A Month in China Day 0, via Air Canada -- going through immigration without a valid visa (how did I do that?!)

10 years ago, I left my hometown and started my life on a foreign continent. After my recent events in life, I looked back and reflected on how I ended up where I am now, and realized something that was quite shocking: more than 90% of the memorable and/or life changing events happened AFTER I left China. I suddenly felt the urge for a visit, no, a life back home, to be re-immersed in this rich culture and to maybe gain some new perspective in life. If nothing else, I will at least be able to visit some friends and family, and experience a ton of great food. Such urge was growing bigger day by day,  I just needed the last kick to get me off an enjoyable day-to-day life. Finally, a round-trip ticket for $760 did the trick. I mean,  who can pass THIS up?

At 2:40 a.m. September 18th, I packed one single suitcase and started a journey. Within the next 26 hours, I experienced several events that was more than a little surprising: I crossed the US/Canada boarder WITHOUT a valid VISA to each country, and with fresh fruits intact in my carry-on; I looked for a healthy and ended up eating at Mc Donald's; I got super fresh meals served before everyone and had a very boozy flight on Air Canada; and I almost drank a whole glass of dairy creamer before going to bed in full exhaustion. Man, where shall we start?

I guess it is worthwhile to explain how I ended up crossing the US/Canada boarder. Before booking the flight, I was very careful to check and made sure that the transfer would happen in the same terminal and all, and that I shouldn't need to go through the immigration or security in Pearson Airport. However, Canada has this peculiar rule that regardless of the length/purpose of your stay, EVERYBODY needs to go through custom declaration. Normally there are three lines for travelers: residents, visitors, and transfers. Unlucky for us, there were not enough officers (actually 0 officers) available for our fellow transfers, and somehow we ended up in the visitor line.  And here was where things went wrong. Normally, going though the custom, there is a separate pathway to make transfers without going through immigration or security, and since the officers were not there, nobody told us (there was nobody around to ask for more information, either). We ended up going through the wrong pathway and was referred to the immigration office on the lower level that There, I found out I was already in the wrong place without a valid visa to any country. Luckily, the officer did not give me a hard time (my intention of leaving was quite clear) and started talking about LED TVs once he found out what my research was on. In fact, the chat went on so long that I started to get concerned about catching my final leg of flight! Luckily, the security check was not too bad. I did have to chuck the expensive 1 liter bottle of water though to not waste $4. (What a rip-off, right?) And it was not until much later AFTER the security check, that I found an apple in my purse. I guess the security check was not that secure after all. (Are you getting weird ideas of smuggling with apples now?)

Alright, back to the trip. Time to talk, mostly about food now. One thing I hate about flying, and quite possible the only thing: the LACK of water! Everywhere you go, you almost have to pay 4+ dollars for a bottle of water (1 liter), and airports are so dry! Unfortunately, coffee is probably the cheapest and the most available beverage in any airport, but it dehydrates you! But who can stay away from coffee for that long? I ended up spending most of my money at Starbucks and various places, trying to balance between cappuccinos and bottled water, and numerous bathroom breaks...One thing I did not get from Starbucks though, was breakfast. I knew they had decent oatmeal, but while passing the Mc Donald's in searching for a bathroom at JFK, I noticed their fruit & maple oatmeal. What sold them was the flexibility with toppings. The default maple oatmeal came with brown sugar, cream, fresh apple pieces and cranberry-raisin blend. You can choose to omit any number of the above, and with everything included, it provides 58 grams of carbs, 5 grams of protein, and 290 calories. And it was under $3, even at JFK. Being a big oatmeal fan, I had to give it a try.

The lady at the counter literally just torn open an instant oatmeal pack and added some water from the coffee machine. I was glad that at least the apple was fresh out of the fridge and not some dehydrated pieces like those in apple & cinnamon instant oatmeal packets...Taste-wise, it was a bit on the dry end but still passable. Bottom line, it is a relatively healthy airport breakfast. Consider yourself lucky if you can find something better!

Lunch was much better. I got a very tasty salad from the Hierloom Cafe at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. It was full of delicious grains and nuts, and vinaigrette was tangy and refreshing. Too bad I only got a quick shot in the bag before boarding, it looked much better than this.

When boarding, I ended up with a much better seat than the one assigned to me earlier. Sweet! My meal also showed up before ANYONE else's. Apparently I had chosen special "fruit plate meals" when I booked the flight and had forgot all about it! Overall, I was very impressed on how fresh the fruits were -- all perfectly chilled and fresh, to the right ripeness, and so juicy!

We were served two meals and a snack during a 14-hour-flight. The frequency reminded me of the post surgery vital measurements...my snack included a quite delicious lactose free yogurt (too bad it had a bunch of additives including corn starch), while others got an instant noodle cup and a piece of bread. Needless to mention I would not want to swap :D

The beverage offering includes the regular water, coffee, tea, soda, juice, plus beer and wine. Of course I had to try THE beer that sounded new and interesting (or maybe cliche): Canadian! It was a larger, and quite refreshing. Not very remarkable in terms of complexity, yet I would order it as a causal drink when going out.

Their wine came in a nice personal plastic twist-off. The red wine seemed fancy, and the vin de France was quite centralized and emphasized.

It tasted like...a cheap wine. It could be used for cooking or mulled wine, not suitable for drinking. I was glad the trash collecting service always immediately followed the beverage service.

The white wine was surprisingly drinkable, especially after the red had lowered one's expectation by 100% -- it really couldn't get much worse after that.

In the morning serviceI asked for coffee with milk, and got a creamer of 10% milk fat. Cool, I thought, I just need to put 1/5 of the 2% -- that works. And it did, the end result was no different than using regular milk. Several hours later, when I finally got to my parents' place and opened the fridge for a glass of milk before going to bed ( it is our family tradition, our night ritual if you may), I took a casual look on the label, as it is a recent thing that the nutrition label is required on dairy products. Wow, I rubbed my eyes, >/ 8.9% milk fat? It's like the creamer in the morning! I stopped pouring, and wondered how was this qualified as milk and not cream. Apparently it is based on taste. People there prefer the high milk fat variety, in milk, yogurt and candies (have you tried UHA candy? 8.2% milk fat--those are delicious!) Well, to achieve this, the whole milk was blended with cream and powdered milk and some chemical preservatives, and I won't recommend drinking on a daily basis. I hope that there will be some real milk so that I can rejoin our family ritual!

Phew what a long day. Time for bed, without milk.