The day started off early. I got up at 5:30 and took a shower. I quickly realized how much less shampoo you need with short hair. (I buzzed my head.) I then did some last minute packing, putting away my computer and other electronics into a smaller carry on backpack. My mom and I managed to get out the door by 6:09, which is closer than I expected to our 6 departure time. That gave us 2 hours to get go JFK in case we hit traffic and 2 hours to check in and get past security.           

          

                We ended up getting to JFK at 7:10 and along the way found out my plane was delayed 55 minutes. This posed a problem; I only had an hour layover in Hong Kong until boarding a plane to Auckland. Soooo, hypothetically I now only had a 5 minute layover? Yeah right, I wasn’t going to make my flight.  But it ended up being alright. It turns out that even though we are only leaving an hour later we only arrive five minutes later than previously planned. Go figure, I don’t get airlines. I said bye to my brother and other close friends and finally my mother, who drove me allll the way to JFK airport. She watched me go through security, waving the entire time. I then wasted the next 2 and half hours doing little things. One thing I did was I bought a new camera charger because I left the other one in my room.

                I was one of the last people to board at around 10:45. I sat down next to an older couple who are from Philadelphia. We talked a little and I found out their daughter used to live in Summit and worked at the GRAND SUMMIT HOTEL. I had just quit my job at the hotel. Small world!

                We took off right on time without waiting on the runway which was nice. I waited for about an hour then ate a Gobbler from the Millburn Deli. Delicious. About three minutes after finishing I was served some chicken and rice. Picture below.

                So this plane is definitely right off the line. The paint looked new. The seats looked new, and didn’t recline but did this slide thing which is similar. You walk through the first class section to get to the economy section. The first class has four sets which look SUPER nice. Fully reclining, greeted by name and all that jazz. Make me wish I was in first class desperately. Guess that’s what you get for an extra grand. Oh I forgot to mention in the economy section we have nine seats across. More than DOUBLE the first class.  The first class only had 3 seats across! Business had four.

                After brunch (that’s what they called it) I decided to watch a movie. I have a HUGE selection.  I decided to watch bride’s maids because I’ve heard great things about it.  I watched about half before falling asleep.  Took about an hour nap then picked up where I left off. I then went to the bathroom, and took a walk. At this point I’m only four hours into the FIRST plane ride. 12 more hours to go on this one and then 10 on another. Awesome. 

Then I watched pirates of the Caribbean, and took a nap in the middle of it, like I did during the first movie. Everyone says how horrible the fourth film was.  I personally thought it was okay. I mean it wasn’t amazing but it kept me entertained for two hours.

After the movie was over I had dinner! I was really physicked to get some pasta with marinara sauce only to find that they were all out of it. I ended up with a less than desirable chicken dish.

I found the utensils the give you really interesting. They were really fat and large. It was a huge waste of plastic. Unless they recycle, which I’m guessing they don’t.  The airline also gave you a super small spoon. I assumed it’s for coffee of tea.  That raised another question. They give you a spoon cup and cream but no coffee or tea. I guess you have to ask for it. You would think they would at least offer it!

At that point I was 10 hours into the flight. I don’t really know where the past six hours went… They went by fast which is good! I started to watch King of Thrones when this happened…

I was REALLY hoping that it was broken and I would have to get my seat changed to first class. J That wasn’t the case… It took twenty minutes and restarted. Apparently they were rebooting the system of the seat in front of me because it froze and it also restarted mine.

The rest of the flight wasn’t all that interesting. I watched another movie, ate some snacks and landed in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong I had 50 to get to my plane by the time I got off the previous one.  I ran through the airport looking for a way to get to the gate. It took me a little while, but I eventually found the transfer line. I had to go back through security which didn’t make much sense to me… I eventually arrived at gate 17 which was located directly next to the one I just got off of.  I basically went in a big circle.

I called my brother Chris on Skype briefly before boarding the plane at 3:00 but, didn’t get off the ground until 3:50, so my rush wasn’t necessarily worthwhile. I also saw a guy wearing a “Ithaca is Gorges” shirt which I found ironic. Small world AGAIN. My next few hours were eventful but that will have to wait for the next post because I want to go explore Auckland!