Shut the front door!

December 2009

The Last Time We Were in North America

Actually don't! Because I'm coming home! At about 10am this morning, I got an email from Dave with a flight itinerary that fit perfectly for our planned trip home in December. After a few emails debating the cost and itinerary and getting approval from my boss, we were booked!


I'm not sure if you know this, but Australia is far away from everything. Fancy a trip to Hawaii? That's still 10 hours away. Better yet, it costs big time to get anywhere off this island. Luckily, a flight to New Zealand can be as little as $200-$300 round-trip. A cheap flight to Bali is around $500-$600 round-trip. So, when we were looking at flights to Texas, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles and back to Sydney - during Christmas time - we knew we were looking at bankruptcy.


It's been three years since I've stepped on American soil. The flight price matters, but I'm willing to break my bank a little. If I went home every year since leaving in 2008 for South Korea, I would probably be down $10,000. What we hoped for was flights around $3,000 per person at best.


We got a tip from a little Flight Centre birdie telling us to wait till April when all the carriers release their flight calendar and sales for the year. I began to worry because it's already May and Dave and I hadn't bought tickets yet and put the search on the back burner. Growing up with a Filipino mom who holds money with a tight grip, I knew that the closer Christmas was, the more expensive the tickets would be. So Dave's email surprised me. He found our flights for $5,100 TOGETHER!


Itinerary via Air China, United, Air Canada and China Southern:


Depart Sydney: 9pm, Friday, 14th December
Arrive Los Angeles: 10:30am, Saturday, 15th December
Stopover in Beijing: 8 hours, 10 minutes


Depart Los Angeles: 12:30pm, Saturday, 15th December
Arrive Houston: 5:52pm, Saturday, 15th December (Might be too late for the Annual East Texas Filipino Christmas Party!)


Depart Houston: 10:15am, Sunday, 23rd December
Arrive: Toronto: 2:17pm, Sunday, 23rd December


New York City trip via AmTrak sometime in between. Clear your calendar Fordham folks!


Depart Toronto: 12:10pm, Wednesday, 2nd January
Arrive Los Angeles: 2:30pm Wednesday, 2nd January


Depart Los Angeles: 11:30pm, Tuesday, 8 January
Arrive Sydney: 8:40pm, Thursday, 10 January
Stopover in Guangzhou: 2 hours, 20 mintutes


The China carriers aren't our favourites (we know, we always choose them out of respect to our savings account), but they are the cheapest. What's a few hours of my life in not the most comfortable chairs, eating rubbery food and having layovers in China? That just means I have more to spend shopping in Soho!


Tonight I watched the season finale of Gossip Girl (guilty pleasure since senior year of college) and SPOILER...Bart Bass is alive and his resurgence is affecting everyone's lives on the show. I wonder how my homecoming will be? It's like I've been 'dead' for three years and I'm showing my face again. I don't have any skeletons in the closet, but it will sure be fun to see old faces and catch up on what's been happening since graduation...from both high school and college. Thank goodness for my Facebook news feed! I know as soon as I smell halal at Rockefeller Plaza, the memories will come alive!


Last time I was home, my dad showed Dave his gun collection. In New York, I got to see the FU gang and show Dave everything I love about NYC. Dave showed me Niagara Falls and a tour of his hometown. Then we were off on a three month backpacking adventure around South East Asia. I wonder what'll will happen this time around?


Let me know if you're around during any of the above dates. Because I've been gone so long, I plan on doing nothing but catching up with old friends, eating an obscene amount of American favourites (Oh how I miss you Sonic Drive-thru!) and shopping!


*'Shut the front door' is an American saying similar to 'Stop the presses!' It means something shocking has been said, happened or will happen.