22/09/08
OMG. Home sweet home. Right now I'm in my room. My beautiful new room. At home. It's just after sahur. I feel like I've finally clicked my heels 3 times and said, “There's no place like home.” When I actually longed to go home, when I actually finally wanted to, I got it. Beautiful. So that's how the land of OZ works. Haha.
OK. Story.
So, off the bus went to the airport. Reached there at 9am. That's 3 big buses folks.
Jap. Subuh.
We reached the airport, took our huge luggages and walked in to a check-in counter especially for us. There, we gathered round, waiting. That moment reminds me of school days. When I was a kid. It wasn't much different than. Standing around, having no clue what's going on. Fighting to get in the queue. Talking to each other animatedly. But what reminds me most is our clueless faces. Like, waiting to be told what to do. Helpless. Not being able to make our own decision. Just like in school. It was quite sometime we stood around, waiting for the check-in counter to open, looking forward to our 12 noon flight. Looking forward to reach our destinations.
Then the queue line opens. We were hustling and bustling, trying to be the first in line, with our big big bags and trolleys. Babies crying. So a line we formed, like school kids waiting for their turn.
And the wait started. They had not actually opened the counter, so we waited. And waited. And waited, Then someone came along. Announcement: The estimated time of the flight is now 6pm. Another delay! More groans. It is, after all, just 10am. I don't think anyone had 'Waiting in airport' on their agenda for 8 hours. By this time, everyone is defeated. Some got angry. Some sad. Some just stared ahead. Some prayed really hard. But I could see the dejected faces in all of them. The flight is now 28 hours delayed. Even I almost gave up. Life just couldn't be more cruel.
Just when I thought I would stay there forever, an announcement: From the delayed flight, anyone with KL as their final destination, please come forward to the service counter. Woo-hoo. Yay. I know there's another flight at 2pm that afternoon, and besides, I've waited in line for almost two hours anyway. So I went to the counter. “Oh, you're in First Class. OK, please wait, we'll try to get you a seat on the 2pm flight. Excitedly, I sat, waited, took out my laptop and wrote some blog. That was where I was when I wrote the last post, at the check-in counter.
So then, after another, say 45 minutes of waiting, they ushered me to the other check-in counter, where they said if I didn't mind, they could get me a seat in Business Class on the 2pm flight. *Pump fist in the air. Yay! Of course I didn't mind. As long as I actually get home, they can put me in the luggage storing area and I would be fine with that. And that's saying something because the luggage storing area has temperatures in the single digits. And that's cold.
Then I waited there. Standing. Then I heard, “Zulaikha!” That was Aideeni. She was in line for the same flight! Wow, what a small small world, huh. Well, it turns out, she's not the one going on the flight, but her friend is, and she's just there to accompany him. So I told her about the delayed flight, and the hotel and more delays. Well, she was... shocked. Like, unbelievable. I know. But then, she only knew part of the story. There's even more to come.
So there I waited until the very end, typing away on my laptop because I've seriously got nothing better to do than write the blog post. To top it off, I was soooooooo sleepy, I would've nod off any second. But I waited. So, at the very end, I went up to the counter again. The guy seemed busy, so I waited. Patiently. Too patiently. A woman went to check if I could get on. A guy, waiting for a seat too, was busy praying really hard next to me. Then, when I finally went up to the counter, there was a problem. A few calls made, some angry voices. Some blaming. Other staff looking on in pity. And then, guess what? The flight has closed. CLOSED. Can you believe that? I waited there for a whole hour just to find out that I'm not getting on the flight anyway, with no other reason than the stupid flight has closed. Told you I shouldn't have been too patient. The praying guy didn't get a seat either. They told me to go to the delayed check-in counter again, try to get on the delayed flight. The 6pm one.
That was when I just about gave up. I told myself, if this flight is delayed one more second, I'm not going home. I'd just get a train back to Macquarie and celebrate raya here in Sydney. It's not so bad, anyway. And that was my original plan anyway.
So. Again I waited. And waited. And then, they got me. Checked me in. Took my bag. Gave me a boarding pass. On the boarding pass, it wrote Departure: 18.00. OK, good. 6pm. At least that was something. And then (jeng jeng jeng), let's guess what happened. Yup. Guess. We're talking bad. We're talking amazingly ridiculous. The woman from before came up: “I've just got information and they're saying the flight is taking off at 8pm.” Fuck yea. No kidding. She actually said that. Remember me saying something about giving up? Yup. This is it. This is when I'm supposed to give up. But. I've already checked in, remember? Remember? My bag's with them. I've already got a boarding pass. There's no turning back now.
What the hell was I supposed to do? Shout? Cry? Throw a tantrum and spit in their faces? Noooooo. I just smiled. Said OK. And made my way to immigration. The scanner. That would be my second time going through the same scanner, for the same flight. Whatever. It's not like the contents of my bag changed anyway. It's not like I could obtain a hand bomb staying at the airport for hours like I did. My mood was so down, I couldn't even smile. Even when the guy behind the counter was trying to be friendly, asking me some questions, I just nod/shake my head, and answered in one word sentences. I was just thinking: Why the hell did I go through now? It's just a little pass 2pm. It's not like there's anything in there. Well, it's not like there's anything out there either, anyway. At least in there there's a seat in the lounge with my name on it. And I'm sooo sleepy. If I'm lucky I might get some shut eye. But then again, it'd be boring. Maybe I should call a friend to pick me up and go hangout somewhere and keep me company. Wait, no credit. No point anyway, I'm past the point of no return.
I got in. Past the duty free shops. I just stood around looking at things. Trying on perfumes, looking at gadgets, thinking if I should buy something. Wait, no money. Broke! Looking at chocolates. Thinking I should just buy something to break my tenner (only $$ I had) so I could call my parents on the public phone. Called my parents anyway, had a dollar coin. Just told my dad about the further delay, the new flight time, which wasn't even confirmed yet, got disconnected, not enough coins.
Made my way slowly to the First Class Lounge. Went to the lady behind the counter. “May I see your boarding pass please?” As soon as she saw the pass, her face changed. “What did they tell you about the flight?” she asked. I said, “They said it departs at 8pm.” She smiled and said (brace yourselves for the wash of pity that would come soooon.), “Well, now they're telling me it's departing at 9pm.” Whoosh. Yup, told ya the tidal wave of pity will come. Even she pitied me and volunteered to switch on the TV for me, telling me of Dancing With the Stars. Uhuh. Like any TV program could cheer me up at this time. I just smiled. Took my laptop. Sat wayyy back. Wrote some vulgar words on the blog post. You guys read that, huh. Sorry again. That was inappropriate. Frankly, I wasn't in the mood. At all. You understand right?
So, at 3pm, I sat on a nice comfy chair in the lounge. Watched another episode of One Tree Hill. Waiting patiently for buka puasa. When there are no more episodes to watch (downloading in progress), I listened to iTunes. Did I tell you the internet wi-fi wasn't working? Yup, no internet, but I guessed you figured it out since I had to put this up later.
I just made dumb and sat there. Trying hard not to kill myself. Oh well, what the hell would I use anyway? A knife? Or the hand bomb I snuck past security? Anyway. Buka puasa. 5.50pm. There's a nice drinks cooler and I took a can of lemonade. Aaah... refreshing. The lady came around and took my order. Beef noodles. Yum. It was soooo good. Finished the whole thing in, like, 5 minutes. The beef was just so juicy. I'm salivating now just thinking of it again.
After my buka puasa, I sat at the couch comfortably, and slept. That was a nice nap. I was just too tired. I just hoped I when I wake up, the flight isn't delayed another hour or two or five.
Hmm... Guys, it's morning now. I'll get some rest, than I'll continue. And then I'll try really hard to get an internet connection. Soon. So you can read this soon. Good night. I mean, in the figurative sense, anyway.
It's afternoon of the 22nd of September. I just want to finish the story. In my beautiful room.
Where was I? Oh yea, the nap. I was woken up by the woman at the check-in counter previously. She was bustling around. She saw me awake, and asked if I'm tired. Asked a few questions. Told me to get some sleep if I'm tired.
I realised that I slept for quite awhile already. So I started pacing. What to do next? Thank God the flight time still hadn't changed. That was a relief. Went to the reception. Asked if there was a phone I could use to call my parents. You know, no credit, no coins and phone out of battery. Called my father. Engaged. Tried again. He didn't pick up. Called my mother. She didn't pick up. Oh well. Went back to my seat. Called my boyfriend. It was 8pm. He picked up and was like, “Hi Sayang!” He guessed it was me because if I got on the 12noon flight, I would've reached KL by then and would've called him. I was like, “Guess what? (Pause) I'm still in Sydney. In the airport. In the First Class Lounge. My flight got delayed again.” He was like, “Fuck, that's bad.” “I know.” Talked to him for awhile. God, I miss him so damn much. Considering we're still in the same country and state but couldn't see each other. Played games on the computer to while away the time. One game after another. I've got to tell you, it gets pretty old after a while, but it's not like there's anything else I can do.
And then. (Drumroll please) The lady came to me. You'll be boarding in 10 minutes. I said, “Finally.” Oh. My. God. OMG OMG OMG. It's actually happening. This flight is actually happening. I felt this huge weight, that I didn't even realise was there, being lifted off my shoulders. If I wasn't in the First class Lounge, I'd be jumping. Maybe. But at the same time, I was so freaking tired. Tried not to get my hopes up though. Just in case. So I asked to call my father again. Engaged. Gave up. The lady called and asked about the boarding, and they said it was in 5-10 minutes (well, they did say that 5 minutes ago, but oh well, as long as I'll be on that plane, and soon). Sat down, waiting for the time of boarding. Then, the lady rushed in, “Your mother is on the line.” Oh, about time! Talked to my father. Told him my flight would be at 9pm. I'd be boarding in a few minutes. And that I'd probably arrive at 3am in KL. He was like, “Don't worry. We'll still come and pick you up.”
The lady said, “You're boarding now.” Yay!!! Used the toilet. Said thanks and bye to the lady. Ran up to the gate (almost forgetting to ask the lady which gate it was, and she shouted it at me) and walked quickly into the gate, to the plane, before they change their mind (Seeing my luck lately) about letting me in.
Walked into the plane. It was the same cabin crew on board. They were enthusiastically welcoming me back. Turns out, I'm the only passenger in First Class anyway. Great. Good seat. Same menu. “But the food's fresher,” said a steward.
Sat back, buckled up, took out my lovely laptop, and continued my blog.
You know, that was heaven. I was so glad I'm actually on the plane. Finally. Finally. FINALLY. I felt this rush of feelings: glad, contented, happy, tired, and so so relieved. You have no idea. I was so glad to get to go home that the previous problem I had (The crying and stuff) just vanished. I mean, I don't care anymore if my parents literally locked me up in a cage for the whole two weeks. I get to go home. And it sure as hell is better than some airport.
Ate lamb as appetizer, chicken with coconut sauce and rice as the main dish, orange pannatone with vanilla sauce for dessert. Also some ice cream. And gourmet coffee with that. Slept. Reached KL at 3.30am. Got out at 4am after the baggage wait.
Everyone on the flight looked so tired and drained. After all, we were stuck at the airport for 12 hours.
Report.
Total time of delay: 31 hours. No kidding, mate. That was how long I had to wait for the flight. 31 bloody hours. Missed the kenduri at my house. Total time in airport on Sunday: 12 hours. Overall total time in airport: 18 hours. Bloody hell.
Guess it counts as an experience. After all, how many people out there can actually say they were on a flight that got delayed for 31 hours? Certainly not many.
XOXO
LoVe~
MzP<3
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