Had to find my way to the complementary shuttles by taking the airport monorail. The cold night air was refreshing compared to the stale heated environment in the airport. There were lots of other vans and minibuses from other hotels arriving and picking up passengers. My view was blocked by another bus and by the time I noticed the Four Points van, it was already full. Just my luck. Thank goodness I have an empty bladder, and is ready to wait it out in the cold.
Expecting a half hour wait, I grab a more prominent seat and proceeded to sms my family and friends. There were less people now, with most of them departing in the other coaches. Within 15 minutes, the van came back and I was soon on my way.
The ride to the Four Points by Sheraton was less than 10 minutes in the late night traffic. It's location besides the airport helps too. I tipped the driver for his promot return.
Everything on the outside looks as I have imagined it, after much googling and views from Google Earth. Getting into the lobby, it was small but very warmly decorated. There were also renovation work going on. Check in was a breeze.
I had booked this room thru Sheraton's website but I had checked out all the reviews thru the yahoo and travelocity's travel sites. And there were some preety unkind words about this place, but I had decided to trust the positive reviews and booked it anyway. I had also chosen a twin bed room cause they were the only non-smoking rooms but is the same price as the single king sized bed.
Another plus for this hotel, complimentary in room internet connection. And it was blazingly fast...compared to Streamyx, that is. Too bad I was really tired.
And oh those 5 pillows on the bed are soooooooooooo soft and comfortable.
But first...a shower after more than 24 hours....
....then I have to get some dinner in me.
Luckily the room service was still available by the time I called because the menu stated last order at 10:30pm, and it was already a few minutes passed that time. So fried chicken it is.
Woke up to a cold and wet morning. Looking out, I could see the airport just as busy with planes taking off very frequently.
However, the condition was probably too adverse for this bird taking a shelter outside my window.
My flight was around 12pm and I checked out at 9am. I like the check out system in the hotels here in the US. I woke up in the morning with the charges printed, charged to my credit card and slipped beneath the floor. So in the morning, they just have to take my key card, check their computers, and in half a minute I was out of there. No waiting in line.
I had just missed the shuttle so I had to wait for the next one. There was a slight drizzle but it was not windy, so it's cool at around 15'C and I decided to stand outside the lobby, outside the entrance. As the minutes ticked by, I was getting worried cause the crowd waiting for the shuttle has been growing and I was thinking there was no way everyone would fit into the shuttle I took last night. But at exactly 9:30, the shuttle pulled into the driveway and I heaved a sigh of relieve cause it is now a bus. Phew! Everyone trooped aboard and soon we were on our way.
The shuttle brought me all the way to the correct terminal for Continental. The road side checkin was quick and efficient and after that I had my tickets and headed into the terminal. Security was thourough but quick and soon I was exploring the terminal. The flight to Charleston is slightly below 4 hours so I decided to grab a bite at Miami Subs & Grill
with a cup of wonderful Campbell's clam chowder (ok, I am biased towards Campbell's...it's been so long).
With a bit more time, I window shopped till I saw Borders. It's a medium sized store but have quite a wide variety of books to look at. I was thinking I really needed a book for the flight since I didn't feel like sleeping then. After a short recce of the whole store, I stopped at the latest books sections to check out the books.
"That's the best book I have read for a long time." the lady beside me remarked, as I was putting the book back on the shelf.
I had read the cover and though it sounded interesting, but I put it down cause most of the books on the shelf was good and I was just undecided.
"Thanks, I think I would give it a try.". That was enough endorsement of a book, so I picked up the book and walked to the counter.
That was how I was introduced to...
"The KITE RUNNER" by Khaled Hosseini.
(picture taken from http://www.khaledhosseini.com/)
"An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from the final days of Afghanistan’s monarchy to the atrocities of the present. "
It is very well written and the tale is very touching.
At the time of writing, it's not yet in bookstores in Malaysia. But I would highly recommend it.
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