Seeing as how it's my first day off here in Phnom Penh and I'm trapped in my hotel room AS PER MY MOMMY'S INSTRUCTIONS, I will attempt to write my first blog post. This shall accomplish a few things:
- Allow all internet-using family and friends to know that I am alive in one words-and-pictures packaged place.
- Allow me to keep busy for the moment since the internet in my room doesn't seem to like me very much.
- Allow me to fulfill that lifelong dream of taking part in the Web 2.0 Revolution by finally BLOGGING. Maybe VLOGGING will come next.
NOTE: As I'm drafting this entry, the 2001 classic "Bridget Jones's Diary" is playing in the background, so I am writing this as though I am British. So please forgive the cheeky attempts at humor (I said "cheeky"! How bullocky delightful!)
I'm sure everyone's first burning question is, "HOW WAS YOUR FLIGHT?" Normally, this generates a reply of "It was okay. Tiring, but not too bad." Well, your days of response-wordiness neglect are over, as this ENTIRE ENTRY will be dedicated to my flight. Not because my flight was particularly interesting or exciting, but because I tend to talk too much and my blog persona shall be no different. Also because my 36-hour travel means I had to entertain myself by taking copious amounts of pictures and DAMN IT MY PHOTOG SKILLS WILL NOT GO TO WASTE IN SOME OBSCURE FOLDER ON MY HARD DRIVE.
My adventure began as soon as the lovely Amy and Alice dropped me off at JFK. I immediately fretted about (British cheekiness!) wondering where to print my ticket. Then I was informed that since I had an e-ticket in my e-mail, everything was in e-form, and I should just e-relax. Then I wandered over to baggage check (yes this entire entry really will be about my flight) where I impressed both the baggage clerk and myself by realizing that my suitcase weighed in at justttt under the 50-pound limit. In my mind, the clerk and I high-fived each other. In reality, he barely looked at me and just handed me my boarding pass.
Fine, I'll skip the fascinating details of my wait and get to the actual flight. I flew Singapore Airlines, which has really pretty flight attendants that I saw way too often because the airline insists on gorging its passengers with food. Seriously, they served us no less than 5 meals and 4 snacks. Every time I'd try drifting off to sleep, the lights would come on and there would be a pretty flight attendant in my face asking if I'd like the Teriyaki chicken or Thai beef. Not really complaining, but holy smokes it was a lot of food. I even turned down a sandwich during "snack" time, and anyone who knows me knows that me and sandwiches are tight like…leggings. Singapore Airlines is also a really classy joint, with hot towels and REAL silverware and look!
Givenchy gift bag! Containing a pair of socks, a toothbrush, and tiny toothpaste. Baller. Since I got on and off the plane twice, I could've gotten two of these bad boys, but I did not. Rookie mistake.
Did I mention that I got a seat in the very last row? Awesome. The second the seatbelt light turned off, I reclined my seat as far back as it would go, which is how it stayed throughout the entire flight, with no one behind me cursing me for my selfish comfort-seeking ways. My fellow last-row-reveling passenger was a very nice German dude. He asked if I spoke German and sadly, I do not. So how did I know he was nice? Because the first time I tried to sleep during the flight, it was literally a 15 minute nap, and that was when the flight attendants decided to start the foodfest by handing out BLUEBERRY MUFFINS AND I MISSED MINE! I opened my eyes just in time to see them pass me by and as everyone around me enjoyed their adorable, fruity-smelling, perfectly-sized muffins, I just stared. That's when German guy offered me his Milano cookies, but I declined. I wanted the muffin.
As nice as German guy was, he was no match for my next seatmate:
MY OWN BACKPACK! Yes, it's true, after a pit stop in Frankfurt (where a group of us got stuck in customs and ran for our connecting flight as the gate was closing), I returned to my seat to find that I had struck airplane gold. Two seats to myself. I could recline BOTH seats. I had 2 pillows, 2 blankets, 2 foot rests, 2 tiny little TV screens. This was probably as close to first class as I will ever get.
Good-bye, Frankfurt. It was nice spending 75 minutes with you.
Turns out there isn't much to say about the rest of the flight to Singapore, except of course for the meals, which I promised my sister I would take pictures of. So here's some compartmentalized, industrial-style, overly packaged food porn:
Can I just digress for a moment and say something about this Mile-High Club business? I challenge anyone to find anyone that has ever actually done this on an airplane. Airplane bathrooms are disgusting and about the size of a mini-fridge, so unless it's a couple of midget children, I doubt it can even be accomplished. And why are you having sex anyway if you're a midget child? Great, now this blog will be the first thing that turns up when some awesome dude Googles "midget children sex."
My layover in Singapore was about 7 hours, which sucks as hard as it sounds, but admittedly, if there is any airport to be stuck in for 7 hours, Singapore Changi International Airport would be it. After 24 hours of traveling, I was tired but discovered something that completely re-energized me:
For the first hour or so, I refused to use one of these. I am young and sprightly, and I do not need granny airport trolleys to wheel my things around. And then my young and sprightly back started feeling arthritic, so I gave in and discovered the joy of this freeing contraption that allowed me to roll around the gorgeous airport in style and comfort!
Proof that I belong in Singapore – the bathrooms were lickably clean:
Self-portrait of a fatigued young grasshopper:
Also, apparently I'm taller when I'm in Asia, because these pants still fit when I left New York:
Blogging is tiring.
Anyway, I landed in Cambodia quite uneventfully (the 2-hour flight from Singapore to Phnom Penh included a full meal, of course) and got to my hotel room without trouble. Pictures of that and the IOM office to come in possible future entries.
I will leave you with my reading list for the month:
Have not really touched this since getting off the plane.
Been meaning to read this for a while. Did you know that the sugar lobby is so powerful in Washington that the official U.S. maximum recommendation for sugar intake is 25% of daily calories while the WHO recommends no more than 10%?! Oh lobbyists, you eat away at my soul.
Some bossy TA forcibly shoved this at me and made me buy it. I will rebel by reading MY book first.
In conclusion, Skype is awesome and without it I probably wouldn't be able to stand being away from people I love for more than a week.