was less than 32kg.

Day 20 - This is my last day at the plant. This was an incredible experience, but I am ready to get home. Here is a picture from the 5th floor office area looking back toward downtown KL where my hotel is located. The two side-by-side tall buildings are the Petronas Towers and to the left is the KL Tower, the tallest radio tower in the world. This was one of the few clear days since I arrived.

The activity in this town is coming to a halt as the Chinese New Year approaches. The travel to the plant is much quicker without traffic, but finding a taxi for the ride home is becoming a challenge. The guys at work took me out for dinner. They picked me up at the hotel and we went to an Irish Pub, Leornard's favorite. Note: I previously identified Leornard as a "Christian Malay". He informed me this is an oxymoron and that he is Indian Malaysian Christian. He also would like to be referred to as Leornard Bin Guinness. Here is a picture of the evenings entertainment. I though it was amusing that I was sitting in an Irish Pub in KL, Malaysia listening to two Chinese sing the Eagles' "Hotey Carifownia".

Day 19 - Looks like nasty weather in North Texas. I "Skyped" the family this evening (Tues. morning in Denison) and all were still in PJ's. Another busy day at work trying to wrap things up as best as possible. Today was a holiday in KL, tomorrow is a "mass vacation" day at TI and Thursday and Friday are national holidays in Malaysia; not much getting done. I am still going in tomorrow to meet with 4-5 people I haven't had time for as yet.

I went to lunch today with Kash and Guru. These two gentlemen along with Leornard who have been my main accomplices, and companions. These guys have really taken care of me and I am truly blessed to have met them; quality folks. Today we ate at a banana leaf restaurant, which is primarily Indian. They put a banana leaf on the table and start dishing out rice, vegetables, curry sauces, and other "unidentifiables". We also picked out a marinated chicken quarter on the way in which they fried for for us. You moosh it together while you eat with the fingers on your right hand, no utensils. The food was awesome. We ended with some brewed drinks which supposedly to help with digestion. When finished, you roll up your leaf toward you. This signifies that you like the food and will be back. Rolling your leaf away from you means you do not wish to come back, which is typically (symbolically) done at funerals.

Kash was my main contact during this trip and was upset his picture didn't make the blog. Here he is in front of Thurkah's Banana Leaf, what a stud!

Here is Kash and Guru at the table while being served; for some reason my banana leaf is 2X theirs.

Here is a picture from a few days ago of Leornard and Kash (on phone) at lunch. I don't want to leave Leornard out, the only Christian Malay I met on the trip and a great person, la.

Day 17 & 18 - Nothing much to report. The days are winding down and there are lots of meetings, visits, etc. Everyone seems to want a sit-down to pick my brain and I'm not sure why. I am more than happy to oblige; these are very personable people and I have made some good friends and would love nothing more than for them to succeed. I have been practicing my Malaysian-English or Malenglish, thanks to Leornard and Ganesh. The trick is to follow every statement with "la". As in " are we going to lunch, la?", "ye, la", or my twist when I observe something questionable, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, la?"

Other than that, nothing exciting on the taxis to/from or dinner/supper.

Day 16 - I woke up early, and it is still raining. A workout and breakfast before 8:00, and then did some TI work for the next few hours. I haven't mentioned it, but I am communicating with the family via SKYPE and Google-Talk. SKYPE at the hotel is a little cumbersome, but Google-Talk is incredible. Both are free, and with phone calls at $3.00/minute, they are the way to go. We walked around this afternoon, still raining. I was in the room (22nd floor) and heard sirens, and looked out the window and saw three Mercedes ladder trucks pulling into the hotel. False alarm. One interesting sight was the guy pulling up on the little motorcycle with a FIRE logo; KL VFD?

Still raining so I went to my favorite eatery, the Lebanese restaurant at the hotel (they have 10 different restaurants). They had some girls paying traditional Chinese instruments in the atrium. They giggled when I clapped, but they deserved an ovation. This coming Thursday and Friday are national holidays, and the plant has declared a mass vacation on Wednesday. That doesn't leave many days left in my last work week. Still raining, and forecast for the next week. I think I'll turn in early.

Day 15 - Slept in a little, and then the two other TI US workers here and myself walked to the Chinese market. This like Canal Street in NYC with all of the bootleg, knock-off merchandise, but less cramped. I bought some Malaysian soccer jerseys and a T-Shirt for Audrey and Luke's hitting coach. When I got back to the hotel, I found out that shirts sizes in KL are a little different from the US. (see slipper picture from Tokyo). I hope somebody can wear these; what do you expect when you buy a Dry-Fit Nike jersey for less than $10US. McDonald's is a big hit here. You can get a window sticker for your car for VIP drive-thru service. It started raining on the way home and was still pouring when I went to bed.

Day 14 - Work and not much else. Lunch and dinner at a mall restaurant, food good but the stories are not so interesting. Here is picture of the street in front of my hotel with Chinese New Years decorations.