Flight Log

After eight days touring through North Vietnam, we were in Da Nang Airport and ready for our flights back.

Roughly a month ago a few college friends of mine told me they would be renting a house in Boston for the weekend and hold a gathering of chats and games and exchanges of cooking skills. Well, that sounds like an exciting way to spend a weekend that's sure to go down in memories, so of course I'm in.

After a trip to Vietnam the photos of which I could only hope that I have time to process and some time with my parents, I packed up all my holiday shopping back home and went on this journey back to the States.

After a forty minute minivan ride, we were at Noi Bai Airport and ready for our flight to Hue.

January of 2018. I know staying in my bedroom for four weeks of my winter break back in China would be boring, and even more for my mom who had been basically doing nothing for half a year recovering from major surgeries. So my dad advised us to take a short vacation away to somewhere warm in Southeast Asia, and that's how this trip to Vietnam took place.

Winter break of 2017.
For reasons out of my control, this could be the only holiday that I could (or at least, willing to) spend with my parents who lived in China, who had been yearning for my visit ever since I left for graduate school in the states. Well, partly that's because my mom had some major surgeries during the last summer, and I happened to be away during all of them, the oh-it's-tomorrow-but-I'm-booked-on-flights-today sort. And, it turned out that my winter break would be much longer than I expected. I was looking for a two-week official winter break, only to be told that at University of Maryland, this was followed by another two weeks of winter semester, during which nothing happens. So to forward goodwill with my mom, and to bring to the states all my online shoppings of 2017 (I know two checked bags for my first trip were never enough for years of study), I decided to spend this winter break in China.

I accepted offer from the Graduate School of University of Maryland, and this summer I embarked on a trip to US that would hopefully lead to a bright new chapter in my life.

In short, from my home city of Hangzhou(杭州), it was a Cathay Dragon flight to Hong Kong, connecting onto an Air China flight to Beijing, and then the next morning another Air China flight to Newark, after which I would take Amtrak to Union Station, Washington DC, after which it was a Uber ride to College Park, Maryland, where my school was located.
From the moment I decided on this itinerary, I knew it would be phenomenal.

After two weeks touring the nation of Sri Lanka, it's time to head back home and get ready for the next chapters of my life.

Summer of 2017.
To celebrate our graduation, some friends of mine planned a two-week vacation to the island nation of Sri Lanka, an island of various amazing sights.

There weren't many places to choose from in the middle of July, as most of South Asia were in their rainy season. The other alternatives under my consideration were South Africa and Central Europe. Well, we had difficulties finding accommodations in South Africa's Kruger National Park since its peak season, and flights to Central Europe were a little bit beyond our budget. So, my friends and I chose Sri Lanka which was closer to home, and July was just in between its two major rainy seasons.

At 24XX CNY (36X USD), the return flights to Sri Lanka by Malaysia Airlines were a bargain. The only disadvantages were that the connection time for our outbound trip were just 75 minutes, this plus the delay-prone Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) mean we were very likely to miss our connection. So to keep any potential delay, person or baggage from ruining our vacation, we opted to stay two nights in the town of Negombo by Colombo Airport (which was usually a short pit stop for most visitors to the nation). This wasn't too much of a problem, as any delay would be well covered by our insurances. And it turned out that this helped.

On the afternoon of May 9, my friend and I travelled on 5 trains for 5 hours covering 171.2 km and reached Tokyo Narita Airport from Gora, Hakone to conclude this eleven-day journey to Japan.