I was never fond of plane flights, especially the acute motion sickness as a child. In this past year, I have taken six round-trip flights, including one international. My motion sickness is getting better, or at least greatly relieved by Dramamine, and it was the first time I traveled alone.

The international flight, although unpleasantly long, was the only one that was on time. I had 4 grad school interview flights between Jan through March, which were during the worst weather. Almost all my flights were delayed by hours, and some had to be rerouted.

My flight this Christmas stopped in Dallas Ft. Worth, where due to a 1.5 hr delay I missed my connecting flight. Sadly, it was the last flight out for the evening so I was rescheduled for the next morning. Fortunately I have a friend in Dallas to whom I paid a surprise visit.

The weather coming back initially looked a lot better. However, my flight from Dallas to San Diego was delayed by half an hour due to fog in San Diego. It was estimated to be clear by landing. Three hours into the 2 hr 40 min flight, the captain announced that the fog in San Diego is not going to clear until morning and the entire airport is shut down. We’ve been hovering over LA for the last 20 minutes trying to land, but there were no open terminals. Finally we landed in Ontario, CA, just east of LA and took a 2 hour bus ride down to San Diego. I was scheduled to arrive at 10 pm and ended up arriving at 2 am.

Furthermore, the next 4 nights were extremely foggy as well. I imagined all the people coming back from vacation.

After exploring Hollywood and Highland, we started walking east towards the Hollywood and Vine station. Across from the station is the Pantages Theater and thought we should check out the pricing for “Wicked”. The cheapest seats were $35 at the VERY VERY VERY back of the balcony, with the best seats priced at almost $200. Being cheap, we were completely prepared to get the $35 seats until we heard about a lottery system. Two hours before the showing, there is a drawing for 13 pairs of front row seats for $25 each. Anyone can enter their name, but must be present at the drawing with a photo ID and $50 cash (for the two tickets). There were about 100 people there, so our chances were about 24%.

As the names were drawn, there was great optimism and pessimism at the same time. At the very last name, when it was seemingly hopeless, we won! Little did we know that everyone who entered the drawing was offered $45 seats in the main area… but our front row cheap seats were still exciting! At showtime, we found that our seats were at the VERY left of the front row and was occasionally visually difficult when the dancers stood at the side, blocking our whole view.

The show itself was absolutely amazing! I love musicals and have a high appreciation for dancing and singing. The original “Wizard of Oz” never amused me much. The allegories and statements were interesting, but as a child, the movie passed off as a not-too-exciting fantasy story. The seemingly random characters popped out of nowhere. Because of the lack of explanations in “Wizard of Oz”, I am drawn to the premise of “Wicked” and other adaptations such as “Tin Man”. These stories complete the fantasy world. Everything in “Wizard of Oz” was explained by “Wicked” with a different perspective. Additionally, the music, set, and actors were all sensational!

As a follow-up to Sibo’s entry on commuting from LA to San Diego, I believe I found the cheapest solution. There is a bus I can take to Oceanside for $2. However, this alone takes almost 2 hours. Upon arriving in Oceanside, the Metrolink ($16) and Amtrak ($22) are both available. The Metrolink however, does not run as many times in a day. On weekends, both Metrolink and Amtrak are cheaper. My total transportation costs this weekend, including around LA, was less than $40.