Flying.

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The last week has been really hectic, but thank goodness that is now all behind me. I'm on leave starting from yesterday till after the Chinese new year! Work has been piling up and it's probably an apt time for me to take a break. Had an arrangement to go visit my sister in Montreal, and so off I went. I mentioned before that I have never left the continent so this was understandably an exciting prospect for me. I had to take 3 connecting flights just to get to Montreal as a faster flight will cost me about close to 3 times more, a marginal utility that I cannot make sense of, even if I wanted to.

The trip started ok enough, the first leg to Hongkong was uneventful, three hours on the plane, watched one Harry Potter movie and before I knew it, I was already there. The second flight was the killer for me; a 14hour nightmare from Hongkong to Chicago. To top it off, I had a window seat; while that was good for viewing the clouds, it was tough to go to the washroom. I only went to the loo twice during the whole flight. And being in economy, it was tough getting to sleep. The seats were cramped, there were lights from this other guy thats beside me, etc. Suffice to say, I was extremely glad when the plane landed.

Just when I thought I was just an hour away from Montreal, I had to hear that my flight has been cancelled due to a snowstorm in Chicago. So instead of a 5hour odd wait at O'Hare International Airport, I had to wait a whopping 9 hours for the next connecting flight to Montreal-Trudeau. Since it was snowing rather heavily, there wasn't much I can do outside the airport, which was too bad considering there wasn't much I can do in the airport as well. In the end, I just grabbed a bite to eat and tried to find a nice cosy spot to catch some rest before boarding time.

The flight to Montreal was uneventful. I boarded, I snored, and then I was there. Makes me wonder why didn't the airline schedule a flight directly from Hongkong instead. Anyway, it was already close to 2am local time when I landed, and suffice to say, Montreal-Trudeau is a very "sleepy" airport, sort of like the antithesis of Changi. ALL the shops within the airport were closed! There wasn't even a single one that was opened 24 hours. Getting through customs however, was a breeze, quite unlike the US customs, which asked loads of questions and even required me to take off my boots.0_0

Anyway, I was intrigued by the cab meter on taking the cab to my sister's place. You cannot believe the rate these babies move. I had though the meters on Taiwan cabs were ridiculous but Montreal taxis really takes the cake. A 15 minute trip through deserted midtown(it is after all, 2am) costed me 41CAD.O_O. Suffice to say this is probably the first and last time I am hailing one of these off the road. Anyway, now that I've all settled in, the local time here is about 420am. I plan to be up early tomorrow, so I'll probably be turning in soon. Can't wait for tomorrow!

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