I'm home now, using my mom's computer. I survived the final 12 hour flight from Hong Kong. The meals, I think there were two, were delicious. I'm not the only one who enjoys airplane food, there's at least two of us. I'd recommend the Cathay Pacific A330 over the A340 (Airplanes), I'm not sure if the are all equiped the same, but I flew on a A330 from Taipei to Hong Kong and it had the wonderful video system that new planes have, with pausable movies and video games, TV shows, I think it will send e-mail too. The A330 also has a power outlet on the economy class! An exciting thing for a computer nerd with a batteryless laptop and 12 hours to kill. But the A340, my 12 hour flight, didn't have it! But never fear, because I know you might be worried, I was able to completely fill my time by watching slightly fuzzy movies on the low-tech TV on the back of the seat in front me.

You might be wondering why I'm blogging about seat back TV systems. I'm wondering too, it's probably because I'm exhuasted. I'm going to go to bed now. No more blogs for me tonight.

I'm blogging from the Hong Kong Airport. How about that? I only have 15 minutes though, so I'm not going to say much other than that this keyboard sticks and that I've developed a bad headache. My next flight is in about 2 hours it's almost 12 hours long, 3 hours shorter than my flight here 10 months ago. The wind must be at the tail this time. I almost missed my flight actually, the e-mail I got said 7:25 PM, but when I got to the gat it said 7:05 PM, I'm really glad I was early, but not so glad that I never looked at my ticket. Anyway I think someone else wants to use this computer.

In seven hours and thirty three minutes I'll be sitting in one of those slightly too narrow economy seats on a jet-plane. It'll probably taxi around for awhile, and the crew will go through those military like procedures and preparations that they always do before the plane takes off. So I can't say at what exact minute I'll be in the air. But at the moment I'm on the ground, or to be more precise, on the fourth floor above the ground waiting for a DVD to burn at my friend's house. He's not home, he's in school, but I'll see him a little later before I leave.

I'm still wondering if all my clothes will fit into my bag, I left a few items up to dry, unpacked, the bag is already a little tight. Sometimes clothes take up more room than you think they will, what looks like just a few more things ends up being a pretty think stack of under shirts on your bed. But I guess if they don't fit I can buy some more undershirts. Maybe I should have titled this blog: Packing Details.

I'm also a little sad, not just because I'm leaving so many friends behind, but because I lost my little black book full of phone numbers e-mail addresses, directions, bus numbers to take places, chinese words. I guess I won't miss it, because I can't remember what's in it, but then again that was the point in having it! I think my drivers license ended up in it too, I can't find that either.

As you can tell, I'm a worrier, and a procrastinator. Which means the closer I get to take-off time the more nervous I get. I'm always worrying about things falling out of my pockets, checking zippers so things don't fall out, making back-up copies of things like electronic tickets, passports, visas. I keep credit cards in different places so if I lose my wallet or something I have a back-up. I have a secret-pocket necklace type thing for my passport and important documents. I also keep triplicate copies of all my digital photos. I try to make sure I have at least two options of travel, taxi and MRT, always keep a taxi fare on me even though I hardly ever ride the taxi, but just in case... But I guess the lesson here is that you can't prepare for, or prevent, every disaster or problem. Time and unforseen circumstance befall us all. So why do I worry? I ended up losing my wallet in Hong Kong, two weeks worth of digital pictures from a crashed hard drive, and my little black book with all my numbers in it.

But Taiwan has helped me to learn that everything can't be prepared for, I have to accept the unexpected. I hope to one day return. In a few moments I'll be taking one of my last rides on the Taipei MRT, one of my favorite things about this city. I've become very sentimental about everything here, the people, the little old ladies who seem to be always yelling, and lately the awkward attempt by people here to celebrate Christmas, the bus drivers where red caps and jackets. It just seems funny when it reaches 72 degrees outside. On the MRT on my way here I got one of my last stares from a little girl.

But I'm ready, I'll be home at the end of the day today. Which is still so funny to me, the time zones, I'll spend some time in tomorrow in Hong Kong, then I'll be back in today when I land in Vancouver twenty minutes after I take off from Taipei.