January, 2008

When I got off the plane and walked into Vancouver Airport, I thought that it was a small place. As I started to walk towards my departure gate, I saw that it was a lot bigger than I had expected. It looked a lot bigger than the Pearson Airport in Toronto.

I didn’t head to my departure gate right away. I had two hours to kill before the next flight so I found an outlet to charge up my laptop. I was expecting to use it during my flight but apparently, I used it too much at Pearson that the battery ran low about thirty minutes into using it. Plus, I had to make some phone calls to people to let them know that I arrived in Vancouver alright.

After I was done with my business, I headed to the heart of the airport. To my surprise, it was pretty big. There were a lot of duty free shops and restaurants in it. There was even a nail salon. I had to skip all of that because I had to rush to my flight. I adjusted my watch to match Vancouver’s time so when I looked at it, I thought it read 12:30pm. My flight was schedule to leave at 12:45pm. I practically ran to my gate.

When I got there, I saw people just sitting around and the boarding desk was empty. My ticket said that boarding should have started at 12:10pm and yet these people were just lounging around. I checked my watch again and saw that it was only 11:30am. I guess I was in a bit of a hurry that I read it incorrectly.

Since I wouldn’t be getting on the plane for another forty five minutes or so, I decided to grab some lunch. I walked back to the food court and grabbed a couple burgers and a drink. After I was done eating, I walked around and took some pictures.

In the middle of the food court are two Native Indian statues. There were attached to a little pond that had something that looked like fishes but was actually a plastic cut out. From a distance it looked pretty real because the water was flowing and the shape of the cut out made it look as if was flowing around them.

The pond goes under a bridge and continues to the other side. This part looked like a man made ecosystem. I didn’t see any real fishes in the pond but I did see coin in there. It was nothing special but it was a nice scenery to look at after having spent five hours on the plane.

If you follow the pond to the end, you’ll see an aquarium. This was one giant fish tank. They had a lot of fish and marine life inside of it. Some of the plants looked like they were alive. They could very well be living creatures instead of plant life. I couldn’t tell since everything in the tank looked like it was moving.

Most of the fish were dark gray but there was one that stood out. I don’t know what kind of fish it was but it was pretty big. Actually, all of the fish in the tank were a fairly large size. I’d say that they’re big enough to fish a phone.

On the other hand, there was another fish that was gray that caught my eye. Well, it didn’t catch my eye. I was looking around the tank when I saw another fish laying dormant. It wasn’t swimming like the other fish. It was just clinging onto the wall and staying motionless. I’m not sure if he’s resting or just feeding off the rocks.

I easily became bored of the fish tank so I decided to head to my gate and just sit around until the boarding process begins. I didn’t know it at first but there were art work placed throughout the airport. None of them looked appealing to me since they looked a little plain. But there was one that looked kind of cool.

The artist cut pieces of the guitar out and show what was inside of the guitar. It was almost like it was a Transformer disguised as a guitar. I didn’t take a closer look at it since my flight was getting ready to board.

Like I said in the last post, the flight was delayed for a few minutes because the pilot was stuck in traffic. We were scheduled to take off at 12:45pm but we didn’t start moving until 1:30pm. I had already turned off my phone so I couldn’t let my girlfriend know that I was going to be a little late. All I could do was sit back and enjoy the ride.

During the take off part of the flight, I usually look out the window. I would probably get sick if I didn’t see us moving. If I was sitting in the middle seats, I might have a hard time controlling myself so the flight home is going to be interesting since I’ll be sitting in the middle area.

I don’t know the exactly flight path but I was told that we would be flying over northern Canada and then across the Pacific Ocean. At first, there wasn’t much to look at. There were a few islands that had houses on them. As we started to fly away from the island, I saw that there were a lot of cruise ships. I’m assuming they were cruise ships because they were white in colour and most cruise ships are white.

It would be hours before we enter the land of the glaciers. Just looking outside and seeing nothing but snow for miles gave me chills. It was as if I’ve chartered into unknown territory where the elements are dangerous.

Miles after miles you would see nothing but ice and snow. I kept looking at my watch because it was taking so long. And everything was so big that it made it feel like we weren’t even moving. It was as if the plane was just floating in mid air or we’ve ran into some really strong turbulence that keeps pushing us back. I wanted time to fly by faster so I tried to go to sleep and hope that when I woke up, I would be in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong did not seem like it was reachable. Every time I woke up to look out the window, I saw nothing but snow. I kept looking at my watch and doing the calculations on how much longer it would be. I had to compensate for the time zone change that I made in Vancouver.

I wanted the flight to be over with as soon as possible because I don’t know when I’ll start to get sick. I didn’t feel like anything to coming on but you never know. Sometimes it starts out of nowhere and other times nothing happens.

The flight landed in Hong Kong thirty minutes late. As I looked out the window, I saw that it was a dark and rainy night. I hate the rain when I travel. It prevents me from seeing clearly and if I can’t see when I’m moving, I get sick.

I got off the plane and made my way towards customs. They looked at my passport, looked and me and said okay. I was clear to leave the airport and make my way to baggage claim. When I got there, I saw my luggage but it was too far for me to get to it in time. I had to wait until it came back around. When it did, one of the bags went missing. They were sitting together when they went around the bend but one someone disappeared when they came back around. I decided to wait a little longer to see if it would return. Sure enough, it did. I grabbed my stuff and quickly walked to the arrival gate.

There were a lot of people waiting there but I was looking for a familiar face. I found her at the end of the walk way. She looked as beautiful as ever. During my flight, I pictured that moment in my head and I almost started to tear but this time, it wasn’t me who was crying. My girlfriend had tears in her eyes. It shows how much she misses me even if she won’t admit it.

If you’ve never been on a long flight before, let me tell you that it is quite the experience. My flight from Vancouver, British Columbia to Hong Kong is supposed to be fifteen hours long. That’s a long time to be sitting down. You’re free to get up and walk around when the seat belt light has been turned off but the aisle ways aren’t that wide and there’s not really anywhere you can go other than the washroom. The flight attendants were very helpful and made the flight pretty relaxing.

We were a bit late to take off because the pilot was stuck in traffic but as soon as he got on board, he got the plane moving right away. Unlike the previous flight, this flight didn’t have any entertainment because their audio and video system wasn’t working. I saw a couple flight attendants at the front so I thought they were going to entertain us. They were just up there to do a safety review. It was a little fun to watch because it was like charades. The announcer kept repeating himself because he had to say it in English and then in French. Sometimes he’d even repeat the same procedure.

The weird thing about this flight is the fact that the sun is always up even at four n the morning. It’s about 5:20 am EST and the sun is just starting to set. I fell asleep a few times during the flight but every time I woke up, I just wanted to go back to sleep. It felt like one of those lazy Sundays where you don’t want to do anything but sleep in. As I’m typing this, I’m still a little drowsy.

It’s a good thing that there’s no one sitting next to me or else I wouldn’t have gotten a good sleep. Before we took off, people were scrambling to move around to another sit. Initially, there was a guy sitting beside me in seat H but before we took off, he moved to the back of the plane. I was happy that he left because that gave me more room. I slept on two seats which was a little more comfy than sleeping up right.

The flight was thirty minutes late to take off but from the looks of things, we might be making good time. When I land, I don’t think I’ll be sleeping right away but I’m going to have to try to adjust to the time zone somehow. I’ve been sleeping a lot on the plane but all that sleeping has only made me more tired. So I guess it’s a good thing that it’ll be night time in Hong Kong.

I am currently airborne on Air Canada Flight 1163 en-route to Vancouver. This flight is packed and there are no empty seats. I was hoping that I would be sitting alone so I can have more room to myself but I’m not. I’m sitting beside an old Chinese man who apparently sat at the wrong seat initially. I think he can see what I’m typing right now but I don’t care.

The flight was schedule to take off at 8:00am but it was slightly delayed because of some seating discrepancies. The flight is full but some people weren’t in their seats yet. The old Chinese guy beside me was sitting in row 27 when he should be in row 26. I checked my seating plan before I left the house and saw that I would be alone. When I got to the check in counter, the lady asked where I wanted to be seated. I thought that I had already selected my seats but I guess she didn’t know that. She issued me a boarding pass for seat 26A which was the exact seat that I had selected.

When I was waiting to board the plane, I started to get a little nervous. It’s been years since I last stop onboard a plane. This feeling was expected. I just hoped that I don’t start to vomit when the plane starts to take off.

I board the plane and sat patiently, awaiting departure. The seats started to fill up fairly quickly. In front of me is a family of five. It started out quiet but things slowly got loud. The kid didn’t want to sit still and the dad wasn’t doing anything to keep him quiet. The mom kept passing him to the dad and the dad would pass him back to the mom. The mom gave up and eventually sat the kid down in the seat next to her. She said that if someone is going to take that seat then she’ll pick him back up.

As the seats start to fill up, people started to get a bit pushy. One lady wanted another lady to seat down so she could pass by. The first lady had to put her luggage into the overhead compartment but she was a bit too short so she asked one of the guys to do it. That caused a little pile up to start so she had no choice but to have a seat while the other people passed her.

I looked outside just in time to see the load up my luggage. The bad thing about it was that it was raining out and they left the roof open so my clothing is probably all soaked. Those bastards!

The flight wasn’t a bad flight. I took a couple capsules of Gravol so I’m assuming that it helped. They served free beverages during the flight but you had to pay for snacks and other food. I didn’t want to eat anything in case I might throw up. In the end, the flight didn’t faze me much. I tried to take some pictures during the flight but after the first few kilometers, it was nothing but clouds. Somewhere during the flight, I saw the Rockie Mountains but I couldn’t focus the camera on them since they were too far.

During the flight I manage to make small talk with the old Chinese guy. He saw me place my camera on the tray and asked if it was digital or film. I told him that it was a DSLR and he started telling me how he used to have one with the film in it. The talk didn’t last too long because his English was limited. After a while he started to make hand gestures to describe things but that didn’t stop me from understanding what he was trying to say.

The flight took me through three different time zones. I left Toronto, Ontario around 8:00am and landed in Vancouver, British Columbia four and a half hours later.
We were cruising at an altitude of 10482km and at a speed of 774km/h. We ran into some minor turbulence here and there but it was nothing that scared me. Actually, the ride on the airplane is a lot smoother than the ride on a bus. I hardly felt any bumps. I was able to go to the washroom without being disturbed.

As for now, I have to go find me some lunch. I’m hungry as hell and I can’t see a restaurant in site yet. This airport looks rather small so I’m not sure if they have room for a restaurant here. Then again, it might be too early for them to be opened. It’s almost 2:00pm EST but it’s only 11:45am PST. And I think, once I cross the International Time Zone, it’s going to be tomorrow.

I’m currently sitting around at the airport waiting to board my flight. The 7:00am flight that I was schedule for has been delayed due to snow. I have to sit and wait for the next plane which takes off at 8:00am. In the meantime, I’m also waiting for the store to open so I can get some Gravol for the flight. I haven’t gotten on the plane yet but I’m starting to feel a little queasy from the lack of sleep. I’m hoping that all the coffee that I drank earlier will stay down until I get to Vancouver.

Last night, I did some last minute packing. I made sure that everything that my girlfriend requested is packed first and then some of my stuff later. She asked that I grab some vitamins for her roommate so I went out and got that after work.

Before leaving, I had to stop by my girlfriend’s parent’s place to drop off the car. They didn’t want me to leave it at the house in case someone tries to break into it. There’s nothing in there to steal so I wasn’t too concern but I guess they wanted to make sure that the car is safe since no one will be home to keep an eye on it.

I stayed and chatted with them for a while as I waited for my brother to pick me up. Auntie asked if I had enough room in the luggage to carry everything. I told her that there was plenty of room but she recommended that I take another one just in case. I informed her that I’m only allowed to check in two bags and I can carry on one but her dad said that there isn’t a limit. I was pretty sure that in my e-Ticket, it stated that I can only check in two bag max. I’m taking the economy class so I’m pretty sure that they’ll restrict me.

Since they ensured me that there wasn’t a limit, I took the extra bag and stated to pack clothes in there. When I got to the airport, the lady at the counter informed me that I can only check in two bags. What a surprise! The last bag was fairly light so I managed to separate the content and place them into the other two bags. This is the last time I listen to them. Sometimes I wonder if they’re trying to trick me into doing things.

Until my flight starts the boarding procedures, I’m sitting here awaiting the opening of this store so I can grab some Gravol and be off. My stomach is starting to make some noises. Either I’m hungry or I’m starting to get a little sick. I guess I better do something to get my mind off it. I’ve take some pictures of the airport but it’s nothing to exciting.

Only a few more days left before I get on a plane heading westbound to Vancouver and then to Hong Kong. I’m very excited to be going there because I haven’t seen my girlfriend in almost a month. Plus, I’ve never been outside of Canada let alone outside of Ontario so this is going to be a great experience for me. I’ll be bringing my camera with me so I’ll be sure to take a lot of pictures. My girlfriend has a lot of things planned so they’ll never be a dull moment. With Chinese New Year approaching, I’m sure that there’s going to be a lot of things happening.

Chinese New Year runs from February 6 to 18 during this calendar year. Originally, I had planned on visiting Hong Kong for ten days from January 31 to February 11. I wanted to stay longer but my coworker had to fly out to Trinidad for a project. He and I cannot be out of the office on the same days so I had to be back from Hong Kong before he left. When I told my girlfriend that I couldn’t stay too long she started to get upset. As much as I wanted to make my stay there longer, it wasn’t out of my hands. The company will probably make millions of dollars and can afford to fly my coworker to Trinidad for a few days so I doubt that they’ll care about my vacation.

In the business world, time is money. The company is willing to invest a lot of time in something if they believe that it will generate a profit. They’re willing to fly you to another country for a ten minute meeting if they believe that the meeting will result in a capital gain. The company cares about your personal life so they’ll attempt to make accommodations for you the best that they can but when it comes down to a multi-million dollar project, they require you to be there. The higher up people look at the bigger picture and see profit. It’s the responsibility of the lower down people to accommodate the employees.

I was rather upset as well when I was told that I might have to cut my vacation short. It’s not feasible to fly to Hong Kong and stay for a week. A drive up north is worth staying for a week. A flight across the world is worth staying a lot longer. But you can imagine my excitement when my coworker told me that the project date was moved ahead. Instead of heading to Trinidad in February, he left for Trinidad last Wednesday. That freed up the week in February so I jumped on the opportunity. I had to make some changes to my itinerary to extend my stay there for another week. This change cost me an extra $50 on top of what I was already paying for my flight.

I’m not sure why I had to pay extra since I made the changes online and I doubt it affected anything. If I had initially booked those dates when I first booked my flight, the price would have remained the same. But because I made changes to my flight, I had to pay. I hate service charges and I think that they should be abolished. I’m doing everything so there shouldn’t even be a service charge. I’m the one who’s booking the flight, selecting the seats and printing out the ticket but all they’re doing is running a web application to get all of that done. There’s no man power involved in any of that, only the energy that I’m using to point and click.

I didn’t care too much about the extra charge since it meant that I get to spend an extra week with my girlfriend. I would have booked the flight to allow me to stay another week longer if I wanted to but that would have meant that I’ll be using up all of my vacation time. I didn’t want to use up all of my vacation time because that would mean that I’ll get to see my girlfriend once a year. I plan on spreading out my vacation so I can fly over there more often.

Twelve hours from now, I’ll be in Vancouver, British Columbia waiting for my flight to Hong Kong. I plan on taking a lot of pictures while I’m on the road. I had a dream a few days ago about going to Hong Kong and forgetting my camera. I was pissed because I wouldn’t be able to take any pictures. As it gets closer and closer to flight time, that dream is almost coming true. I have my camera but I can’t find the charger for it and the battery is running low. When I get home I’ll have to run out like crazy to find it. I hate doing things late minute but it looks like I’ll have to this time around.

I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted when I’m off on my little adventure. I’ll be sure to post a lot of pictures for everyone.