second leg - the big apple to steamboat springs.

i left the big apple (*sob*) for steamboat springs, colorado, yesterday morning. and here was my journey, door-to-door:

6.30am
woke up to my mum shouting, "xin ah! wake up and wash your face lah! i want to keep the toiletries already!"

7.00am
left the hotel. crossed the road to 42nd and 5th to wait for the airport express to newark liberty airport.

7.10am
boarded the airport express.

8.00am
reached the airport. checked in. was asked to pay usd100 for overweight baggage by a white chick. probably the highlight of her day.

8.00am to 10.00am
waited to board my flight to denver, colorado. read half of my new chick-lit "the nanny diaries". so brainless, but so hilarious.

10.00am
boarded ua785. fell asleep before the plane took off.

10.00am (big apple time) to 12.30 (colorado time - 2 hours behind)
slept my way through the entire 4 hour flight. i think the flight attendant attempted to force some water down my throat, but to no avail.

12.30pm to 2.30pm
waited for my dad to arrive from san francisco. finished reading the second half of "the nanny diaries". hated the ending.

2.30pm
met my dad at the baggage claim area. he asked me to arrange for transportation up to steamboat springs, the ski resort where we'll be spending the next week or so. nothing too difficult. or so i thought.

2.35pm
asked the guy at the ground transportation information counter the fastest way of getting up to steamboat springs. was informed that there was only one shuttle that goes up.

2.40pm
called the one shuttle company that provides transportation up to steamboat springs. was informed that all shuttles for the day were FULLY BOOKED.

2.45pm
ran back to the guy at the ground transportation information counter for help. he said the only alternative was to charter a shuttle.

2.50pm to 3.00pm
ran around denver international airport looking for a shuttle to charter. finally found a grumpy asian guy willing to do it for usd500. he's supposed to be worth every cent cos' in his words, "i experienced. i drive you up there."

3.00pm to 5.30pm
waited for my brothers to arrive from the big apple and london respectively. ate a garden salad from burger king, as well as dodgy chinese food from a place called "panda express", whilst waiting. also walked around a small bookstore, and found 4 books i'd like to read.

5.45pm
elder brother finally, finally arrived from london. i was starting to feel a little like tom hanks in "the terminal".

5 hours after arriving from the big apple, we were finally, finally on our way to steamboat springs.

5.45pm to 10.45pm
grumpy asian guy drove us up the mountains. it started to snow. grumpy asian guy was quite the reckless driver. for those who have sat in my car before and thought i was reckless, you haven't met this guy. his car SPINS everytime he does a u-turn. i am NOT joking.

i made myself sleep the entire way so i wouldn't get freaked out by his driving. i'm deluded that way.

10.45pm
finally reached steamboat springs. had to locate the mgmt company next, so we could check into our condo.

11.00pm
stuck in falling snow outside mgmt company, which was obviously closed. a security guard was supposed to be around to check us in, but he was nowhere in sight. f**ker was probably eating snake somewhere. countless attempts at contacting him finally paid off. he drove down to the company, and handed us our keys.

11.00pm to 11.30pm
drove around steamboat springs, trying to find our condo. when we finally did, the vehicle we were in refused to go up a snowy slope. the van wasn't equipped for such snowy grounds apparently. hah! hah! hah! grumpy asian guy not so experienced after all!

11.45pm
finally, finally, FINALLY got to our condo and moved all our luggage in.

the entire journey, from the big apple to steamboat springs, took 18 hours and 45 minutes (big apple hours). to put things in perspective, my journey from singapore to the big apple (on different continents ah, for the geographically challenged), door-to-door, took less time.

i'm HOU tired ah.