Polar Route

Life has happened in the course of my incredibly slow blogging. I am just now catching up. This past February/March I finally went to Manila to visit my family. The experience was a little challenging linguistically, physically and culturally.  I didn't come back the same person. The experience changed me for the better.

My parents were wary about my return home. My dad wanted me to blend in with the locals as much as possible. I went as a solo traveler. I left from JFK and flew Korean airlines. My flight left after midnight. I had a full night’s sleep on the plane and woke up to darkness.  I was in darkness for 21 hours over the polar route. This explains why on my journey to the US with my mom, we stopped in Alaska.

At some point during the flight I got up to do calf raises and squats. The cabin was still darkened and most of the passengers asleep. I did some chair push ups and more squats when we landed in Incheon (Seoul) sometime after 5 am local time. By then a coffee shop was opening up and I ordered what I thought was a latte. It was around 4000 Korean Won (KRW), less than a 4 dollars. It was worth about 4000 USD.  That coffee shop and the Duty Free were the only establishments open.

Here was my sunrise 

Another 5 hours and I made it to Manila, to my Gemini Twin.