Dear Friends and Family,
Saturday, Mr. mouse and I headed home after our week long visit in Korea. I'm glad our neighbors came out with us, since we would have probably postponed the trip if they hadn't bought tickets. We all met up briefly in the morning then split up for the day. Mr. mouse and I headed to the airport. Our neighbors headed to one final day of sightseeing. They had Seoul Tower, Namsangol (a traditional folk village) and Myeongdong (another shopping district) on their to-do list for their last day.
What We Saw/Did
We spent the morning packing and getting ready for our return trip. Mr. mouse did the bulk of the packing while I spent one final morning chatting with my grandfather. He was doing much better than Friday night. I felt good about the trip and the amount of time I got to spend with him while still getting out with our neighbors.
We took a $2 cab ride up a hill to the bus station to avoid carrying our bags up the hill before a long flight. We took the local bus to the airport for 10,000 won. The price was 15,000 won, but we didn't have exact change and the bus driver told us to pay just 10,000, so we did.
We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. They asked us to wait by the ticket counter for our seat assignments which would not be given until 40 minutes before flight time. Let me state for the record, only one person has any clue as to what seats are empty on any given plane. That person is the gate agent, not the ticket agent. And, the gate agent doesn't know until ~20 minutes before flight time. Therefore, at 40 minutes prior to departure, the ticket agent is only marginally better than clueless as to what is happening on the plane. Unfailingly polite, unfortunately incompetent, she nevertheless cleared us for two middle coach seat in the back of the plane. We got to the gate and I asked if there are any aisle seats. We were moved up to a window/aisle combination a couple of rows behind business class. I'm 99.9% sure there were both business class seats and first class seats available. Whatever. I watch Curse of the Golden Flower before napping to readjust my time clock.
We land in San Francisco and go through immigrations and customs. The plan is to try and catch the non-stop from San Francisco to Chicago. No dice. Flight fills up, later flights do not look good. We head to Oakland to try and catch the non-stop from Oakland to Chicago. No dice. The BART takes longer than we anticipated, we miss the flight by about 10 minutes. We decide to stay in Oakland to try and catch the flight from Oakland to Denver. If that works, we can attempt the Denver to Chicago flight. If those don't work, we can attempt any number of Denver to miscellaneous city flights to attempt a miscellaneous city to Chicago flight. This is why I don't need any additional complications in my life. It's complicated enough already.
The Oakland - Denver flight works like a charm. First class, to boot. And, the Denver - Chicago flight follows nicely. First class on a three cabin plane. Like Mr. mouse said on the way out, feast or famine. We splurge on a cab ride home since we're too tired and too cold to want to take public transportation. Home at last.
What We Ate
We had the last of the rice cake soup with my grandfather before heading out to the airport. While we were waiting at the ticket counter, Mr. mouse bought some chicken wings, so we snacked on those and the leftover rice cakes before boarding the plane. For lunch, I had a couple of chicken thighs in standard brown sauce with some potato fingers and veggies. And, as a special treat, I had a glass of amaretto for dessert.
When we landed in San Francisco, we had the spam musubi and sushi from Sankaku followed by dim sum from Fung Lum. It felt so good to be back in control of food ordering. Mr. mouse laughed at me for getting more Asian food after a week of Asian food. But, it's different.
The Family Drama
Nothing new. It all seemed to resolve itself Friday night.
What I Learned
I'm glad we ended up traveling alone. I realized on Friday that my grandfather spends a good portion of each day resting in his room. He tires easily. If we had been on the plane together I would have been up the entire flight watching him incessantly. And, we didn't get first class on the long haul segment. Coach is inevitably more tiring. I wanted to bring him back in comfort, if I could. And, last but not least, the walking distances in the airport are longer than I realized. I take it for granted because I do it without thinking. But, the trip would have been hard on him. I'm glad we were able to resolve it all on Friday.
Cheers!
mouse
PS: The rest of the weekend went quickly. Mr. mouse and I headed to the bar to watch the Malaysian F1 race Saturday night. Then, we slept in until 2pm. Sunday was mostly unpacking, laundry and uploading photos.
Saturday, Mr. mouse and I headed home after our week long visit in Korea. I'm glad our neighbors came out with us, since we would have probably postponed the trip if they hadn't bought tickets. We all met up briefly in the morning then split up for the day. Mr. mouse and I headed to the airport. Our neighbors headed to one final day of sightseeing. They had Seoul Tower, Namsangol (a traditional folk village) and Myeongdong (another shopping district) on their to-do list for their last day.
What We Saw/Did
We spent the morning packing and getting ready for our return trip. Mr. mouse did the bulk of the packing while I spent one final morning chatting with my grandfather. He was doing much better than Friday night. I felt good about the trip and the amount of time I got to spend with him while still getting out with our neighbors.
We took a $2 cab ride up a hill to the bus station to avoid carrying our bags up the hill before a long flight. We took the local bus to the airport for 10,000 won. The price was 15,000 won, but we didn't have exact change and the bus driver told us to pay just 10,000, so we did.
We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. They asked us to wait by the ticket counter for our seat assignments which would not be given until 40 minutes before flight time. Let me state for the record, only one person has any clue as to what seats are empty on any given plane. That person is the gate agent, not the ticket agent. And, the gate agent doesn't know until ~20 minutes before flight time. Therefore, at 40 minutes prior to departure, the ticket agent is only marginally better than clueless as to what is happening on the plane. Unfailingly polite, unfortunately incompetent, she nevertheless cleared us for two middle coach seat in the back of the plane. We got to the gate and I asked if there are any aisle seats. We were moved up to a window/aisle combination a couple of rows behind business class. I'm 99.9% sure there were both business class seats and first class seats available. Whatever. I watch Curse of the Golden Flower before napping to readjust my time clock.
We land in San Francisco and go through immigrations and customs. The plan is to try and catch the non-stop from San Francisco to Chicago. No dice. Flight fills up, later flights do not look good. We head to Oakland to try and catch the non-stop from Oakland to Chicago. No dice. The BART takes longer than we anticipated, we miss the flight by about 10 minutes. We decide to stay in Oakland to try and catch the flight from Oakland to Denver. If that works, we can attempt the Denver to Chicago flight. If those don't work, we can attempt any number of Denver to miscellaneous city flights to attempt a miscellaneous city to Chicago flight. This is why I don't need any additional complications in my life. It's complicated enough already.
The Oakland - Denver flight works like a charm. First class, to boot. And, the Denver - Chicago flight follows nicely. First class on a three cabin plane. Like Mr. mouse said on the way out, feast or famine. We splurge on a cab ride home since we're too tired and too cold to want to take public transportation. Home at last.
What We Ate
We had the last of the rice cake soup with my grandfather before heading out to the airport. While we were waiting at the ticket counter, Mr. mouse bought some chicken wings, so we snacked on those and the leftover rice cakes before boarding the plane. For lunch, I had a couple of chicken thighs in standard brown sauce with some potato fingers and veggies. And, as a special treat, I had a glass of amaretto for dessert.
When we landed in San Francisco, we had the spam musubi and sushi from Sankaku followed by dim sum from Fung Lum. It felt so good to be back in control of food ordering. Mr. mouse laughed at me for getting more Asian food after a week of Asian food. But, it's different.
The Family Drama
Nothing new. It all seemed to resolve itself Friday night.
What I Learned
I'm glad we ended up traveling alone. I realized on Friday that my grandfather spends a good portion of each day resting in his room. He tires easily. If we had been on the plane together I would have been up the entire flight watching him incessantly. And, we didn't get first class on the long haul segment. Coach is inevitably more tiring. I wanted to bring him back in comfort, if I could. And, last but not least, the walking distances in the airport are longer than I realized. I take it for granted because I do it without thinking. But, the trip would have been hard on him. I'm glad we were able to resolve it all on Friday.
Cheers!
mouse
PS: The rest of the weekend went quickly. Mr. mouse and I headed to the bar to watch the Malaysian F1 race Saturday night. Then, we slept in until 2pm. Sunday was mostly unpacking, laundry and uploading photos.
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1 comment:
well mousie, you survived it all. I'm sorry to hear that everything got so messy with your grandfather. someday you'll have to give me the context about what was going on with the house (I think I missed that part). But regardless, it was a wonderful trip and it was so important that you had this connection with your grandfather. you won't regret a minute of it.
xoxoxox
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