21 June 2009
I got up half past 5 in the morning, took my shower, rechecked and headed off to the bus stop with me sis. Had a 2 and half hour coach ride to Gatwick Airport South Terminal which I almost missed cos I kept falling asleep during the ride. Got off and headed into the check-in zone i.e Zone A and had no clue which counter to go to cos there were check-in kiosks and counters. So I just drag myself and luggage along the line of counters until a guy signaled me to give me some help. I told him my situation and he checked me in but it took awhile as he was trying to change my seat to a window one. *u* Once everything done, I put my one and only trusty suitcase onto the conveyor belt and found out it was only 17kg!!!!!! The whole time I was expecting it to be about 20kg or so. Oh vell…the lesser I pack, the more I’ll bring back! *U*
Turned out my flight was delayed by 40 minutes. I was very much surprised cos I was expecting to wait for Filipa, another ICP-er from Netherlands, when I reach Orlando as her flight only arrives around 6pm whereas mine’s 5pm initially. Anyways, so I met some ICP-ers at the boarding gate. There was about 7 of us and counting…in the same flight. I sat next to an old lady from Orlando and we chatted for a little bit before take off. The only words I could remember her saying were, “Yes, I went Virgin all the way!” Then I slept through the whole 9-hour flight without having any proper food or snacks. Yay me and my queer body!
9 hours later……touchdown in MCO (I’m not sure what it stands for)!! When I queued up at the immigration area with my documents in hand, I noticed the guy at the counter I was on queue. The more I stared at him, the more I see Rob Schneider!!!! I was like,"Could he be who I think he is?? Ula in the costume of an immigration officer??” When it came my turn, Lopez his name was greeted a hi and how are you with a bit of Ula’s accent. I grinned and replied him while at the back of my mind I imagined it was Rob Schneider behind that uniform. Ha…… Then he directed me to the waiting room while my documents were being checked. Passed the review and off I went to the baggage claim. Waited for about 10 minutes and decided to walk around the conveyor….idiotic I know. But then me brain sparked and thought my luggage could’ve ended up at the Premium and Upper Economy area and dayaaammmm I was right. Thank God!
Pulled my suitcase, took the train to the main terminal and headed to the ground transportation at Level 1. Met lovely Filipa who brought me from Terminal A to B to got my discounted $15 Mears Shuttle ticket as it was faster to buy there rather than waiting at the Terminal A counter. The whole shuttle trip took about an hour or so as we were stopping from one point to another before we actually head into the highways for Vista Way Apartment Complex.
When we arrived, we got into the Pavillion for a short welcome session by the Disney Housing Cast Members….I presume that’s what they’re called but anywho baloo…I received a snack pack which I didn’t bother to open cos my stomach was acting all queer-y, apartment key and program guide pack. My eye lids were twitching by the time the session finished but the night didn’t end there as we had to wait for the coach to drive us to Chatham Square which is a good 5 minutes drive from Vista Way. By the time I reached my apartment, it was approaching midnight owing to my apartment building being at the other end of the property and the coach had to drop people off at Zones 2 and 3 before 4 which is yours truly. Long story short, I’m sharing with 7 other girls – 3 Taiwanese, 2 English, a Korean and a French – in a 4 bedroom apartment which I think is massive for an apartment. We’ve got like 2 bathrooms shared between 2 rooms. One thing I have to always put in mind is to lock both doors of the bathroom. I was expecting a wi-fi in the room but things always happen when you least expect it. So it’s only a 4 port LAN for all of us to share but we’ll make do.
Although it was one of the longest and most tiring day I’ve ever had and knowing myself extremely well that I get very shy and quiet when meeting new people but I’m glad I was able to meet new peeps from around the vorld. It’s a good start….so far.
Orientation Day 1 was today which I shall update hopefully soon.
Til then….have a magical day! *o*
P/s: Now that I’m actually living my dream but the feeling hasn’t sunk in yet. Somebody pinch me…
