Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Sweet mother of god, it feels like we've been travelling for four years already but we made it, are rested, and wide awake at 4:30 a.m. Here is where I am sitting as I write. I am one lucky bitch.
Our flight from Vancouver to Seattle was at 7:30 so we had an early start. We checked our bags, basically had to get naked to go through security, and headed to the lounge. As we're walking in, Ryan jumps to the right and presses his back to the wall like he's Jason Bourne or something. Turns out one of his patients was in the lounge as well so we Whack-a-Mole'd our heads around every corner and found a place to have a coffee. Once in Seattle, we had a 5 hour layover so we went to the United Airlines lounge, plopped down our stuff, pulled out our iPads and got comfy. Who comes in sits about 5 feet away, directly in between the bar and us? Ryan's patient. We knew he was there, he knew we were there, but nothing was said until Ryan finally couldn't hold it any longer and went to the bathroom and had to do the requisite chat... and then again while waiting to board for Tokyo. The only saving grace about this situation is that the patient enjoys a cocktail for breakfast. It would have been helpful to know this the first couple of hours we were there so we didn't waste our time drawing a map of possible paths we could take to get some vodka for our orange juice without being seen.

We were really excited for the flight from Seattle to Tokyo because we were flying First Class. Not Business but First. We boarded the United Airlines 777 and the excitement quickly dissipated. I mean, we expected that we were going to get the old dinosaurs as Flight Attendants that are hanging on for retirement because it was a 10 hour flight and those girls have seniority. What we didn't expect was that the seats would be held together with duct tape. Duct Tape? Green Duct Tape? That's what you came up with United?
After we got a couple glasses of champage, we got over it and just decided to enjoy the archaic interior. After all, we had the lie-flat beds, fluffy pillows, amenity kits stocked with such luxurious brands as Crest and Scope, and hey, booze was free.
I decided to take a gander at what movies were playing. I couldn't seem to find the function on the TV so I asked the the Brontosaurus to help me. "I'll be right back, sir" was what she offered and she scuttled away. Then she brought me back a massive brief case.
OOOOOoooh! They're not kidding about First Class! What did they have back there, one of those new BETA machines? I pulled one out, not sure what to do with it and pulled out my iPad. I will say that the food was pretty good. I'm not quite sure what's gotten into Ryan but he's been eating duck and fish. Considering his food groups are red meat, wine, and Bulls-Eye BBQ Sauce I've been pretty impressed.
The flight was actually fairly painless. I watched episodes of Modern Family and Ru Paul's Drag Race on my iPad and Ryan pretty much did this the entire 10 hours (look closely to see what's on the screen). Oh, and by 'this' I'm also talking about the wine.
Once in Tokyo, we had three hours to kill. After claiming our luggage and going through customs again, we went to the lounge and waited some more. We were both struck by how well everything works and how nice everyone is. We basically sat with droopy eyelids trying to rehydrate from the flight (you know how dry those things are... * cough *).

After trying desperately to stay awake for the last 4 hour flight, we disembarked in Hong Kong. We had asked the hotel to send a car did they ever DELIVER. Literally as soon as we were out of the plane, there was a number of men holding signs with different people's names on them. We found ours and prepared for the mile long walk to the customs hall. The man explained that the Four Seasons had asked him to escort us to the car and would we please take a seat on the ONE waiting golf cart. We hopped on and left all those other bitches in the dust.

From the time we stepped off of the plane, we did not lift a bag or wonder where we were going. There were people waiting, carrying, ushering... it was amazing. We hopped into the black Mercedes waiting for us, were given chilled scented towels to freshen up with and were off to the Four Seasons Hotel. Once here, same thing. We got out of the car and a woman was waiting to escort us straight to our upgraded room. Everything had been arranged. No waiting at the front desk, no issues with the bags. We were literally in our room in the time it took for us to walk from the car and go up the elevator.
We were welcomed with fruit, dessert, and a lovely letter stating they hope Dr. and Ms. K altio enjoy their stay. Happens every trip. Maybe we'll keep count. So far this is number 2.