an alaskan sunrise...
Monday, September 20, 2004 -- Somewhere over the Pacific
This flight has been one of the most amusing I have ever been on. This afternoon, I took off from Singapore -- on a beautiful tropical day complete with high humidity and day showers no less -- on what is billed to be the world's longest flight with non-stop service to New York. The route takes the plane (an extended range Airbus A340-800) directly north, skimming the coasts of China and Japan, then along past Vladivostock and along the Kamchatka peninsula. The aircraft is then supposed to turn south-east, heading over Alaska and the barren wasteland we call Canada (what the fuck is in the middle of that country anyways?) towards our eventual destination. One of the most impressive aspects of this flight is the fact that we went against the path of the sun. We took off in broad daylight, then traversed the Pacific in the dark of night only to greet the sun once more, catching daybreak over Alaska 12 hours later. I take great pleasure in this quirck of modern travel as I have never greeted, parted with, and greeted the sun once more in a simple plane ride. As I'll be arriving in New York at 6 pm, I'll probably have the opportunity to bid farewell to the sun again. Pure fucking madness. I guess that can happen on a 17 and a half hour flight.
Another interesting aspect of this journey is the new arcraft, and in particular, its bathrooms. This is the first air lavatory I have been in with a window. Usually using the bathroom in a plane is a mundane experience -- you'd never think that you would be taking a dump at 40,000 feet and instead you'd probably find yoruself thinking about how small that damn lavatory is. The window makes an amazing difference. There's something to be said for the satisfaction one feels when one takes a dump while watching the sun rise gracefully over the rugged Alaskan terrain from 35,000 feet. It is unreal.
As I got on the plane, my dad called and told me to see the newspaper's money section. He told me I'd be surprised. I asked the Indian stewardess with the amazing rack for a copy of the Straits Times. Lo and behold, on the main page, there's a picture of my old boss from this summer. Above him is an eerily familiar graph. After a second, I realized that I had made it. It turns out that the barebone conclusions of my Asian money management industry and liquidity analysis had been the subject of the article. That was also pretty satisfying (but not as satisfying as the view of Alaska I would see later!).
I can only hope that my final year in Chicago will be as pleasant as this journey.
This flight has been one of the most amusing I have ever been on. This afternoon, I took off from Singapore -- on a beautiful tropical day complete with high humidity and day showers no less -- on what is billed to be the world's longest flight with non-stop service to New York. The route takes the plane (an extended range Airbus A340-800) directly north, skimming the coasts of China and Japan, then along past Vladivostock and along the Kamchatka peninsula. The aircraft is then supposed to turn south-east, heading over Alaska and the barren wasteland we call Canada (what the fuck is in the middle of that country anyways?) towards our eventual destination. One of the most impressive aspects of this flight is the fact that we went against the path of the sun. We took off in broad daylight, then traversed the Pacific in the dark of night only to greet the sun once more, catching daybreak over Alaska 12 hours later. I take great pleasure in this quirck of modern travel as I have never greeted, parted with, and greeted the sun once more in a simple plane ride. As I'll be arriving in New York at 6 pm, I'll probably have the opportunity to bid farewell to the sun again. Pure fucking madness. I guess that can happen on a 17 and a half hour flight.
Another interesting aspect of this journey is the new arcraft, and in particular, its bathrooms. This is the first air lavatory I have been in with a window. Usually using the bathroom in a plane is a mundane experience -- you'd never think that you would be taking a dump at 40,000 feet and instead you'd probably find yoruself thinking about how small that damn lavatory is. The window makes an amazing difference. There's something to be said for the satisfaction one feels when one takes a dump while watching the sun rise gracefully over the rugged Alaskan terrain from 35,000 feet. It is unreal.
As I got on the plane, my dad called and told me to see the newspaper's money section. He told me I'd be surprised. I asked the Indian stewardess with the amazing rack for a copy of the Straits Times. Lo and behold, on the main page, there's a picture of my old boss from this summer. Above him is an eerily familiar graph. After a second, I realized that I had made it. It turns out that the barebone conclusions of my Asian money management industry and liquidity analysis had been the subject of the article. That was also pretty satisfying (but not as satisfying as the view of Alaska I would see later!).
I can only hope that my final year in Chicago will be as pleasant as this journey.