Home Stretch

Ray and I just parted ways in Atlanta around 6:30 AM as we make our ways to our terminals for the final stretch of the trip home which has so far been in the realm of 28-32 hours. The time change and let lag has taken over and waiting another 3 hours in an airport for a flight now seems like a walk in the park. I could be delirious though as I'm waiting in a gate that is not for my flight while randomly staring at people since all they have to read is USA Today which offers 2% the entertainment value of the NY Post.

Ray has summed up the trip pretty accurately although I was graced by the airline gods and received a 1st class upgrade from Taipei to San Fran. I'm not sure if Ray was more pissed at my good fortune or that he now had to sit next some dudes with sweet Cajun accents for 12 hours. Ray has also learned I'm the worlds worst sight seeing companion. I forgot my camera 75% of the time and make sarcastic comments on the regular. We had a blast overall and even managed to break a few rules such as drinking coffee on the subway for which we received a few evil glances.

Overall 1st class is the way to go for long overseas flights, then again when you have nobody to talk to the nostalgia looses it's luster pretty fast. The Dynasty club's provided by China air for high rollin' travelers such as ourselves made the layovers a bit easier although they do not remotely accommodate anyone from the Western hemisphere.

I did have the opportunity to enjoy some Taiwanese beer called of all things, Taiwan Beer. The 1st class flight from San Fran to Atlanta was overbooked and seemed more like economy plus. The hot towels were borderline dangerous, the food we passed on and they let Ray board the plane despite giving the attendant a ticket for someone else or a different flight.

While I tried to sleep and get back on east coast time Ray was overly enjoyed at the vast selection of TV and movies available at his disposal. I'm pretty sure he could have flown for another 12 hours based on all the programs he'd wanted to watch but we both settled for Indiana Jones which he hated. Sorry Ray.