LAX to Hong Kong to Bangkok

I am currently sitting on the plane in Bangkok (although when I actually post this I'll be in Singapore) waiting for the cleaning crew to finish. It's a bit awkward sitting here while they work around us, but those of us who are continuing on to Singapore are supposed to stay on the plane.

It is 11am on Monday Bangkok time, 9pm Sunday California time, so I've been traveling for about 20 hours. My first flight to Hong Kong was excellent. I know it sounds silly to mention, but the TV screens were very high quality and I enjoyed watching Valentine's Day before I slept for 8+ hours and a couple episodes of SATC when I woke up. I was one of the last people to board the plane and row 36 was empty. That didn't last long, but the man who sat down on the aisle seat was Caucasian. It made me laugh because at least 95% of the flight was Asian and the fact that this guy and I were sitting in the same row seemed funny. So I struck up a conversation. Patrick is married with three boys and currently living in Phoenix, although he spent some time in Camarillo. He is on a business trip to Indonesia (of all places), first Jakarta and then Yogyakarta. This was interesting news to me because I'll be landing in Yogya on Thursday and my travels plans are still up in the air. He gave me his contact information as well as the details for an American who lives in Yogya, and even though I doubt we'll meet up, it is comforting to me that I have some American contacts in the area.

We landed in Hong Kong at 6:30am. The sun was just rising and cast a yellow glow on the surrounding green islands as we flew it. It was a beautiful setting to touch down

After we deplaned, Patrick and I walked through security and towards our gates. He told me that even though he was flying economy he had a pass for the business lounge. I basically said enjoy and figured I'd go to my gate, but he kindly offered to see if I could get in. Unfortunately it was 7,000 miles to bring a guest, but he determined that he had plenty and used them to get me in! It was such a generous gesture. So... I got to spend my two hour layover in the comfort of the Cathay Pacific business lounge eating some food, skyping with my parents and sister and relaxing. Pretty nice. It just goes to show that you never know who you'll meet and reminds me to "pay it forward" as they say.

The 2+ hour flight to Bangkok was fairly painless. I fell asleep for the first half hour but woke to see stunning aerial views of the coast of Vietnam and inland Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. I caught a glimpse of a spectacular temple as we descended into Bangkok airport. And now the plane is filling up and we'll be leaving soon. In a few hours I'll land in Singapore. Oh man :)