It's now 11:23 pm, Korea time. I'm in the California Hotel in Seoul, 7:23 a.m in Calif. All is well.
12.5 hours is a long plane trip, but Singapore Air is first class, even in Economy. I got a window seat, left side, well aft of the wing.
Departure was delayed by Fleet Week air show for about 1/2 hour. However, while sitting on tarmac, got to watch an F-22 take off for the show --followed by six Blue Angels who got clearance right before us and right after a Lufthansa Airbus A380 (the huge double deck "Superjumbo") was cleared just before us. HUGE! First one I've seen. Also saw the F-22 land, with pilot playing around keeping the nosewheel off the ground until the last possible moment.
Flight was good. Clouds rolled in shortly after we flew over the Farallons. Cleared after we got over Alaska. Saw many glaciers and spectacular glacier-carved terrain. Bering Strait mostly cloudy. Over Russia and such, just barren rolling snow-covered terrain.
Didn't get dark until about one hour before landing.
Had two meals, plus snacks and all drinks, incl. alcohol, free. Food was okay --certainly plentiful. Watched an enjoyable Japanese anime film and read a lot.
Boeing 777 is big --2 aisles, 9 --seats across.
Our hosts awaited us at Incheon. We then drove about an hour to Seoul. Checked into the hotel. Not a 4-star place, but certainly adequate.
After checking in, we went, with two hosts, to a sashimi place just abouttwo blocks away. Wow. I tried everything, and most was good, some very good. Food kept on coming. I was probably the most adventurous of us four "ugly Americans". Three Korean waitresses sat with us through most of meal, feeding us and sharing shots of soju, the most popular Korean drink --a very drinkable rice wine that is just a little more potent than wine. Our host from Davis, Sung Moon, taught us various customs and such so as not to offend the locals. I'd already read about most of them, so I was a bit ahead of the game.
Returned to the hotel, unpacked, and to bed.
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