THAI ADVENTURE: Day 0--Honolulu

I leave this morning for Bangkok.  A simple trip with five others has now been reduced to three because the others felt it was too dangerous because of the coronavirus epidemic that has spread to Thailand.  There has been a lot of concern expressed to me by residents of 15 Craigside, mostly for my welfare.  However, no doubt there is also a worry that I will return to infect them with some horrible tropical disease, like perhaps the Wuhan coronavirus, which, incidentally, now has an official name:  COVID-19.  The 19 because it was discovered in 2019.

The Administration insisted on a briefing session with me about this epidemic.  Two people, one from Arcadia and some supervisor from 15 Craigside.  I joked that they called me in to give me a mask and hand sanitizer.  They took it seriously and gifted me with this small bottle.  Of all the places, the meeting occurred on the hospital floor of our building, which for weeks has been in a kind of quarantine state because of a circulating respiratory virus.  Coronavirus causes a respiratory ailment.  I know I'll be safer in Thailand than on this floor.

The poker group said they would be voting if I could re-join them when I returned.  I think they were kidding.  So I retorted back that I would see them in a month.  I thought you were only going to be away for two weeks, said someone.  Well, there will be that two-week period where I'd be quarantined in my room, I responded.  I was joking...I hope.

Thailand is now up to 33 cases, the latest a 54-year old Chinese woman from Wuhan, who is now in quarantine.  So far, no fatalities.  The government barred passengers on Holland America's MS Westerdam from disembarking, even though the cruise started in Singapore, with an eventual destination of  Yokohama.  That cruise ship I was on in December, the Diamond Princess, now quarantined in Yokohama, is now up to 175 cases of COVID-19.

Here is a link to everything you want to know about this epidemic.  The number of cases, now up to 45,208, appears to be nearing a peak, while deaths are not yet showing this leveling.  This should occur in a week or two.

On Day -1 (which was yesterday) I celebrated with lunch at Senia, according the Hale 'Aina Award rating last year, the second best restaurant in Hawaii:

I took a counter seat to watch the kitchen operate.  That  is a heart of palm.  The lunch was a price fixed $38 for three courses, including a dessert.  There were two options, and the dishes were just not enticing enough, so I asked if I could instead have all four appetizers.  With reluctance, there was agreement.  What a good choice, starting with kalua pig croquettes and chili gel:

Then came the three others:

From the left, chicken liver mousse, poke plate with a cripy squid ink something or other and Kusshi oyster with yuzu ginger foam.   The pebbles were not edible.  The wines were Domaine des  Baimard sparkling wine from Loire, Hochar Pere et Fils Red from Lebanon and Domaine Fontsainte Gris de Gris Rose' from France.

I would put this lunch in the fabulous class.  I also saved at least $15 by skipping the prix fixe requirement.

On the way home I dropped by Oahu Market to purchase some blue-fin tuna for my sashimi dinner at home:

Note that the less fatty chu-toro is more expensive than the o-toro. Had the o-toro sashimi with ikura, fried egg and natto over rice, plus tsukemono, and Manhattan Clam Chowder, complemented by hot sake and cold beer:

Then went to play poker.

Day 0 is finally here.  With all the concern and imagined peril, I'm still looking forward to this trip.  I said goodbye to my plants and fish aquaria--akulikuli, hanohano orchids and mints, lei pikake and water lily:

This is a simple trip this time.  A few days each in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai, followed by a few more back in Bangkok.  We fly business class Japan Air Lines.  I was on JAL a little more than two years ago, courtesy of Kyushu University.  In Honolulu, business class means that you can use their Sakura Lounge.  This is how it looked then.  Plus, miso soup, and an assortment of Japanese food, for breakfast.  Beats the United Club.

I rarely fly from Honolulu directly to Bangkok via a necessary stop in Tokyo.  It takes at least 20 hours from home to my Thai home, which this time will be the Marriott Marquis, the largest hotel in Thailand. They have one of the better executive lounges.  Three years ago I took this photo from that club of a Bangkok sunset.

I can still remember, though, the trip I started on 4 October 2011...first class on United, a stop in the First Class Lounge of United, then on to Bangkok in Thai Air first class.  What was memorable is that I had 24 different alcoholic drinks!  I checked in to my hotel close to midnight, had a good night sleep and woke up NORMAL.  No jet lag.  Wouldn't be able to do that today.

Something in my memory reminds me that I later had another long air trip, I think again from Honolulu (HNL) to Tokyo (NRT) to Bangkok (BKK), with a long stopover in Narita, where I had 26 drinks.  Anyway, I won't even come close this time.  That would be suicidal.

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