Thanksgiving break to Philadephia 2001

Thanksgiving Trip to Philadephia... (20.11.2001 - 23.11.2001)

Some of us were originally supposed to go to Boston, but alas, transport woes caused us to abort the plan at the last-minute. Spearheading a separatist group movement, Leiming and myself checked out the prices of air-tickets on expedia and other travel websites, only to find the tickets fully booked for the thanksgiving break. We were in despair and despondency of having to stay back in dear CMU during this extended break, when Leiming suddenly hit upon Airtran.com and found tickets to Philadelphia for $33 to and $28 return. A hasty conference was called, and Colin, Ye Gang and Kelvin Goh were pulled in. I booked the tickets online and Colin booked a room at Comfort Inn Hotel.

We had to leave on the Tuesday flight, for if we had left on Wednesday or even Tuesday evening, the plane tickets would shot up to $80. However, our flight on Tuesday morning was at 6.55am. The 28x shuttle starts at 5am in the morning and takes around 1 hr to reach the airport. Rather than get caught in a jam and miss the flight, we hastily (again) decided to camp overnight at the airport. We packed hurriedly, caught the last 28x shuttle leaving Morewood at 10.45pm and proceeded leisurely to Pittsburgh International Airport. (Rated #3 in the world, according to Colin, which many did not believe... #3? siao!!)

makan at Arby's @ the ariport
Midnite feasting at Arby's at Pittsburgh Airport.
It was the only restaurant/stall open at that hour, but boy were the burgers good...

We ate at Arby's, and proceeded around to find good sleeping places. Ye Gang immediately plonked himself down on the floor at one of the Gates, while the rest were more hesitant and wanted to find a better resting place. Eventually, we smuggled into the children's playground (the floor was nice and carpeted) and snuggled behind the play area for some shut-eye. Little did we know that we had actually intruded upon a hobo's rest place as well, but we were 5 to 1, so she eventually gave a disgusted snort and went on her way... =p

Everything off! Kun already..
In the army, we would have got shot if we slept like this outfield.
But this is also the position we would be if we got shot.. =p

The plane ride was short but comfy. Airtran uses the new Boeings 717 jets and the one we sat was spanking new. Before we could sip our complimentary drink, the plane had already started on its descent onto Philadelphia. Philadelphia! Home of the Liberty Bell, Benjamin Franklin and of course, the Philly Cheese Steak!

phone booth to try and call for free transport
We tried to call our hotel to send a free shuttle to pick us up, and while Comfort Inn was on the list of telephone numbers to call, ours was the downtown Comfort Inn, not the one near the Airport, and alas, no free transport for us...

Our room in Comfort Inn Hotel was comfortably furnished and large. The 5 of us could fit in snuggly and still have space for pillow fights (not that we had any, that is.. we were too busy watching JennyJones...) We dumped our bags and began our foray into Philadelphia. First stop - University of Pennsylvannia, where Leiming's friend, Elwin was studying.

Look @ Leiming's cool pose
No need to strain your eyes to see who is who lah... Cannot see means cannot see..

Subway to UPenn
The subway was very much the one we took in Chicago, but it cost $1.30 per trip instead of $1.50 in Chicago.

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