Whew! My first half of the journey over to Seoul is officially over.

Because I opted for a very cheap fare, my flight schedule was a little odd – I actually needed to spend the night in LA as my flight from Vancouver arrived at LAX at 9:00pm, while my flight to Seoul wasn’t leaving until 1:40pm the next day. Even with the hotel charges, the overall cost of the trip was significantly lower than all the other options.

Everything went well upon arriving in LA, although the free shuttle was a bit late getting to the airport. By 10:00pm, I was safe and sound in my hotel room, feverishly flipping through the pages of the hotel’s restaurant guide in efforts to find a late-night delivery joint. Pizza Hut appeared to be the only option, so I sat in my room and enjoyed a few slices in front of the TV.

I woke up this morning with my heart pounding a million beats a minute as I scrambled to find my phone – had I slept in too late?? Luckily for me, I must’ve just woken up from a nightmare where I’d missed my flight, as I still had 2.5 hours before my alarm was supposed to go off.

I got up and showered, then headed down to the breakfast room for some fuel for the long journey ahead. A delightfully American selection of several sorts of beige-coloured matter awaited me, and I took my pick (no eggs, sadly). The place was mildly chaotic, so I downed my waffle and juice quickly and then proceeded to check out.

Precisely three hours before my flight was scheduled to leave, I checked in sans-problems at the Asiana Airlines desk. The agents were very friendly and helpful, but were a little surprised to learn I was only 19 when they looked at my passport (I decided not to explain to them that it’s because tanning has aged my skin too much – considering they hail from a country where skin bleach is all the rage, indoor tanning didn’t appear to be any sort of temptation to them anyways).

From there, I visited the Duty Free, and decided against better judgement not to buy the 1-litre bottle of Jack Daniel’s – but for only $99, it will probably make a nice gift for someone on the way back! However, I felt I could justify buying a little pressed powder compact from MAC, la crème de la crème of cosmetic brands. And, for 30% less than I would’ve paid in Canada, it really was a steal 😉

Now, I’m awaiting my flight to Seoul at Gate 104. Well, no. I went to Gate 103 because it was less crowded, and I intend to go back to my correct gate as 1:40 draws closer. But for now, it would appear that a flight to Charles de Gualle (France) is departing from here, and I don’t particularly mind hearing all the French being spoken around me. I wonder what the weather in Paris is like right now…

I will be in Seoul in roughly 15 hours… and it still hasn’t really sunken in!