Hey. How d’ya like the blog’s new look? My web people “skinned” it for me to match the look of my website. Why do they call it that? Skinning? I cringe every time I hear it–picturing taking skin off chicken breasts. Bleck.
I’ve hardly had a chance to sit still since the end of July, thus the lack of blog posts. Plus, promoting YOUR PLANET OR MINE?, I’ve been everyone else’s guest blogger, it seems. With only a couple of days off between each overseas trip, I’ve been in recovery mode. I’m doing almost all my flying the first half of August to allow me to be home the last half of the month as my kids start public school for the first time.
So what country has been on the menu this month? Japan! Although I miss Sydney, the 3-day Narita trip has been proving a nice fit with my home life. There are fewer distractions like sightseeing and shopping. Eating, though, still proves a temptation.
But first, the Inquisitor.
So, this last Narita trip I show up only to find I am flying with one of the Inquisitors. (see my previous blogs on the Chamber of Horrors). 
Not only is the captain an Inquisitor, he’s more than just an instructor–he’s what’s known as a FAA Standards Captain, and is the most infamous of them all! But the Inquisitors, even Standards Captains, are also pilots, so they, too, need to keep up their flying currency, thus his appearance as the captain of my trip. I see his name before I see him. I want to flee. But what could I do? It was too late to call in sick. Plus, I needed the landing–on this particular trip, I was the FLYING first officer.
Much to my shock, the Inquisitor was a good guy! Somehow, he’d managed to leave the stench of evil back at the Chamber of Horrors and almost seemed to relish his freedom from the torture he inflicts on innocent pilots weekly in his job there. To my shock, as well, we had much in common, both of us USAF pilots during the 80s. Hours were spent reminiscing over the killing of brain cells on all those too-late Texas nights. His kids were of similar ages to mine, so we shared that as well. So, I’m thinking, hey, this trip is actually turning out to be FUN. When we arrived in Narita, we made plans to meet for dinner at The Bon.
As always, The Bon was packed with crewmembers from various airlines. We shared a table with a couple of Austrian Airlines flight attendants. I love this place. It’s a sort of an all-you-can-eat of Japanese food place, down a winding street near the temple in the village. On the downside, it was about 95 freaking degrees outside, even in the early evening, and even hotter in The Bon, where they cook the gyoza and chicken (and oddly, the french fries (see photo) on a fire grill.
Mopping sweat off my face with paper napkins, I devoured the food: salad for starters with corn and this delicious Asian dressing, followed by the first of what would be TWO platters of gyoza (pot stickers). They are the BEST gyoza of any restaurant foreign or domestic I have ever eaten. Sitting there, I consume so many, I fear I am about to pop like an over-fed goldfish. The Inquisitor watches me in horror, but I cannot stop. This feast is accompanied by chicken and vegetables, and of course, cold beer.
It was finished up by a quick stop at the Jet Lag Club:
Needless to say, I didn’t eat anything the next day. It’s two days later, and I’m still full. Ah, but it was soooo worth it.
What are some of your favorite places to eat–home or abroad? And what’s your favorite dish there?
