We're in the Plumeria Lounge of Hawaiian Airlines. Next stop, Haneda Airport.   It's alway so exciting to anticipate the coming of a global adventure.   Now, I want these trips to be as secure and comfortable as possible.  Thus, we are traveling business class, except for the Bangkok to Dubai to Munich leg being on Emirates first class.   I never asked, but I assume they don't practice Ramadan on their flights and airport lounge. In  2022 we caught an Emirates first class from Bangkok to Duba i.  Unlimited caviar, with showers on the plane.  Fabulous experience.   So we thought we'd double the pleasure.  It is 3000 miles from Bangkok to Dubai, but 3700 miles from Dubai to Munich. And a big plus.   Washington D.C. is reaching peak cherry blossom blooms now.   They said it's due to climate change.  Tokyo and D.C. are very similar in terms of weather.  Certainly, too, our first few days then will feature a...

From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):          DAY    USA    WORLD     Brazil      India      South Africa June     9    1093     4732        1185        246        82 July    22     1205     7128        1293      1120       572 Aug    12     1504     6556        1242       835       130 Sept     9     1208      6222       1136      1168        82 Oct     21     1225      6849         571      ...