Welcome! My name is Michael Gilday and I am a Short Track Speedskater from Yellowknife, NWT, Canada. I currently train at the National Training Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I've created this blog primarily to let family and friends know about competitions and travel. I also hope to educate a bit about short track and maybe even entertain. Enjoy!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Travel day to Asia Timeline

The following is a loose timeline of our travel day to Beijing. I wrote random things down at random times so you can see how it goes. All times in Mountain (calgary) time.

6:44am: Aisle seat!! Checked in and got an aisle set for trans-pacific flight. Good start to the day!
8:53am: Board flight to Vancouver.
8:54am: Giggling and annoying noises coming from two rows in front of me (the Jesses). One person changes seats immediately.
9:57am: Shoei discovers that EPO was discovered in 50 BC while watching the Asterix movie. (EPO=Elixir Pro Olympics)
11:49am: Hewitt shows off a picture of J Gregg picking her nose on the plane
11:54am: Blake and Jess G pick over Hewitts scalp for grey hairs. They find MANY. Jess G says that she thinks Hewitt is still growing browns thankfully for her.
12:46pm: Reid sends a "special message" to everyone via Skype video. 
1:09pm: Olivier Jean "I hope the seat beside me is either empty or has a beautiful Chinese woman in it"
1:14pm: Boarded flight to Beijing. Estimated flight time 11 hours 2 minutes.
1:49pm: 6.5 hours since I walked out my front door this morning.
1:50pm: Takeoff to Beijing!
2:14pm: First movie: Tropical Thunder
4:16pm: Sleep time. Two gravol and "the chicken" later and I'm out for a couple hours.
6:37pm: Wake Up. Dang, only slept 2.5 hours. Might not be a bad thing though since it will be easier to get a full nights sleep in China.
6:47pm: Second movie: The Dark Knight. I told Liam I wouldn't see it but here I am...
7:03pm: "Anybody want to see a magic trick? I'll make this pencil disappear" Sweet line by the Joker.
9:20pm: Jesses come to visit. They want to know "are you excited??"
11:31pm: Walking around the cabin again. Doing some streches and up-downs to keep the blood flowing. Should be only another 1.5 hours or so. 
12:02am: Pilot announces descent in 25 mins and on the ground in 58 mins, 15 hours since leaving my front door.
12:59am: Touch down in Beijing! 11 hour 9 min flight. Good prediction by the pilot.
1:15am: Waiting in Customs line. New international terminal in Beijing is INSANE.
1:24am: Through customs and waiting for the monorail train.
1:55am: Waiting for bus to hotel.
2am: Hewitt and Gregg fight over the picture of Gregg picking her nose. Will it end up on Facebook?
2:11am: Picture deleted after the battle. Jess G booed for deleting.
2:13am: Bus driver yells at Hewitt for having her feet up on the seats. A national disgrace.
2:15 am: Hewitt warned a second time for putting her feet up on the seat.
2:49am: Roll into the hotel. Day ends at just over a 19 hour travel day. 
Two pictures from the day. The first is the smog descending into Beijing. The second is the Jesses fighting over Hewitts bad which contains the camera with the picture of Jess G picking her nose.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did Olivier get the girl?

Anonymous said...

Lamest blog ever.... Update more.