*singin* NEW YORK... NEEEWWW YORK
well it took 30 hours but i'm here. let me run you through it.. you may want to get comfy...
flight 1 - sydney - hawaii (in transit) (9 hours)
pretty good, the plane was empty so i had a window seat and the seat next to me empty as well so i could move freely and was comfy. food was decent. so i'm fed, comfy and all ready for my inflight movie when F%$ing Harry Potter 3 begins. it HAD to happen. so i occupied myself with magazines and my new nifty MP3 player (which i did get songs on in the end). get off at hawaii and it was so hot and muggy, it was still 28 degrees at midnight. the flight attendents didn't have a clue what was going on and said we had to fill out only one form and not the other and i got given 'the other' in syd so i didn't believe them and filled it out anyway. lucky i did cos when i was about to go through with only one form he tried to send me to the back of the line again till i can fill out 'the other'. i was like, not so fast buddy! oh and aloha! customs made me remove my shoes to go through machine but otherwise they were nice enough. reboard within 10 mins of clearing customs.
flight 2 - hawaii - vancouver (6-7 hours)
flight attendents were mean mean people, i didn't get a blanket and it was really cold so i asked her for one and she was like 'i have none spare' and turned around and went back to her PERSONAL conversation with the other flight attendent. i thought i could see one in their little room too so that pissed me off even more. lucky i had this nice girl sitting next to me that i had been chatting too and she'd lend me her blanket every now and then for a few minutes just to warm up. she only had a singlet top on though so i felt bad taking it from her for long. that flight was a little uncomfortable but still ok. had breakfast on plane and watched the new denzel washington movie that isn't out yet (not man on fire, its got meryl streep in it too). canadian customs are utter bastards!!! he was like, why are you here? what do you do for work? how long are you staying? who are you staying with? how long have you known her? where does she live? whats her name? whats her address? how much cash do you have on you? have you been here before? etc etc... vancouver airport was pleasant. got a starbucks vanilla bean frappe, they are the bomb!! did you know you can hire portable dvd players and rent a movie in the airport?? i cracked up, didn't rent it though. it was REALLY cold in the airport so i put my thermies on in the bathroom and proceeded to fall asleep on the seats at the gate for my next flight, looking out the massive floor to ceiling windows, watching all the planes get loaded up in the rain with a smile on my face. only slept for about 30 mins before boarding.
flight 3 - vancouver - montreal (6 hours)
boarded at 2pm vancouver time and within an hour was getting fed dinner. theres something strange about eating breakfast at 6am, then eating dinner 3 hours later at 7pm. was seated next to a french 40-ish yr old man who was quite nice and interesting. we chatted a lot and he taught me some french phrases to say to inga... first he suggested i learn something nice like "i'm happy to see you"-'je suis heuseuse de te voir'.. then i requested he teach me how to say "you smell", he's like...
[him] you smell nice?
[me] no, just you smell
[him] um (laughs) ok... 'tu sent'
[me] cool... tu sent
[him] surely you want to say... tu sent bonne - 'you smell good'
[me] no, just tu sent
[him] i don't understand
[me] im young and immature... thats the kind of relationship inga and i have. insulting her is a form of affection
[him] oh
[me] you still don't understand do you
[him] not at all
landing in montreal was amazing, the lights from the city make the most structured and beautiful picture. the streets, like america, are very boxed and semitrical so each town is in a square and create a crossword like effect. and they are surrounded by water so each town is joined by a bridge and the patterns just make one massive picture. the french guy was telling me what was what as we were landing too so it was really interesting. once i said bye to him and was waiting for my luggage i asked this lesbian couple (about 50 yrs old) where the greyhound station was and she turned around and asked her brother and he's like, it's about 20 mins that way *points* we're going to pass it if you'd like a lift. i'm like, no i can't do that.. he goes 'you can if you say yes'. (keep in mind i'm extremly tired and know i'm short on time to make the bus) ended up saying yes. you'd never dream of doing that in sydney but canadians are just so genuine and friendly. they don't even lock their doors.
greyhound bus - montreal - new york (8 hours)
get delivered to the door of the station in plenty of time thanks to the nice canadians. walk in and ask a random guy if this is the line for tickets (standing in line) and he's like "no, this is to get on the bus" (may i add this like is the entire length of the station and all going to NY... oh and even if you have a ticket you're not garenteed a seat, its first in first served). i just said thanks and started walking away and he goes 'i'll hold your place in line for you... are you australian? i'm from QLD'.. i just said yes and went to get ticket but he really did hold my place in line and therefore, was my new best friend. we chatted the whole way in line, sat together on the bus, for the first few hours in NY while we tried to decifer the subway system and find a hostel, then i said goodbye to my new friend marcus and kicked myself later that i didn't get his e-mail or anything. he's 30 and gay but we got along so well.
i've been walking around new york all morning and i decided i hate it. the phones are crap and i haven't been able to call home yet, i still haven't found a place to stay, it took me HOURS to find the mercury bar where eskimo joe are playing tonight and americans don't understand the concept of giving directions. nothing is where they say it is. the streets have vomit on them or smell like urine. cab drivers beep at you to see if you want a ride (cos i have luggage) and when you shake your head no they stick up their middle finger and speed off. i'm obviously in the 'bad' end of manhattan (downtown). but i was uptown this morning and that wasn't any better, i might try midtown tomorrow if i don't chuck a hissy fit and get on the bus back to montreal tonight. i might have to if i don't find somewhere to sleep. at the moment i just want a shower and some sleep, i've had a total of about 3 hours sleep spread over all of the flights/bus and i only got 2 hours sleep the night before i left. all i can -sleep- think about -sleep- is -sleep- sleep.
flight 1 - sydney - hawaii (in transit) (9 hours)
pretty good, the plane was empty so i had a window seat and the seat next to me empty as well so i could move freely and was comfy. food was decent. so i'm fed, comfy and all ready for my inflight movie when F%$ing Harry Potter 3 begins. it HAD to happen. so i occupied myself with magazines and my new nifty MP3 player (which i did get songs on in the end). get off at hawaii and it was so hot and muggy, it was still 28 degrees at midnight. the flight attendents didn't have a clue what was going on and said we had to fill out only one form and not the other and i got given 'the other' in syd so i didn't believe them and filled it out anyway. lucky i did cos when i was about to go through with only one form he tried to send me to the back of the line again till i can fill out 'the other'. i was like, not so fast buddy! oh and aloha! customs made me remove my shoes to go through machine but otherwise they were nice enough. reboard within 10 mins of clearing customs.
flight 2 - hawaii - vancouver (6-7 hours)
flight attendents were mean mean people, i didn't get a blanket and it was really cold so i asked her for one and she was like 'i have none spare' and turned around and went back to her PERSONAL conversation with the other flight attendent. i thought i could see one in their little room too so that pissed me off even more. lucky i had this nice girl sitting next to me that i had been chatting too and she'd lend me her blanket every now and then for a few minutes just to warm up. she only had a singlet top on though so i felt bad taking it from her for long. that flight was a little uncomfortable but still ok. had breakfast on plane and watched the new denzel washington movie that isn't out yet (not man on fire, its got meryl streep in it too). canadian customs are utter bastards!!! he was like, why are you here? what do you do for work? how long are you staying? who are you staying with? how long have you known her? where does she live? whats her name? whats her address? how much cash do you have on you? have you been here before? etc etc... vancouver airport was pleasant. got a starbucks vanilla bean frappe, they are the bomb!! did you know you can hire portable dvd players and rent a movie in the airport?? i cracked up, didn't rent it though. it was REALLY cold in the airport so i put my thermies on in the bathroom and proceeded to fall asleep on the seats at the gate for my next flight, looking out the massive floor to ceiling windows, watching all the planes get loaded up in the rain with a smile on my face. only slept for about 30 mins before boarding.
flight 3 - vancouver - montreal (6 hours)
boarded at 2pm vancouver time and within an hour was getting fed dinner. theres something strange about eating breakfast at 6am, then eating dinner 3 hours later at 7pm. was seated next to a french 40-ish yr old man who was quite nice and interesting. we chatted a lot and he taught me some french phrases to say to inga... first he suggested i learn something nice like "i'm happy to see you"-'je suis heuseuse de te voir'.. then i requested he teach me how to say "you smell", he's like...
[him] you smell nice?
[me] no, just you smell
[him] um (laughs) ok... 'tu sent'
[me] cool... tu sent
[him] surely you want to say... tu sent bonne - 'you smell good'
[me] no, just tu sent
[him] i don't understand
[me] im young and immature... thats the kind of relationship inga and i have. insulting her is a form of affection
[him] oh
[me] you still don't understand do you
[him] not at all
landing in montreal was amazing, the lights from the city make the most structured and beautiful picture. the streets, like america, are very boxed and semitrical so each town is in a square and create a crossword like effect. and they are surrounded by water so each town is joined by a bridge and the patterns just make one massive picture. the french guy was telling me what was what as we were landing too so it was really interesting. once i said bye to him and was waiting for my luggage i asked this lesbian couple (about 50 yrs old) where the greyhound station was and she turned around and asked her brother and he's like, it's about 20 mins that way *points* we're going to pass it if you'd like a lift. i'm like, no i can't do that.. he goes 'you can if you say yes'. (keep in mind i'm extremly tired and know i'm short on time to make the bus) ended up saying yes. you'd never dream of doing that in sydney but canadians are just so genuine and friendly. they don't even lock their doors.
greyhound bus - montreal - new york (8 hours)
get delivered to the door of the station in plenty of time thanks to the nice canadians. walk in and ask a random guy if this is the line for tickets (standing in line) and he's like "no, this is to get on the bus" (may i add this like is the entire length of the station and all going to NY... oh and even if you have a ticket you're not garenteed a seat, its first in first served). i just said thanks and started walking away and he goes 'i'll hold your place in line for you... are you australian? i'm from QLD'.. i just said yes and went to get ticket but he really did hold my place in line and therefore, was my new best friend. we chatted the whole way in line, sat together on the bus, for the first few hours in NY while we tried to decifer the subway system and find a hostel, then i said goodbye to my new friend marcus and kicked myself later that i didn't get his e-mail or anything. he's 30 and gay but we got along so well.
i've been walking around new york all morning and i decided i hate it. the phones are crap and i haven't been able to call home yet, i still haven't found a place to stay, it took me HOURS to find the mercury bar where eskimo joe are playing tonight and americans don't understand the concept of giving directions. nothing is where they say it is. the streets have vomit on them or smell like urine. cab drivers beep at you to see if you want a ride (cos i have luggage) and when you shake your head no they stick up their middle finger and speed off. i'm obviously in the 'bad' end of manhattan (downtown). but i was uptown this morning and that wasn't any better, i might try midtown tomorrow if i don't chuck a hissy fit and get on the bus back to montreal tonight. i might have to if i don't find somewhere to sleep. at the moment i just want a shower and some sleep, i've had a total of about 3 hours sleep spread over all of the flights/bus and i only got 2 hours sleep the night before i left. all i can -sleep- think about -sleep- is -sleep- sleep.
posted by nat at 2:42 am
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