a melodramatic beginning

we arrived at the calgary airport just in time to miss our flight--unbeknowst to us, our 9:30 flight had been moved up to 8:15! we were told that there were no other air canada flights that night but we needed to be in vancouver to catch our 1:20 am cathy pacific flight! damo ran down to westjet; they were overbooked. We panicked (i called mom and dad in almost tears), but luckily cooler heads prevailed (i.e. Wray and Colleen) and noticed that there was indeed another air canada flight. damo and wray sprinted back to the other side of the airport (poor winded boys!), dropped a few hundred bucks on two business class tickets and we were set. phew! a few hundred bucks over a potential few thousand dollars for two one-way flights to syndey?--big deal! we made sure, however, that we took full advantage of our two hundred dollar beverage service.

got to vancouver, into the insanely long line for the cathy pacific flight to hong kong, and a lady in red (uniform) came walking down the line, asking for volunteers to give up their seats since that flight was overbooked. offer was a night in the fairmont airport hotel, all meals, phone vouchers, and either an upgrade to business class or $400 cash each. sold! we opted for the cash but it was a tough choice. so now we're lounging around our swank hotel room, all nicely rested and refreshed for tonight's long haul. we had stinky stress-sweat armpits last night.

the nico

countdown: 13 days until we fly out!