Dear pipsqueaks,
To a very long day n a very tired me: still waiting at Singapore Changi Airport for my flight to Sydney. But seriously, no kidding, I should’ve taken a hint that today was just gonna be a very difficult day in general. See, to be completely honest, I wasn’t being fair to myself by staying out late n didn’t actually jump in bed till 3:30am. Even so, I prepared to have a short night, waking up around 8:30ish or 9 to start packing my luggage- yes, I didn’t want to pack the day before just because if I did, I’d end up bringing too much. So I’d like to give myself a short time span to pack everything I need, except, more likely than not, I’ll forget to bring something as well. No worries though, I’ve brought what I need to “wear”- the rest, I can just pick up from a convenient store if necessary.
From the moment I opened my closet n started to think about what to wear to the meetings, there was a feeling of absolute tiredness. Ever since I’ve been traveling with a limit of only a backpack- for a maximum of a weekend trip- preparing for a 14-dayer was just one big headache. Not only do I have to figure out what formal wear to bring, I gotta pick out appropriate casual wear too (can’t just be walking around in my short-shorts n t-shirt; if anything, it’s gotta be at least somewhat semi-formal). For one, even though the events states “casual” or “informal”, u can count on people dressing up anyways. So, of course I can’t be too sloppy on this one. After a mess of almost an hour n a half, I had officially finished packing. By then, it was already past noon. With a flight at 4:30pm n approximately an hour-ride (without traffic) from where I live, I’d pretty much have to be on my way in an hour. But of course, if only things were that easy.
Being the last one to leave, definitely count on people asking you for favours- aka. Mission Please-Cover-My-Ass. Not naming anyone in particular, but this was just one of the most unbelievably amazing things that you’d ever think to happen. So, I was asked to pick up packages of printed materials at the office- which should have arrived before noon. But, no surprise, when I got to the office, there was no delivery of any sort this morning. I admit, I started to panic because I was cutting quite close to when I was supposed to be on my way (at least 2 hours before), so I really couldn’t wait. I called the dudes that were responsible n their reply was just hilarious: we didn’t receive the files for print. Oh, brilliant. Bravo. Thank you for wasting my time n sanity. Honestly, counting all the times I’ve had to rush for a flight, this one was probably one of the worst. For one, living in the city center makes traffic the most inconvenient problem. But regardless, I can’t miss my flight, so I rushed home, grabbed my stuff, hopped on a taxi n was on my way to KLIA…and what do u know, it started to storm. What a bad time. The taxi driver was already not the quickest, n now with the rain, he was just “the most careful driver ever”- if there was an award for it, that is. So, half fearing for my life, I stayed awake the whole drive to the airport singing to pop songs to keep calm. Finally, we made it a little over an hour.
Check-in, ya-da-ya-da, walked around, n with not much to choose from, I decided to have my super late lunch at “Sweet Recipe”. It’s really a dessert place, but I mean, it couldn’t be that bad. Now come to think of it, even though it was a different-coloured Vietnamese beef noodle, it still tasted alright. Pas mal. Then, I headed to the boarding gate to wait for 4pm. After a good half an hour of wondering why it took them so long to check people in, I lined up too. Now, what could possibly go wrong now that we’re all sitting on the flight waiting to take off? Well, apparently everything. Following a good 15 minutes of non-movement, the captain finally explained the cause of our confusion: unfortunately, Singapore Airport is suspending all landings for an indefinite period of time. WTF is that supposed to mean? Indefinite period of time….so we could be sitting ducks for hours n they didn’t think to HOLD THE BOARDING?! Don’t they know that the best way to catch anything bacterial is in an enclosed area, oh like a cabin where we’d all be sharing the same circulated air for however long we’re waiting? It didn’t help that the guy beside me n the guy behind me constantly coughed until I wanted to order some water for the both of them. So, I did the only thing to do in a situation like this: sleep. Soon, we were in the air heading for Singapore.
By the time we landed, it was 7:10pm n having been booked for the 7:40 flight, I wasn’t allowed to check-in as that had to have been done 40minutes prior to boarding time. Well, whose fault is it that we couldn’t check-in prior to taking off from Singapore?! Plus, they knew way ahead of time that people were delayed, so really, there was no excuse for not having thought of a plan B. Hai, but there was really nothing they could do but put everyone on the next flight to their original destination. So, I was pushed back to the next Sydney flight just past midnight. This had to be the first time being stuck at an airport for more than 5 hours all by myself. But, at least they had a heart n gave me a dinner voucher to compensate for wasting my time n, well, life! Sitting at a sports bar, I enjoyed my signature cheese burger while listening to a fellow traveler’s impulsive performance singing n playing to Adele’s “Someone like you” during the band’s break. It got me to hum along n made the night just slightly more bearable. After a nice iced chocolate, I’ve decided to wander around n kill time. Surprisingly, time passed by quite quickly when u get lost- yes, I was literally making circles between the 3 terminals, but it wasn’t too bad. I mean, I wasn’t in a rush anyways. Finally, it was time for me to board, and guess what I had to find out just before boarding? My coworker did some digging n told me why Singapore airport was refusing takeoff n landings: a Singapore plane skidded off the runway. GREAT! Good to know that’s how I managed to get a seat on the flight to Sydney…it was Singapore airlines. Well, fingers crossed, I will reach Sydney by today. I hope.
It’s been a loooooooong day n I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I can’t wait to get to WORK!
From Singapore, Jessy out.