Here I am, at JFK’s Terminal 1, waiting to board JAL’s 14-hour Flight #5 to Tokyo-Narita. I just finished my very American McDonald’s Deluxe breakfast staring at New York City’s downtown buildings in the distance.
In the last few days, I repeatedly tested the theory that if you are nice with others, they will be nice with you. I had a terrible middle seat assigned for the flight, and with my widest smile, asked if it was possible to get an emergency row. She told me that the only one available was on the “upper-deck” normally reserved to frequent flyers, but that they would make an exception for me… Then, I asked a random guy with a laptop if there was wireless connection in the terminal. It turned out to be an employee of the pay-per-hour wireless service, and he was kind enough to give me two one-hour vouchers for free… The lesson here is to be nice with everyone you meet! (Edit: his stupid coupons don’t work for some reason, so don’t bother being nice, it’s useless…)
I apologize for not writing in the last two weeks, but I will make up for it now. My last entry was on Christmas day so I will begin where I left off. On Christmas day, I went to my aunt’s house for a family get-together. It was pleasant to be surrounded by my entire family. We ate and talked, and I had fun with my cousins. My two teen male cousins will likely be able to take me down next year, but for now, I’m still the king of the hill. My oldest cousin, who turned 20 last week, is leaving for Central America with her boyfriend in his rebuilt 1960 Land Rover. I think it will be a miracle if they make it to the American border 60 minutes from Montreal… She says she will blog her adventures at http://surfingthesixties.blogspot.com/ so I encourage you to visit if you enjoy travel blogging, and I assume you do since you’re reading this one.
On Christmas evening, I visited my friend Olivier and had dinner had his place. I was incredibly tired so I came “home” to my sister’s very early and crashed. During the dayof the 26th, I don’t remember what I did right now, which is why I should be blogging every week! In the evening, I had dinner at my friend Philippe’s place and played the new True Crime on Xbox. On the 27th, I went snowboarding at Bromont with Philippe. We were supposed to leave early but he ended up playing all night so we didn’t hit the slopes until 1pm. I was surprised at how much control I still have, but I was not very adventurous stunt-wise. In the evening, I had coffee with Marie-Line, a high-school friend who claims to read this blog, but does not appear to be, based on our discussions…
On the 28th, I took care of banking issues and other issues. On the 29th, I had a traditional and infamous Poutine for lunch, before heading for the airport to fly to Fort Lauderdale. I arrived at the airport quite late, and when I tried to use the self check-in, it told me to go see an agent for some reason. I went straight to the business class line instead of the suggested “problem” line and was greeted with a big smile. She told me that my seat would be assigned at the gate. When I showed up at the gate, the agent gave me something like 27B, so I gave him a discouraged look, thanked him and seated in the waiting area. When I came back to board, he tore my boarding pass and replaced it with 2C. I thanked him warmly and enjoyed my flight, which was 45 minutes early in FLL. I was picked up by my parents and had a good night’s sleep.
In Florida, I mainly do four things every day: sleep, eat, spend time with family and play golf. I also went clothes shopping to look a bit more presentable for upcoming interviews. I only buy wrinkle/care-free clothes because I don’t iron, and Noordstrom is my #1 supplier.
I always play golf in the afternoon, around 2:30-3pm, when the twilight rate kicks in. You can play a nice round of golf with a cart for under $20! Golf went really well, and I shot an 86 (+14) on my first round. Coming back to yards instead of meters, it made me realize a lot of things about my “Callaway” golf clubs and Singaporean courses. My new clubs shoot way higher and about 10-15 yards shorter than my previous set, so I have to adjust accordingly. Also, the ground in Singapore is much, much softer than in America, so that’s why I rip out foot-long divots and shoot short in Singapore. With this new knowledge, I should be able to take a few strokes of my game in Singapore.
On New Year’s Eve, I had a nice dinner with my family, and watched family videos from when I was 5-7 years old. It’s crazy how time flies! I kissed my sister Happy New Year and went to bed. On New Year day, I played a 9-hole with my father, who plays about once a year, and shot a +9.
The next morning, we had our traditional Caviar & Champagne breakfast at a family friend’s house. I was supposed to play golf after dropping off my sister at the airport, but her Delta flight was delayed and she was going to miss her connection in Atlanta. The agent wanted to rebook her on American from Miami, and we had to go there with our own transportation. After some negotiations, she rebooked her on Air Canada, direct flight to Montreal, but the flight left in 45 minutes so we had to rush to the other terminal. No luck, when we reached the counter, the flight had been closed. She was put on standby for the later, 9pm flight. We dropped her bags and headed for Fort Lauderdale’s Beach Boulevard, where we had a light snack and Pina Coladas/Daiquiris. I dropped her off at the airport and headed home.
The next day, I played at the Westchester Country Club, and was the only person on the entire course! They have 27 holes, and I managed to play all of them in 2 and a half hours! I shot 43, 44, 43. That evening, I got together with Dimitry, a friend from Toronto. He is also visiting his parents, who live about 10 minutes away from mine.
On the 5th, I dropped off my parents at the airport, and checked in to the Sea Club resort, a low end hotel right on the Beach Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. After having the world’s best ribs at Houston’s on the intracostal, I played a round at the Bonaventure Country Club, on a course that Tiger Woods has played before. It was quite nice, and I shot a 45 on the way out, and a +7 (couldn’t do 17 and 18 before dark) on the way back. I had a disgusting dinner at the hotel, and was asleep by 10pm.
This morning, I woke up at 4am to catch the 6am jetBlue to JFK. I very enjoyed my experience. Everyone has individual TVs with 36 DirectTV channels. The crew was pleasant and funny, and every announcement had an element of humour in it. “Shift happens” We landed at JFK 30 minutes before schedule.
(Edit: The flights to Tokyo and Singapore were very long but fine. I managed to get the emergency row of the upper-deck on the leg to Singapore as well. I had about 2 meters of legroom, which is more than enough for Shaquille O’Neil, although I doubt he would fly coach. I just met my new roommate, Erik. He’s a very cool guy, I’m sure we’ll have a great time for the next roommate. It’s good to be back in Singapore.)
Overall, it was great to finish the year with my family. What a year 2005 was for me! If 2006 is anywhere near as good to me, I’m in for a treat!
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