2003-07-08 - 6:28 a.m.
Ah, the joys of being in quarantine. No, not sterile white room quarantine.
Basically, we hired a cab from the airport (who tried to rip us off) and when we finally came to my grandma's house, my grandma and grandpa were getting ready to leave. They had decided to move in temporarily with my uncle who lives a few blocks down. We're stuck in here for seven days. Quarantine ends on my birthday.
The flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver was relatively smooth, seeing as how last year we took off in a typhoon and later flew over a typhoon in Japan. This time the turbulence was only over Alaska.
But Cathay, the liarsss trickssy liarsss, didn't show Down With Love. DWL shows on the return flight to Hong Kong. So I watched How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Bringing Down The House, Lilo and Stitch, Shanghai Knights and Daredevil. I loved Bringing Down The House. "Yes we left camp early. There were bears, you know, mauling and eating the campers."
The landing was so smooth I didn't realize we landed until I heard the unmistakable grind of brakes versus runway.
As soon as we got into Vancouver airport, I immediately felt different. Everything moved slower, even the people. In HK, everyone moves at the speed of light and the city never sleeps. So it was kind of weird getting into Vancouver and the sign that cautioned the escalator moved 'fast' was half the speed of the one in the HK airport.
The checking in was inefficient and we got to the gate a bit later than we'd hoped. I had to fight down the urge for a frappucino as we approached the gate. In Vancouver, there are Starbucks everywhere. On one Granville street corner, there are three Starbucks alone. "Do I go to SB A, B, or C?"
The flight to Calgary was rockier than our trans Pacific flight, surprisingly, but the flight itself was only an hour. They served ice cream on the flight!
And I'm up at 7 in the morning thanks to jetlag. I woke up at five and had chicken noodle soup. My head is spinning now from the lack of sleep but I'm so wired I can't. Now I'm going off to decide what to do for the next six days.
Sign my guestbook, I command you.
