Monday, July 10, 2006

The day the Sun never set

/* Paris Charles de Gaulle Intl. Airport - onboard AI-191 seat74K/*

Ohhkaayyy...
Hi all, me right now sitting in the location given above, while our plane is being cleaned, refueled, and reloaded at the Paris Intl Airport.Local Time: 1:00pm, IST: 4:30pm.
Ok..here's the update so far:
My flight AI-261 BLR-BOM was delayed by an hour yesterday.
We finally started off at 0445. God! i was so tired, had spent the entire day packing and getting ready for the trip, that I didn't even get 40 winks the whole time! I slept off almost as soon as I got on the plane. Didn't even realise we had taken off and landed! Seriously! Anywayz, reached Shivaji airport at around 7am. Got into our Newark-bound flight almost rightaway. Well, the journey has been pretty eventful. Saw 4 movies onboard, which means I haven't even started reading the Ken Follet book I picked up from the B'lore airport.I've been pretty busy with my cam too - will post them soon!
From here we'll be off to Newark, which means another 10 hours or so onboard. Aahhh,my legs are already paining!

There are times in life when you feel humbled and overawed by nature. You then think about the universe, God, creation etc. Moments such as watching a peaceful and clean night sky, a sunset on the beach, etc. Well, a window-seat on a flight makes u kinda feel the same way too. The clouds below you and the shadow they cast on the vast terrain underneath..phew..mindblowing! France looks pretty much like a green and brown jigsaw puzzle from above. Makes me wonder if they divided land for cultivation or otherwise to make it look great from the air! Tehran and Istanbul were totally brown. Hungary had colours ranging from very light to dark green. Actually, the whole damn view is Google Earth alike. Duh! Should be, its the same Earth after all. I think the low oxygen is getting to me! :)

Well,lemme see, there's approx. 7 more hours left for the WC Finals. Damn! I feel like wishing luck to the French cleaning crew who are onboard right now. Go Zizou! After Amelie Mauresmo's Wimby victory yesterday, it'll be a double-celebration spree for zeee French..aahh..zaa gooda timeza fora zem! The Wi-Fi networks i can access right now is Orange France and HubTelecom. Well, 48-50 Mbps is shown but the signal strength is so damn feeble I can't connect! Grr!

/* Dulles Intl. Airport - Newark */

Phew...seems like a different world. Its 7:20pm local time, and the Sun is so high, it seems like 3 or 4, IST. The Wi-Fi LAN costs 8$ (damnit!), so I'm still only typing...lets see when I can post. My flight to DC has been delayed. Well, first impressions of the US of A: People seem friendly and everything looks spick n span. Supreme order everywhere. I can see Indians around, especially behind the counters at the Coffee/Snack Bars. Well, I haven't set foot outside an airport yet, so my impressions are likely to totally change though.

The day the Sun never set. I haven't seen 'NIGHT' for more than 24 hours now. Since we've been travelling back in time (pun in vain), the Sun has been our loyal companion ever since we reached Mumbai. Also, I've only slept for like 6 hours in the last two days I think! Well, actually no, cos of the time-difference, I'm still stuck on July 9th! :)

/* Room-105, HomeStead Studio Suites Hotel, Rockville, Maryland */

Local time: 3:30am. My head is spinning, my body is aching, but I cant sleep. Jetlag...my bio-clock gone bonkers, I don't know. But I have to reach office tomorrow at 9am. God help me! Reached Washington DC at 11:30pm. Reached the hotel after midnight. My hotel room is awesome. More importantly - I have a 58Mbps wi-fi connection! jai! I'm very happy I've reached here in one piece. It's been a long, long day, perhaps the most eventful of my life. Lots to say, but my brain has stopped functioning. I have to stop now...will blog later tomorrow. Cya!

PS: I came to know only a few hours back that Italy had won. The pilot had announced it was 1-1 in regular time and that France had eventually won (much to the joy of the many french passengers onboard) but later apologised saying it was wrong info. God! I hate to think of the utter despair those french passengers went through on hearing the correct news.

9 comments:

poloolop said...

Also

Air traffic:
1. USA - 658 million passengers in 2006 (in 10,436,000 flights)
2. Indian aviation market is estimated at about 19 million passengers and is expected to reach 45 to 50 million by 2010.

BUT, Indian railways carries 5 billion passengers anyway.

poloolop said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
stan_da_man said...

@us: Whoaaa! dats a whole lot of stats polo! koool...keep updatin me..this is my first day at office here..but some things never change...my blog n orkut are always open! u know! :))

Aslan said...

yeah- i'd have gone n' strangled the pilot.. or well i wudn't have, y'know :p

Anonymous said...

ok, so where the heck are you? no family in the US? last time i checked, Arkansas was still in the US of sweet A. God Bless this country. welcome. i'll be in touch with you shortly.

Anonymous said...

"I think the low oxygen is getting to me"
--> Yeah, it could kill your solitary brain cell...heeeheee

anyways...buy a guitar and a laptop...

stan_da_man said...

@aslan: yEAh u wud..if u knew how to fly the plane urself after that!!! The faces of those french pssgnrs...phewww...

@anon: i meant i didnt have any direct family in the US! anwayz thanx for callin me!! and sorry abt my roomie :p

@trainee: PB!! kid! skool kid! go study! small boy dont speak! :p yeaaa....d laptop is pretty high on d list..havnt seen a guitar shop anywhere tho!

EggHe/\D said...

nice posts satan ...

stan_da_man said...

@shriram: danke danke!! ;)