Last flying trip of the year. I’ve worked steadily since the weekend after Thanksgiving with only 2 days off between each trip. The goal was to get a big block of time off for the holidays and kids visiting home from college. Goal achieved!! I’m off until sometime in January!
Tokyo was so clear and gorgeous. I’m on a trip where the captain is training a new guy. Not any captain can train pilots new to the 747 and fresh out of simulator training. He’s specially trained to do this, and is called a check airman. The part I didn’t like was that this trip was supposed to be MY flying trip, but I was pulled out of that position and told to be the relief pilot by the United Scheduling folks. Grrr. Nothing I can do about that. The new guy needs to land. I also “took one for the team” by volunteering to stay at the overflow hotel in Tokyo, so the captain could stay in the same hotel as the new guy. See, on international flights, learning the ropes of the layover procedures, like the transportation back and forth and where to eat etc is almost as important as the airplane procedures, and they don’t have simulators for that! So I’m alone on my layover which feels a little weird.
Last night after arriving I went out to see some truly AMAZING Christmas lights. The Yebisu Place Gardens area was filled with people taking photos of it all and shopping. 
of COURSE I had to stop and get some fresh and hot Okonomiyaki for take out!
The hotel lobby was over the top!
I was placed in a low floor room (the 6th) and needed my white noise app to block out the street traffic and so I was SHOCKED to open the curtains this morning to see MT FUJI gleaming at me! I thought at first I was looking at a cloud on the horizon it was so unexpected. It made feeling “ronery” a little bit easier to bear. 🙂
Love the pictures! It’s always interesting to see how other countries celebrate the holidays. So glad you are getting a long break to spend time with your family. I’m sure it’s well deserved! 🙂