three cities, two airports… crossing the continent

Today was tiring… a whole day and night of transferring between airports and cities. Now I know how it feels to be a jetsetter… it ain’t fun, believe me.

The day didn’t start too early… fortunately. I managed to get a few hours of deep sleep. My flight to LA wasn’t until 5pm, so there’s plenty of time to get ready and enjoying the company of Linda, Muqriz and Marissa. Mizlan had left early for work… tak sempat nak wish him farewell and to thank him for being such a wonderful host.

By the time I finished taking my shower, Linda was already busy in the kitchen making lunch. Today she made tuna bake… yumm!! For breakfast, we had bagel with cream cheese. Ooh… how I love those! Kenapa lah kat Malaysia, bagels are not easily available and the shops that sell them, semua pun tak sedap as compared to the generic supermarket ones that you can find in the US or the UK.

The kids were also up… malu je I for waking up so late. Not a good role model at all ;)

After breakfast, I decided to take a walk on Linda’s *Wisteria Lane*. Her neighbourhood is so typical suburban America… the only thing missing were the picket fences. Lovely place to bring up a family. As I walked, I could hear children’s voices… there must be a school nearby and the kids must be having a break. I was a bit cold… but the air was fresh.

At 2.30pm the taxi arrived. It was sad to say goodbye… The four of us shared hugs and kisses. I wish I had more time to spend with them.



The journey to the airport took almost an hour because traffic was quite heavy. With three bags in tow, I somehow managed to tarik all three into the terminal. The taxi driver was nice enough to help me tarik some of them across the road. Tak tahu lah macam mana nak manage all three otherwise.

Check in was a breeze but the security check was leceh. I forgot and had put on my normal hairband which was made of besi and as a result the alarm went off. Had to go through a body check… aiyaa! The officers are actually nice and courteous tapi melecehkan betul… dengan segala harta benda yang kena keluarkan through the xray. Nasib baik lah I had a lot of time to spare.

Lepas semua tu, I stopped at a shop to get a souvenir. Sampai situ baru perasan that I had not bought any fridge magnet pun… something that I usually cari whenever I visit a new place. Tapi, considering that I didn’t even pergi Houston city pun, I guess I didn’t deserve to add that into the collection ;)

Still had under an hour to kill… although still kenyang from lunch, I decided to have some makan since it’s going to be a long journey. Found a shop selling tex-mex food… apa lagi, nachos lah :)

It was a full flight to LA… and unfortunately I have the dreaded middle seat. Sat next to a lady who works with disaster relief organization. She was on her way for a 2 week tour of South East Asia. She’s mainly involved in organizing donor funds, managing projects to build schools etc. Such a noble job… working to help people. That’s my dream… to do something meaningful that makes a difference.

Tak lama pun borak dengan dia because soon I dozed off. I think I started to tido as soon as we left the tarmac and didn’t wake up until we were about to land ;) Must be all that food, hehe…

Landed in LA just after 7pm. After ambik bag I went on to check in at the United Airlines counter for the next flight. That was a breeze… and the lady at the counter was very nice. Positive points for United :)

I had 2 hours to kill before boarding, so contacted Nora about my new flight details since I’m now flying via NY to go home. First destination was the Continental desk which is the airline that I’ll be taking from Washington to NY. Had to explain about the changes and they assisted to search for my details in the system and printed the itinerary. However, I had to get new tickets reissued by Malaysia Airlines.

For those of you who have flown through LAX, you’ll know that the airport is huge. And like all US airports, the terminals bergantung kepada airline yang you take. So I had to make the long walk from Terminal 7 to the international terminal… which was a good distance away. Tak apalah… exercise sikit.

Usually MAS officers are nice tapi I had the bad luck of having an unfriendly lady to assist me. Sombongnya… I tahu lah that my hal is not a simple check-in thing but tolong lah tunjuk muka even if you’re malas. Ish… rasa nak lepuk pun ada. While waiting for her to do the necessary, I managed to call the travel agent who informed that I have to do the change in Washington. Nasib baik lah when I went back to collect my ticket it was a different officer. Si minah tu menyibuk2 kat belakang the guy nak tahu as I explained to him… hmph, sorry lady… cold shoulder lah for you.

After all the susah payah, I quickly made my way back to Terminal 7. Nasib baik lah tengah winter, so tak lah berpeluh2. Dalam kekalutan hal ticket tu, I forgot to tanggal my besi hairband… so apa lagi, berbunyilah alarm bila go through the security check. This time lagi leceh… I was even taken to a private room to have the offending item taken off. Macam ni lah agaknya rasa bila kena masuk interrogation room. Too bad lah… you nak check I you have to wait for me to buka and pakai tudung balik… and pakai kasut, simpan laptop etc

After clearing the security check, I headed towards McD for some dinner. Sebelah tu was Wolfgang Puck punya café… tapi malaslah, since there won’t be anything much pun yang boleh dimakan kat situ.

The flight to Washington was also full. What is it about Monday? Why so ramai orang travelling today? Apa2 pun I’m looking forward to having some shut eye. As expected, the seats weren’t anything to shout about and apakan lagi service. At times like this, I’m glad that I usually fly MAS, even with all the warts.

Just as we were settling down, the guy sitting behind me started to make a ruckus. Apa hal lah pulak ni… the guy next to me pun muttered “oh gosh… what do we have here”. Apparently the man making the fuss is unhappy that the person sitting next to him is *invading* his space. Despite explanation by the *offending* person, he went on and on. The flight attendant had to intermediate and carikan someone who was willing to change seats since the flight was full. When the *offending* guy got up, rupanya dia agak besar. Ish... so inconsiderate lah that *making a ruckus* guy. Apa2 pun... lepas tu I just sat down quietly and tried to sleep. In 4.5 hours time, I'll be in Washington DC...