Touching Down

Well, after somehow getting my arrival date an entire day off, I’ve managed to find my way to Louis Tavern Hotel today, May 5^th. The power of suggestion is a funny thing. I just saw all these CIEE-Rs saying on the Facebook group that they were arriving on May 6^th at 10:40 AM on Cathay Pacific flight 713, and I assumed that I was on the same plane because my plane number was also Cathay Pacific 713 arriving at 10:40 AM, except on the 5^th. The reality of my mistake sunk in around 1,000 miles out of Hong Kong when I looked at the route map and the plane’s location and realized there was no way it’d take me 48 hours to get to Bangkok.

My conclusion was further reinforced when I landed in Hong Kong and did not see anyone remotely resembling someone from the Facebook group. So, I landed around 4:45 AM and had some time to kill before my 8:50 AM departure to Bangkok. I spent that time trying to make amends for my miscalculation by looking to book a hotel room for the night. Unfortunately, both my computer and phone were about to die, and I didn’t have my chargers with me, so there wasn’t much I could do. At that point I was really wishing I hadn’t wasted most of both my phone and computer’s power surfing Reddit at JFK.

So, I packed up shop and decided to get something to eat. I had had some kind of mushroom omelet dish for “breakfast” at around 2 AM on the flight from NY (it was dark in the cabin, I couldn’t really see what I was eating), so I wasn’t starving, but I needed some kind of sustenance to keep me going. I wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous, so after exchanging some USD for cold hard Hong Kong Dollars, I got a Sausage McMuffin. In retrospect, I probably should have held off on the Sausage McMuffin because we were served eggs and sausage on the flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok. Guess what I had for dinner before I left for JFK? Eggs.

10:35 this morning, I finally landed in Bangkok. Everything went smoothly through Immigrations, exchanging my money, and getting my bags. I didn’t have a reservation at Louis Tavern, but I didn’t have any other hotel’s location written down, so I took my chances and asked one of the cabbies for a lift. He said he thought he knew where Louis Tavern was. That wasn’t too reassuring. Well, perhaps against my better judgment, I got in the taxi with him. I was surprised to find there weren’t any seat belts in the back seat. This wasn’t too comforting when we were going around what felt like 70 on the thru-way. Thankfully, he didn’t lead me to a premature death, and he eventually found the Louis Tavern Hotel.

I’m running on minimal sleep and questionable food, so forgive any inadequacies in my writing. Once I get properly settled, you can expect more thorough and proof-read posts and definitely pictures.

Thanks for reading guys.