Posts tagged as:

thank goodness I am not flying with kids

It’s not what it’s cracked up to be.

April 10, 2012

in random,through the looking glass

I feel so naked without a working cellphone with me when I am out and about. Vulnerable. I did not know how dependent I have become, at least psychologically, on having instant access to the world.

They changed the configuration of the plane: I was able to get a window seat in the Economy Plus section. After I settled into my seat, I started Instagramming. I stopped when I saw a long string of rosaries dangling near my face. No way.

Way.

It was a real Sister. I don’t know why I was so surprised. Sisters fly. My Sister immediately took out her well-worn Bible, with margins filled with notes in neat handwritings, and started reading silently to herself. When she put the Book away, I thought, what’s she gonna do now? She took out her rosaries and a tiny book filled with pictures of saints (I assumed) and continued to pray.

I felt so safe on this flight. And so content.

Sister is not going to steal from my bag when I go use the bathroom. Sister is not going to judge that I have not one ounce of makeup on. Sister won’t care that I have an erupting pimple at the base of my nose. Sister probably won’t judge me. Period. Besides Sister is all skin and bones and she keeps to herself physically so I have both armrests! Sign me up from now on!

Maybe it was as a test for me that soon I found out that my seat did not recline at all. And the new personal screen I was so psyched about was broken. Somehow I was not agitated. I probably would have felt really embarrassed if I threw a tantrum over something trivial like this after overhearing that Sister was flying to China to work in an orphanage. #TrueStory

Sigh.

Luckily I’d packed every single electronic gadget I have: Android phone, Kindle, iPhone, iPad, and a Mac, even though what I really wanted to do on the flight was to sleep.

So far I have seen the airport and the hotel.

I broke my glasses so I am in trouble at night after I take out my contact lenses. I have no idea what I am going to do for my return flight as I cannot wear those dastardly things in my eyes for 13+ hours. My eyes will be like dried plums.

Anyway, it is almost 2 am, and I am supposed to be up 4 hours from now.

y u no go to bed 300x225 Its not what its cracked up to be.

 

But before I jump into this,

Its not what its cracked up to be.

 

I need to take advantage of this:

Its not what its cracked up to be.

 

 

Tagged as: By now you must have sensed that I have a strange obsession with hotels, china, hotel, I love flying except when I hate flying, It's not what it's cracked up to be, thank goodness I am not flying with kids, things most likely only i find amusing

{ 16 comments }

Oh lord.

April 8, 2012

in random

Screen shot 2012 04 08 at 10.35.54 PM 600x272 Oh lord.

 

Really, I should not be complaining. My original flight(s) to Beijing tomorrow had me leave the house at 4 am so I could catch the 6 am flight to SFO, with an almost 5-hour layover, and then on to my next flight to Beijing. I would have been in the back of the plane, in the middle seat, for both legs.

Last night as I was freaking out and crying inside about my 4 am EDT on Monday morning, I decided to see whether there would be a way for me to get on a later flight to SFO. What do you know? Up popped a non-stop flight to Beijing! Woohoo!

My original seat on this flight was 42F. After refreshing the page many many times, I moved up to 31F. Bulk seats do come with extra legrooms, yes. But they also come with increased chance of being seated next to a baby. (I am NO baby hater. But if I have a choice…)

More refresh. Refresh. Refresh. And now I am where I am.

I pray that 25E will be empty so I can fully recline (“Recline” in the cattle class is an exaggeration) without feeling guilty.

It is really sad that I will not be able to take advantage of free alcohol on international flights… (Drinking = Needing to “use the facility”)

 

Tagged as: china, Decidedly unglamorous, flying, thank goodness I am not flying with kids, Travelling not in style, working

{ 6 comments }

Going Home. Again.

December 26, 2011

in through the looking glass

Waiting to get on a plane that will take me to Tokyo Narita, and then onto Taipei. I am making my annual solo trip back home so I can pack 359 days of homesickness, guilt and filial piety into a 3-day visit. (I will spend 3 days traveling due to time zone change and the sheer expansiveness of the Pacific Ocean).

As my parents get older, the necessity of going home as often as I could becomes unbearable. The anxiety and sadness I feel every time I see them though becomes unbearable as well. I long to see the joy in my dad’s face as much as I dread seeing his tears. March on, little soldier. That’s what I have been telling myself since I gave the TSA agent my passport and boarding passes.

I will try not to talk about feeling like a Godzilla as soon as I land in Tokyo. But I will feel that way while stuffing my face with food that I have been missing all year.

And I will try and send in pictures to be posted here (and below if the Flickr plug-in works). Just in case you wonder what I have been up to. *Megalomaniac laugh* *Megalomaniac laugh*

Love and peace.

Tagged as: flying, home is where the heart is but what if the heart is torn asunder, i am not a travel writer or a photo journalist but i play one on my blog, random pictures I took with my phone because i could, taipei, thank goodness I am not flying with kids, tokyo, you can never go home again

{ 24 comments }

Apology, Pet Peeve and Two Horses’ Asses

March 24, 2011 random

Dear Internet, I miss you. Yes, in these past two weeks, you still see me coming around once in a while, reading articles online, sharing random pictures on Facebook and Twitter, and flirting with my lady friends with my witty one-liner tweets. It has been still only Drive-by Interneting, which in my book does not [...]

Tagged as: how we do it in the suburbs, just because i think this is too much family togetherness does not mean i don't love you, metablogging, my pet peeves, thank goodness I am not flying with kids, what do you know?, working, working while female

14 comments

Fly Me Home

November 4, 2010 through the looking glass

I grew up in an area in Taipei right next to the then only airport. I have always been fascinated by and loved airports because to me back then, airports meant adventures and exotic places that I could only dream of, and more importantly, I only got to go there when my father came home [...]

Tagged as: flying, i am a fan, thank goodness I am not flying with kids, you can never go home again

36 comments

“Do you realize the people back here are getting cookies?!”

January 7, 2010 through the looking glass

Jerry: “I can’t go back to coach!” This is from the 52nd episode of Seinfeld “The Airport”. The Hyperlink takes you to an 8-minute long collection of the best scenes from this episode. Watch from 7:20 for one of my favorite lines from my beloved TV series: “Do you realize the people back here are [...]

Tagged as: air travel, flying, how the other half lives, imma crazy like that, photo, thank goodness I am not flying with kids

21 comments

In which I complain about my seat on the plane… *yawn*

December 27, 2009 through the looking glass

I finished reading the book that I brought with me 3 hours into the flight. What now? Should have saved the book for the trip rather than greedily starting it before Christmas. With the detour to Sarah Palin’s homeland I now have an even longer flight with no reading material. And sitting in the middle seat [...]

Tagged as: air travel, photo, thank goodness I am not flying with kids, vent

16 comments

Ok, Sarah Palin, you got me! Now what?

December 26, 2009 through the looking glass

I am in Alaska. More specifically, I am sitting on the plane on the runway. In Anchorage. We have to make the emergency stop here because a passenger passed out en route to Narita. Although he looks rather young, he apparently has suffered a heart attack recently. He is also traveling by himself, with TWO [...]

Tagged as: air travel, photo, Sarah "I can see Russia" Palin, thank goodness I am not flying with kids

18 comments
i tweet too much