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Another early start, but only 6am which is not too bad (try telling that to Mumsie) and it was to get to Changi
in Singapore for our flight(s) to the USA!!!!
Had a maxi taxi ordered for 7am and a Merc Vito was duly waiting for us as we checked out. Only took about 15 minutes to get to the Airport and we got our cases checked in (painlessly this time) and after a quick coffee walked for about 10 minutes to get to our departure lounge. We could have caught a train but thought the walk would do us good considering the time in a plane we had in front of us!
We boarded on time into what must have been the oldest 747 that Singapore Airlines has in it's fleet!!! What a bloody let down! The old cluncker even had ash trays for Gods sake!!!! So we squashed into the very tiny seats and got as organised as best we could for the 7 hour flight to Tokyo, hoping that maybe????? it wouldn't be as bad as we expected. Well, you know what? Apart from the legendary service and fantastic meals from SA, it was just what we thought it would be - cramped, uncomfortable and noisey! But we were stuck with it and I made the best of the tiny 100mm entertainment screens to watch "The Hangover" which was just soooooo funny!!!!! We landed at Narita Airport in Tokyo and after doing the usual customs thing waited in the departure lounge for a half hour or so until we re-boarded - just long enough to go to the toilet and get a photo in front of the "Welcome to Japan" sign!
There seemed to be a lot of passengers finishing the flight in Tokyo, but just as many got on again so there were very few empty seats for the next sector, and the fat Asian guy who snored like a pig the whole way from Singapore was still there! b*****!
The next 9 hours seemed like forever, I watched another movie, played umpteen games of Solitaire and slept a bit!
The service was first class though and we had dinner and breakfast and whatever else you wanted apart from some leg and elbow room!
Arrival in Los Angeles wa on time at 11.15am local time into pouring rain and heavy fog, we cleared Customs in record time but waited nearly 45 minutes for our bags before going through the security line and towing our cases over to the United Airlines part of the Terminal. There is a lot of construction going on at LA Airport and not before time with it being a very old facility and one of the few large ones in the world without a train or monorail to take you from Terminal to Terminal. We went through the very strict US security again - Sue got taken aside and was frisked because her pants were to baggy for the x-ray machine to see through - serious stuff!!! From there we headed for our departurevlounge knowing full well we had a 5 hour wait for the connection to Las Vegas, but with the shocking weather events on the West coast most flights were delayed and it was 8.15pm before we finally took off for Vegas!!
It only took a few minutes to get out of the airport and we got a taxi to our digs at the Jockey Club which is one of the original resorts in Vegas and while our 2 bed, 2 bathrom unit is old and not all that flash it is cheap, clean and very centrally located right in between the Bellagio and the brand new Cosmopoliton casinos. We have lots of space, it is fully air-conned, has a kitchenette and also has free wi-fi, so we are most comfortable and we only spend a few hours in the room anyway.
We got a few supplies from a deli and after a few minutes to shower we were in bed and sound asleep in a very short space of time!
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