The first thing I did in Sydney was take a bath

Lots of people in my life have lately been talking about the pros of taking baths. I can only ever think of the cons (a bath half empty kind of person??) like boredom and books falling in water and cell phones ringing and playlists ending mid soak. This has all change, as of yesterday.

I took off from seatac at 4 pm on Oct 7, a Tuesday, with final destination set for Sydney, arrival time Oct 9 at 9:30 a.m. Overall the flight was a piece of cake, but will say that each of the 3 legs to my flight had their own distinct flavor, or maybe layer, of that cake. Sea to LAX was a frickin' party. I was so psyched to be out and up and awaty. I ordered a beer as soon as humanly possible (to follow up the Chili's Too ginormous 16 ounce-er from Terminal D), cranked my ipod up super loud with all sorts fo GnR and JT and Madonna, read OK and Us weekly and couldn't stop smiling.

Second leg starting at LAX was a quick 2 hour wait, where my name got called by the boarding agents and scared the crap outta me but ended up being fine (they forget to give me a receipt to something). This flight leg sorta sucked because it was hot and I was uncomfortable and ALTHOUGH the Sex and The City Movie was playing, I was a weird mix of anxious, pensive and impatient. Not good for an 8 hr flight knowing another 8 hr flight was right behind it. I flew from LAX to Papeete, tahiti and arrived around 1 a.m. Tahiti time.

The Air Tahiti tarmac was exactly what you'd think: 3 dudes were playing yukeleles, a flower got tucked behind my hear and we were herded into a hot lenai-style waiting room basically right on the runway. Neat. I found a spot on a surprisingly comfy benchy couch thing, fall asleep almost on the shoulder of a severe german/italian man and woke up sweaty and nautious. Ick. Seeing that we've got about 20 mins before boarding I stumble to the bathroom, super syched to pee, throw some water on my face and get this final 3rd leg going. The bathroom is empty, i go in the stall, do my biznass and got to wash my hands. When I look up, i see something absolutely NOT good --- a dude at a urinal. In my sleepy sweaty tired ass stupor, I walked into the mens room. Sweeeet. Forget washing hands, I walked out, and went to the ladies room. Right.

Third leg was a dream. One word. Ambien. Love it. Landed in Sydney on time at 8 a and felt like a million bucks. I bought a phone, grabbed a coffee, and took a cab to Paddington, the 'hood where Kristen and Sean live.

I arrived and broke in, I mean got in, no prob. The first think I did at Kristen and Sean's house was take a bath, per the kind instructions on my welcome note. I take back everything I've said to knock this thing habit of relaxation - I sat in the tub, soaked and exfoliated, and started this thing.

(am in Bondi Beach at a cafe now. Need to go home and shower and meet Kristen. More later, real soon.)