Made It!

But just barely. Due to bad information from the flight attendant on the flight to L.A. I thought I was supposed to transfer to the next plane at the wrong gate. Fortunately, a beautiful, wonderful, excellent employee of Japan Airlines walked me to the front of the security line once I figured out where I was supposed to be. Then there was much running through the terminal, but I got to the gate just in time.

Also, the security at LAX discovered a knife I had inadvertently smuggled onto my first flight. I had a corkscrew in my purse (because I never know when I might need to drink wine at a moment's notice) which had a knife attached for cutting the foil. It's nice to know that airport security at DFW is keeping travelers safe from the threat of liquids and gels and not wasting its time on sharp, pointy, weapon-like items.

It was late Sunday evening when I arrived at the hotel, and I immediately called for some room service. The vegetarian meals on the airplane mostly consisted of lettuce and soggy rice, so I was absolutely starving for actual food. I picked a bento box more or less at random. Everything was very delicious, but much of it was mysterious.

What it looked like:		What it was:
Undercooked chicken		Seared tuna with garlic sauce
Giant bright reddish-orange fish eggs		Marinated cherry tomatoes
A giant bean		A giant bean
Deep-fried many-tentacled thing		Deep-fried fungus thing
Scallops		I have no idea. Some sort of potato?

This morning I set off from the hotel, and within about five minutes managed to get lost and totally soaked in the rain. I was able to retrace my steps back to the hotel and decided to find an indoor activity to enjoy, so I thought I would try the hotel's sushi bar. Again, everything was utterly delicious even though I have no idea what I was eating.

I had never been to a sushi bar before, and it wasn't what I was expecting. I ordered a combination of a bunch of different stuff, thinking that it would come out on a tray and I would eat it at my leisure. However, the sushi chef stood right in front of me as I ate, making the sushi one piece at a time and giving me the next piece as I finished each one. It made me feel very self conscious. At least it all tasted yummy.

Finally it quit raining long enough for me to see some sights.

The Hei Shrine:













New Otani Gardens:











Our Hotel:




View from our room on the 30th floor: