Australia e-journal

Taipei, Taiwan

September 16, 2002

Factoids:

·     Number of hours in an airplane:  22

·     Number of crappy airline meals: 5

·     Trips to the loo on an airplane: 3

·     Plane transfers: 2

·     New stamps in the passport: 1

·     Arguments with Dorothy: 1

·     Digital camera photos taken: 0

At Chang Kai Shek Airport

(6:23AM EDT) This is my first entry in my Australia 2002 journal.  Let’s say it certainly feels like I’ve been traveling for 27 hours!  Started in Windsor @ 3:40pm EDT – there was a 20 minute delay at their Windsor Airport because the one engine on the plane was acting funny.  I called home that we were starting late but we had plenty of layover time in Toronto (thus we didn’t have to worry about our luggage missing the connecting flight to Los Angeles).

A small mix up at Pearson (Toronto airport) – we had to pick up our bags before clearing US Customs.  The luggage carousel was not clearly marked AND we kinda forgot about it, I must admit.  We were about to go through but the Customs officer asked if that’s all we were bringing (the 2 napsacks on our backs).  Ooops.  A different officer asked if we were married – I stumbled on that one!

Anyway, the flight to LAX went without a hitch.  Did I tell you about the great seats we had?  Row 18 seats on a Boeing 767-200 are brilliant!  They are emergency exit seats thus the legroom is as wide as the door.  What great seats!  Almost as big as business class!  (Will definitely look into getting those seats on the return flight from Vancouver.)  We got in at 7:30 PDT and then were departing on Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight 029 @ 0130 PDT.  OUCH!  While waiting, I had to check out what’s there at the airport canteen.  I almost freaked out to see McD’s medium fries for US$2.19!  WTF?!  In the waiting area, D and I worked on a crossword puzzle she picked up at the Windsor airport.  I listened to CDs.  I dozed off a bit before boarding the airplane.  It’s tough to be up for 22 consecutive hours!

On the flight, I have to say that the interior of SIA is vastly superior to Air Canada flights.  The colour scheme (purple in this plane) is a bit on the ornate side, but tolerable.  Entertainment was enhanced with a personal LCD in the headrest in front.  The options: movies on demand, Nintendo, music as well as some of the newest syndicated shows – fantastic!  There’s no reason for a passenger to be bored.  I won’t talk about the onboard cuisine … food is food on an airplane, right?

We stopped at Chang Kai Shek airport to refuel and pick up / drop off passengers.  A lot of Star Alliance carriers are sharing routes to save on costs.  I think 9/11 really hurt the airlines badly.  However, I did not like the fact that there were a lot of children on the flight.  Crying babies was the theme – why is it that there is always a truckload of kids with parents who don’t give a sh*t about them always on a plane?  I think the carriers should have a supply of Benadryl to sedate those Attention Deficit misfits on every flight.  Ridiculous!

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