Day 0.5 - Can't a Guy Get a Break?

Listening: Ships may never leave the dock, but it don't matter, but it don't matter. Ticks may never hear a tock, but it don't matter, but it don't matter.
What's my problem? I've got bad wing-person luck.

Well, I'm on my long haul flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong where I'll be laid over for a couple of hours before continuing on to Shanghai. The flight is almost over. I have just over two hours left to go before we land. So far, I have used my twelve hours airborne rather well. I've slept a little. I watched "Iron Man II," "The Hurt Locker," and "Cyrus." And I started reading Lost on Planet China.

The food, this time around, was a little sub-par compared with the past flight that I had with Cathay Pacific. The worst part about it was the fact that I was so hungry that I scarfed it all down with a quickness. To tell you the truth, I'm still hungry and I'm debating getting a free cup o' noodles that you can ask for.

It's amazing how parched you get on long haul flights. I've been drinking water like a madman since the fourth hour in the air. I started off with a gin bloody mary and had some South African beer with lunch, but after that it was just tea, water and some airborne. An hour or so ago, I sat back in the galley and sucked down four glasses of water.

My flight to San Jose, which was also somewhat of a long haul flight was less than what I expected. For the first time in years, I flew Jet Blue for a leg that was longer than the distance between Nantucket and JFK International Airport. I remember Jet Blue being a really good flight. And I have to say that I have definitely had worse. However, there were several things that made it kind of crappy.

The first thing that happened was that my little personal entertainment module was on the fritz. It was on the fritz for my entire row. See, that was one of the reasons that I picked the Jet Blue flight to San Jose instead of Delta. Reason number one was that it was a direct flight with no switching of planes and no layovers. Number two was that I would spend four hours traveling instead of eight. Finally, reason number three is that I thought that I might actually have the entertainment of my choice on the plane.

As you can see, reason number three didn't really happen. I just kind of crashed out, wrote a blog and re-read the section of my Rough Guide on Shanghai (and I still feel thoroughly ill-prepared). I also watched over the shoulders of the people diagonally in front of me as the San Francisco Giants, yet again, shamed the Texas Rangers. Occasionally, over my headphones, I would hear cheers whenever someone scored, but, overall, I was in a sad little cocoon next to a guy who was neither interesting nor talkative. Someone around me, though, was dropping major ass throughout the entire four hour flight.

As far as reason number two goes, well, that almost went out the window. We were supposed to take off at 4:25PM. We didn't start boarding until 4:45PM. By the time we were all in our seats, it was probably around 5:00PM. We start backing out of the gate when the lights in the cabin goes dark and all of the TVs shut off. Apparently, the auxiliary generator went kaput and we had to go back to the gate so that someone could fix it. They assured us that the generator on the fritz is never used during flight, and only on the ground or at the gate. I have to say that it did kind of worry me, but what're you going to do? You can't just unbuckle and say, "fuck dis shit, I'm outta here and I want my money back too!"

But all in all, I did get to San Jose just fine. I chilled with my pals and had some cocktails and some bibimbap.

As far as this current flight goes, it's much the same as it pertains to the people that I'm sitting near. I was actually originally ticketed to sit in a middle seat, something that I despise. Luckily, the two guys on either side of me were together, and there was a third guy who had an aisle seat behind me. So I traded my middle seat for the aisle and I have to say that I was pretty happy about the decision. I like to walk around at least every three hours and crawling over people ain't my idea of a good time. I don't like other people's asses in my face, so I don't like putting my ass in others'.

But next to me are two, seemingly nice, but quiet, older Indian women. It seems like there are a lot of people on this flight who are Indian. I think that Hong Kong may be a big hub to get to Mumbai or Dehli or something.

Across the aisle from me is a VERY attractive girl, who I noticed in the gate area. What I didn't notice was that she had a little tag on her jacket that said, "Sister Lo, The Church of Jesus Christ for Latter Day Saints." I saw that tag when she sat down and it broke my heart. To top it all off, she had a bible that was three inches, by four inches by three inches. Fucker was thick, and looking over her shoulder, it was highlighted like a motherfucker. What leads people to try to be conversionists? Why can't the just be normal attractive girls that I can ooggle without being disgusted with both her AND myself?

Something that I've noticed on these two long haul flights that I have never noticed before.... No matter how short I am, my inside knee always aches after a little while. What I mean is that if I'm sitting in a seat to the left of the aisle, my left knee hurts, and if I sit to the right of the aisle, my right knee hurts. The fucked up thing about it is that I'm short. I have about a twenty eight inch inseam, if not shorter. I can only imagine if I were one of the guys that I know who are six foot or taller. How the hell do they do this without wanting to amputate their legs at the knee? I, for the most part, can stretch out my legs, but I bet that my pal Manni has his knees up to his chin. However, for some reason my inside knee still hurts (today it's the left knee).

A lot of people have been asking me lately if I'm excited to go to China. Sure, I'm excited. But my excitement this time around is quite different from my excitement when I traveled around Europe and when I traveled southeast Asia. I feel like this time I'm much more nervous and scared of what I may encounter. I have heard rumors about a lack of personal space. I have heard rumors of rudeness, but I have no real clue what I'll be encountering and how it will all affect me. Will I be turned off by the motherland? Will I feel violated by the lack of personal space? I have no clue. Will I have trouble getting from point A to point B without being able to speak or read Chinese? All of these things scare me. They're nothing like what I had dealt with on my other travels. The backpacker route has been relatively well worn in Europe and southeast Asia. Not so much in China. It is done, but it's not as easy as it is in other parts of the world. Keep in mind that it wasn't until recently that China really opened its borders to tourism, let alone budget tourism. Will I be able to hack it?

Anyhow, that's where I am with the traveling right now. I hope to post this when I get to Hong Kong, before I head off to Shanghai and maybe encounter the Great Firewall of China. So, if this is the last you hear from me, know that I'm hungry, parched and that my left knee hurts, but chances are that I'll be stuffed to the gills with dumplings in under six hours. Boo-yah, bitches.

ADDITION! - So, I'm in Hong Kong's airport and 60% of their food court is under construction. That means the remaining 40% is swamped. And THAT means that I don't have enough time to get a snack before I board. SONUVA..... I guess that really does mean I'm going hunting the second that I check into my hotel. So. Hungry. Must. Find. Food. Too bad I can't just gnaw on an air hostess.