25th November has probably been the longest day in my life. The reason was I left Mumbai (BOM) for Los Angeles and traveled east.
- The 0030 flight to Singapore (SIN) was on time and I was looking forward to one of the best airlines (SQ) for service and food in economy class. The seat pitch and width were surprisingly comfortable, though never enough in the long run. The food was decent, had a rum and coke, and settled in to watch a movie. The best part about SQ is KrisWorld, their inflight entertainment system, which has over 100 channels for movies and TV, all on-demand even in economy class. This was rocking. Start, stop, forward, rewind any movie any time.
- Reached Singapore at 0815 and roamed around Changi airport, my first time there. Spent time at Harry's bar and prospected out things to do during the long 7 hour transit while returning.
- Since I had an el-cheapo ticket, the 0940 flight to Los Angeles (LAX) was via Tokyo Narita (NRT). The six hour flight to Tokyo was uneventful and even managed some sleep which I usually can't do too well on long haul flights. The food was surprisingly decent.
- The one and a half hour transit in Tokyo mercifully required us to get off at the airport. This is a plus point over the Cathay's Bombay-Bangkok-HongKong BOM-BKK-HKG flight where you can't get off at BKK. Started eating some weird seafood here and started speaking a couple of broken Japanese sentences - whatever I could remember.
- Left NRT for LAX at around 1830. I was dreading this longest haul segment of the flight. However the pilot announces a flight time of 7 hours. What? How is that possible? The mystery was solved during the flight. There was a tail wind in excess of 250 kmph. That translated to a ground speed of over 1250 kmph. This is the fastest I have ever flown. Unbelievable. The drinks were again good and the Japanese flat noodles new and interesting. Managed a couple of hours of sleep again. KrisWorld rocked again and I had three seats to myself to lounge in. The tail wing is going to become a head wind on the way back, hmm.
- Reached LAX and cleared immigration in a couple of minutes. This was surprising given long queues in the past but there were a million counters working at LAX. Was out and waiting for my friend by 1100 am - still 25th November as we crossed the date line going east.
- Hung out at his place and started anti-jet-lag strategy. Took a one hour afternoon nap to force myself to sleep only at night.
- Drove around Santa Monica with some other friends at night and went to the Library Alehouse which absolutely rocked. It is a micro-brewery with great stouts and ales, and good food.
- Had a night cap at 2330 back at home - damn it was still 25th. Slept off after midnight.

All this got rid of any jet-lag for the next 4 days. These days passed peacefully at the conference. The problem is that jet-lag is hitting me now, a week later. I think the problem was the red-eye to Houston on 26th night which is again two timezones away and back. So, for the last three days, back in LA, I am sleeping 3-4 hours twice a day early morning and late afternoon. Doesn't matter - I have no plans to do anything and am treating this as a chill out vacation.

Tags: airlines, bom, conference, flight, lax, longest day, nrt, sin, vacation
Current Mood: zonked

There was a conference to happen in New Orleans in November. Obviously, that is no longer possible. So I spent the last few days frustrated waiting for the organisers to announce the new location and dates, because returning in December means airline prices were increasing by the day. And having to do all your budget travel planning needs time, and most of all, advance notice. I am still a poor student earning in rupees and having to spend in dollars and not too many people can understand that.

Anyway, the new location is Houston, Texas and that is good as it will be something new to see. The plan currently is to go to Los Angeles and then on to Houston. Conference and some backpacking around is on the cards. Then the plan is to get back to LA and spend about a week with the SNCGang guys. Then on to the Bay Area for about 4 days with the COBB gang there, and then return via San Francisco. This time I think I'll fly Singapore Airlines and take a two day backpacking stop at Singapore. That is one major gateway city I have heard a lot about and am quite curious.

This mini vacation is going to be smack in the middle of thesis writing, so I hope I can time the work perfectly :). These probable plans are subject to the usual funding but most bases are covered. Preliminary ticket booking is done and deal hunting and dorm rates are being investigated.

Tags: airlines, conference, travel