Day 1 - Departure

May 1st, 2012
I departed from my house in Toronto at around 4pm, since most of my housemates are leaving for either Korea or Europe at 8pm while my flight towards New York was 14 hours away. Edmond and Wai Meng were helping us out, carrying our bags from the house to the airport and in case our luggage went overweight, they could bring them back home.

We had to rush here and there to check in our baggage when we arrived, most of my friends' check-in counters were at terminal 1, while mine was at terminal 3 (A big hassle to get to, considering I had 2 bags to tend to, dragging them along with me wherever I went).

Those flying to Seoul took off according to schedule while poor Vickie, who was flying to London, experienced a 2-hour delay for her flight (Still, nothing compared to me having to camp at the airport for 14 hours). I settled myself at one end of the terminal and started to charge my iPhone, where I took a quick snap of the view:

Terminal 3, Toronto Pearson International Airport

I then moved myself near the cafeteria area, where tables are provided and I successfully secured myself a neat little spot where I can keep an eye on my baggage and use my laptop in peace. This lasted for another 8 hours (Trust me, you won't want to do it) until I was able to check-in my largest bag and proceed to the US customs. A comment/suggestion here for the customs; I lined up at 4am, was first in line but still had to stand and wait for 40minutes before the gates were open for people to pass through. They could at least open the gates a little bit earlier when they noticed the queue getting longer and longer.

Passing through the customs wasn't a big problem for me since I have a US visa, it's the baggage screening process which were really a pain in the neck but eventually, I passed through them all and boarded my plane without fail. Here's a picture of the cute lil' jet I took:

 Small but capable. American Airlines.

I texted my dad and sunshine before take-off to let them know nothing had gone wrong. I was terribly exhausted when the plane finally steadied itself in the skies, but excitement gushed through my veins when I looked outside the window and saw this:

 A carpet of clouds, who wouldn't love a view like this?

Almost Instantly, I knew that I had made the right choice to travel. I was tired, but very, very proud of myself for finally stepping out of my comfort zone. While being immersed in thoughts of bliss, the jet turned and stabilized itself on its appropriate route and to my eyes, the world was presented:

A million dollar view, somewhere up in the skies.

And that, was the last picture I took, right before shutting the window and dozing off, relieved.

Next up: Day 2, 3 - Arrival