Why we do the things we do.

I went to Ralphs today to pick up a few things for mom.

On my way down the bread aisle I passed by a man pushing his shopping cart. This guy was a giant.... at least 6 feet 4... and at least 200 pounds.

Our grocery cart clicked. "oh sorry". I adjusted my path and glanced up for a brief second.

Within that microsecond, we made eye contact.

Recognition.

It's funny how the human mind works... and what things we remember from the past. I knew his full name. He went to my elementary school, and we were in the same 3rd grade class. I knew the name of his best friend then. They were inseparable... zooming around the carpeted classroom floor with their beloved toy trunks and engines. He wore striped overalls and was a train conductor one Halloween.

And I specifically remember a scene during circle time when our teacher confiscated his muddy toy stick... and stuffed it in her bra.

Aside from the same sandy brown hair, I could swear this person looks completely different. In fact, despite him being a classmate, I'd barely spoke to then... it was the era when boys had cooties.

Yet I recognized him after over a decade. Similarly, his blue eyes bared into mine with a sense of recognition.

and then we continued our separate ways down the grocery aisle.

my last 24 hours in boston.... not.

my alarm beeps. i had set it for no reason, no exams no test, no nothing. the only things certain today are that i have to get my room wrapped up. as neat as a sleek can. and successfully catch the 7am plane next morning. oh and shoe racks.

getting closure on close to a thousand days of your life on the atlantic side of the united states is not just physically, but emotionally toiling as well.

tapping of rain on the windowsill, no, i mean pounding. is the sky crying? I’m being dramatic. shit. I need to donate my stuff.

suddenly i find myself and two other friends jaywalking across streets each lugging a 30 lb box of clothing. I curse myself for the tax free enticement of massachusett’s law on garments. its raining horse tears. packaging tape soaks up.. and sneakily loosens it’s grip. my poor cardboard boxes. postal office lady is a bitch. i spend 100 on shipping.

so i treat myself with boba to make myself feel better.

i go home after lunch and sit in world war 3 for 1 more hour until realize my broken guitar and clothes must be donated or sold. i find that donation is the only option .. and slowly feel more and more empty as things are given away.

it hits 430 pm as i walk out of goodwill.  my coworkers text me about grabbing drinks. for a split second i almost text back yes. a car comes by and spashes water all over me. ” no sorry, i still need to pack frantically” and then of course, i remember..

and CUT

Here's to a not-so-symbolic end to a new beginning. Indeed, there's more to the story above but probably would be too boring for a public outlet... thus shared in a private blog with my best college friends... and...

instead, I'll post something a bit less glum and but probably still somewhat thought provoking.

with the acquisition of my iphone 4s about a  year ago, i've hopelessly fallen into addiction to the glorified, and yes remarkably grand instagram.

snap here snap there, a quick flip of filters. wow, it looks amazing. an end result that would have taken me at least 20 minutes fiddling around on photoshop to look equally as vintage.

But it dawned on me today. Technology has the positives of creating an 'end result' in an instant.  however, is this simplification really aiding to our civilization or is it just allowing mass creation of diverse artwork with no actual skill involved?  What is skill anymore? what is talent?

Back in early highschool and middle, I took pride in learning html from scratch... then
with the advent of 'what you see is what you get' editors and suddenly with a click of a button, a new page is born. I'm bitter, but its ok. I got a bite of the other side of the cookie too .. with the new instagram video... i am now such a pro... videographer.  =)

anyway.  there really is no point in this entry.  rather, a beginning to more consistent entry publishings on this blog. Thanks to the procurement of a very expensive piece of paper also known as the diploma, I am back from my hiatus. ah such bliss. until next time.

This will make you jealous of my NYE

The next best thing to getting your wisdom teeth pulled during vacation, is getting your teeth pulled one day before New Years Eve. I was fortunate enough to undergo this procedure today. I suggest everyone do the same. Decide on a whim one day before your molar extraction, as yours truly did. (aided by the fact that our family dentist would be on vacation.. and the next available appointment day would be too close to my journey back to school)

Basically, I didn't realize what was up until I was already lying on the dental chair this morning, with my mouth open, and the dental assistant meticulously applying numbing goo on my gums.

And then it really dawned on me. "holy shit, I can't feast tomorrow night then" 

but that was quickly interrupted by a plying sound and pressure. 

Suppressing that internal struggle of "this is freaky, but I am also almost a quarter century old so I cannot freak out" wasn't too easy, so I focused on worse situations like the news segment I saw where this lady in china went to get 4 teeth pulled, and the dentist pulled out 16.. like really?

but I digress. I just had my two upper babies taken out. and apparently I don't have roots at all for bottom molars... *thank god*  

But this entry isn't about my experience.  It's about attachment. After the procedure, my dentist popped something into a tiny blue cup handed it to me and said "here are ur teeth, you can bleach them if you want"

I peered in and saw the two ugliest things I have ever seen in my whole life. 

And I was utterly fascinated by them.

I'll spare anyone pictures... but let's say now I can SOMEWHAT understand the utterly repulsive newfeed image a friend posted a while ago of their pulled-out wisdom teeth. Because... these little bloody- ceramic like pieces... with miniscule slivers of gum still around it, are GROWN BY ME.

ok. that was like.... really really weird.

So after the procedure, my family proceeded to go to two different appliance retailers to search for a new fridge, go grocery shopping at two places, and get jack-in-the-box.  All the whiles, i'm sitting in teh car, spitting into a plastic bag and changing gauze every 30 min.  Because..... other than the fact that you can't eat, it's not that bad.  Even now.. like 8 hours later, all I feel is just a dull numb.  I haven't even taken a painkiller yet. 

Maybe I just have lame nerves or something.... but I'll still keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow.

jellybeans

my mother’s class did a gift exchange with another class during Halloween. presents for presents. and on the day of the exchange,  20 crinkling bags of treats from my mother’s class were presented to their neighboring class. imagine! 20 beaming eyes and thoughts bursting with anticipation on what their fellow friends next door would give to them in return… but…..to much dismay, the other teacher presented, one jar of jellybean for my mother’s whole class to share.  Luckily, with her years of experience, my mom had an emergency stash of treats saved for desperate situations.  Soon enough, tiny hands were each grasping their own share of sweets, enough to make their taste buds sing.

and this is also why I saw this jar of jellybeans on the living room table this winter break.

I dove for it when I saw it, then the 14 year old in me held me back. I looked up, and sheepishly asked mother for permission to eat it. No. she says. ok.  3 hours later, I give another try.  This time my mom asks. “why?”

I don’t know, I always had a fondness for jelly beans. I think they are like a candy cheatsheet…. for indecisive people.  You have 1 bean that represents a whole candy flavor. orange for orange candy, bubblegum for bubble gum, pina colado. popcorn for popcorn. granted the taste of other candies are not completely replicable… but definitely close enough. Think… it takes 7 minutes to finish a strawberry flavored dumdum lollypop, in 7 minutes you can have at least 4 DIFFERENT flavored jelly beans…. it’s like going to the international exhibit in Disneyworld to see the most spectacular landmarks of the world all in ONE day. saving airfare, living cost and most importantly time.

imagine a world without jelly beans. the horror!

and after my explanation. she said ok. 

I’m on a plane. Random Thoughts.

Currently, I’m several thousand feet off the ground.  Yes, this does metaphorically elaborate my elation in returning home after 6 months of the east coast.  However, my initial sentence also applies in a literal manner. Hello blog again, I’m flying on American Airlines, heading east to west. I’ve kicked off my oxford boots in anticipation of the long 5 hour ride and gotten quite cozy in my 2 by 3 space. 

For the 8347392th time I praise the convenience (and presence) of my gorgeous slick ultrabook.  Obviously, when (battery life) is at stake, each second of technology usage is greatly savored.   For about 1.3 hours, I peruse though a study protocol. Work. Telephone. Conference. Call. Tomorrow. At. Eleven.   Clearly my  20 day ‘summer’ comes with big quotes. I really like it though. I feel…… productive at life.  The flight attendant comes down the aisle… pushing his cart… briskly? As he walks closer. “food and snacks for sale”.  Forrr sallleeeee.

No wonder.

How much is that pastrami sandwich? The man behinds me asks “10 dollar sir”.   Wow. And yet he gets it.   The Stomach is all-powerful.  We do all we can to satisfy it.

People say the brain is the command center of the body. I think the stomach is the command center of LIFE.

Honestly, think about it.  We live to earn money, and we earn money to eat, we eat to satisfy our stomachs.  When we are hungry, the stomach sends signals to our brain to tell us to eat.  Homeless people skip on the working part, and go to food shelters to eat. … eating to satisfy the aches in their tummies.

Food is what makes the world go round.

The same man laughs obnoxiously loud behind me at the ongoing movie.  He interrupts my epiphany.   I look up at a screen, and see two bearded man chatting.  Without the $2 headphones, I do not get it and am clearly missing out.  Dialogue is an amazing thing.

I look to the left out my window. DO I SEE THE MOON?  On further squint.. alas, it is the tail light of the airplanes’ wings.  I got excited for nothing.

The flight attendant with the actual free drinks finally comes within my proximity.  Milk ginger ale or orange.  Today is Wednesday…. which means I do not eat healthy.  GIngerale it is.

I ask her for only a little bit of ice, thinking that the ginger ale would be poured into my cup and thus allot me with a sufficient amount of liquid to last me throughout the rest of the flight.   Surprisingly, she gives me an empty cup with two lonely ice cubes and the can of soda.

Immediately I glance at the snoring mother daughter combo next to me and visualize many unacceptable ways to claw my way out into the aisle without waking them up when nature calls.

Should I take the can?

Whatever.

Excuse me now as I enjoy my $170 gingerale and free plane ride back to sunny California.

NYR interm check part I

One measly entry since the start of 2012 is really quite unacceptable.  School and work is the culprit. Luckily, as of 1 week ago, I am officially halfway done with my master’s degree! whoopee!

I actually have several topics in mind, but I figure the most appropriate first entry after such a long hiatus should be an interim check on my New Year’s Resolutions made approximately 6 months ago.  Without further adieu, let me begin.

1. Sleep at least 6.5 hours each night

The amount of sleep MAY approximate out to 6.5 hours a night each week; however it usually patterns something along the lines of this: Sleep a whopping amount the first few days of the week, come Wednesday “oh shits! Everything is due!" then followed by two days of misery squeezing the last bit of information out of my brain during the wee hours of the morning. Luckily summer is here, and with that comes the perk of a slumber buffet. All you can sleep. No, actually not really at all. This must be worked upon. Also my brain has somehow trained itself to ignore 5 of the 10 alarm options available.  How come this oddly reminds me of the workings of antibiotic resistance bacteria? Is there such thing is Alarm resistance? Why am I rambling? Intervention is needed.

Conclusion: 1/2 Satisfied

2. Budget money wisely using Mint.com

My budgeting equivalents to a roller coaster ride. During good months, I budget like crazy, and consistently visit Mint.com while commending myself over my thriftness.  During bad (splurge-filled) months, I barely record any purchases. Notice the guilt relieving pattern?  Unfortunately, I recently discovered the extreme comfort and chic style of Zara apparels.  While my closet has been getting quite cozy, my monetary conscious obviously, is spacing out… a lot

Conclusion: 1/2 Satisfied

3. Get a part time job & 4. Settle down what I am supposed to do this summer

5 hours a day each week, I stare at two elongated monitors slaving over data. No... It’s actually really interesting, and I am extremely content at my current academic state. I love my job and I am consistently amazed that I found such an interesting field.  

Conclusion: Check! Check!

Stay tuned for New Year Resolutions #5-11 next time!

The one where I am all over the place.

I've been sitting here for about ten minutes struggling over what to write. Boston you have sucked the literary muse out of me... or... perhaps it is the guilty conscious lingering over my head counting down the hours until I begin my whirlwind of exams. Two on Tuesday, Two on Wednesday, One on Thursday.

I could riddle off hundreds of reasons why I didn't complete my projected list of studying today, but it can easily be summed up in one sentence. Procrastination got the best of me.... including me presently (hence why I am on this blog).

But that’s okay, I still have 24 hours to prove four months of work. A bit of positivity can hopefully leverage me through tonight... I don't think I'll crash anytime soon as I have stayed up until four for four CONSECUTIVE nights.  (what a mouthful).   Jaw drop.   Anyway here is a little note to myself in the future.

Hi Gina,

I hope you did well on your  exams.

Hope you're happy because I sure am envious of you right now... being able to do whatever you wish.

Pay your January rent.

Love, Gina

And here are some recent food pictures I took while dining at Boston Cafeteria

meh.. I'm going to make some instant noodles.

I'll be late if I will.

I heard a knock around 9:15 this morning.  Jenn popped her head in my room said “hey! Are you ready to go?”

In a haste I dropped the small container I was holding and rushed to my computer to sit down. “Uh, no, I .. uh, you can go catch the subway first… “ I said while shuffling the papers around on my desk. “I’ll meet you in class because I finished my homework kind of late…  so I’m still trying to gather all my stuff together. “

If T and M were here, they would say both say two words.

Bull Shit.

First of all, I had finished my homework two days ago

Second, I was holding my eyeshadow.. container.

What exactly makes me so self conscious at the fact that I am grooming myself remains an enigma still after so long. But that is another story.

Graduate school is definitely much more demanding and time consuming.  Endless amount of papers, readings tests, meetings… and it does wear me out to a certain extent.  But every Thursday, no matter how little sleep I get the night before, I would force my lazy soul to wake up 10 minutes before I usually do, and dress well for class.  I guess it’s a treat to celebrate the onset of my weekend… of more studying.

With that said, I’m off to enjoy my weekend.

Weather talk

They say it rains one out of every three days in Boston. This is certainly true. I have never worn rainboots so many times within a month's span.  They've become my go to shoes.

Unfortunately mine have an uncanny resemblance to fish market footwear. I definitely need something more fashionable... leather.

Along that same note, I haven't quite gotten used to the fact that it rains in warm weather.  In California, I was accustomed to hauling out my clothes akin to sleeping bags when rainy season arrived.  If I do that here, I'd get soaked from the rain and my own sweat.  Back home, winter wear was equivalent to layering everything we possibly owned, while hoping and praying that the sun will come out soon. People collectively dress cute here, even in dreary weather. Skirts or shorts with rainboots. Hmm...  I need to understand how this concept works. It's interesting.

I've tried not to let weather designate my plans.  But yesterday was a pretty big fail.  Come seven  I was supposed to attend a pretty exclusive event with my friend from home. But after taking a glance outside,  I let the California laziness wash over me.  Not without a fight though.  I got to the point where I actually put on my contacts and took out my umbrella.  Still, my night ended well. Hot chocolate and a movie on a rainy Friday night was the best way to go for a lazy person's soul.

Four-tion's

It’s been about one month since I moved to Boston and other then my previous measly entry, I haven’t really updated this blog much. No worries, I haven’t forgotten you ole’ blogspot.

I have a lot to talk about, but naturally when I actually sit myself down to type, my mind goes blank. So I guess I’ll talk about today.

Two hours have passed since I woke up, and I have already gone through revelation, submission, witnessed deception, and procrastination.

Revelation. I’m pretty happy to say that my internal map/compass has been doing its duties. I’m not as disoriented as I thought. If you ask me now, I pretty much have the green line down pat like a nursery rhyme. Major bus routes too. I’ve conquered the public transportation… somewhat. All I need now is a library card to prove my residence. My classes are interesting times 100. Our health system is…. well.. let’s say a string of Christmas lights that when plugged in are beautifully lit…. except it’s all tangled up with missing bulbs.  Unfortunately there’s no Santa Claus in the healthcare system to magically straighten out the knots. You can hire that guy next door to do it for you, but it’s gonna cost money, and people will laugh at your laziness. Better take some time to figure it out yourself America.

Land of apple pies and hotdogs.

Mmm blueberry coffee.

This leads to the topic of submission. I don’t know if it’s the lame duck in me, but despite the plethora of Dunkin Donuts here… I haven't made a run there yet… until today. The concept of donuts and coffee are really not that enticing to me. Those of you that know I'm a sweet tooth might be shocked, but donuts just never caught on to my liking. I’m not a fan of coffee either. So I’m not sure how I ended up in the store 30 minutes ago. But I’m glad I did. My naiveness had me thinking they only sold donuts as their main non-liquid sustenance. DUH. I got myself a Chicken Sandwich (on an “everything” bagel) and a blueberry iced coffee. The man was really nice when I asked him whether the coffee flavors applied to all coffee drinks… and what people usually ordered. I had a horrible image in my head where all hell would break loose and every customer/staff member would turn and point at me in laughter “SHE HASN”T BEEN TO DUNKIN DONUTS BEFORE.” but no.

“The combo? ok so a medium iced coffee right?” "err.. sure".. My bill came out to be 40cents more. The asian in me asked.. wait, that’s 40 cents more then the combo. “you got a medium coffee not a small”. Darn sales tactic.

So then I jaywalk across four huge roads with ongoing traffic (the true Bostonian way) and manage to jam myself into the subway door right before it closed.

No one would know I was actually from the west coast with that kind of aggression.

Deception. For the month I’ve been here, I’ve only seen one guy with a skateboard. Today I saw my second. The B line was “empty” today. Basically this means that all seats are still taken, and I’m still wedged in the corner. But I’m not breathing on someone’s shoulder. And my back isn’t pressed against some unidentifiable body part. The guy in front of me has straggly, “I whip my hair back and forth” type of hair. He’s wearing plaid and he has a hot pink skateboard. You think your sooo cool. He picks up his iphone and of course I have to stare at it because I’m dying to know what kind of song he listens to. And to my surprise, the background on his phone is a picture of him smiling next to a picture of an older female, in a medical mask… on a hospital bed? Deception. The subway jerks to a stop. And two girls straight out from urban outfitter ads walk in. raybans, ankle boots the whole shebang. They decide to invade my bubble and continue their conversation. It’s about how she always has dreams where (this is LITERALLY WORD FOR WORD) people are near her when she needs to go “poop”.

They both break out in giggles.
I almost spat out my chicken sandwich.

Luckily, my stop came. And I squeezed my way out.

Procrastination. I’m sitting in the library right now, still eating my chicken sandwich even though the sign to my right  states “Please don’t bring food into the library”. There are five people studying in my plain view. The one on my left is fiddling with his iphone. The guy in front of me is working on a crossword. That girl is spending more time playing with her hair then reading. But I mean. We are in the library right? It’s the thought that counts.

In all seriousness though …. I need to start studying.
Sorry, for the abrupt ending.

20 Reasons why I'm really happy right now

1. I just showered.
2. I'm eating oranges.
3. My room door is fixed.
4. My bug bites don't itch.
5. They fixed the kitchen light.
6. I don't have class on Fridays
7. The kitchen knife is SO SHARP.
8. I'm going to a museum tomorrow.
9. My hair is at the perfect length and color.
10. I painted my nails yesterday and they haven't chipped.
11. I feel sleep creeping up on me slowly.
12. "It girl" just came on KIIS FM.
13. I cooked a fresh new batch of rice.
15. I just google+ ed with my best friends.
16. I finally finished my bag of candy corn. 
17. I am pretty interested in all my classes.
18. I haven't seen any bugs today. yet.
19. I think I've gotten the transportation system down.
20. The wind is HOWLING outside. but I'm warm here in my tshirt and shorts.

I am freaking happy.

see you later and hello (in this order)

Gosh! I don't think I've been to so many places at once within a month's span.  Taiwan then norcal then socal then norcal again and tomorrow.... Boston! Things have been hectic lately and it's about to get even more crazy. I'm solaced by the fact that that I'd snapped pictures along my journey thus far. When thing's get settled, it will be nice to look upon events that happened this past year. Specifically after Taiwan, I've come to realize how my s95 is definitely not up to par with DSLR's. With that said, it's human nature to always eye on better things out there. So I'm not too jealous! As long as I have my trusty Photoshop, I can modify any picture to my liking.  Below are a set of modified pictures taken this June at the Montage in Laguna Beach.

Let these pictures of the Pacific Coastline be a celebration of the start of a new beginning...

Tree of knowledge... LOL not

I wonder what the initials in the hearts say

Friend's Cam Cam >> Mine. we had a shooting comparison

I have no idea what these are... aloe? they look exotic nevertheless

Man looking at the waves. He stood there for 20 minutes... as I stared at his shadow from the cliffs above. CREEPYYY.. (i'm 1/2 JK)

<3

Until next time California sunset! I'll see you in four months :)

I think I found a solution to satisfy your psychotic sweet cravings...

In an attempt to placate "grossness" of my previous entry.  I've decided to  post a more stomach friendly entry.... featuring none other then the all american friendly... DOUGHNUT!

My trip to Psycho Donuts was a professional whim.  A whim because it was a tack-on to my late night boba run. Professional, because I  yelped the store to make sure it would be a worthwhile visit.

A crazy arse donut shop. period.  (PS. spot the boba?)

Ze Kooky Monster.

Psycho Panda

Strawberry Fields... my favorite! This literally has the most innocent name

"I was still trying to take in the environment when I was greeted enthusiastically by a nurse with yellow (yes, YELLOW) hair. As she smiles, her dimples glisten. (oh wait.. they are actually symmetrical piercings on her cheek). She strikes up a friendly conversation as she hands us some bubble wrap and patiently waits for us to decide what to get."

POP POP POP POP

Our friendly nurse/cashier  has literally orange/yellow hair ...

diagnosis... of each donut.  Do you spot the Michael Jackson?
It's actually chocolate doughnut on the inside. Let's see if you can figure out why. ;)

Indeed my expectations were met if not exceeded.

So...as usual, if you are still curious read my complete yelp review here!

Bug me... not.

During my visit this summer to Taiwan, I'd racked up several "gut" factors in bug-endurance.  I was never the gnat catcher naturally.  But I think overexposure while camping in the mountains of Taiwan's National parks (Taroko to be specific), has forced me to come to peace with some insects... specifically, spiders.

Now I go by the mantra: Spiders eat mosquitoes. Therefore spiders = good. So I don't bother to kill them anymore.   Savvy :D

I was bit horrendously by mosquitoes when my precious bottle of OFF was used up. So like all my previous trips to Taiwan, I (honorably) brought back a plethora of souvenirs on my skin again. Darn mosquito bite scars.

I've thought about this before.  So hypothetically, if I needed to, I could move to Taiwan with no problem in terms of blending in with the culture and language.... but the ONE thing that would bug me (no pun intended) would be these mosquitoes. THEY FREAKING LOVE AMERICAN BLOOD.  I wonder if I would ever get natural resistance if I did stay there long enough. Surely I wouldn't want to be poisoned by DEET.

With that said, some creepy crawly pictures from my trip up the mountains!

Yangminshan: How many spiders can you find?

CLOSEUP! This one was especially huge.

Taroko: Spider!

This was a fun one... too bad I focused on the background instead of the actual caterpillar. 

Black and white striped creepies... They looked like blown up ants

Butterfly in flight! Leopard print no?

Lizard (?) climbing on the camp walls.

Butterfly flight caught in action!

tiiiny weeny geko!

Furrryy...

That's me in the plaid! 

Disclaimer: Taiwan is not riddled with bugs. This is because I was up in the mountains. LOL 

Boston June Trip Pics

I realized that I hadn't uploaded pictures from my June trip in Boston yet...  Nothing artsy, but here they are.

Flushin out some "expired" entries.

Hello Life, I'm back from my escape

two and a half months and nine pairs of shoes later...

All my new shoes :) "it didn't seem like i was buying THAT many pairs then"

... I'M BACK HOME!

and it feels great... but also surreal and nostalgic. My summer in Taiwan was too amazing for words. Food. Friends. Family.

Diving back into reality is much harder then expected.  I've only been back for two hours and already feeling the pressure of everything that needs to get done!

Summer was so magical that I found platform nine and three quarters XP

Updates coming up!

How I found myself in Rochester, New York one summer evening.

I suppose I should be typing about how excited I am to have formally situated my abode for the next year or so.  But I can't help replaying back to events that happened approximately 24 hours ago. Plus or minus a few  time zone differences and you can highlight one of my most terrifying moments in my life, so far. Minus that time I was on X2. I'm kidding.

It started with a phone call.

My future roommate and I had booked the same return flight from boston.  We checked the date, the airline, even the seating (she would be diagonal from me), and finally the time. down to the minute.  Leaving at 620 arriving at 1141.  Big mistake because one thing we didn't check was the AM/PM.

and on the first night of our hotel stay, as she tapped away on her ipad, she exclaimed "I wonder how we are going to get to the airport so early?"

you can probably figure out the series of exclamations after that.  And this sets the premises to why I was traveling home alone.

fast forward to the third day of the trip.

My airplane was delayed for over an hour.  Having arrived there already several hours earlier, I was in the most impatient mood.  I was hungry (wanted to just buy food on the plane), I was tired from waking up early, I was annoyed that I was over 40 points behind in most of my WWF games. (seriously, I suck).  The last thing I wanted was a delayed flight. My mom had promised me "delicious' food when I got home.  Till now I wonder if she actually did prepare it or was it going to be store bought.

Nevertheless, the flight did come and we boarded.

A few minutes after being seated, the man next to me pulls out his notebook of crosswords and ferociously dives into it.  I wondered if he really loves solving puzzles or whether it's for distraction sake.

Let me insert now that due to some past events, I'd never been too keen on flying.  Mix that with a case of "I Love To Travel" and you get the most complex love-hate relationship ever.  Luckily I'd discovered that drowning myself in upbeat "clubby" music can somewhat deter myself from fretting over each minute bump.

Unfortunately music doesn't blind us from other senses. I think it started with the smell.  Kind of like car brakes. seeping from(?) into(?) the back. (Later I learn from a fellow passenger that he heard some metal sound from below the cabins right before the odor began to pervade)

then it was a mini drop. (when in any other circumstance I wouldn't have really distinguished it from regular minor turbulence). Minus the fact that right before the flight was somewhat smooth and that right after, something sounded different, maybe the engine was a tiny bit louder, or maybe it was the sound of something else the pilot turned on... but the flight attendants started congregating towards the front of the plane.  One started walking down the isle briskly checking each of our seats.

turning her head left right left right...

I wondered if someone had snuck a lighter in and light something on fire.

Then all the attendants started walking back and forth again.

At this point, several of the passengers had their heads on a swivel following the attendant's every move. my ears were on high alert too. The pilot turned on the intercom and announced we would be doing an emergency landing in Rochester.

 A lady who was behind me stood up and beckons the flight attendant.

"maam please sit down" she looks a bit pale and stands there with her fists clenched near her chest.  "would you like some water?"  the lady leans forward and whispers something to the attendent. "I don't know maam, I sure hope so. but I dont know, It's most safe you take a seat now and buckle your seat belt"

the attendents started walking down the isle asking all of us to place our tables up and seats back to original position.

I catch the attendent as she walks past me "um.. excuse me, when are we going to land then?"
"I dont know. why?"
"ohh. no reason."

I swear I now, HATE the word "I dont know" (even more then eating daikon)

And I really don't know how long it was until the plane landed, but it was one of the most intense moments i've ever had in my life.

I just kept hoping the plane would hurry up and land. I'm embarrassed to say this but  the following thought also crossed my mind.  "Just get me out of this situation and let this plane land safely, I'd rather break out for the rest of my life."

Oddly, it wasn't like intense situations in movies where people were frantic. We were all pretty quiet.  I glanced at the to the two men sitting next to me.  Both were still strangely in their literary zone. Reading a book and fiddling with the crossword.  Then I noticed the pages weren't turning and the pencil wasn't moving.

Perhaps if someone were a mind reader, the room would be filled with shouts, but at the present. There wasn't really any noice. Everything seemed fairly normal, minus the smell.    All of our eyes just kept following the attendents as they walked back and forth. I turned my head back several times and this old man behind me just kept staring at me.. maybe I looked freaked out or something.

In a futile attempt to stare out into the window (it was 10PM) I realized that I really couldn't make out cloud vs sky. so I just gave up and gazed into the dark night and tried to picture the landing process. I could feel the plane descending slowly Yahooo! ok... so wait, I was gonna be in new york?

The best feeling was when I felt the roar of the plane as the wheel touched the ground.  and as soon as that happened, people started chattering again.  from the left window I'd noticed some flashing lights piercing though the dark. Firefighters.  Woah.  The intercom came on and the pilot summed up the main reason of this landing. "We smelled the acrid smell of smoke and thus had to land"  Nothing  more was actually explained to us after.  They turned off the engine and the smell dissapated and soon they said we could turn on our cellphone devices and use them we did.

At this point I have to say everyone had iphones. and EVERYONE uses the same 2 sounds for texts. the 3 toned dings or the double "ding ding".  I felt cool snatching out my 3gs ;)

Called my mother, and then texted friends that I was talking to right before I got on the plane.  (Time zones still trip me out.  It is just amazing to me that it could be pitch black at one end of the US when the other side is still bright and sunny.)

After a few moments they told us that we were in Rochester. New York.. not MN. and there would be no flights out tonight. We would all be booked the same returning flight and they would work on hotel reservations for us tonight.

Several people were concerned because their final desitnation was somewhere else like Northern California or Korea.

They turned on the engine again to taxi us to the gate and as they did the burnt smell appeared.  I wondered if in any case if they figured out the plane problem whether we'd continue our journey on this same plane... LOL because if that were the case, I'd show some 5 yo tantrums that I've seen while I was teaching in preschool. I wanted to get off this plane as soon as possible.

So the fire trucks couldn't find anything wrong afters they inspected outside. and they told us on intercom we'd definitely not be taking this plane anymore and They ushered us out of the cabin and told us all to bring our boarding passes because the United Airlines system had a glitch and was completely off.

We all brought our carry ons and then the next scene was 160 or so passengers from a boeing 757 waiting in the terminals of a very empty airport. in Rochester New York.

And this is where I began recognizing faces.  That lady with the very short hair i'd saw in the boston airport was on the flight.  That asian lady that kept doing (someone interesting) excersizes next to me was there. a guy with a UCLA beanie was on my flight.

And this is also where I fell in love with my iphone.  Talking to my sister and mom on the phone while texting away on the screen with friends really calmed the situation. I forgot I was several thousand miles away from anyone I knew.

Pretty soon they made another announcement.  That the whole airline's electronic system was down and all other flights of the same airline were also now on ground.  What a crazy coincidence. (This would be on the front page of CNN the next day) In any case, we had to treat our boarding passes like gold. It would be our main link to anything we do since a computerized system was nonexistent then. There would be no flights out tonight.

Ushering all the passengers to a hotel for the night was another endeavor.  After waiting for hours in the terminal and then outside near the shuttle stop, we were finally safely shuttled to a nearby Radisson.  Another two hours of waiting goes by in the lobby.


Friendships are made. I saw several parent/child combo send their 20 some year old daughters and sons to go out and scavenge for open eateries as they waited to check in.   After all, it was close to midnight and many stomachs were beckoning for their long needed supper.  College kids hung with the college kids. All the businessmen in their snappy suits made conversation. It was interesting to see similar people congregating together.

 Then they made the announcement that there were no more rooms.  about 70 or so of us walk over a bridge to another hotel.

(all the while's my stomach still grumbles)

The sound of music welcomes us as we walk in.  The smell of barbeque teases my senses. Fenders on display  near the Hotel bar?  Buzzed people bobbing to a Overseas Swedish band. The snapping of a barbeque grill fumes   Somehow finding myself in a NY Jazz Festival afterparty after an emergency landing still tickles my thought.   How crazy is that?

A man in a cowboy hat walks by to our group of weary travelers. .."Gosh... Huge group checkin in so late at night. Where are u all from?" We all look back at him. "Everywhere".

"ookkaay" he Sarcastically says, and walks away rolling his eyes.

Little does he know how true our statement was.

After checking in we decided that we needed some happy tummy time. Grabbed some grub with two other UC'ers also on the same flight.  Sat down on the lobby couch with some dressy people from Scotland and struck up a conversation.  They had heard that there was a "group" here that was finding refuge after an emergancy landing.  LOL. I think in my head. word travels fast.


Edit:  6-26-2011:


I'd originally written this entry with an intention of detailing every second of my unexpected trip but now looking back I realize the irrelavence to my daily life. Things happen, you go through it. I shouldn't "veg" over every detail. ... especially since I'm embarking on another "adventure" right now. So I'll conclude this post now with some (camera and cellphone) pictures I took then :)

Trippy mirror at the boston airport, who would have know the ride was about to get crazier.

After the whole landing shebang.. we take our first refuge at the Radisson Hotel.....'s lobby.

A LOT of waiting... throughout the whole night.

Rooms run out after more then half of the people check in, the rest of us walk across a bridge to another hotel.

Greeted by fenders in the lobby

The remnants of a Jazz Fesitval greets us.

Can you say PARTAYY! Nights still young at 1AM. But not for us. Checkin time set tom at 9. They made a new flight just for our flight.

Fit for a queen. The room they gave me had two queens, seen as it was just me myself and I, I used the other bed as my table. lol

Rochester Airport the next day.

Nevertheless I hope this was a semi- amusing account of my whimsical journey in Rochester NY one summer night.