17 Sept 2009 - god awfully early in the morning ...

We managed to get to Los Angeles International Airport by 7:30pm thanks to our new friend and subleaser Carrie. We were starving since we had spent most of the afternoon running around doing errands and so decided to have our last Mexican fix before leaving California. After the most expensive diet coke ever ($3.64), a burrito, very non-sizzling fajitas, and the obligatory chips and salsa, we checked in at Asiana Air. Our luck held out and we were able to carry on our 30liter packs with our hiking poles onto the airplane.

Travel with Scott is always very exciting. And as we passed through security we got our first shocker. Both of us passed through the metal detector and we were getting our stuff together when there was a huge shout (at first it sounded like a cheer of some sort coming from the TSA personnel) and the TSA guy standing closest to us barked at us to drop everything and step away from our luggage. For awhile we just stood there and I was starting to wonder whether there was some real danger in our midst. Then they pulled out a black carryon suitcase and asked the crowd who it belonged to. Nobody stepped up. Apparently it held some sort of malicious laptop - whether the problem was that it was still in the bag or if it had actually been tampered with, we will never know. After a few tense moments they let everybody preceed.

We were both a little disappointed at the 777 airplane we boarded. Scott was especially disappointed with his "aisle" seat which was right next the window. I was in the middle seat and a Korean lady sat in the aisle seat. However the food was excellent. The attendant asked Scott in English if he had ordered a low-fat meal (which he had since usually this means you get fed first in the plane.) Then she turned to me and said something in Korean. I can only assume it was to ascertain my choice of food. With my look of confusion, she turned to English and asked "Chicken or bim bop bu bo?" (or it sounded like that ... ) My continued look of confusion led her to explain that it was rice with vegetables so I decided to go Asian and have the ethnic food. I got a lovely presentation of shredded zucchini, marinated sliced cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and something that sort of looked and tasted like lean ground beef. The rice was excellent and I followed the lead of the Korean girl next to me and mixed in the rice with the veggies minus the enormous tube of spicy sauce they had given us on the side. There was plenty of spice to satisfy me without adding the extra indigestion. Very tasty meal. Sides of kim chee, fruit, and dried cuttlefish and stewed squash (????) finished up the meal. I don't remember what Scott had because it wasn't nearly as good as my meal ... :)

So skipping the next 8-9 hours where I was passed out, we were awoken with breakfast. This time I went with omelet instead of the kim chee with rice and watched Night at the Musuem 2 and a little bit of Star Trek.

We landed 45 min (!!!) early and we made it to our gate after riding on the slowest walk-alator we've every seen. The light from the East is slowly seeping it's way into the airport, attempting to fight the fog enveloping the airport. The airport sounds are growing louder and the building is coming back to life. Three more hours until we board the plane for Shanghai!!!