travel

(quick aside) i know i promised pictures, and i definitely will take them. i have a small problem with feeling too touristy, so i don’t always take pictures when i’d like. . . but there will be some on the way.

do you know what sucks about travelling? the packing. i’m horrible at it. my friend sara just left for a month or two. . . or more in india. she brought one bag. a couple pairs of pants, a handful of shirts, other essentials. both my allowed bags weighed in barely below the limit. . . and that was after a fury of quick last minute edits at home. my carry on weighed about 25 pounds. the other things that sucks about traveling is tugging around heavy bags- but that’s my own fault.

i flew out of ottawa in the afternoon, headed to chicago. i lost a knife from my checked luggage. less lost and more confiscated by the cops. i just flew with it in my checked luggage three weeks ago. . . what’s different now? it’s sad, but it’s more important that i get where i’m headed. the thing that bothered me was the cops kept asking what i used it for. i don’t use it. i believe the idea is never to use it. it was a gift from bride (katy) to maid of honor (me). i explained that it was a gift/ memento and the cops kept saying that that isn’t a normal kind of gift. knives are a very normal gift among my friends. . . err. to their credit, when they saw that it’s loss upset me, the cops did try to send it to me like it was in lost and found. but i guess the law stepped in, it has to be destroyed.

most of the airports i get around in have a number of places to eat and shops inside the terminal. that isn’t so in the international terminal at o’hare. i hadn’t had dinner and planned on getting something inside the terminal. my protein bars came in handy. but then i got on the flight.

we were served dinner on the plane (at about 2 or 3 am my time- but trust me, i wasn’t complaining). i am completely impressed with asiana airlines. my dinner was good, and so cute. little containers for everything. a package of real cutlery which included salt, pepper, sugar, toothpick, napkin, and a handy wipe- and a hot wet towel before hand. i had the steak dinner, not the bimbimbap, but the bimbimbap smelled fantastic. dinner was a salad, steak with carrots, potatoes, and broccoli, dinner roll, side of smoked salmon, slice of cake, and a beverage of choice (but not tea or coffee- that is for after dinner.)

nearly every hour the flight attendants walked around with water and orange juice. the entertainment was kinda like jetblue. your own screen with shows, movies, music, video games. you could start, pause, rewind etc each of the movies you wanted. i watched three, the women (bad), max payne (ok), and eagle eye (surprisingly better than i thought). i played bookworm and bejeweled. it got better when i realized i didn’t have to use the remote because the screen was interactive. the remote was a special combo, phone/ entertainment remote/ video game controller/ credit card swipe (for email and phone calls.)

after dinner they turned off the cabin lights and i did get some sleep. when it was time to wake up we were given good morning call, and the lights in the cabin slowly dimmed up. there was a sandwich at some point, but i passed on it. i got up a few times, to stretch and break for the bathroom. the bathrooms had lotions and toothbrushes available.

breakfast was a choice of pancake or omelet. i opted omelet. so a spinach omelet with some broccoli and tomato. strawberry banana yogurt, crescent roll, sliced fruit, and beverage, with coffee and tea making the rounds.

so yeah. it was a 14 hour flight, but if you have to do it, this isn’t a bad way.