A petite math riddle, if you will...

We arrived in Bangkok last night and are staying at the Lynch-esque Atlanta hotel.  I'm obsessed with this place, recommended by Molly, photos to come.  Coming here from Tokyo feels like being dropped in an 80s video that overtly glamorizes colonialism after living in the land of robots.  Tokyo was so tightly run, measured, calm, unbelievably quiet.  Bangkok is gritty and chaotic and lacking in scruples.  We're having a really good time so far.

I've mentioned before that geography is not really my strong suit, yes?  I can visualize a map of Asia in my mind grapes (Ed has handily also made it the wallpaper on our laptop to help me learn good), and yet I'm constantly amazed by how far apart things are.  Do you know how long it takes to get to Thailand from Japan?  Me neither, but it is a LOT longer than I thought it would be.  Which leads me to a math problem that I've been turning over in my sleep deprived brain since we boarded the plane yesterday.

Our flight from Tokyo departed, on schedule, at 6:30 p.m.  The arrival time indicated on the ticket was 11:45 p.m.  According to both the United website and our turbulence-challenged captain, the estimated flight time was 6 hours and 15 minutes.  The timezone in Bangkok is 2 hours behind Tokyo.

Am I cray-cray, or did I lose an hour of my life?

Again treading on Ed's usual stomping ground...

Since we're travelling by air quite a bit between countries, I've done a ton of research on search engines, etc.  The two that are the most useful for budget carriers over here are the confusingly named Momondo & Mobbisimo.  They both pull flights from the smaller intra-regional carriers, which are often as cheap as ground transportation; Molly suggests a quick check of safety records before purchase.  Having now done this, I'm less than plussed to know that not 2 but 3 of the flights we've taken were on major airlines that rank in the bottom 5 for safety (oh hai, China?  plz to stay in the air all the way to destination, kay?).  Incidentally, we're here, so 10 points.

Oh, but the reason for my post.  Has everyone already heard of the site (which seriously sounds like it should have appeared first on the Simpsons) CHEAPOAIR.COM?  Seemingly undercuts the other major sites by a not-laughable number of dollars.  We enjoy this.