US airport nightmare

I came to US again for conference...left HK on a tuesday afternoon and arrived airport early...i went to airport earlier on purpose coz i never get to experience comfortably and without rush the luxurious of the lounge...it was nice for a change...i got to relax and walked slowly in the airport...yup, i did smell the "flowers" ;)

well, i boarded my plane for LA...I will arrive at LA airport at 935am local time and i have to rush for my connecting flight at 1115am. I figured, i should have enough time but i was WROOOoooong!!!!

That day, i arrived LA airport at abt 930am...but it took SOOOooo long for the plane to find its gate and by the time we could walk out of the plane, it was already 945am...i was panicking already coz i wasnt sure if i could make it in time...and from the gate to the immigration dept, it was such a loOOoong walk!!! damn, i wonder why there wasnt any elevators or carts to take ppl around...anyway, i walked super fast and was ahead of everyone else...i was happy coz i tot i could be the 1st person to arrive at the immigration....but i didnt know how WRONG i was....i walked for 15 mins at 10km/hr before i arrived the immigration...

When i arrived, my jaws almost dropped..coz there was a very very long queue and looked like everyone was stuck at the immigration....it was 3 "layers" long with almost 0.1m spacing in between each person!!! i knew i wouldnt be able to make it in time coz the stupid immi officers are very slow in US and they have a lot of procedures to go thru...according to my friend, US officer means useless and slow officer...hahah..how true...why i said true, please continue reading...

I knew i would miss my flight if i stayed obediently in the lines...so i wanted to expedite the process by taking some action...then my light bulbs went on.... i saw this officer directing ppl to the gates and wasnt too busy, thinking that he might be able to help so i asked if he could help me by letting me cut Q as im gonna miss my flight..then he said, "you have to wait"...i looked at him, a bit puzzle and thinking that he might not understand me, so i explained that i would miss my connecting flight if i wait in line..guess wat he said??? he looked at me and said "you have to wait" I was SOOoo pissed!!! what kind of answer is that? so not helpful one???!!! and hence, he accomplished the title, USELESS...

so after the rejection, i stood in line and the line wasn't even moving at all...Knowing that if i did this wat i should do coz if i stood there and wait in the line, surely i would miss my flight..now i have less than 1 hour to go thru eveything..so i quickly asked the ppl in front of me if it was ok for me to cut Q coz i waslate for my flight..luckily these ppl were very helpful so i made my way to the front and went thru a long process in 15 mins...then after tat, i had to go thru custom..again, long Q...i hate US coz it's like a big india to me..v inefficient la..and definitely wt we called SLOW!!!

After dono how long, i made it out so i had to find my terminal...i only had 30 mins and i knew i had to act fast...so i quickly asked for direction and almost fainted coz the terminal that i was going to go is 4 big blocks away!!!! i ran like crazy with my luggage and backpack....the airport is so outdated tat they don even provide u with shuttle bus or air train...so i ran and ran and ran...and finally i got to the terminal and chekced in and luckily they let me in, quickly went through the scanning process (which could take hours as well if there was a crowad) and i still had 10 mins to spare...scary man...i really am speechless abt US....luckily there werent alot of ppl at the x-ray counter or i think i would just being FFK....i knew i could miss my flight and take the next one..but then my colleagues were waiting for me at the other airport..so i put in more effort to make the flight..if not, i would just rather be FFK'ed...i was sweating and panting heavily after the adventure... :(

my friends always asked me how come i always have a lot of stories to tell when i go to US...well, all i can say is, US is a very interesting country...^^

Here is the map and the route of my adventure at LA airport...