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Wake up early. Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!
Did I pack my toothbrush? Did my power cords make it to my pack? Is that the alarm ringing, or is that terrible song ingrained in my mind after hearing it far too early far too many days in a row?
Shower? NO TIME!
Out of the hotel, throw the keys down on the counter and make way to the downtown subway. And then... wait. And wait. And wait. Where is that number one train anyway?
Ohh well – there's the Two. It claims to be an express. That should get me to 34th Penn Station in only three stops.
Wait, what? It's making all the local stops. Ai ya.
O.K. Penn station! Rush through the exit, run to the Jersey Train Station and then... wait, and wait and wait. What do you mean the last train just left and the next one won't be here for fifty minutes? I thought these things came every half an hour.
Avoid the drunks sitting next to you, trying to talk about how hard they partied last night. Don't give the your name. Don't give them your name – ohh there's a friendly police officer to kick out everyone without a ticket.
Track three now boarding. I make my way on, and get rushed down the track, down the track, take a seat. And now we wait. We need a more favorable signal.
Off of one train at Newark Airport, and on the monorail – please exit quickly! so you can – wait. Boarding passes handed out, baggage checked, and rush through security where belts, shoes, comptures, wallets, watches, have to be placed in bins.
Feet smelling, and pants falling down, make way through the metal detector, and then it's a rush to get all your gear back on, and head to the terminal. So you can once again wait. And wait. And wait. The plane will get here when it gets here, I'm sure.
No posh lounge this time. No free juice. No internet access (except for a Boingo hot spot - $7.95 a day, or $9.95 a month – no thank you) just benches, a flight information screen, and a clock.
Hurry up and wait definitely seems the theme of the day.
I enjoyed reading your blogs about your visit in NYC. I'm glad that you took advantage of your March Break holidays to travel. I did the same by going to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Macau; it was a bit far, but the opportunity was there and it may be not be there another time later on.
ReplyDeleteTake whatever moments you have. The idea of "weekend travel" is starting to appeal to me too. Unfortunately there are no real budget airlines here, but I'm going to start looking into the practicality of taking off on a friday night, for two days. Obviously this would just be quick jumps around Canada, or America - but still...
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