What can I say?
The last 48 hours have been absolutely insane.
My flight to Bangkokleft on Monday morning at 11am, so before that, I had to move out of my apartment, put things in my Dad’s garage, do laundry, pack and remember not to forget anything at all.
The last few nights in Guelph were great…saw lots of my friends; Ryan, Shawny, Christian, Louisa, Black Mike, most of the Diana’s crew, and then it was a frantic pack and move on Sunday evening. I got back to Hamilton on Sunday night at about 9pm and started my laundry and packing – then dropped by Wendy’s place for a quick hello and a glass of wine.
By the time I had finished packing and laundry – it was almost 5am, I think I fell asleep – as I woke up to the phone ringing at 5:30am. It was my Dad saying to get up and come to his place on the mountain.
I sent my last few e-mails off at about 6:30am and then we were on the road to Lester B. Got to the airport without any problems, and checked in my baggage. I tried to take two guitars (well, one dobro and one guitar) but they wanted to charge me an extra $185 for the dobro…I decided against it – but still had to pay an extra $27 for the weight of my suitcase. I mean, come on…I’m moving here for a few years – it seems reasonable to take a bit extra no?
Dad and I had a bagel and a coffee and chatted about things before he left. It was a sad goodbye, but I know I’ll be home around Christmas for a bit…so it’s only a few months really. Dad left, and I walked around the airport for a bit then checked in through security at about 10am.
As I made my way through security and emptied my pockets for the metal detector, I suddenly realized that I had taken my Dad’s house keys and Tina’s car keys with me. I stood there staring at the keys for about a minute when the security guard asked me if everything was alright.
What could I do at this point? 
Dad had already left, and I know he needed the keys to the condo and the car, and there was no way I could leave the airport – especially after I had already been through security…so I decided to purchase a few stamps and mail them to him.
Good luck trying to find stamps and an envelope after you’ve gone through security. I had to go out to the main terminal and I left the keys at a TravelStore agency, and then went back through security…it was harder the second time – had to take off my shoes and they were a bit harder on my bags…wanted to know what my harmonica holder was.
After that fiasco, I made my way to the gate and waited about 10 minutes until I was let on the plane.
It’s been a bit since I’ve been on an international flight – and lots has changed in the way of ammenities for flights.
Cathay Pacific is easily the friendliest and most equipped flight I’ve ever been on.
Each seat is set up with a small screen and a video controller with a multitude of options to choose from for your 16 hour flight to Hong Kong. The controller is pretty fancy actually – it doubles as a video game controller for lots of pre-programmed games and videos available. I think I must have watched about four or five movies including Amelie, Iron Man, The Last Samurai, Zodiac and Casino.
The flight was honestly the longest flight I’ve ever been – even my trip to Austrailia in ’93 wasn’t as long, but with these extras, it went by pretty fast. The last two hours my legs really started to ache, and I tried to walk the length of the airplane a few times to get the circulation flowing as much as possible. The video options even has an external camera outside the plane to see the clouds, land formations, etc…as they appear on the horizon.
My flight landed in Hong Kong at 2pm HK time and the Hong Kong skyline is absolutely stunning.
I spent about an hour and a half at the airport, then boarded for the short two hour flight to Bangkok. After arriving in Thailand, I went through the immigration but didn’t know the hotel I was staying at, so I looked up some random hotel in my new Thailand Lonely Planet guide (thank you Martin!) and faked an address so I could get through. Once out, I picked up my bag, and guitar and made my way to the driver and hotel representative at the meeting point.
The hotel was about a 20 minute ride and I took it all in during the drive.
The first thing you notice coming out of the airport is the humidity…it’s HOT! I don’t mind heat, but the humidity takes some getting used to – in five minutes my shirt and pants were damp. I suppose that’s what you get for wearing too many layers.
The driver made his way to the Kantary House downtown Bangkok and I found my room (416) easily. The hostess removed her shoes before entering my room, and I did the same – it was nice to see that, as I’ve heard people remove their shoes here before entering rooms and homes.
The room is fantastic really…huge bed, television, air conditioning…and a big basket of food provided by the school.
I slept at about 6pm, and woke up at about 6am here. I was absolutely exhausted…but I feel SO good this morning. I woke up and had a nice shower, charged my laptop at the business lounge and had a breakfast (American style) provided by the hotel.
My HR representative is picking me up at about 1pm to go looking for an apartment, cell phone and I’m meeting the Principal and Faculty this afternoon at a meeting at the school. I’m really excited.
So far everything has been fantastic…I couldn’t have asked for more at all. Everything has been excellently taken care of. I feel very comfortable, and I’ve already spoken with many of my friends/family back home.
As the details get ironed out, I’ll be writing more…but for now – here’s a shot of me and the Bangkok background.
More later of course.
Love Rob.
