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Post 2001
- 7 years and 4 days since I started this blog -
- 7 years and 4 days since I started this blog -
First report: The trip to Chiang Mai.
It pays to have friends, especially my friend Al, who was pretty insistent I let him take me to the airport instead of an Uber or a cab. So, he picked me up at 4am, in 1-degree temperature, and that was the last time I didn't have to wait on anything on my trip.
I sailed through TSA (even though I did have to wait on line for the first time for TSA Pre (which I get as a benefit for surviving past the age of sixty-five), which left me quite a bit of time, even though there's nothing to do at four-thirty in the morning at Hancock Airport.
The flight to JFK was uneventful. There was a long walk from Terminal 5 to the AirTran station to go to Terminal 4, the International arrivals building. Once I got there, I was confronted with Disney-esque queue lines to check in. After the long drag, I was happy to check my old, cherished duffel bag. It was a good thing to do, as the walks and waits would only get longer down the line.
I couldn't sleep on any of my flights. This wasn't too bad on the long leg (JFK->Guangzhou), because they had two things: A good movie selection (although every movie had Chinese subtitles with no options, but there were more than one hundred offerings(!). I watched Inside Out, Hidden Factors, Furious 7, and The King's Speech). The other thing was the frequent and tasty meals the whole flight. The flight got behind schedule and arrived in Guangzhou for the connection to Chiang Mai in sixteen (not fifteen) hours.
This resulted in the airlines rushing me through all the China bureaucracy/security to get on my connecting flight (this was the biggest airport I've ever seen, buses take you from gigantic terminal to gigantic terminal, and even when I was in the right terminal, It took me 25 minutes to walk from customs to my gate within the same terminal. More than a mile). Spoiler alert: Funny enough, while I was able to go through Chinese customs, and walk to my plane, my checked bag with all my summer weight clothes didn't make it in time.
The flight from Guangzhou was quite another thing. Slightly smaller plane, one drop-down TV screen every 3 rows, no control over the psychedelic Chinese martial arts/love story/mystical fantasy movie that played, seemingly, for exactly the two-plus hour flight. Just after takeoff, I felt like I had a runny nose, which turned out to be bloody - a nose bleed from nowhere. My window seat overlooking nothing but clouds pinned me in during and after takeoff, and I embarrassingly used strips of the barf bag to wipe the blood from my hands, mustache and nostrils. I tried to keep it to myself, but somebody must have seen, because after a few minutes one of the flight attendants gave me a handful of tissues and wet towelettes. The bleeding had stopped, the proferred clean-up stuff did its job, and it was all over but the getting rid of the bloody stuff. Then, there was only a couple of hours of boredom - phones were prohibited the entire flight.
My AirBnB host, John, picked me up at the airport. He waited patiently by the baggage claim; I waved to him as I worked on my lost baggage claim. He told me it was early enough to pick up some duds for tomorrow, and took me clothes shopping at a mall fairly nearby (not cheap like EVERYTHING else here). I ended up with some very bright, very Euro-style clothes, nothing made locally, and I was a little surprised and taken back at how much money I spent. Oh, well.
Later, at the condo, he installed a new sim card in my phone. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the internet connection I paid for from my new Thai carrier, although everything indicated I should be able to. A mystery. One that had to get resolved tomorrow, somehow, because I can't rely on wireless when I need Uber or to translate something. Now it was too late to do anything.
My condo is nicely appointed and convenient to a great food market - I don't have to go far for my food. But it is located a fair bit away from the City Center. I had spent a couple of hours with John, and we easily hit it off. Upon hearing that I was a musician, he asked if I might be interested in playing at an open mic. When I said I would like that, he told me he'd get me the info, and said he'd like to attend when I went. I got that warm at-home feeling.
I'm still having a good time. I am Happy Jack.
Diet Comment
It pays to have friends, especially my friend Al, who was pretty insistent I let him take me to the airport instead of an Uber or a cab. So, he picked me up at 4am, in 1-degree temperature, and that was the last time I didn't have to wait on anything on my trip.
I sailed through TSA (even though I did have to wait on line for the first time for TSA Pre (which I get as a benefit for surviving past the age of sixty-five), which left me quite a bit of time, even though there's nothing to do at four-thirty in the morning at Hancock Airport.
The flight to JFK was uneventful. There was a long walk from Terminal 5 to the AirTran station to go to Terminal 4, the International arrivals building. Once I got there, I was confronted with Disney-esque queue lines to check in. After the long drag, I was happy to check my old, cherished duffel bag. It was a good thing to do, as the walks and waits would only get longer down the line.
I couldn't sleep on any of my flights. This wasn't too bad on the long leg (JFK->Guangzhou), because they had two things: A good movie selection (although every movie had Chinese subtitles with no options, but there were more than one hundred offerings(!). I watched Inside Out, Hidden Factors, Furious 7, and The King's Speech). The other thing was the frequent and tasty meals the whole flight. The flight got behind schedule and arrived in Guangzhou for the connection to Chiang Mai in sixteen (not fifteen) hours.
This resulted in the airlines rushing me through all the China bureaucracy/security to get on my connecting flight (this was the biggest airport I've ever seen, buses take you from gigantic terminal to gigantic terminal, and even when I was in the right terminal, It took me 25 minutes to walk from customs to my gate within the same terminal. More than a mile). Spoiler alert: Funny enough, while I was able to go through Chinese customs, and walk to my plane, my checked bag with all my summer weight clothes didn't make it in time.
The flight from Guangzhou was quite another thing. Slightly smaller plane, one drop-down TV screen every 3 rows, no control over the psychedelic Chinese martial arts/love story/mystical fantasy movie that played, seemingly, for exactly the two-plus hour flight. Just after takeoff, I felt like I had a runny nose, which turned out to be bloody - a nose bleed from nowhere. My window seat overlooking nothing but clouds pinned me in during and after takeoff, and I embarrassingly used strips of the barf bag to wipe the blood from my hands, mustache and nostrils. I tried to keep it to myself, but somebody must have seen, because after a few minutes one of the flight attendants gave me a handful of tissues and wet towelettes. The bleeding had stopped, the proferred clean-up stuff did its job, and it was all over but the getting rid of the bloody stuff. Then, there was only a couple of hours of boredom - phones were prohibited the entire flight.
My AirBnB host, John, picked me up at the airport. He waited patiently by the baggage claim; I waved to him as I worked on my lost baggage claim. He told me it was early enough to pick up some duds for tomorrow, and took me clothes shopping at a mall fairly nearby (not cheap like EVERYTHING else here). I ended up with some very bright, very Euro-style clothes, nothing made locally, and I was a little surprised and taken back at how much money I spent. Oh, well.
Later, at the condo, he installed a new sim card in my phone. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the internet connection I paid for from my new Thai carrier, although everything indicated I should be able to. A mystery. One that had to get resolved tomorrow, somehow, because I can't rely on wireless when I need Uber or to translate something. Now it was too late to do anything.
My condo is nicely appointed and convenient to a great food market - I don't have to go far for my food. But it is located a fair bit away from the City Center. I had spent a couple of hours with John, and we easily hit it off. Upon hearing that I was a musician, he asked if I might be interested in playing at an open mic. When I said I would like that, he told me he'd get me the info, and said he'd like to attend when I went. I got that warm at-home feeling.
I'm still having a good time. I am Happy Jack.
Food and Diet
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| 2017 Weight chart (will be used until there are enough data points in 2018) |
The airline food was very good. I ate a variety of Chinese-style food, some of which was Chinese and Chinese versions of American fare. It seemed like I got three meals and also snacks during my long flight to China, then another meal and more snacks on my flight to Chiang Mai. I did not eat on plan, nor did I try to. No scale, no idea what the food was, so no Food Log today.
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