Back To Reality
Jan. 28th, 2009 03:30 pmI'm now back home, in fact I got back home around 1:45pm but found myself catching up with email and livejournal once I got in.
Anyway to finish my blog a day account of what I've been up to which is mostly for my own records, after my last post, the UK furs slowly filtered down and I ended up getting a Subway with Kiroo and Deezlberries. After brunch, continued to hang out with the UK furs, saying goodbye to people as they left until our airport shuttle arrived. I was conscious of the fact that there's very little to keep you occupied at San Francisco airport and so wasn't in a hurry to get through security. Our group ended up consisting of Kiroo, Deezlberries, Badgerguy, Durandal, Utlah, Kyyanno and myself. We hung around the area before security, having burgers from the "Burger Joint". After security, Kiroo went off to his own gate as he was on a different flight to the rest of us as we were all on the Virgin flight.
Kyy and Utlah had taken the upgrade to Premium Economy and so were able to fly in luxury while the rest of us were in cattle class. I say that, but it wasn't too bad. Badgerguy had a whole row of 3 seats to himself and Durandal and I were sharing a row of 3, but this meant we had the extra legroom from the empty space inbetween. I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and most of Milk before my PMP's battery died (I swear American electricity doesn't last as long as British electricity!) and then attempted to get some sleep. While I was tired, I found it next to impossible to just drop off. I must have got some sleep though because before I knew it, the cabin lights were back on and we were fast approaching Ireland on the onboard flight map thingy. I was also incredibly dry like I was on the way out, despite drinking a litre of water.
After being spoilt with the beautiful California weather, it was a real shame to come back to the cloudy, dull and rainy UK. I wondered why anyone from California would ever want to visit the UK at this time of year. We disembarked, filtered through passport control and collected our baggage, all happening pretty seamlessly (which I'm sure Durandal appreciated after having his luggage semi lost on the way in). Everyone split off to their own destinations, my one being the Central Bus Station for the National Express. Found the place after making one wrong turning to find that the next coach was in 15 minutes rather than the one in 1hr 15minutes I had a ticket for so I shelled out £6.50 to transfer my ticket and get out sooner. I think next time, I just won't book a coach ticket in advance due to the unpredictable nature of flight arrivals and buy the ticket on the day to save any extra expenditure.
My phone had almost no battery power remaining so I sent a few texts out, one to my Mum saying I was back. She called back to say I could get off at an earlier stop at the University and she would give me a lift home from there. Sadly my battery didn't last that long and so I got off at the University (annoying the driver as he had put my baggage in the Southampton section of the luggage hold) in front of all the students who were in the area. My phone had no power, I didn't know the area and there was no sign of my Mum. So I decided to just make my own way vaguely in what I thought was the right direction as I was feeling rather self conscious being in a University campus with no right for being there. I wondered down a road and didn't recognise anything I saw so I had to bite the bullet and ask for directions. Fortunately the first person I asked was going where I wanted to go and so offered to escort me. Turns out, my flat isn't very far from the University at all and so it only took about 15-20mins to walk home. However with the heavy luggage, my hands were about ready to fall off.
So yeah, now I'm home after a fantastic holiday. My body just wants to sleep having been up for so long but I want to stay awake to help adjust my body clock. I understand meals also help the adjustment too so I'm gonna make me some food!
Anyway to finish my blog a day account of what I've been up to which is mostly for my own records, after my last post, the UK furs slowly filtered down and I ended up getting a Subway with Kiroo and Deezlberries. After brunch, continued to hang out with the UK furs, saying goodbye to people as they left until our airport shuttle arrived. I was conscious of the fact that there's very little to keep you occupied at San Francisco airport and so wasn't in a hurry to get through security. Our group ended up consisting of Kiroo, Deezlberries, Badgerguy, Durandal, Utlah, Kyyanno and myself. We hung around the area before security, having burgers from the "Burger Joint". After security, Kiroo went off to his own gate as he was on a different flight to the rest of us as we were all on the Virgin flight.
Kyy and Utlah had taken the upgrade to Premium Economy and so were able to fly in luxury while the rest of us were in cattle class. I say that, but it wasn't too bad. Badgerguy had a whole row of 3 seats to himself and Durandal and I were sharing a row of 3, but this meant we had the extra legroom from the empty space inbetween. I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and most of Milk before my PMP's battery died (I swear American electricity doesn't last as long as British electricity!) and then attempted to get some sleep. While I was tired, I found it next to impossible to just drop off. I must have got some sleep though because before I knew it, the cabin lights were back on and we were fast approaching Ireland on the onboard flight map thingy. I was also incredibly dry like I was on the way out, despite drinking a litre of water.
After being spoilt with the beautiful California weather, it was a real shame to come back to the cloudy, dull and rainy UK. I wondered why anyone from California would ever want to visit the UK at this time of year. We disembarked, filtered through passport control and collected our baggage, all happening pretty seamlessly (which I'm sure Durandal appreciated after having his luggage semi lost on the way in). Everyone split off to their own destinations, my one being the Central Bus Station for the National Express. Found the place after making one wrong turning to find that the next coach was in 15 minutes rather than the one in 1hr 15minutes I had a ticket for so I shelled out £6.50 to transfer my ticket and get out sooner. I think next time, I just won't book a coach ticket in advance due to the unpredictable nature of flight arrivals and buy the ticket on the day to save any extra expenditure.
My phone had almost no battery power remaining so I sent a few texts out, one to my Mum saying I was back. She called back to say I could get off at an earlier stop at the University and she would give me a lift home from there. Sadly my battery didn't last that long and so I got off at the University (annoying the driver as he had put my baggage in the Southampton section of the luggage hold) in front of all the students who were in the area. My phone had no power, I didn't know the area and there was no sign of my Mum. So I decided to just make my own way vaguely in what I thought was the right direction as I was feeling rather self conscious being in a University campus with no right for being there. I wondered down a road and didn't recognise anything I saw so I had to bite the bullet and ask for directions. Fortunately the first person I asked was going where I wanted to go and so offered to escort me. Turns out, my flat isn't very far from the University at all and so it only took about 15-20mins to walk home. However with the heavy luggage, my hands were about ready to fall off.
So yeah, now I'm home after a fantastic holiday. My body just wants to sleep having been up for so long but I want to stay awake to help adjust my body clock. I understand meals also help the adjustment too so I'm gonna make me some food!