Flight to Bangkok Adventures

I took American West from Phoenix to San Francisco and wonderful EVA Evergreen Deluxe Service on the long 14 hour flight from San Francisco to Taipei and the 3 hour flight from Taipei to Bangkok

I had about a 3 hour layover in Taipei and took some pictures of almost empty waiting area.  Sorry not quite enough light and first time using camera!:

All the EVA flights were on 747-400’s which had smooth as silk flying most of the way. Unlike the Manila trip where we flied more directly across the Pacific, due to wind conditions, this time we went the Northern route, heading up to just off Alaska and across the Baring Strait (avoiding the Russian border I am sure) and down to Taipei. I like the maps on the video in front of each seat which also shows the movies. Also shows airspeed (usually about 500-600mph, altitude (35000-40,000ft) and air temp (-50 to –80 degree F.) Also constantly shows time where we last left, where we are now, and at destination, as well as mile from last airport and to destination and time until arrive.

Young Rock Guy Seatmate turns out to be a Dr. with very interesting experience
As I got on Taipei flight, noticed 2 attractive gals were obviously in my row by where they were storing luggage in overhead bin, and a rather savory looking young guy with a CD listening I thought to rock music and seemed to be a bit drunk or on drugs perhaps. Unfortunately the Asian gals were in the two far seats and the young rock guy was next to me ( 5 seats across in middle section of 747). I was on the aisle with I prefer than a center seat.

Well, my first impressions of the unsavory looking lad were very wrong. He turned out to be a very interesting sharp medical doctor from Stanford California. At one point somehow we started up a brief conversation (I usually read a lot and am not a very talkative guy on flights). This trip he was on the way to Taipei to go to Manila and then Cebu to marry a young woman he had met on earlier trips.

Frantic Is There A Doctor On Board ?
He had a very interesting story about his earlier trip with his sister to meet the girl’s family. On his prior trip the pilot did the dreaded "is their a doctor on board" call. He really didn't want to respond but the 2nd plee for a Dr. seemed quite urgent so reluctantly he said he was a medical doctor. He did the best he could for the older man, but they were in the mid pacific and 5 hours from any airport to divert to for a medical emergency. The guy died which bummed out the doctor. The pilot said he could have diverted to Okinawa but that would have only gotten them there 20 minutes before Manila. The poor guy was already long dead by then.

My seatmate said the plane had a good medical kit but no defibrillator, which might have helped. No defibrillator but they do have body bags on board!

There was some humor in the sad event. He was traveling with his sister who was sleeping when the pilot asked for a doctor. She awoke and when he returned to his seat after a long time, he told her what had happened. She didn't believe him, but thought he was just flirting with the cute flight attendants in the back of the plane. She thought he was joking about the dead man as am excuse. But when the plane landed in Manila she almost when into shock when the police and medics came on board and he had to sign a death certificate and other papers. Now she knew he wasn't just flirting.

Sleeping Pills ?
I also debated trying my sleeping hormone (Melatonin) I had taken along I have never used sleeping aids before but from my previous trip I knew it was vary hard for me to sleep. Even though the Evergreen Deluxe seating has larger seats that recline and have plenty of leg room, it is still very uncomfortable after many hours trying to sleep.

 I mentioned to the doctor lad about my dilemma whether to take the pills or not and decided to try them. He even wanted to bum some himself from me. So I thought that if the Dr. is going to use them I shouldn't worry? I was concerned about what I heard about the side effect of being tired long after you wake up. 

With the pills I had a very fitful on and off sleep for about 5 hours. This was however more sleep than on my Spring trip to Manila. With the pills I actually seemed more drugged out and more sleepy more in after about 6-7 hours. The Dr. only slept about 3-4 hours and gave up on sleeping. I also slept for brief periods on the Taipei to BKK flight but seemed fully alert by the time I got to BKK. 

Post  I had read before leaving: