As per Air Canada’s suggestion, I got to the airport well in advance of my scheduled flight time and, as a result, ended up arriving at the departure gate with plenty of time to spare. And by plenty of time, I mean about two and a half hours. It would’ve been a full three but for the fact I had to take off my cufflinks (and, more importantly, put them back on under the icy glares of my fellow passengers who obviously hadn’t had the foresight to follow Air Canada‘s sound advice) while going through security.
With time to kill, I stopped by the duty-free shop and picked up a beautiful three bottle ice wine gift set for my man Kullen (who arranged my Tokyo dining adventure), a pack of Dentyne Shine, and a magazine (I went with Psychology Today, choosing it over the latest issue of Popular Mechanics with the picture of the nose-diving plane on the cover under the heading “Anatomy of an Air Crash”).
While flipping through the magazine, I came across an article titled “The Evolution of Night Owls” which makes the case that individuals predisposed to staying up later are generally smatter than their early-to-bed neighbors. How much later? According to a study by Satoshi Kanazawa, a psychologist at The London School of Economics, the very brightest, those gifted with an IQ of 125 or greater, tend to turn in at about 12:29 a.m. Those of average intellect, possessing an IQ between 90 and 110, usually hit the sack at about 12:10 a.m., about 19 minutes earlier. The duller among us, those saddled with an IQ below 75, are generally pyjama-clad and cozy under the sheets approximately half an hour earlier at 11:41 p.m. And me? Why, I’m normally in bed a full hour and forty minutes sooner than your average low-brow at a cretinous 10:00 p.m. It’s a wonder I can even manage to feed myself! The flight was uneventful.
I decided to follow everyone’s advice on the book front and brought along both The Algebraist and Otherland for the trip, starting with the latter and enjoying it immensely so far. I also took the opportunity to practice up on my Japanese, review my culinary itinerary, and obsess over that missing outline.
As predicted, by the time I got into my hotel room, it was just after 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night! That’s right. In Tokyo, it’s tomorrow already. I’ve got a big day ahead of me tomorrow – sushi breakfast at the Tsukiji market, lunch at Chez Matsuo and dinner at Aronia de Takazawa – and even though I’m exhausted, I’m reluctant to turn in just yet. Apparently, going to bed at 10:00 p.m. would put me in the same company as fairy tale ogres, Lakers fans, and select woodland creatures.
Pics and vids starting tomorrow. Promise.
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