it was another ordinary travel day.  or was it?

my flight to singapore was at 6am.  why 6? because it was $40 cheaper than the 715.  any other flight would make me late for my appointment.  when i booked the flight, it didn’t sink in that a 6am flight meant leaving the house at 4am, which meant waking up at 315 or therabouts to shower, finish packing and getting my act together.  that also meant that in order to be in any presentable (aka polite, friendly, civil) state, i’d have to get my required 5 hours sleep, which would mean sleeping at 1015.  to most people, this wouldn’t have been a problem.  but i am an insomniac.  i usually go to sleep at 315, if i’m lucky.  so what did i decide to do? NOT SLEEP.  bahala na si batman.

when i got to the airport, i realized that i was short on pesos, and i’d still have to pay for travel tax, since i bought my ticket online.  the atm outside the airport for some reason, wouldn’t give me cash (note to self: verify that no withdrawal was made).  ok, i’ll pay in dollars.  when the guard was checking my ticket and passport, another passenger just decided to cut in front of me to announce to the guard, “Singapore!” o ngayon? i counted to 10 and just pushed my passport in front of the guard, who attended to me first.  so far, so-so.

when i get inside, travel tax chicks were nice.  ok i can handle that.  then we get to the check-in counter.  i looked for the singapore flight check-in counters and lined-up.  i was looking for an express counter, but i couldn’t find one.  the guy who was directing “traffic” (meaning he was pointing which counter you should go to) pointed out the express counter to me, but it was in the row of counters for the hongkong flight, but it was servicing all flights.  gulo di ba? if they were grouping counters by destination/flights, shouldnt’ there be an express counter for all groups? if you were going to singapore, why would you go to the hongkong section?

next, the chick at the counter was asking for the credit card i used to pay for the ticket.  i said, can you give me the last 4 digits, I forgot which one i used.  she handed me my e-ticket, but i couldn’t find the number there.  so i said, miss i need the number.  she said, in an annoyed tone, “sandali lang, i’m looking for it.” e bakit mo binigay yung ticket, e yun pala, wala dun ang number?  then i asked her if the seat i pre-booked was still an aisle seat (after all, PAL loves to change planes at the last minute so i’ve been victimized with losing aisle seats that i’ve already reserved weeks in advance).  i had to ask her 3 times before she said yes.  haaay! check-in pa lang yan ha.

when i finally made my way to the last security inspection before the gate, the security dude was staring at me.  my cleavage perhaps? or did i look sleepy? ewan.  but they asked me to open my bag and show them my lighters.  because yes I had more than 1.  as i was trying to look for my cheap disposable ones, they spotted my windproof lighter and confiscated it.  i was arguing with the guy because first of all, i’ve been travelling with that lighter, in and out of the country, for the last 2 months (the last time was just 2 weeks ago) and no one ever stopped me.  second, the guy had a pan de sal in his mouth, as in a huge chunk that he had bitten off in front of me and was chewing while talking to me.  HOW PROFESSIONAL! of course i tried to argue.  if nothing else, i just wanted some consistency.  why now and not 2 weeks ago? kung bawal, dapat bawal lagi.  then the guys said, “baka hindi nila nakita dati.” so now the question is, what else don’t they see all the time? baka may mga guns, knives or other sharp metal objects na nakakalusot.  haaay! i feel so safe.

and just when you think, that you can settle down with a cigarette and a cup of coffee, TINDER BOX is closed! the place opens at 5am.  30 minutes to go.  so i decided that i should vent out my frustrations here and by the time i’m done with this and my egg salad sandwich, Tinder Box should be open na.  As the chick in my favorite Mervyn’s commercial said, “OPEN, OPEN, OPEN.”

siguro dapat next time matulog ako kahit konti, maybe i’ll be more patient? hmmm

and so here i am, throwing out all the negativity online, because from hereon, only good things on this trip.  only good things.