back when i was in the foreign land i met a girl named muna. we hit it off pretty well, unfortunately i left soon after meeting her. we only hung out maybe three or four times, but through the power of the internets and such we kept in touch and all that good stuff. we planned a visit on a few occasions, but for some reason it never worked out. until recently.
to be honest, i was a little unsure about the trip. we had a good chemistry or whatever, i guess. but still, i was wondering how it would go. would it be like when i left? would it be awkward? like i said, we'd only spent so much time together and then it was 2 years of just emailing. maybe i was making a mistake. i was pretty sure i wasnt, but now i know. long story short, im looking forward to our next visit.
the trip was pretty all right. vancouver is a lot nicer than around here. the people are nicer too. and i had some food that was surprisingly good. when i was in korea i often got the vegetable udon when i wasnt sure about the rest of the menu. after i left, i assumed id never eat that again. i was wrong, that was my first meal in vancouver. at another japanese restaurant i had some really good salmon teriyaki donburi. there was also a place very similar to 37 and zen with fantabulous nachos. food prices, serving size, and variety were also much better there. and and in honor of good ol' kenji, i took a trip to tim hortons. thinking about it now, food has never been anything that stood out to me enough to write about so i guess that must mean something, right?
so moving on. the time with muna was pretty great. all the uncertainty i had was gone as soon as i saw her. so yay for that. i feel like she took me all over the province. by foot. knowing how much i like live music, she even took me to a show. while the opening band was just awful, it was a good time. we had to walk through the worst part of vancouver to get there though. the place was a block from an infamous crack house and i saw a couple real, authentic crack whores. not sure how i feel about that. all in all, yeah, it was a good time and im glad i went. and ill gladly go again.
as for the actual trip...apparently vancouver is far. very far. i was on planes from 6am (eastern time) until 8:30pm (eastern time). and the layovers were pretty short too, so that was mostly airtime. when i got to the los angeles airport, to get to my next flight i was told to leave the airport and get on a bus to take me to my terminal. i get to terminal 5 and am told that for my flight i actually have to go to the international terminal. it didnt seem far so i figured id just walk back. apparently it was far. because i walked for a good while. but it was nice to be in the heat of los angeles.
on the way back things werent so smooth. when i got to chicago i was told that my flight had been canceled...yesterday. there were lots of storms and such. i was told i would be added to standby for a flight around the same time as my original which was 7am. however, if that didnt work out i wouldnt be leaving until 6pm that night. being in the airport for 12 hours was not something i was looking forward to, fortunately i got a seat on the early flight. once i got to philadelphia i ran into delays to newport news. and then just when i was near boarding time the flight was cancelled and i had to be moved to a later flight. my overall flight time was supposed to be 8pm (vancouver time) to 12:45pm (eastern time). well it was closer to 3:30 by the time i actually landed. it kinda sucked. a lot. but it was worth it. and i still got to make lunch at moes with black chris and the insane clown posse show that night. so i guess everything worked out.
random side note:
i was just looking for the picture for franco unamerican and it looked really familiar. so i started thinking i must have used it before. and i did. when howard zinn died. so i went with the backup.
