Showing posts with label Crowne Plaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crowne Plaza. Show all posts
Sunday, January 3, 2010
The Big Gray Cat
Almost forgot to mention... Not ten minutes ago, as I was writing the last post, a person in a big gray cat costume shuffled lazily through the lobby. It looked like Sylvester Cat from Loony Tunes, but gray, not black. It just walked back out now and gave a wave. So that was nice.
Kuwait Limbo Revisited
Greetings again!
The flight from Doha to Kuwait was comfortable and uneventful. The Kuwait airport was (typically) uncomfortable and chaotic, and it's unclear how I will actually check in for my flight tomorrow evening, but for the time being I am comfortably ensconced in a hotel by the airport. There are eight restaurants here, and chances are good I while try one of them tomorrow. A boy's got to eat.
The Kuwaiti system of visas and customs is weird. You have to get a tourist visa to leave the airport, but they don't actually ever explain that; you just need to know. So I went to buy one and it costs 3 KD, which is equal to about $11. They don't take credit or U.S. dollars, so I had to go to an ATM and get KD. Then the lady said she couldn't make change, so I needed to go to this pasta place in the food court (I'm fond of this pasta place and will likely go there again tomorrow. It's tradition.) to make change. And then things went fine until customs, where there were four massive lines that didn't move. One of the lines was for an empty counter where it seemed certain an employee had been and would come back to, but no... So I switched lines, met two American heading to Iraq and Afghanistan, and then suddenly we all got waived to a third line where the customs agent just waived us through. So one cab ride later, with all my luggage intact, I'm at the hotel.
Tomorrow I've got to check out by 12, then kill time either in the hotel or at the airport until 7, then off to Baghdad for adventure and the unknown, but not for dinner since it will be closed. Fat Camp starts then!
And now it is off to bed. Again (sort of).
Enjoy your weekends, and belated happy anniversary to Andy, Drew, Mom, and Dad. And thanks to Ivan for coming down to visit. And thanks to Kristine and PJ for acquiring the car.
Talk to you soon. I'm on Skype at tkilbride, and will sign up for a Skype number soon so you can call from a regular phone.
Love,
Tim
The flight from Doha to Kuwait was comfortable and uneventful. The Kuwait airport was (typically) uncomfortable and chaotic, and it's unclear how I will actually check in for my flight tomorrow evening, but for the time being I am comfortably ensconced in a hotel by the airport. There are eight restaurants here, and chances are good I while try one of them tomorrow. A boy's got to eat.
The Kuwaiti system of visas and customs is weird. You have to get a tourist visa to leave the airport, but they don't actually ever explain that; you just need to know. So I went to buy one and it costs 3 KD, which is equal to about $11. They don't take credit or U.S. dollars, so I had to go to an ATM and get KD. Then the lady said she couldn't make change, so I needed to go to this pasta place in the food court (I'm fond of this pasta place and will likely go there again tomorrow. It's tradition.) to make change. And then things went fine until customs, where there were four massive lines that didn't move. One of the lines was for an empty counter where it seemed certain an employee had been and would come back to, but no... So I switched lines, met two American heading to Iraq and Afghanistan, and then suddenly we all got waived to a third line where the customs agent just waived us through. So one cab ride later, with all my luggage intact, I'm at the hotel.
Tomorrow I've got to check out by 12, then kill time either in the hotel or at the airport until 7, then off to Baghdad for adventure and the unknown, but not for dinner since it will be closed. Fat Camp starts then!
And now it is off to bed. Again (sort of).
Enjoy your weekends, and belated happy anniversary to Andy, Drew, Mom, and Dad. And thanks to Ivan for coming down to visit. And thanks to Kristine and PJ for acquiring the car.
Talk to you soon. I'm on Skype at tkilbride, and will sign up for a Skype number soon so you can call from a regular phone.
Love,
Tim
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