25,000 Pennies! & Chillin in L.A.

I have arrived! This past week has been crazy!

I spent 3 days in Las Vegas with Perry & Andrea prior to flying over here. It was great. I needed an opportunity to vist with them. As usual my time with them went by waaay to fast. It was a blast. I managed to win about $250 on a penny slot machine...amazing.

I flew into LAX on Saturday afternoon, that's when the insanity started. Anyone who has flown knows that you have to show the ticket counter person the credit card that you used to purchase the ticket. Well, i bought my ticket from LAX to Taiwan several months ago and since then my bank decided to issue new debit cards. I bought my ticket with the original card and the number changed...not good. They tell you to cut up the old card, I did. So i was in a bit of a pickle. The folks at the ticket counter made me rebuy my ticket on the spot...ugh. Thankfully it was only about $100 more than the other. The only remaining issue is to make sure that the airline properly refunds my money for the original ticket. It wouldn't be that big of a deal but dealing with the bank from overseas is a headache.

Not soon after that silly situation they announced that the plane was overbooked. They offered me $400 cash, a free hotel room, a $20 meal voucher, calling cards, and a pass to the airport V.I.P. lounge if I'd be willing to wait and go on the next flight, which was in 7 hours. Of course I took it. What a deal. I hung out in a very nice hotel for the afternoon and eventually made it back to the airport that night. The flight was uneventful, long, but uneventful.

I arrived in Taipei Monday morning at about 5am. What a crazy city. It's hot here. Thankfully the hostel is air conditioned. The hostel ("Taiwanmex Guest House") is great. A cool mix of folks from all over the planet. At only $13/night it's a steal. I am about 5 minutes from the subway and the main train station. It is about 4:30am local time as I am writing this...jet lag.

Time for me to attempt to get some sleep. I'm gonna do my best to keep this thing updated as often as I can.