Monday, June 25, 2007

another poem...

Yoz! Like every good movie, there is always room for a sequel. So here's my second offering to wrap up the GIP afterthoughts...

“All the world’s stage”,
Perhaps Mr. Shakespeare puts it best.
Through it all we have come of age.
We, the mere players had passed the test!

Sadly, we have come to the end of the show,
Although I still wished for an encore.
Even as the American credits roll,
It’s time to return and answer reality’s call.

What a chapter it has been,
Forays and thrills like no other.
One that we can all relate to our children.
Just like an enthralling bestseller!

While events can chronicle our time,
Life’s the hardest book to write certainly.
Its chapters may be distinct and defined,
Alas, the next line, that ending, remains a mystery.

Now immersed in a sea of familiar faces,
We inevitably part ways for greater plans,
Will our paths cross again in other places?
I can’t say for sure but it all lies in God’s hands…


Penned by Rayzor, 26-06-07

*Note*
The poem was NOT created by booze, drugs, hypnosis, baby/virgin sacrifices, pagan rituals.

Monday, June 18, 2007

blogging in the land of heat

hey gipeeeeeeeps!
we're back to blog! haha....we're all back in s'pore alr...(should we say finally??? cos here's kinda sian!) hahaha anyway, hope all of you are doing great back here and we're so glad that gatherings are still being organised! yay! as we've said....s'pore's so sian! no where to go....we were so bored last night that we went back to NTU! omgosh....how loserish right!! hahahaha...but oh well....we just took some mad pics as USUAL...don't you guys miss this canteen.....ahahahahahahaha....so nx time, don't rest your head on the table horr.....and if your food drops on the table don't bother eating it....it's 0 sec rule!hehe....cont to blog pple!!! and plan more dinners, outings...whatever meeting...before sch starts!
loads of love,
fiorence =)

Monday, June 11, 2007

Stuck in Atlanta day 2

Hmmm... seems like someone really wants me to stay longer in ATL...

Oh well... i'm stuck in ATL for yet another day, due to a pretty ludicrous reason. At least i've experience the "great american" flight delay.

Come to US must do what?
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Have your flights delayed/cancelled of course!



-.-"

So here the story goes (again):

After the flight cancellation, my family and i arrived at Hartsfield the next day. We were in pretty cheerful and relaxed, after all we did manage to get an SQ flight.

We went to the delta international check-in counter to check in our 10 luggages (yes, 10 biggass luggages for the 5 of us). The queue kinda looked like what you would see if u played Snake on one of those nokia phones without dying....

Nairmind... we queue.

I and MS's flight was at 440pm, my family at 730pm and we would arrive in Rome and take the SQ flight back to singapore together. We thought everything would be fine, you know, the normal check in, bla bla bla no liquids/gels/aerosols, walk to gate then fly already... little did we know the stunt Northwest was gonna pull on us...

Flashback to the previous day. The Northwest lady who booked the tickets for me, called betty or something, was pretty bossy. She looked pretty much like that black woman that was serving us when we ate at Mary Macs, loud and erm... in charge.

I din really liked the way she treated customers and she was always impatient. When i asked her how are my parents going to make their connection if they were to reach Rome at 6pm and catch the SQ flight at 7pm. She was like "OH PLEASE HONEY International flights are never late!"

When asked her about the luggages, she was like "You know how it's like! Come on, you know how it's like!"

In my mind, i was like "no, i don't know how it's like..." but i decided to continue cause i got quite a long line of people behind me and most of their problems can be settled quite easily and i think some people are already cursing at their suay luck they chose the wrong line to join. So i quickly settled the matter in hurry. Getting the tickets were what mattered.

Back to the next day, yeah so we waited like 80 minutes at the delta line. It's kinda akin to the wait we had at splash mountain, only that i and MS din play that "diu diu diu" game. (haha sounds vulgar) I kinda figured it would be cool to have one of those "The wait would be approximately 80 mins from this point" or one of those fastpass kinda things, at least u can go shopping or eating then comeback and skip the damn queue!

Finally, we managed to get a Delta representative. She checked in my parents, no problem. Then checks in me and MS: WHAM, MS's flight wasn't booked.

I was like: "what the hell u mean it's booked but not reserved?" After like 40mins of standing there, the lady was doing a lot of calling here and there and talk here talk there and then asked me to go over the weighing machine behind her to look at her console, she drops the big big bomb.

MS cannot go on the delta flight, must go talk to nwa to sort it out cause apparently it is they screwed up. I was like WTF? only left 1 hour to the flight then ask me do this monkey shit. We reached the airport at 1 for a 440pm flight, then the whole thing unfolded at 330pm. I was like.... siao liao... this time sure stuck in atl for another night.


So i took back 4 luggages, asked my family to go back first, then went to settle with nwa.

At nwa, i found the girl that was working with betty the previous day, and asked her to help. She's not so pro as betty in finding all the flights, i think she's kinda new or something. I kinda regretted talking to her cause she took quite a while to find anything. Then she gives me a new routine, taking all nwa flights back to singapore (sianness).

I've been settling things with americans the polite way, talking things out, taking the things they say at face value cause i think getting angry will never make things easier.

My father kinda intercepted halfway as i was gonna get my tickets, he flew into a rage and said that this arrangement was not acceptable, and that he din care what they did as long as they got me on my way back to singapore that day.

That kinda got 3 more people working on my problem, they roped in the manager at the last minute too. But the problem remains- all flights are really really booked. they just weren't powerful enough to magically create 2 more seats in the plane.

At this pt i and ms were making stupid jokes about putting ourselves in a box labelled fragile and seat in the cargo haul instead. MS started folding all the luggage tags that could be found at the front desk in half. We were that bored, but hey, it's been 5 hours and my legs felt like they were gonna break anytime soon. I ate my lunch at both delta and nwa's front desks, dun even have time to go choose what i want to eat.

Ah but i digress, in the end... doing things the singaporean way in american........................


did not work.


What it did get me was a night's stay for 2 in a snazzy sheraton gateway hotel, and a 40 dollar meal voucher for the 2 of us. According to the price list in the sheraton room, a night's stay for 2 costs 499.... quite bullshit cause the marriott at niagara was much nicer and it costs 200 nia...

but oh well... end of day 2.... my parents have flown off at 730pm and i and ms are still in atl... i think i blogged too much for the day, my fingers are cramping up. Will tell you guys more about day 3 the next time!



Friday, June 8, 2007

Stuck in Atlanta

Hello gipeeps!!!!!

i'm stuck in atlanta for 1 more day. Northwest airlines called it an "act of god", i call it "god want me to stay in ATL for 1 more day" (Hohohoho)

Anyways, it makes for an interesting story, so i might as well share it here.

Our trip back to Singapore was full of obstacles:

1) Our flight was delayed from 1205 to 1330

2) Upon boarding the flight, they requested that 9 people volunteer to get off the plane because the plane was "too heavy". In return, these 9 lucky people got a $300 round trip voucher from NWA and they will take the 1630 flight on delta airlines.

3) Once that was out of the way, we had a 15 minute wait for the fuel calculations and weight calculations to be approved and sent to the pilot before the plane can be pushed out of the gate.

4) Finally, the plane left the gate and the crew was preparing for takeoff check. Just as the plane was HALFWAY to the takeoff strip. It stops dead and the captain announces that all westbound flights are put on hold as there are thunderstorms in the region.

The captain proposed that we wait in the plane for 45 mins because we have already left the gate and if the plane was to return to the gate there would be a long line . So we
just sat on the taxiway for 45 mins, the air circulation was pretty bad and there were times when there was no aircon cause the plane was running on it's auxiliary engine to save fuel. I was feeling all light-headed and giddy from the lack of fresh air when the captain decided to return to the gate. (Hooray!)

5) Returning to the gate, NWA announced that all flights westbound are cancelled (like WTF?~!?~) No compensation (ie hotels, flights) will be given as it's considered an "act of god" so what they could do for us is to rearrange the flights again.

6) Went to rearrange my flights, here's what i got:

Non-stop flight to ROME on delta airlines! Hohohohohoho ROME ROME ROME ROME ROME!

and now for the winner:

Non-stop flight from ROME to Singapore on Singapore Airlines!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I think i can hear u gasp in front of your computers!

Hohoho! SQ girls here i come!!!

Now i'm sitting comfortably in a Ramada Inn room, chilling out till my flight at 1600 tomorrow. Hopefully nothing else pops up tomorrow or else i'm really gonna get pissed.... I'm starting to miss home already!

Oh yeah, while i'm on the topic of nice flight upgrades... did i mention that i had a free upgrade to business class on my way from ATL to Orlando? heehehehehee......

Till then, Seeeya guys and take care!!!

greetings!

How's it going?

Wow! If I ain't blog any longer, this gatech blog will soon become clarna's blog!
(Or has it already become theirs...???)

Sweet. So how's everybody? My gf and I just caught the movie "Ocean's Thirteen" and throughout the movie, we were more excited about seeing familiar places and structures in the movie, than the movie itself. Movie is so-so. But if you wanna relive Las Vegas, go watch the movie man!

Guess everyone is back from Summer trip and catching on life in SG. So am I. And I heard of some good news amongst us! haha congratulations to weinah aka hansheng! Hope everyone enjoyed every little bit of ur summer trip, be it the happy, fun, boring, fustrating or sad moments. Afterall these have become part of our memories which we will properly tuck it somewhere.

And for me, I'm stuck in some camp. If you guys need to go take IPPT, do call me up.
I'll be watching you get GOLD...

js