K-Zilla eats and sleeps during overseas flight

SOMEWHERE OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN – K-Zilla and his parents survived flying an international flight with a toddler and only had one major crisis – their portable DVD player hit Yuya’s head after it fell out of the overhead compartment. (that was half Jill’s and half Yuya’s fault). Yuya received a gash on his head and had a headache the rest of the flight.

The bad news: It seemed the Benadryl only made Kekoa sleep four hours out of the 14 hour flight – two hours in the beginning, two hours at the end of the flight. As you can see, Kekoa was happy during the meals and most of the flight and I am trying desperately (but to no avail) to stay awake.


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Last year, Yuya insisted that he get the "Dad of the Year" award after flying with Kekoa to Japan last year. I can see why flying with a toddler needs a two-person tag team -- someone has to fold the stroller to fit through security, put all the carry-ons through security, deal with TSA security who take their job too seriously and want to test every liquid including sippy cups, lotions, contact solution, medicines, etc., and the other parent has to chase and appease a temperamental toddler.

We flew from Chicago to the Tokyo/Narita airport. We purchased a lap-child ticket for Kekoa because if he had his own seat, it would be a full-price ticket.　I saw the look of horror on the passenger's face when he saw he would be sitting in the window seat of our row. After takeoff, the man asked the stewardess if he could move to another seat and he was able to. He was able to, and I was grateful that we had a whole row to ourselves during the flight. Kekoa was so squirmy during the flight that I can’t imagine how we would have survived if either Yuya or me had to be carrying Kekoa the whole time. I hope we have the same luck on our return flight.

JAL Airlines is worth every penny. I couldn't help but take a picture of our airplane food.


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We had teriyaki chicken, soba noodles, Caesars salad, and tiramisu dessert. Since we ate this good in economy class, I wondered kind of food was being served in business class or first class -- they must have eaten a four course gourmet meal! I also loved this airline because it served a lot of complementary Japanese snacks and also soup.

The flight was very child friendly (they gave Kekoa a toy, bib, and diapers). Even though Kekoa had his own toddler meals, he still ate our food.


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We also were traveling on the same flight with our friends from Lexington – and we didn’t even plan it! So it was nice to talk to people we knew and for Kekoa to have someone to play with while we were traveling.


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