don't depend on anyone to help you. that way, in japan you can be pleasantly surprised and in the US you won't be disappointed.

other passengers are jerks. or else i am. i mean, why is it ok to spend the entire trip with your seat in the fully reclined position? and why don't the flight attendants ask passengers to sit up during meals, if only in consideration for the people behind? maybe this explains it: during the flight from LA to tokyo, the woman behind me went into the lavatory with her young son. they were in there a very long time and finally someone rapped very hard on the door. she and her son got out, returned to their seats and she called a flight attendant. she was very angry and complained about the person who knocked on the door and he (the smarmy flight attendant) said, 'i'm sorry, we don't get invloved with things like that. you need to work it out between the both of you.' i was kind of surprised. what exactly is the job discription of a flight attendant anyway? i asked the same guy to please take the blanket and pillow (which i had not asked for, btw) and he said that he couldn't, that there wasn't any storage space for them. in revenge, i made him get me a couple of drinks and some ice during non-meal times.

as for that blanket and pillow: why were they already on my seats? is this because the flight attendants only serve food now and are not allowed to ask passengers if they want the blanket and pillow? are we even allowed to talk to them besides asking them for a drink or stating our preference between chicken and pork? *sigh*

drugging the baby works wonders.

practice hip-checking the fully reclined seats in front of you. the people sitting in them may finally get the hint. *sigh* i know, i know, it's not fun just sitting there for ten hours, and trying to lay back and get some rest is a good idea. but the whole way?? at one point i finally got hiro to sleep. fifteen minutes later i had to go to the lavatory. since there was no room, as i was squeezing out, i accidently brushed hiro and woke him up. i took him to the bathroom with me and when we returned to our seats, he didn't sleep again for another five hours or so. and he screamed a lot. i blame the guy in front of us, though i know the other passengers blamed poor hiro. i mean, the guy in front wasn't even sleeping, he was reading a book! personally i think that calls for half-way, not fully reclined. *sigh* and before you tell me i should have asked him to move, he was wearing headphones and was totally oblivious to the rest of the plane, except when i hip-checked him.