My sister gave me an offer that I tried to refuse. A free ticket to New York to babysit my 16 year-old, 6-foot tall nephew while she went on a long vacation. And, because I was a sucker who always fell for freebies, I said yes. And then I got the bad news. Because she was using her mileage for my ticket, I was going to have to take a 31 hour journey (once you pass the 24 hour mark, it’s no longer just a “trip”). Before I arrived at the Big Apple, I would have to make a stop in Singapore (bearable) and in Frankfurt (huh?). Yes folks, I had to take a bathroom and smoke break in Europe before I could “start spreading the news” in NY.
At first I couldn’t believe it was really going to take that long until I saw my ticket and realized that, I would be leaving Manila on Sunday afternoon, and unlike the same day arrival of my usual flight of choice, I would be arriving at 11am the following day. Aaargh! But yes for the love of my sister and my nephew and for the irresistible appeal of a free trip to anywhere, I accepted my fate and packed my bags.
Armed with 15 hours of TV shows on my laptop, over 25 apps and 90 books on my iPad, 5 seasons of Friends on my iPod, I embarked on this 1 ½ day of travel. I was used to traveling alone, in fact, I didn’t mind it at all. There was a time when it would have freaked me out. I was used to going to the US and home alone, but it was always the same direct-Philippine Airlines flight to and from Manila and San Francisco. But strange airports and routes used to scare the s*#t oout of me. But, even before the movie came out, I had created my own “bucket list” and high on that list was to TRAVEL ALONE. So went to Europe by myself, with just a couple of local emergency contacts saved on my cell phone, and discovered a new continent, rediscovered history and found a braver side of myself that I never new existed. This whole 31 hour solo flight was going to be a piece of cake.
I had seen enough disaster-of-the-week-movies and Law and Order episodes to consider for a moment that there could indeed be some mini-tragedy that will befall me once I got on board that plane. But fortunately there wasn’t. It turned out to be a boring albeit incredibly long flight. And though I’ve heard people say that it’s not about how you get to your destination, but what you see when you get there. After 31 hours traveling from New York to Manila, IT IS about how you get there.
First stop, Ninoy Aquino International Airport. When your journey begins at NAIA then you know there’s nowhere to go but up. There are only 2 positive things I can say about this airport. One is that, thanks to the porters outside, you don’t need to carry your own bags. The second is an air-conditioned smoking area in one of the restaurants. Granted it is on the second floor and the elevator never works. But hey, I would gladly carry my overstuffed carry-on up several flights to indulge in my one vice. Other than the horror of paying P90 for a can of Coke Light, I remained calm as I puffed on my cigarette and braced myself for what comes next.
Soon I was on board the plane and I was delighted to find that I had a whole row to myself. I promptly stretched out slept. I barely got any sleep the night before (which always happens before any trip, land, sea or air that I am about to go on) so I was happy to just doze off and forget all my worries. (At least until dinner was served) Yes folks, I am one of those people who just HAVE to eat all the airline meals, no matter how bad they are. For some reason, I am always hungry on a plane and I devour every little morsel on my plate. The rest of the flight was uneventful, I played a few games on my iPad and pretty soon, the “fasten your seatbelt” light was on and we were touching down at Changi Airport.
I was in no rush to get off the plane and decided to just let everyone else disembark first. If there’s one thing that really makes me scratch my head when I’m flying is “why are people in such a rush to get off the plane?” to the point that they push other passengers or almost clobber them with the bags they’re taking out of the overhead bin, or run over their toes with the wheels of their oversized carry on bags. I mean really? What’s the big rush? Unless you have a connecting flight or a major urge to pee, then sit back and just let the others pass you. After all, you’ll still line up at the Immigration Counter or wait at the baggage carousel.
When I was finally inside the terminal, I checked on the gate of the second leg of my trip and once I confirmed that I was in the right terminal, I made a quick bathroom pitstop, grabbed a drink and headed to the most important spot in the airport—THE SMOKING AREA. This pretty much summed up my 3 hour stop at Changi Airport. Walk, smoke, drink, check Facebook (Thank God for free internet!). Before I knew it (well actually I knew it, I knew it!) I was on board and getting ready for my flight to Frankfurt.
The Singapore-Frankfurt leg would be the longest flight on my schedule. This was roughly a 12 hour flight and, unfortunately, it was a full flight and I didn’t have the luxury of an empty seat next to me. But I was still blessed to have a nice (and skinny) guy next to me, who chitchatted with me for a few minutes before we ate our meal and settled in for a loooooong nap.
When we landed in Frankfurt, I only had two things on my mind, finding the nearest restroom and finding the smoking area. Am not a chain smoker, but believe me, 12 hours is a long time to be nicotine-deprived. On my way to the restroom, I met a Singaporean woman who became my unofficial traveling companion. Turns out she’d done this Singapore-Frankfurt-JFK flight before so she knew the airport quite well. We spent most of our 2 hour stopover in a tiny smoking booth and, considering all the different nationalities of the people in that small booth, had our version of a UN summit meeting (is that what they’re called?)
As my new friend and I were getting ready to board, all I could think of was, “konti na lang!” I was actually getting excited to land in NY. I think the gods must have been smiling down on me because I found myself next to an empty row and had a long and restful sleep, waking up only for those sumptuous airline meals. (I don’t know why but I seem to always be hungry on planes and I just HAVE to eat every single meal they serve.) One Advil PM later and I heard that wonderful announcement, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have just landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport.”
I survived. I was exhausted, I probably smelled like…(maybe let’s not go there). My hair had lost all semblance of style. But I made it. 31 hours later and I had finally landed. And then it occurred to me, I have to do this again when I go back to Manila….
The Adventures of Inday 