October 18th, 2023

Day 0

My first flight is on October 18th, and because of the time difference between the U.S. and South Korea, I will arrive on October 19th. I absolutely forgot about the time difference until the very last moment of buying the ticket. I really thought that I would arrive again on the 18th, which leaves me plenty of time on the 19th; but I only realized that I will be arriving on the 19th until afterwards. This story is very embarrassing.

Since my flight leaves by 12:00 PM, that means I need to wake up early, like, very early. Unlike last time where I wasn’t prepared at all, I have already packed up all my stuff and made sure everything I needed that’s still at home will be packed into my carry-on baggage. I wasn’t hungry at all in the morning, so I didn’t eat the instant udon like I planned to. I know LAX has a Panda Express inside, so why not Panda Express.

For the next part of the story to make sense, you need to know how much stuff I am carrying with me. As usual, I have 2 checked baggages, 1 carry-on baggage, and one backpack. However, this time I am carrying with me a full golf bag. My brother in law started to play golf and socialize that way, so he needs his own equipment. I forgot how much he spent on the golf clubs, but it is definitely 4 digits. I had to carefully pack everything and stuff every corner inside the bag to make sure that it survives the long trip from the U.S. to Korea, and from Korea to Dalian, and from Dalian to Foshan.

I thought that a golf bag by itself is counted as 1 checked bag, since it is so big. However, according to Asiana’s website, 1 golf bag and 1 checked bag together that weigh under 32 kg is actually considered as 1 checked bag. The golf bag and the clubs inside weigh under 15 kg, which means that as long as the checked bag I have is under 17 kg, I can bring another checked bag at 23 kg with me. It is really convenient, and it appears to be that most airlines have the same policy for international travels.

Getting a Uber ride proved to be difficult. A normal Uber ride was priced at $75, and a Lyft ride was priced at $89, so of course I was going to choose Uber. However, after standing in the wind for 10 minutes, I could not catch a ride. That’s when I just upped the ante and went with a big car, which costs $86. Right after I clicked to call for a ride, a ride came up. The driver with the Honda Odyssey is called “Ping”, and I didn’t realize he is Chinese until he asked if I speak Mandarin. He is a very interesting fella who immigrated to the U.S. illegally and has a wife and some unknown number of children. He shared with me that the Uber ride that costs $86 for me turns out only makes him about $50. That doesn’t seem fair, but what do I know.

He also turned the music from classical ensembles to Chinese rock songs mashed up into DJ-style crap fest when he learned that I speak Chinese. I really hate that, but it’s his car, and I don’t want to make a scene. He’s a nice guy, I don’t want to criticize his taste in music right to his face. I will passive-aggressively write a travel blog and criticize his taste of music this way. It’s really the better way to go.

The traffic wasn’t that bad, and we arrived by 9:00 in the morning, which gave me 3 hours before the plane departs. I thought I was safe. Oh Brian you silly idiot. I had no idea what the line was going to be like when I reached Asiana’s ticketing counter. It took a solid hour before I got to the counter. The guy sees that I have a golf bag and asked whether I have anything else in the bag. I said no, you can check if you want. He smiled and said that he knows some people tend to lie and put only one club in to play with the policy. Actually I really do appreciate him, now I know a clever hack to bring more stuff.

The golf bag actually does not fit the belt that is behind the ticketing counter, so I had to bring it to the excess size area and leave it there. It is now 10 AM in the morning with 2 hours left. I saw the line at Asiana’s counter, so I knew the TSA check was going to be even more hellish. I was right. It took another hour before I got to be frisked by an agent for unknown reasons. He let everyone else go, why was I frisked? Yeah I’m ranting.

After the TSA check, I had 30 minutes before boarding time. I thought that food will not be served until at least 3 hours into the flight, so I ran to Panda Express, which also had a 20 minute line, hobbled up everything in 5 minutes, and ran to the gate. It’s funny how I had to do that, because It took nearly 30 minutes to let economy class in. I didn’t have to hurry at all.

I got on the plane, and expected the worst because I have a middle seat. When I went back from China to the U.S. in July, I got stuck in a middle seat between 2 guys. Not the most pleasant memory. This time though, 2 lovely Korean ladies were there, and they sat together near the aisle seat, and asked if I want to switch to a window seat. I would rather sit in the window seat, so I happily let them stay there. They were very friendly, and one of them went to Tsinghua University, the top university in China that has an easier enrollment curve for foreigners. I’m not smacking down on her abilities, because that used to be a path that I considered.

Economy seats really hurt my butt. I am not joking, it is like torture. Imagine having the same butt-ache the entire time you’re on the plane. If I am on the aisle seat, I can frequently stand up. But now I am in a window seat, it is too much of a pain to ask 2 people to stand up for my sake. Endure the entire 13 hour flight while watching Shazam!2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Volume III. Even though I am going through a super-hero movie fatigue right now after Endgame, I still really liked Guardians of the Galaxy. I’ve got to admit, GOTG made me cry a bit, and I think the Korean lady next to me saw me wipe a few tears away. Shazam! though, even though online reviews are pretty negative, I still enjoyed it, as it was a pretty fun family movie, minus the family part.