And now, in December, I can begin to write about July…
I had always planned to head to the UK in August for my annual trip “home”, to see friends and family. And I needed to get over to the USA in July. And then, someone (ahem) had the bright idea of combining the two trips. In all, I spent 35 days on the road, which I now realise is far too long to be away from one’s own bed and bathroom. Still, what an experience…
Leaving Bangkok
The first nugget of fun was at check-in. In order for a British national to enter the USA without a visa, an ESTA is required. I applied for mine online, was approved, and could have sworn that the resulting authorisation page said “You do not need to print this”. As I discovered at the check-in desk, I was wrong.
Eventually, the check-in staff begrudgingly accepted an on-screen PDF of the approval page on my mobile phone as being “as good as” a paper print-out, and I was allowed to check in. Which was a relief.
And so, to the second nugget of fun. I had not thought to check with my bank whether my ATM card would work in the USA. I just sort of assumed that it would, since it had worked in the Philippines and the UK before. However, I was quite unprepared for it not to work in Thailand.
I had meant to withdraw a large sum of cash in Thai baht at the check-in hall in Bangkok airport, and convert 95% of it into US dollars, with the other 5% going on Danish Krone. That way, if I did have any ATM problems on my travels, I’d have enough cash to tide me over until I could solve the problem.
After the ESTA fiasco though, I forgot all about making the withdrawal until after I’d passed through security at Bangkok airport.
After security, there are very few ATMs. And the ones that do exist will not accept Thai ATM cards - they only take foreign cards, and cards issued by the Siam Commercial Bank. Which mine isn’t. I had about ฿5,000 cash in my wallet. I wasn’t even sure if that would get me through my 9-hour layover in Copenhagen, let alone from O’Hare to my hotel in Chicago.
I did have a fun conversation with the airport staff though.
I explained that I wanted to take some money out of an ATM. And that I only had a Thai ATM card with me. They nodded and smiled, and explained that I should have used the machines before security. I agreed heartily, and asked them what I should do now. They said I should have used the machines before security. I explained that I have yet to master the art of time-travel, and wondered what I should do now, or indeed in the immediate future. They smiled and shrugged. Marvellous.
Twitching slightly, I got on the plane.
Copenhagen
I landed in Copenhagen at around 6am local time, and wasn’t due to leave for Chicago until 3pm. So I had plenty of time to explore. The fantastically helpful, English-fluent airport staff told me exactly how the metro/trains worked, and even gave me a map on which they’d hand-drawn arrows and rings around a few cool things to see. Top marks.
My ATM card worked fine, which was a relief, and I withdrew 500 Krone because it sounded like a decent amount of money. Until I went to Starbucks and was charged 45 Krone for a latte.
So I took the metro up to, I think, Kongens Nytorv, and wandered around the city of Copenhagen for the first time ever. Nice place.
Some of the bars I walked past were still open, full of people who’d presumably been boozing all night. Too early for me, I found a cafe and had a coffee.
To my shame, my subsequent search for an open wi-fi hotspot eventually led me into McDonalds. To my left, a well-fed American family were haranguing the staff: “Y’mean, y’all don’t have McMuffins? Why the hell not?”. There is, apparently, no breakfast menu in Danish McDonalds. I had a cheeseburger instead, caught up on email and Facebook, and felt guilty for not having skæreost or something.
After more exploring, and an orange juice at the Hard Rock Café (rock and roll!), I was pleasantly surprised after walking through a rather foreboding underpass, to find a long walk through what could have been countryside, right in the capital - Stadsgraven, as I now find out.
These ducks were very patient models for this photographer.
Great scenery.
I came out of the walk in Christianshavn, where I had a couple of Cokes watching the tourist boats go by on the canal before it was time to take the metro back to the airport. A really nice layover, and I must come back to Copenhagen at some point and stay a while longer. There are very few beautiful cities in Asia, which makes me appreciate it even more when I do find one. Copenhagen is beautiful.
Chicago
One flight later, I landed at Chicago O’Hare for my first trip to America in 15 years. I had not heard too many nice things said about their Homeland Security and Immigration types, not to mention the TSA, but I have to say it was far less unpleasant than I’d been told to expect.
The queue for we “aliens” (is there another country on earth that uses this word for foreigners?) was rather slower-moving than that for the natives, but then that’s true of every airport in the world. I’ve never had to provide my fingerprints to the immigration officer in any other country either, but it doesn’t exactly hurt, and I already knew what to expect.
A few smiles wouldn’t have gone amis, but it really wasn’t that too bad. The customs lady frowned at the word “Bangkok” on my customs form - I assumed this meant that she’d want to pull my luggage apart, but she waved me on. Before I knew it, I was outside the airport and waiting for a cab. It could be a lot worse.
Next stop was the Hyatt Regency, a short walk from the shore of Lake Michigan, and with a nice view of the Sears Tower, as was, from my window. There are worse ways to travel - quite an upgrade from the bunk beds in Singapore!
Chicago is another beautiful city - I do miss them. I walked for about 4 miles around the harbour on the first day, some great views and lots of friendly dog-walkers, joggers and cyclists.
What a skyline…
And my word, say what you will about the American diet, but they really do know how to make great food, in servings vastly more huge than you could ever eat, with impeccable service.
There did come a time though, when I buckled and sought out a McDonalds. Yes, they have them in Thailand, but they do not have the milkshakes. And going for a year at a time without a strawberry milkshake is no fun at all. So I ventured south, got myself a Big Mac meal, and noticed that everybody in the restaurant was black except for me - staff and customers alike. I’m used to being the only white guy in a crowd of Thais, of course, but this still somehow surprised me. I was offered whipped cream on top of my milkshake, which was another first, but politely refused. Liquid fat on top of my liquid fat? Come on…
Another day, on a smoke break (no smoking within 15 feet of the hotel), a woman recommended I do the Segway tour of Chicago. This wasn’t supposed to be funny, but I found it hilarious. If I thought I had the ability to get through it without cracking up laughing, I would have done it. But I know my limits, so walked it instead.
The Segway tour can be seen on the right here:
Prior to this trip, I’d enjoyed smoked salmon bagels in Thailand. Now, I can never look at them again. The smoked salmon bagel at the Hyatt was an open bagel, piled about twelve inches high with slice after slice of salmon - I think they got the whole fish on there. I skipped lunch and dinner.
Speaking of which, a card on the desk in my room promised me a free soda if I ordered three 18” pizzas. Presumably not all in one sitting. Why do eighteen-inch pizzas exist?
The week ended up being mostly work-related, which I’ve never blogged about before and am not about to start now, but with some great sights and experiences too. Chicago is somewhere I’ll certainly return to.
But next, on day number seven of my thirty-five day trip, it was time for flight number 3 - to New York…