At about a quarter after 11 am, I hit the road to head over to LAX Airport for my flight out to London. While there was some traffic along the way, it wasn't too bad and I had plenty of time before my flight was scheduled to take off. Once I had arrived, I drove over to the Four Points by Sheraton LAX to park my car. I had prepaid for parking with SpotHero.
Four Points by Sheraton
I caught a shuttle ride over to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The traffic around the horseshoe was atrocious! So much construction! So many cars weaving in and out! After being dropped off, I headed over to join the line for TSA screening. While the line was long, it moved fairly quickly and efficiently. Once I had gotten through that and found my gate, it was time for me to get some lunch. Since my gate was in the Great Hall, I ended up just getting something at Starbucks. I skipped the long line and placed my order on the mobile app. I got my usual salted caramel cream cold brew and added the tomato & mozzarella on focaccia. I then waited for my food and drink at the pick up area.
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Great Hall
Starbucks
Tomato & mozzarella on focaccia and salted caramel cream cold brew
Tomato & mozzarella on focaccia
While eating my food, I realized that I had forgotten to pack my charging cable for my one and only Apple product. So I started walking around to different stores to check out the prices for cables. I even stopped in at a bookstore called, Book Soup, where they sold manga! I found that most of the cables were being sold for $29.99 for a 3.3 ft cable. I finally settled for one that was $26.99 plus tax from the iStore. I swear, Apple makes the shittiest quality cables. The one that I had left back at home was due to be replaced.
Manga
I forgot to pack my charger for my 1 Apple product
Even though I wasn't assigned a seat until I checked into my flight yesterday, I was able to score an aisle seat for my flight out to London Heathrow. Although I had purchased a basic economy ticket with American Airlines, it was a British Airways flight. That turned out to be a good thing as I didn't have to wait to board with the last group. I'll have to keep that in mind for any future flights.
During the long roughly 10.5 hour flight, I ended up watching two movies. After those movies, I turned off the screen and tried to catch some shuteye.
- Everything Everywhere All at Once: Man, that was one trippy movie! It was a weird experience to say the least, but pretty original and quite enjoyable. I think the multiverse was done better here than the MCU.
- Jurassic World Dominion: That was a total snoozer! Can they please stop making these movies? If you haven't seen this yet, there's really no need. Do yourself a favor and just skip it. Why was this movie even made?
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Jurassic World Dominion
Friday 9/30
We were served some breakfast before we landed at London Heathrow Airport at about 15 minutes to 10 am. After getting off of the plane, it was time to get through border security which has become a much quicker process. For someone with a US passport, I was able to use one of the automated gates. When it was my turn, I just had to scan my passport and have my picture taken.
Prior to catching the train, I got some money changed into pounds just in case. Fortunately, I had arrived on a Friday as there were planned rail strikes to occur tomorrow. I followed the signs and caught the Heathrow Express train over to Paddington.
I was a bit tired, so I had trouble at first locating the underground rail when I arrived at Paddington. I should've looked down as they had directional markings on the floor letting you know where to go. I mistakenly ended up at an overground platform, but a station employee was able to show me the right direction. I took the Bakerloo line over to the Jubilee line which I took over to Canning Town. From there, I caught the DLR line over to Custom House station. The ExCeL London was conveniently connected to the station.
Canning Town station
ExCeL London
For a World Marathon Major, this was one of the easier expos to attend! I was expecting it to be as chaotic and overwhelming as the NYC Marathon, but it was much easier. It was very well streamlined. After getting scanned in, they printed a bib for me and gave me a clear bag for me to check any gear on race day. Then I proceeded through the rest of the expo.
Expo entrance
Collect bib here
Abbott World Marathon Majors
In the New Balance area, they had set up a spot where you can line up to get your picture taken. There were about 4 different London Marathon designs that you could stand behind. For some reason, the guy that was managing the line didn't feel like we should be able to choose which design. You could tell that English was not his first language as he kept insisting that I go to the one that was open despite me telling him that I wanted to wait for a particular one. There was a reason why that one remained vacant. Everyone else wanted their picture taken with one of the other designs. Since this was pretty much the only time that I might get to run this marathon, I was insistent on waiting for the design that I wanted. I just told the person behind me that the vacant one was available if they want to go ahead of me. Problem solved.
After getting that photo out of the way, I walked past the graffiti wall and stopped at the wall with all of the participants' names to locate mine. It took a while, but eventually I found it after walking from one end to the other.
Graffiti wall
Participants' name wall
Found my name
As for the official merchandise, it was actually pretty disappointing. The hot item seemed to be the jackets, but I thought that they looked pretty dang ugly. I eventually just settled on getting a cotton shirt with all of the locations along the course. When I paid for my item, the cashier was actually from the States. I asked since he didn't have a British accent. He told me that he was originally from Boston.
Souvenir shirt
Back of shirt
After that I checked out all of the vendor booths. The charity, Organization for Autism Research (OAR), that I would be running for on Sunday wasn't a big one as they didn't have a booth at the expo. I did get a flyer for the Sydney Marathon which had a registration code for a very deep discount! I could register for only $42.40 AUD which was roughly, $26.20 USD! That works out great for me as I was planning to run Sydney back in 2020 before the COVID shutdown happened.
Register for Sydney Marathon for only $42.40 AUD (~$26.20 USD)!
Expo exit
After I was done with the expo, I headed back to the Custom House station to catch the light rail. I backtracked my way over to Paddington station. From there, I walked a few short blocks over to the Days Inn Hyde Park on Sussex Gardens to check into my room. I was assigned room #118. I had to go up 1 flight of stairs to reach my room. Although my room was pretty tiny, it was nice to finally set my bags down and take a nap. It was about the same size as the hotel rooms that I've stayed at in Japan.
Days Inn Hyde Park
At about 4:30 pm, I headed out to pick up dinner. I decided to get some fish & chips at the nearby Micky's Fish Bar over on Norfolk Pl. They had different fish from which to choose. I went with cod. Everything was already cooked and sitting under a heat lamp, so shortly after paying, I was taking it back to my room to eat. About an hour after finishing my meal, I went back out to buy some water at a Portland Food & Wine convenience store. I attempted to use some of my old £1 coins, but the cashier noticed and told me that I needed to get those changed at a bank. Thankfully, I had enough of the current coins to pay for my water. I could've just used my credit card, but I was trying to get rid of my coins.
Cod fish & chips
1.5L bottle of water x2
Saturday 10/1
In the morning, I watched some Danger Mouse. It looked to be an updated version of the cartoon that I had last seen back in the early 1990's on Nickelodeon. After I had gotten ready, I headed downstairs to get a light breakfast.
Danger Mouse!
Hotel breakfast
I didn't want to spend too much time on my feet the day before the marathon, but still I wanted to walk over to Buckingham Palace to check out the final stretch and the finish line area. I first headed south to the Kensington Gardens. There were many people out jogging as I made my way over to the Peter Pan statue. It was a very beautiful and well maintained garden. I will have to return and explore more of it on a future visit.
Peter Pan statue
I continued along the path, going underneath the Serpentine Bridge into Hyde Park. I had planned to check out the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, but that wasn't open until 10 am. I walked along the path next to The Serpentine heading towards Hyde Park Corner. There were many geese, swans, and other birds all along the edge of the water. I noticed that there were signs that said no swimming. However there were people swimming in the water. I believe they were part of the Serpentine Swimming Club.
Serpentine Bridge
Serenity
Statue of Achilles
Queen Elizabeth Gate
I exited the park near the Statue of Achilles and the Queen Elizabeth Gate. From there I took the underground pedestrian walkway to get to the Hyde Park Corner on the other side of Piccadilly. After checking out the Wellington Arch, I walked down Constitution Hill which took me to Buckingham Palace.
Royal Artillery Memorial
Statue of the Duke of Wellington
Wellington Arch
Buckingham Palace
Victoria Memorial
After taking a few pictures in front of Buckingham Palace, I checked out the final turn for tomorrow's marathon. The kids were running in the TCS London Mini Marathon. They ran either a 1 mile or a 2.6k course. I didn't realize that there was such a race taking place today. That made the finish area way more crowded than I had anticipated. The Mall was blocked off for the race finishers, so I walked through St James' Park on a path that ran parallel and eventually ended up at Trafalgar Square.
Final turn
Admiralty Arch
Nelson's Column
Trafalgar Square
King George IV Statue
After taking some pictures, I started heading south down Whitehall towards Big Ben. Along the way, I tried to locate the original location of the Metropolitan Police on Great Scotland Yard, but the little blue plaque was actually located one street south on Whitehall Pl. Instead I got a picture of the hotel.
Great Scotland Yard Hotel
The Women of World War II
Whitehall near Downing St
Westminster Hall
Big Ben
After getting a picture of Big Ben, I hopped on the tube from the Westminster station. I took the Jubilee line up to Baker St station. From there, I walked over to the Marleybone station to see if I could get some brunch at The Victoria and Albert before catching the North London derby. However they were not open. I'm guessing they decided not to open since there wouldn't be much traffic through the station with the rail strike taking place today.
Not the same Victoria and Albert in Orlando :)
I sat at a bench inside the station until I decided to check out the Sports Bar & Grill next door as a possible place to watch the game. The guy running the place told me that all of the booths and most of the tables have already been reserved for the game. However, he showed me a few tables and seats that were still available for me to stake a claim. I picked a small table that had a decent view of the TV's on the wall. It was still about an hour before the match, so I waited a bit before I went to the counter to order food. I order the three pigs fries which were skinny fries topped with BBQ pulled pork, chorizo and streaky honey bacon, finished with gherkins, sticky BBQ sauce and coriander. They were out of pulled pork, so they subbed it with beef burnt ends. They actually had a decent selection for non-alcoholic beers. I went with the Brooklyn Special Effects. As the start of the game approached, the place started to fill up quickly! What I thought would be a neutral location would turn out to be about 80-90% Arsenal supporters.
As for the derby, without Kulusevski in the lineup, the Spurs offense wasn't anywhere near potent enough to compete with Arsenal at their home. That goal from Partey from outside of the box was total luck. Go buy some lottery tickets with that luck! The only offense from the Spurs was from Richarlison being brought down inside the box which led to a PK from Kane to equalize. Jesus' goal shouldn't have happened. Lloris seems to be having these mistakes more often these days. Then what sealed the game was when Royal picked up his red card. Sure it was a really dumb challenge, but a yellow card would've sufficed. Of course Martinelli rolled on the ground and embellished as if his leg had been amputated without being given any anesthesia. The place would erupt shortly thereafter when Mr. Red Card Xhaka scored what would be the final goal, putting them up 3-1. As soon as the final whistle blew, I got up and left. The place was already noisy with their Gooner chants. Even with the sound defeat, it was an experience that needed to be had. I've been to London a couple of times before, but it wasn't as memorable as this. I still need to experience a game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Brooklyn Special Effects
Sonny!
Three pigs fries
Time for the North London derby, Arsenal v. Spurs!
After getting back to my room, I vegged out for about 3 hours before going back out to pick up dinner. Since I have a marathon tomorrow, I walked over to the McDonald's near Paddington station to get my traditional pre-race meal. I used one of the kiosks to place my order. I ordered a Quarter pounder with cheese, 2 mayo chicken sandwiches, and medium fries. I took the food back to my room to enjoy.
McDonald's... there's a marathon tomorrow!
Quarter pounder with cheese, mayo chicken sandwich x2, and medium fries
McDonald's Monopoly game piece
After dinner, I laid out my flat runner. I will be wearing my Spurs jersey tomorrow since my charity didn't send me my race kit in time for my trip. I will have to be prepared for the heckling as I'm sure to come across some Arsenal fans along those 26.2 miles. I then took a shower and tried to get some sleep.
Flat runner
Sunday 10/2
As to be expected, I didn't get much sleep. I had a hard time falling asleep so I ended up watching a late night Dragon Ball Super episode, "The Earth Explodes?! A Decisive Kamehameha!" It was the one where Frieza destroys the Earth after losing to Goku and Vegeta. Then ウイス used his temporal do-over to go back in time 3 minutes for Goku to stop Frieza from destroying Earth.
ビルス and ウイス
I got ready and left the hotel room at about 7 am. I walked over to the Lancaster Gate station. There was an employee there letting people with a marathon bib to go through the fare gates without having to pay. From there, I took the Central line over to Bank station. I then switched over to the DLR line which took me over to Greenwich station. Then I followed the crowd as we made our way to Greenwich Park via St Mary's Gate. While pretty similar, getting to your assigned start area wasn't quite as difficult as the NYC Marathon.
St Mary's Gate
Arrived at the Red Start area
Prior to heading over to wait by the corral wave entrance, I used one of the fancy portapotties. They have a guard/cover so you do not see what's already down there. Also these portapotties had a flushing foot pump. I then headed over to my lorry to check in my gear bag. At first, I thought about just wearing my sweatshirt hoodie and dropping/donating it. It was nice and warm with it on, so I decided to check it and wear the rain poncho. The weather forecast had predicted rain. Although as always, when you're prepared for it, it's almost certain to not rain.
Found my assigned lorry for my gear bag storage/transport
Runners for overcoming ovarian cancer
Sonic!
I guess I wasn't quite awake yet. I tried to get inside wave 4, but the volunteer stopped me. For some reason, I thought I was in wave 4 because my bib number started with a 4. I remember looking up my wave assignment prior to the trip. Also both the bib and app said wave 5. I swear this isn't my first marathon! :)
Wave 5 being queued up
Almost time to start running!
Cutty Sark at about mile 6.6
Nearing Tower Bridge and the halfway point
Crossing Tower Bridge
Crossing Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge
WellChild - national charity for sick children
Rainbow Row near mile 21
Big Ben in view means that the finish is near!
Big Ben
Final stretch down The Mall
5th World Marathon Major finished!
Finished
Finish: 5:27:56
Click here for my Garmin data.
Boy, that was quite the experience! I knew that I wasn't in shape to do my best and that I would finish around 5.5 hours. I struggled in the last 10k with leg cramps probably because there was no rain and the day turned out to be pretty sunny! The spectator support was awesome even from those Arsenal fans. Some of them really let me have it! There were a few that reminded me of yesterday's score. One asked me what hurts more, yesterday's score or today's marathon? I had to laugh at that one! It was a toss-up! Most shouted, "come on you Spurs!" There were several fellow runners that said, "come on, Sonny!" as they passed me. So it all worked out with me not receiving my charity kit in time for the race. I needed that energy from the crowd. I didn't see my charity's presence at all in those 26.2 miles which was a bit of a bummer.
After a short walk down the finisher chute, I received my finisher medal. Finally, I can cross the London Marathon off of my to-do list! 5 World Marathon Majors completed with only the Boston Marathon remaining! Shortly after getting my coveted medal, I received my bag of post race goodies and my finisher shirt. I think all races should pass out the shirts at the finish line! I also received a mylar blanket which I really didn't need. However, I will save it for a future cold race. I received my gear bag from my assigned lorry before heading out through the Admiralty Arch.
Finisher medal
Finisher medal side 2
Post race goodies
Oat bake
Finisher shirt given after crossing the finish line
After taking a quick selfie with one of the Landseer Lions at Trafalgar Square, it was time for me to head back to my hotel. I was going to take the Bakerloo line from Charing Cross station, but the station wasn't open from the Trafalgar Square entrance. I decided to just head down to the Westminster station and catch the Circle line. In hindsight, I probably should've checked to see if the nearby entrance at the intersection of Strand and Duncannon St was open as the walk down to Westminster felt very long after having run a marathon. I could've even gone to the Embankment station instead, but I guess I was too exhausted to notice the closer alternative on Google Maps.
Finished at Trafalgar Square
I didn't get back to my room until about 5 pm. After getting cleaned up and resting for a bit, I went back out to get dinner at about 7 pm. I decided to just get something quick at McDonald's. However, it was anything but quick. The place was packed. I used one of the kiosks to order the Sweet Chilli Chicken One - Grilled (wrap of the day) and Big Tasty. Big Tasty reminded me of the older brother, Barry, in the show, The Goldbergs. That was his nickname. It looked as if a lot of the people that was watching the Minnesota Vikings vs New Orleans Saints game came here for dinner. It took a while before I got my food. The Big Tasty was actually pretty good and reminded me of Burger King's Whopper.
The Sweet Chilli Chicken One - Grilled (wrap of the day) and Big Tasty
McDonald's Monopoly game pieces
Monday 10/3
I didn't have anything planned today, so I spent my morning just watching news in my room. I didn't go downstairs for breakfast. Instead I just ate the oat bake that was given to race finishers. It was interesting to see that the news media in the UK was very similar to the States. They ask questions not to understand but to try and trip up the politician. They must have asked the Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, the same question 5 different ways to try and pit him against the Prime Minister. Both of them were being roasted as they backtracked on the plan to cut the 45p rate of income tax on people earning more than £150,000 a year. Although that tax cut was just a small portion of the Growth Plan package, it was getting so much attention.
Kwasi Kwarteng, Chancellor of the Exchequer
BBC Breakfast with Jon Kay and Sally Nugent
After getting a nice sampling of their political news, there was a piece on Mr. Doodle and his house. The guy was known for his doodles. However, it seemed like he took that to a whole new level by drawing doodles on pretty much every surface in his house and not just the walls!
Mr. Doodle and his house
For lunch, I walked over to the nearest Nando's which was near the Baker St station. My friend, a fellow foodie, told me to check them out even though we already have locations back in the States. I got there just before 12 pm and the place was packed. Fortunately, they had an open table for me. Seeing that it was my first time at a Nando, the employee told me that I could either order on my mobile device or up at the counter. With either method, I just needed to provide my table number and they will bring my food out to me once it was ready. I opted with ordering on my phone. I got their 4 boneless chicken thighs medium spicy with garlic bread and long stem broccoli (i.e. broccolini). That was some delicious chicken! Medium spicy wasn't spicy at all. I did see chicken liver on the menu. I'll have to give that a try on a future visit.
4 boneless chicken thighs medium spicy with garlic bread and long stem broccoli (i.e. broccolini)
After I was done with lunch and got back to my room, it was time to veg out and watch some more TV. I ended up watching a show called, Antiques Road Trip. Apparently this reality show has been going on for many seasons, but it was my first time watching it.
Antiques Road Trip
For dinner, I headed over to Victoria station from Paddington via Circle line to meet up with an old church friend. I had not seen him in ages, so it was pretty cool to be able to meet up with him in London of all places! We ended up getting ramen at Bone Daddies. The weather was a bit windy and gloomy, so it was good weather for that type of food. I got a bowl of their original tonkotsu ramen. In addition to catching up with my friend, I got to meet his daughter. I gave them my McDonald's Monopoly pieces that were for some free food.
Paddington station
Bone Daddies
Tonkotsu (The Original)
After we were done with our meals and had settled the bill, we headed our separate ways. I left feeling grateful for the unplanned meetup. Our mutual friend really helped in facilitating the communication as I didn't have his current contact info. When I got back to my room, it was time to get some sleep. Before falling asleep, I was able to catch one of my favorite Bob's Burgers episodes, V for Valentine-detta.
V for Valentine-detta
Tuesday 10/4
The only item on the agenda for today was for me to visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. My stadium tour was scheduled for 12 pm. I went downstairs for breakfast at about 8 am. After I was done, I went back up to my room and just vegged out with some news and familiar TV shows until it was time to head over to the stadium.
Hotel breakfast
Pudsey
Plagg, claws out!
At about 10 am, I left my room and headed over to Paddington to begin my trip to the stadium. Originally, I was going to follow the route recommended by Google Maps: Paddington to Oxford Circus via Bakerloo line, Oxford Circus to Seven Sisters via Victoria line, then walk up to the stadium. However, something was happening where they were not letting people down to the Bakerloo platform, so I headed over to see if I could catch either the Circle or Hammersmith & City line over to Liverpool St station. Once I reached Liverpool St, I hopped on the Overground line and got off at the White Hart Lane station. From there, it was just a short walk over to the stadium.
Per the instructions, I went inside the Tottenham Experience shop to begin the tour. After going through the metal detector, I got checked-in by having the bar code on my e-ticket scanned. They put a tour bracelet around my wrist and gave me a multimedia device that would help guide me during the self-guided tour.
I made it out to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for my tour
Tour bracelet
After watching a short video about the history of the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, we were led inside to begin our tour. We stopped at the trophy display where our guide gave us some interesting facts about the club and this nice state-of-the-art stadium.
The not-so-empty trophy case
Kind of bummed that the stadium was in "NFL mode" for my tour
White Hart Lane's golden cockerel
Visitors' dressing room
Home dressing room
The original fire extinguishers were the usual red which they sent back for chrome canisters
Tunnel out to the pitch
Hanging out with Antonio Conte
At the end of the tour, I returned the multimedia device and got my prepaid photo. I selected the one where I was sitting next to Antonio Conte. They gave me a printed version of the photo in addition to a link to download the digital copy. Overall, the tour was nice for a fan to experience, but definitely don't come here when it is in NFL mode! As if the pitch being in that mode wasn't bad enough, there wasn't a single Spurs item being sold in the Tottenham Experience shop!
Photo cover
As I exited the Tottenham Experience shop, I headed south along High Rd to go check out the Son Heung-min wall mural before heading back to my hotel. The sky was starting to look like it was about to open up with rain. The mural was pretty cool to see in person. After getting a quick picture of it, I headed across the street to catch the Overground train at the Bruce Grove station.
VIP Graffiti Paint mural
I got off at Baker St station and went to check out Victoria & Albert. This time it was open, but it didn't look like they were serving food. After checking out the menu, I don't think they were even serving the breakfast that I had been wanting to try. I got up and started walking back to my hotel. It was drizzling a bit, so I had to hide the photo inside my jacket. After dropping off the photo and using the restroom, I went back out to get something to eat from McDonald's. I ordered the BBQ and Bacon Chicken One - Grilled (wrap of the day) and the McPlant. The patty for the McPlant burger was pretty tasteless. I gave it a try, but I will definitely have to stick to beef.
The BBQ and Bacon Chicken One - Grilled (wrap of the day) and McPlant
McPlant
McDonald's Monopoly game pieces
I had run out of water, so I went back out to the Portland Food & Wine convenience store to buy more water and use up some of the cash that I had. I actually had to use my umbrella as the rain was coming down.
Later that evening, I went over to the nearby Sussex Fish Bar to pick up a quick dinner. It was pretty similar to the other place that I had gone to earlier in my trip. I also got the cod fish and chips. The takeaway box was also very similar. All of their fish and chips seemed to be pre-made and sitting under the warming lamp, so I was out of there in less than 5 minutes. It was not bad, but boy was it greasy! I don't think I could eat it everyday.
Cod fish and chips
After dinner, I took a shower and watched some Pokemon before getting ready to call it a night. I pre-packed a few items, so I didn't have too much to do tomorrow before checking out of my room.
Team Rocket
Wednesday 10/5
It was finally time to go home. Per the usual at about 8 am, I went downstairs for breakfast one last time. I pretty much stuck to the usual items, but this time I got a hardboiled egg. After I was done, I went back up to my room where I packed up my stuff while watching some of the morning news. I checked out of my room at about a quarter before 11 am.
Hotel breakfast
Their scheduled rail strike was taking place again today, so I couldn't use my prepaid Heathrow Express ticket. I had to find an alternative way to London Heathrow Airport. Having done a little bit of research prior to the trip, I knew that the Elizabeth line was another alternative. From Paddington, I took that line over to Heathrow Terminal 3.
7 of 9? "Resistance is futile!" :)
London Heathrow Terminal 3
After getting through airport security, I checked out some duty-free Fortnum & Mason merchandise for a friend, but I was informed that they were having supply issues. The shelves were pretty empty for a lot of their products!
I then moved on to finding a place that was serving a full English breakfast. I ended up getting a table at The Curator. I ordered coffee and The Full Monty Brunch. I always love a full English breakfast! I'm not sure if things are different in the UK, but almost everywhere I go, the waitstaff would always refill my coffee to the point where I have to refuse more coffee. Come to think of it, my waiter went MIA until it was time for me to pay the bill. Maybe I caught him when he went on break. During my meal, I had a brief conversation with a couple sitting at the table next to mine. They had flown in from Denver, Colorado and was on a layover. I don't recall their final destination.
The Curator
Coffee
The Full Monty Brunch
Heading home
Boarding the plane felt a bit more stressful as it was an actual American Airlines flight this time around. So this time with my basic economy ticket, it had me assigned to a middle seat and boarding in the very last group. It would turn out that I had nothing to stress about. There was plenty of overhead compartment space for my bag when it was finally my turn to board. Then the guy sitting in the window seat asked if I could trade seats with him. He was a pretty big dude and I think he felt more trapped or crammed in the window seat vs the middle seat. Eventually, multiple people shuffled seats and he was able to move into an aisle seat. Everything worked out for everyone. During the flight home, I watched 2 movies.
- Uncharted: I know that I'm in the minority, but I'm just not a fan of Tom Holland. His version of Spider-man was my least favorite. However, I thought he was not bad in this treasure hunt movie. It doesn't hurt to have Marky Mark as your costar.
- Morbius: The reviews that I've read were accurate for this one. The story was pretty lame and weak just like the main character prior to him gaining his new powers. It's really not worth your time to watch this one. At least Dr. Emil Nicholas was a good guy.
Flying over Greenland
Almost home!
The plane landed at LAX just ahead of 8 pm. After getting off of the plane, it was time to get through border security. This was my first international flight in a while and just like entering and leaving the UK, the process has gotten quite easy. The lines were still very long, but they did well in distributing us into different lines. Once I got to the front of the line and saw an officer, all they needed was a photo. Then I was on my way.
I was a bit hasty in waiting for a shuttle ride back to my car. I hopped on the Renaissance shuttle because it was the first to arrive. Unfortunately, their shuttles also service the Marriott as well. Before making it out of the horseshoe, I saw that we were passed by a Four Points by Sheraton shuttle. When I was finally dropped off of the shuttle at Renaissance, I walked over to Four Points and retrieved my car. I was able to exit the lot using the same SpotHero QR code that I was provided.
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