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Bangka Dive Trip, Day 1: Travel Day

Hello from AirFrance lounge where I wait until it is time to board my Japan Airlines Flight to NRT (Tokyo Narita). Today is a travel day. I’m looking forward to 24h of transit between here and Singapore. 😳😬 Flight: JAL 8005, departing 12:25 PM EDT from JFK, arrive at 3:40 PM ~15 hours later. This flight was booked using frequent flyer miles, so I am going to be seated in business class. The plan was a Boeing 777-300 ER. I already know it was worth the splurge. This is what I save my frequent flier miles for! I want to try to sleep! I either look dumb or famous to other lounge guests as I type this, but I am trialing an app called TimeShifter. My goal is to trick my circadian rhythms to minimize jet lag, so right now I'm trying to convince myself that it is dark, so here I am in my sunglasses. No caffeine for me until 6 PM.  My ride over from the hotel, Crowne Plaza JFK, was uneventful, just how I like it. I was third in line at check in when they opened and got to see the neatest...

Bangka Dive Trip Day -1

Today’s journey was from DC to NYC. Last time I had a huge trip to Indonesia, my flight was cancelled by my airlines just hours before I headed to the airport. This time, to avoid that stress, I decide to take the train this time.  Side-trip down memory lane:  I had just thrown sheets in wash machine and had to leave all of a sudden for a flight departing in 90 minutes, which then was delayed by 5 hours. My concierge saved me from a return to very moldy sheets! Not even thirty minutes out of DC’s Union Station, the train came to a stop. Initially we were told the train in front of us was stuck or something, but then we later learned that a Southbound Acela hit/killed a man on the tracks just a mile last where we were. We did make it as far as the New Carrolton stop so we were at least able to get off the train and get fresh air.  While there, I chatted with a man wearing a familiar sticker and I knew he was from NIH. He was actually a patient, looked super healthy and fit...