Ugh, One More Plane Ride To Go...

I am so not having a good travel day!

I ended up just being wayyyyyyy too tired to do anything of much interest in Dublin. I actually did a few of the things that I didn’t do last time, but there was a reason I skipped them last time…

Anyway, I still love Dublin and it was good to be back for a little while.

I did get to go to my favorite bookstore and have breakfast, so all was not lost.

I am currently sitting in the Dublin airport. In the Ryanair terminal. It’s dingy and rather hopeless down here. Everyone looks miserable and I about to burst into tears if one more thing goes wrong. First they wouldn’t let me carry-on the backpack I carried on my Continental. So I had to pay the extra baggage fee (20 euros). Then my big bag was overweight (no surprise there) but since they charge by the pound…well, let’s just say it was an expensive piece of luggage. I am still under what it would’ve cost for the direct flight to Madrid, so…I calmed down.

Then I went through the HUGE security line and they informed me that, after waiting in two huge Ryanair lines, the idiot check-in girl hadn’t stamped my boarding pass to approve my visa.

At this point I was livid, but I’ve seen people yell at the Ryanair crew…they are immune to all yelling at this point. I rather…urgently…informed her of the error, at which point she swore at me and handed over the boarding pass she was supposed to give me in the first place. What?!?! She never did check my passport. How does that make you feel about security?

Anyway, I am just hoping against all hope that the flight to Madrid goes smoothly. I will be traveling by train from now on, haha. No, I will probably continue to fly Ryanair, but not when I have oversized luggage :-/

I have to say, I really miss traveling with a friend. It’s not the same being spontaneous all by myself, haha. Thank god I’ll see Lili in a couple weeks!!!

In Newark...Bored and Nervous!

But excited!!!!

I can't decide whether I am scared or totally pumped. Hopefully it's a combination, haha.

BY THE WAY…

There is a group going to Dublin. I don’t know where they are from. I’m thinking church group because there are so many ages. Anyway, they are all wearing the same thing. It’s the creepiest thing. Kelly green polos with something embroidered on the chest. I haven’t gotten close enough to see.

Also, there is a guy PACING around in circles in front of me. It is driving me loco!!!! I can’t figure our what language he is rambling in on his cell phone, but I hope his battery runs out soon. I think he’s fighting with his girlfriend. I actually have no idea, but at least that might make the pacing understandable.

The Kelly green shirt group kids have a LOT of energy. WHOA.

Also, some family did not book their seats together and are causing quite a panic. Come on people… Haha. Anyway, that’s all for Newark! Peace and love…here’s hoping I don’t get humanly trafficked. ☺

Layover in Seoul & The End

Okay, Lil and I spent most of the time at the airport giggling like maniacs and pointing out potential "sex tourists" which we had great fun doing. We tried to take pictures but the dirty old men are sly...

Anyway, since we did that instead of getting some much needed sleep, we passed out on the plane to South Korea. We missed the food, the movie, EVERYTHING. Whoops. Guess I'll never know if something exciting happened. Most likely not as the guy a couple seats down from me appeared to be just as surprised we were landing as I was. Kudos to the pilot for a smooth flight I suppose.

Well, we had a 12 hour layover in South Korea and I was just aching to get a new stamp on my passport so we filled out visas and exited the airport for a little day trip. We navigated our way to a bank where I was pleased to find that the exchange rate was 1000 won to the dollar. I checked my bank account...I was a MILLIONAIRE!!!!! This was fun news!

So we hopped on the brand new airport transit. Basically it was a high speed train. We took it from the airport to downtown Seoul. I have to say I was NOT a happy camper at this point. My contacts were bothering me, I was starving, and I was still a tad bit tired. Not really a great way to start out a trip. Some kid took pity on our obvious confusion and led us around until he got us where we needed to be. He was really nice. Lili talked to him a lot but I stayed pretty quiet.

Finally we got to the area where the palace in Seoul is. We decided to stop and get something to eat first (thank god) and quickly discovered that South Korea was not nearly as easy to navigate as Thailand. It's not exactly a country that's based on tourism and therefore very little is translated into English (mindblowing, I know). It took us kind of a while to find a place to eat but we found one that looked pretty harmless and walked in.

They seated us a a table with other people. It was sort of like a picnic where someone is taking your order and then bringing it to you. We diligently studied the pictures chose the prettiest ones and were immediately discouraged from ordering those. As the waiter put it, "That HOT!" So we asked him what we should get. He pointed at two things, we nodded, and off he went.

We didn't have to wait long. He brought out two pots of stew for us. A couple bites in and my mouth was on FIRE. Shoot. I grabbed my cup and went to the water machine. I filled it up and started drinking. Several glasses later my palette had grown a bit more accustomed to the taste (or had stopped working in protest and shock) so we finished up and paid the bill. We left feeling significantly better.

We finally found the old palace we had been looking for. It was a few thousand won to get in but then the tour was free (we got headphones and an MP3 player). We wandered around in search of the Secret Garden. Mostly because I read that book numerous times when I was little and was somewhat fascinated with the idea of a secret garden. But also because there was some funny story about getting drunk there and jumping into the water or some such nonsense. Anyway, when we found it it was somewhat, well, boring. I expected the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, not my backyard.

We explored the grounds a bit more, took some cool pictures of the building and then set off to do what we do best...shop. We bought a few odds and ends. For such an interesting exchange rate nothing is actually cheap in South Korea. It's exactly the same price only multiplied by 1000. No fun!

Eventually we were just tired and wanted to sit down. So we headed back to the airport.

Again, I was hungry (seriously, what is with me?) but I had had it with Korean food. It did not sit nearly as well as Thai food. So I went to the airport directory at Lili's suggestion. We found the American food section and headed off. I have never been so thrilled to see a KFC, Burger King and Dunkin' Donuts in my entire life. Seriously. I went on a food shopping spree. And, let me tell you, it was delicious.

Eventually, we boarded the Korean Air flight back home. WHAT?!?!? There were NO individual televisions!!!!!! Okay, I know that is super spoiled of me, but I get bored and I had paid a LOT for the ticket. And it was a 15 hour flight or something ridiculous like that. Ugh. Me=Not happy. Luckily Lil and I had three seats for just the two of us. We created quite a comfy little cove between the blankets, pillows, socks, and eye covers they gave us. Then we busted out our books and started reading. I managed to finished the beast of a book I had bought in Bangkok. I handed it over to Lili who had been eagerly awaiting my finish and we traded books.

I slept a little, though nothing to speak of. We ate. The food was okay. It was time to be home.

FINALLY we landed in Los Angeles. What a MESS!!! Seriously, for an airport that traffics that many people through each day you would think they would have their shit pulled together. Not so much. We got through customs after the longest wait in the history of waits (okay, exaggeration) and then went to get a shuttle to Burbank. So, this was by far and away the cheapest option but the shuttle kept doing laps around the airport looking for people to pick up...and our flight was leaving in two hours...during rush hour. CRAP!!

The shuttle eventually got us to the Burbank airport where we raced through the ticketing entrance to find our counter. Only to find it had been abandoned. Okay, think! We still had 15 minutes before our plane stopped boarding and we had checked in online in Seoul (thank god). We opened our suitcases and ripped out everything liquid we could find. We probably threw away over $75 worth of stuff but it was better than missing the plane...

We rushed through security, ran down the terminal and were the last ones to board the plane. We made it by two minutes. Oh. My. God. Ahh, breathe.

So we made it home to Columbus. Amazingly enough.

But I have a free ticket from Delta and I'm thinking that I might want to spend the end of the summer in Europe...who knows!?!?!

Getting To Thailand...part 2

Let's just say that I will never fly on a US airline again if I can help it. China Airways was stellar. And I was really full by the end. They basically did not stop feeding us the whole time and each seat had its own television. I watched four movies. I think the lady next to me thought I was crazy because I was bawling at the end of Bridge to Terebithia. Then again, I always cry in movies so...

Taiwan was boring...the airport was all we got to see...better luck next time I suppose!

Another China Airways flight and we were at BKK!!!!!! Oh my gosh, we actually did it. We actually left the country and went to Thailand!! So the original plan was to get in a cab and go to the South bus station and grab a bus to Krabi. Hmm, I think there HAS to be a better way. So Lili and I went in search of the domestic departures ticketing. Next flight to Krabi left in 6 hours on Thai Airways. So we went to the Thai Airways ticketing counter...this is how the conversation went:
Us: How much for the next flight to Krabi?
Them: 1800.
Us: 1800 what?
Them: 1800 Baht.
Us: How much is that in US dollars?
Them: $60.
Us: Sold.
So we wandered around the airport for a while. It wasn't terribly interesting, but the place was hopping for 2 a.m. Everything was open. We decided that we needed to make some phone calls and e-mail a few people. I e-mailed everyone whose address I remembered and called my mom. Then we called the resort we were staying at and arranged an airport transfer (actually it took us HOURS to take care of this but it's a boring story and I won't go into it). Sweet.

Then Lili and I set out in search of breakfast. We bought some pastries and orange drink. Then we decided to that we should probably also get some vodka. And cups. So pretty soon we were drinking screwdrivers and eating chocolate pastries. Not a bad way to spend 6 hours. We found some chairs with no arm rests and Lili passed out. I was still way too excited to sleep.

Eventually we checked in and went to our terminal. The flight was an hour long...not that I would know. I passed out and didn't wake up 'til we were almost there. And to my surprise, I woke up with food in front of me! I pretty much had not stopped eating since I got to L.A. Ridiculous!!!

We walked into the Krabi airport (which was really really pretty...and had a DQ in it) and everything looked awesome. Palm trees, blue skies...yay! We found our driver outside and got in the hotel transfer. Krabi was so strange. Places that looked like shacks would turn out to be crazy nice car dealerships. And talk about a market for KFC...they were everywhere! Eventually our driver came to a stop and ushered us out of the van. Where the heck were we??? There was not a hotel anywhere to be seen! He stuck us in a tuk-tuk (more on those later) and the tuk-tuk driver went straight toward the end of the dock. I seriously thought for a minute I was going to die. Then he stopped too. We looked down and there was a longboat waiting for us. COOL! It was about a 15 minute longboat trip to our resort. It was amazing out. We pulled into our little cove and there was our resort.

More on Krabi laterrrrrrrrrrrr!

Getting To Thailand...part 1

Well it took forever and a day but we eventually got to Krabi. Totally worth it but...it was long.

We tried out Skybus. Not bad, but like 5 hours on a plane with some crying kids is not exactly my idea of fun. Though I suppose that for what we paid I got what I deserved. Anyway, not really much to say either good or bad.

So Lili and I got to Burbank, CA right on time. We got in a shuttle to LAX...time to start getting excited! Okay, we later realized our excitement was a bit premature but hey, wouldn't you be totally pumped?!?! Our shuttle dropped some girl off for her freshman orientation at USC...seriously pretty campus.

We got to LAX at 10:15...this is extremely important because McDonald's breakfast ends at 10:30. Yeah, I was hungry and miserable and looked like crap. Obviously I needed a McMuffin, OJ, and hash browns. Oh, and one of those cinnamon thingees. Clearly the fact that I was going to a beach resort and wearing a bikini for 5 days wasn't bothersome to me. So after I'd finished stuffing my face I realized, hey, there are some GORGEOUS boys over there. Uh-oh. Lili and I hit the bathroom immediately. 15 minutes and a little make-up later I looked presentable at least. Time to find out who exactly these beautiful (and freakishly tall) men were. Hello future Olympians. Turns out it was the US mens volleyball team heading to Tokyo to play. Too bad, they were going to Japan, we were going to Taiwan. Oh well, such is life...

So after being bored at LAX (which might be the world's crappiest airport) for several hours we boarded China Airways on our way to Taipei...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!