I'm home

UPDATE: I have loaded pictures to all the posts. I'm putting more up on facebook if anyone wants to see more.

When I landed in Orlando around 8ish, I could not have been happier. And guess who I got to see...

The cutest dogs in the world, Russel + Bauer

My sister, her fiancee Matt, Scott, Russel, + Bauer picked me up + greeted me with a whole wheat bagel with egg + cheese. We drove over to Scott's parents house, where I had left my car and I immediately took a hot shower without flip flops + changed into clean clothes. Scott's mom made us a smorgasbord with chicken, filet, broccoli, salad, + potatoes and I enjoyed my first real meal in a while.

We hung out for awhile + then my sister drove me home in my car. We got back at 2, I fell asleep at 4am + then I didn't wake up until 6 pm when my sister got home from work. I fell back asleep at 11 pm + woke up at 6 am on Tuesday. I have been taking naps everyday + am almost back on schedule. I am SO glad to resume healthy eating, exercise, + guaranteed daily showers.

I've already had some discussions with my friend Barrie + we are thinking we will do Eastern Europe + South America next summer. Until then... (well actually I might blog through med school, we shall see!)

Its the flight that never ends

It goes on + on my friend. So, after getting through customs, getting my bag, + eating it was almost time to board my plane. I was happily in my plane seat, when they announced that while loading the luggage, the slide on the emergency exit got knocked off + they need to repair it. So we de-planed + were scheduled to leave at 430pm instead of 225pm. It was already 3, so I used my free meal to get starbucks. Of course the machine that printed out the vouchers ran out of paper, so everyone waited in a really long line. Luckily this process took an hour, which landed me at 4 + it was time to board. Upon sitting in my seat, I immediately fell asleep. When I woke up a little later + looked at my watch I was surprised it was 5 and we weren't moving. Apparently they forget to tell the "people" that we were leaving at 430, so we had to wait until about 545. We finally left + I went back to sleep. I was awoken by screams + freaked out as the plane swayed + went through turbulence. Turns out about 15 children got scared. Went back to sleep + slept the rest of the flight. Landed around 8, but oops someone was parked in our spot. Let's just hope my backpack gets to Orlando, because that would just be the icing on the cake.

But let me be positive: At least it wasn't one of my earlier flights because they could have messed up my schedule seriously. For example flight from Australia to kl was in no way connected to the rest + I would have had a really expensive problem if I missed my kl flight. Also, I slept pretty much the entirety of the last flight, since getting on the plane the 2nd time to landing. Meaning 3 + 1/2 hours. And also, while waiting to get off this plane, I've had enough time to write this blog.

Can't be happier to FINALLY be in Florida after 51 hours. Remind me to plan more efficiently next time.

Around the world

I've officially flown around the world + I'm really sick of this view...


The rest of my KL layover consisted of powerwalking through a plethora of designer stores (Chanel, Hermes, Gucci). The plane ride itself consisted of 5 hours of reading. When I finished my book, I realized I was the only one with the light on. So I decided to just watch the movie on the big tv. It turned out to be the end of "17 Again", + then nothing else turned on after. Since I felt bad leaving the light on in the middle of the night, + I was beyond tired, I enlisted my only source of entertainment, a watermelon lollypop. I tried to keep my straining eyes open + then amazingly after 20 minutes, the plane lights turned on + breakfast was served. The rest of the flight consisted of eating a yucky omelette on a croissant + talking to the Korean man next to me. He works for the embassy in Afghanastan. Interesting. Unfortunately, I find it kind of hard to understand other peoples accents, he was talking so softly, + I am partially deaf. So there was a lot of me nodding + pretending I understood him.

Our plane was on time + it took about 10 minutes to get through transit. I was so tired, until magically a line of macbooks were awaiting me. Free internet at Seoul airport, definitely reccomend that place! With a coffee, I spent the next 2 and a half hours reading blogs + facebook + then made my way to the plane. I usually try to wait to fall asleep until after I can recline, but that wasn't happening. The first 3 hours were in + out of sleep. I had this weird korean meal. It was steamed rice with a plate of 5 weird things (spinach, chicken?, octopus, fishy stuff, + who knows else). There were 3 tiny pieces of veggies + some curry paste (?). So I combined what I liked + actually enjoyed the uniqueness of the experience. Dessert were "rice cakes", these doughy balls with weird paste inside...I passed. I occupied my time with "Confessions of a Shopaholic", "House", "Tale of Desperado" + another nap. We also got these pizza sticks that were actually good for airplane food. Next up was the new renee zellweger movie where she goes to montana, followed by "wedding daze". Considering I watch maybe one movie a month during my normal life, 4 in 14 hours isn't too shabby. Last thing about the plane. I was sitting next to a korean girl, about 12, who was so cute. We didn't really talk but she slept for a lot of the flight + would accidently put her head on my shoulder...pretty cute. We also got a dinner which was some shrimp + veggie rice thing with salad. So excited to eat real food!

Suprisingly this flight went by faster than the 7 hour one. The combo of sleeping + tvs make everything better. Currently on my 43rd hour of traveling home, 5 more to go!!!

KL airport

A 9 hour lay-over doesn't have to be miserable. Here's what I did to keep myself entertained for the first 7...

Flight landed a little late around 330 pm. Went through customs. On a bus to the other KL airport by 420 pm. At the other airport around 440 pm. Bought some pringles. Ate Malaysian food. Didn't like it so just ate the spinach + some steamed rice, avoiding the really spice peppers (trust me on that) + weird things on my plate. Decided to eat the pringles. I remember being amazed when I was little because the slogan for pringles was "once you pop, you just can't stop" + I thought it was so true. Re-enacted my childhood. Felt disgusting.

Decided to exercise. Got some very good exercise after walking with my 35+ lb backpack + 10 pound purse for a while. Took a break. Walked for another 15 minutes. Changed from my jeans to a flowy skirt. Discovered my toothpaste had leaked everywhere. Occupied myself for 20 minutes cleaning my toiletry bag. Read some of my favorite blogs from 6:30-8:30. I was SO glad I hadn't been keeping up with all my blogs while I was away, because this really entertained me. Around 830 I took another walk. Bought a bottle of water after my 30 minute walk. Finally could check in at 9. Checked my bag...yay it is going all the way to jfk! Went through customs. Met a nice Indian man who wanted to talk medicine. Stopped for a coffee + smoked salmon and egg foccacia sandwich. And here I am at 945pm. 2 hours until lift off. It is technically 1145pm Australian + I'm hoping this coffee will keep me up until I arrive in Korea early in the morning where I will have a short layover (3 hrs!!) + a hopefully a 14 hour bedtime on the flight to jfk. Luckily I napped a good 4 hours during today's flight so I still have energy. Also, please pray for me for personal tvs on the next 2 flights. Delta + international means there have to be, right?

Flying

Just got off my 8 hour trip from Coolangatta to kl. Luckily I found out in Coolangatta that there are actually 2 international airports in KL. And of course my next one is at the other airport. Luckily I have about 7 + 1/2 hours til the next one. At least this gives me something to do for a little bit :)

I tried to stay up as late as possible last night. Managed to stay up until 11pm. Woke up at 630 am + threw my stuff together. I enjoyed an egg mcmuffin for breakfast. Thank goodness, because I couldn't muster the courage to waste half the cash I have left on unpalatable malaysian plane food. I had gotten Vita whole wheat crackers last night, just in case. I ate about a third of the box for "lunch". Its 3pm KL time + 5pm australian time. I'm hungry! Hoping the new airport looks legit enough to use my credit card at. This is definitely my longest layover, so Ill be fine getting home with about $15...it would just be nice if I could take cash out with my debit card. Have I mentioned I hate Bank of America.

By the time I get to JFK in about 30 hours, that 3 hour flight is going to seem like a 5 minute bus ride. I already determined getting home is going to be 30 hours of flying. Not including the approximately 20 hours of waiting. Oh the joys of changing travel plans last minute.

So I got on my flight painlessly. I love Air Asia, they always let me carry on my bag despite it being obviously oversized. One less thing to worry about. I forgot that I had bought a tiny thing of jam from the exotic fruit farm. Well, going through security they stopped me for that. It took my about 10 minutes to find it in my meticulously packed (aka crammed, bursting, lopsided backpack) + it turned out to be 10 ml too big. The guy was really nice though + let me keep it! Much better than my last experience at that airport (jetstar/$80 bag).

Well I got my seat + immediately fell asleep. I woke up an hour + half later. Read for a couple hours, fell back asleep for another couple hours, read, fell asleep. I'm at page 400 of my 600 page book I started a couple days ago. Luckily I have 2 more. So the flight went by easily. Next one to Seoul, south korea is about 6 or 7 hrs. Then the killer...13 hrs 50 min from seoul to jfk. And 3 hour from jfk to orlando. And of course a 2 hour 45 min drive home (all your fault scott!) Its never gonna end. Looking foward to being home!

Last day :(

Currently enjoying a dinner at a delicious restaurant with the company of my glass of wine. I've already gotten a free appetizer...maybe they think I'm a food critic.

I woke up at the very early time of 415am, checked out + got on the shuttle to the airport. The plane was delayed a little, but I managed by eating a croissant + talking to a nice woman who used to own a farm outside of gold coast + is now retired with her husband. As soon as I got on the plane, the eye mask was on + I got some much needed solid sleep. Woke up 2 hours later in Coolangatta. I took a couple buses + the train to Brisbane (total of 2 and a half hours) to find out I would need to take the train back that night because the earliest train wouldn't get me back to the airport in time. I brought my backpack to the hostel Laura + Linds had stayed in + loved + they let me store it there for the day. I set out to explore the city as best as I could. I took a long walk along the river, which was absolutely wonderful. I haven't gotten much exercise in the past month + this felt great. I walked through the botanical gardens along the water + read my book for a bit. The river was so pretty + there was a nice chill in the air. I wanted to walk around south bank market thing along the water that linds had loved, but it appeared to be more of a night thing. I did walk around for a bit + got some great exercise...so it ended up successful. Unfortunately, I was just too stressed about having to get a train back to really let my guard down, so around 3ish I decided to head back to Coolangatta to stay the night near the airport. I'm not very good at exploring a city alone. But Brisbane was really lovely.

Brisbane

Walking through the botanical gardens along the water

I ended up getting to my hostel around 630. The receptionist was very nice + checked me into an 8 person dorm that had no one else in it. This was the same hostel we had stayed in before. The only problems with it were the lack of shower (I hate when it isn't partitioned from the rest of the bathroom) + the blaring noise all night. Luckily I was in the market for not being able to sleep, to get back to US time + sleep all day tommorow instead of tonight. And my room happened to be on a different side of the hall + guess what (this is mainly for laura + linds), there is an entire female bathroom with nice showers. To think we missed out on showering...

After dropping my stuff, I headed to the oceanside road + carefully selected a restaurant to spoil myself at. I had a long, long day + the next 2 will be the same...so this was justified. I enjoyed a delicious veggie penne with pumpkin, sundried tomatoes, peppers, pesto, eggplant, zucchini. It was my kind of dish; greater veggie to pasta ratio. My dinner, along with a glass of wine and followed by bread pudding with ice cream and vanilla sauce, and all the while with my trusted blackberry for entertainment, had successfully led to the perfect last meal.

Don't worry, I'lll still be eating in airports + on planes.

Last night

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant. I had ravioli with risotto + pumpkin, tomatoes + spinach. It was delicious. We got some wine + went back to our room. We happen to have the weirdest roommate ever. He is so dorky. He is a professor at hervey mudd + is writing a book on computer chips. Obviously in our league.

Delicious!
See our dorky professor roommate in the background?

We saw him in the kitchen as we were walking into our room, and then he came to talk to us. So sad because he was like "I don't meet very many people". He is traveling all summer in Australia to write his book. But we talked to him for a good hour as we drank our wine. He was SO awkward, but I was glad we talked to him.. At about 10, we headed to the bar downstairs to enjoy ladies night+ our "last night" (x 2). Aka free champagne for an hour. My gastric reflux is out of control...time to go home.

Our actual last night!