I’ve been back in California for 8 days now and in San Diego for 5, and putting the finishing touches on the travel part of my blog.
The flight home from Bangkok was….amazing! We were delayed by about 90 minutes because of some computer issue on the plane, and the flight had a one-hour stop in Taipei, Taiwan, on to Seoul, then to SFO. Well, the delay screwed up my connection in Seoul, so in Taipei they pulled me aside and said they were going to re-route me direct to SFO from Taipei…only I would have about 6 hours in the Taipei airport.
But this is where the fun starts!
They switched my ticket over to Eva Air, and then….magic- I got to hang out in the VIP lounge until my flight left! OMG!! This was no joke: Huge room with tons of couches, comfortable chairs, tables, and an all-you-can-eat buffet with awesome food! I filled my plate and had a huge lunch and then went back for seconds even though I was full. Then I found that they had an ice cream bar too. The bathrooms featured heated toilet seats, and every time someone used the bathroom, a guy would go in and clean it!
Just another day in the life of Freedom Lovin!
The time FLEW by in the VIP lounge, I was able to do some work, upload pictures, read, eat, eat, and then it was time to board the plane.
So I went from that experience to business class on Eva. Wow. Flight attendants were super nice, I got a 5-course meal, millions of channels that I never ended up watching, and hot towels every now and then. And an extra bottle of water. 🙂 the seats went ALMOST all the way back when it was time to sleep…breakfast was another 3 courses with some fantastic green tea.
Can’t say I really even wanted to get off that plane!
So I arrived into SFO around 4:30 in the afternoon. Security was a breeze, I was shocked….SHOCKED that the bureaucrat checking my passport was actually friendly and in a good mood. I told him I was in Southeast Asia for two months (for some reason no matter what the question is from these “officials”, I always get a little nervous answering, like I’m going to say the wrong thing and end up with a “problem”!)
As he stamped my passport, he said “Welcome back…welcome to the real world!”
Right! I was ready for it though.
I spent 3 days in the Bay Area, catching up with the family, and hanging out in Hayward at Buffalo Bills (first brewer in the world to come out with pumpkin ale) with my long time friend Mike one of the nights. Good times! Who would have ever thought that Hayward would ever have anywhere cool to hang out? They’ve done a great job with that place and downtown Hayward seems to be on the way up.
Flying back into San Diego was soooooo nice! I had to look out the window on this bright sunny day. Nothing beats the topography here…flying over Mission Bay, Mt. Soledad, then east over the mountains and back near the Coronado Bridge, over the city skyline downtown, and finally just scaling over Little Italy before landing.
The first thing I noticed getting off the airplane: NO HUMIDITY! Put me in a good mood immediately. The “real world” is not so bad!
