Oh, America...

I'm finally in America...more specifically, in Oakland-Emeryville California. I got here (at the hotel that is) yesterday, around 3.30pm. After a long 16 hours on 2 planes, 3 hours at airports and an hour in a cab...I finally got to my room. Check in was quick and the guy was nice and friendly.

The flight from HK to SF was an ordeal though. Firstly, 1/3 of the flight was filled with Indians...as in direct from India with a thick Indian accent and weird habits, Indians. I'm a bit racist I guess...but is it considered racism if I myself am of Indian origin? Anyways, I consider myself Malaysian so they're still odd to me.
Anyways, with the flight being so 'Indian' it wasn't surprising that I ended up sitting next to an Indian mother and son team. Thing is, my seat was the one next to the window...but guess what? When I got to the row, the mom was on my seat and her son was on the middle seat leaving the aisle seat for me. I got so annoyed but I didn't want to fuss since she was old and all. So I sat down in my aisle seat and just tried to fall asleep.

things were okay for a while until after dinner was served. I was watching TV and then the mom starts needing to use the restroom. At first I was ok, but after she wanted to go again in like 30 mins, I started getting annoyed again. I mean, if you know you're gonna want to use the restroom often, then why don't you just sit on the aisle seat like you were supposed to? Somehow I guess the son sensed my annoyance and asked if I wanted to switch to the window seat...apparently his mom has diabetes and will need to go to the restroom often. So we switched seats.

After about an hour, I was in semi-sleep mode when suddenly there was some sort of a commotion going on between the son and an air-stewardess. His mom needed a shot for her diabetes and therefore he needed a syringe. After a few rather loud discussions (for some reason the stewardess was a bit loud even with my earphones on), the situation was settled. But by then, I lost my sleepiness and as much as I tried to fall into snoozeland, I couldn't. So, I just kept watching movies until it was time to land.

Once out of the plane and immigration cleared me, I went to the baggage carousel to get my luggage. Firstly, it took ages for the luggage to arrive. Secondly, the whole area around the carousel was packed with people and there was absolutely no space for me to push through to get my bag. I saw my bag twice but couldn't get through to get it. Meanwhile all the other incredibly "kiasu" Indians and Asians were taking their hugely over sized bags and ensuring that no one got to the carousel until they got their stuff. In the end, I decided to go where the white people were at and noticed a little space where I finally got to drag my bag off the carousel.

Once that was over, I finally got outside and got a cab. Thankfully there were cabs lined up and getting one was not an issue. The cab ride was kinda long though...took more than 30 mins and cost USD 60. But I totally forgot to tip though...didn't realize until today when a friend was telling me about it. Oh well, the cab driver didn't really chat much either so maybe he's ok about it. Or maybe he's thinking "cheap-ass Asian" lol :P

The hotel is nice. It's also located just next to an outlet shop district. There's a Pack'nSave, Best Buy, Babies'R'Us and a few other shops. But honestly, after all the flying and waiting, all I wanted to do was sleep. And that's exactly what I did. And I've never slept so good...

Got up today in the afternoon, something I've never done in all my life. Now I totally understand what all the fuss about jet lag is. It messes you up...and it's a great excuse to get to sleep in ;) hehe Anyhoo, the day was not a total loss though. I went over to Pak'nSave to get some groceries. And the funny thing was the cashier lady seemed a little upset that I didn't have a discount card that gives u extra discounts. She used her own card to give me the discounts though and she was nice...it was weird. Don't think that would ever happen back home.

Anyways, I'm just watching reruns of shows on TV until I get sleepy. One side effect of sleeping too much...not being able to fall asleep easily hehe. So, hopefully the TV helps :)