Oct 202011
 

So, 1:45am rolled around, and it was finally time to for flight(s) to Tokyo, via Yap and Guam. Boarding was a bit late due to a late arrival from Yap, and we were getting quite concerned about our 45 minute connection in Guam. Of course, it was also 1:30am and we were completely ready to pass out, so I’m not sure if sleepy or concerned was winning out at this point.

Continental 186, Koror, Palau to Yap
Depart 1:45, Arrive 3:50, 1:05 flight time
Boeing 737-800, Registration N35236, Manufactured 1999
Seats 2E, 2F

Honestly, not much to say on this flight. We accepted a couple of glasses of wine upon boarding to ensure the inevitable, and passed out until landing in Yap an hour later. I remember hitting the tarmac, but honestly nothing after that…including the takeoff. Yap was one giant blur, which is exactly how I hoped it would be. This was the best case scenario for what I consider the absolute worst redeye flight in the world.

Continental 186, Yap to Guam
Depart 4:30, Arrive 6:00, 1:30 flight time
Boeing 737-800, Registration N35236, Manufactured 1999
Seats 2E, 2F

Again, we totally did not remember taking off at all, and were in Guam before we knew it. Total flight time was only 3:15 including the time on the ground in Yap, but we slept pretty much all of it, so no complaints whatsoever! Arrived Guam almost 30 minutes late, so it was a major scramble to our connection. Got to our friends at CBP, and realised…yes…I’d left my passport on board. ARGH! Fortunately, the Continental BusinessFirst Concierge had escorted everyone into Immigration, and RAN back to the plane to get my passport in under five minutes. This is the Continental I remember and love, and hope the service level remains a part of the combined airline/

Made the gate with almost 20 minutes to spare, and we were off!

Continental 161, Guam to Tokyo
Depart 7:10, Arrive 9:45, 3:35 flight time
Boeing 767-400, Registration N77066, Manufactured 2002
Seats 1K, 1L

Flight was pretty uneventful, and the crew was unfortunately quite cool. Meal was served, but no warmth or real “service” at all…but that was fine, because again…what we really wanted was to maximize SLEEP! We got another two hours each or so, and arrived in Tokyo rested enough to take on a pretty full day! Upon landing, we were right off to the ANA First lounge for a quick shower, and the best part is they were able to hold out bags until our flight that evening. Backpack in tow, we were off to the Narita Express to head into Shibuya Station.

Took us a couple tries to find the correct window, but soon we had return tickets into Shibuya station…with a bit of time to grab some Starbucks at the station’s caffeine purveyor to spare!  Onto the train (reserved seating on a local train?!  Seriously?!) and we were off.  But not before the very helpful escalator sign that warned us to watch our step:

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Oct 142011
 

We arrived into Guam late afternoon, just in time to head to the Sheraton, check in, and have a semi-relaxing evening.  It was only around 4pm when we made it to the hotel, and after two weeks on the road our most important mission was laundry.  Fortunately the Sheraton surprised us…not only with a suite upgrade, but with three laundry machines in the building.  I don’t remember the exact cost, but they were $1 to $1.25 per load – and nice and convenient.

Of course, we needed laundry supplies, so it was off to the most popular place on the island…K-Mart!  Those who live in the U.S. mainland probably assume that K-Mart has more or less faded into our past as one of those tragic relics of the 70s and 80s.  Not in Guam.  K-Mart is the social hub of the island, and packed to the rafters with people.  I’ve only ever been to one Wal Mart (don’t blame me, it’s the only option in the middle of Oahu!) and it reminded me of that.  But even bigger (both in size, and the size of the patrons.)  You could get literally everything here.

Stocked with Tide and Red Bull it was back to the Sheraton, where we joined a member of the U.S. Navy in completing laundry pretty quickly.  With that out of the way…what else does one do on Guam?!  Not much.  We decided after two weeks a little Americana was in order, and grabbed dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.  Guam is definitely one place you need a car, unless you don’t plan to leave your resort…and I can’t imagine a resort vacation on Guam!

Up early the next morning, our plan was to drive around the island before our early evening flight to Palau.  Up to the executive lounge for breakfast, which was packed with Japanese package tourists consuming Japanese breakfast.  It was nice to have a Japanese option for breakfast instead of the typical sugar and carb-laden US/continental options.  Oh, and lots of ice cold Diet Coke.

That done, we were off to drive around Guam.  Our first stop was not far from the hotel at the giant rotating statue of Pope John Paul II.  Unfortunately, it’s been broken a few years, and no longer rotates.  However, the headline story in all the local papers we saw was how a donation had been received, and soon it would rotate again.  Yes, this qualifies for headline news in Guam.

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