Welcome Back

Thai Airways would not let me re-route my flight, so I had to come back to Auckland. If I were to do anything differently on this trip, I would buy a series of one-way tickets instead of these roundtrips. Sometimes a girl changes her mind!

I was bummed to have to fly all the way back here for no good reason, but I changed my mind the minute I stepped foot in the airport. How weird is this... it felt kind of like home! The accents were endearing; I gave someone directions; I appreciated the Kiwi kindness. The handsome immigration officer chatted me up about my time in New Zealand, my more recent travels, and my future plans. He stamped my passport, gave me a big smile, and a warm "welcome back!" Aww, I love this place.

With the overnight flight, I think I set a personal record of 32 sleepless hours. I was up all day in Bangkok, up during the whole flight, and hit the ground running in Auckland. I thought I was going to have a full row of 3 seats to myself to stretch out, but some A-hole hopped in the empty seat just as I was about to get comfy. I didn't sleep a wink on the plane, but I did watch 4 - count 'em 4! - movies. Update your Netflix queue accordingly:

• Marley and Me - I expected this to be a mindless rom com, but it was a mindless tearjerker.
• Nights in Rodanthe - Diane Lane and Richard Gere were a great pair in Unfaithful (such a hot movie), but this reunion is a flop. The movie is based on one of those sappy Nicholas Sparks novels. That tells you all you need to know.
• Lakeview Terrace - This movies rides on Crash's coattails (race, police, relationships), but it was pretty good. I always enjoy Samuel L.
• Little Miss Sunshine - Still makes me laugh out loud! Steve Carrell is a god.