Ayubowan

The above Sinhalese word is pronounced in the following: Ayu-bo-wan. It has two meanings depending on the manner of its use. The first is welcome, while the second is wishing a person long life. As I boarded the plane at 2.40 pm M'sian time it was the first thing I heard. I simply replied with an excited 'Ayubowan.' It would take only 3 hours from now to reach the motherland.

As MB and I boarded the plane we couldn't but help get the feeling we were in the wrong flight. I mean, the majority of the people were Indians. They might as well change the name to AirIndia inside the airplane. Also I started remembering all of the comedy shows that I had watched of Russel Peters. The ride home was going to be quite different this time. Just before take off an entire family of Sikhs entered my part of the cabin. Both MB and I were seated together near a window. As the plane started taxiing, the members of the family were trying to figure out their seats. There were quite a number of empty seats around, but despite that, these people seemed awfully seat-number conscious. I was like 'for God sake just sit somewhere because you don't want to fall over in a few minutes.' The cabin crew got involved and it was settled.

Halfway through the flight some guy either in the front or back of my seat farted!! Yep, that was quite a nose-full, if you ask me. I bore the full brunt of that attack. But never fear, I retaliated after they served lunch on the plane with an 'F' bomb. I'm pretty sure it was the guy at the back. The guys at the back were not at all very good companions to be with. In spite of the fact these dudes were Muslims, they started ordering beer. It got out of hand when they requested one too many. Both of then looked a bit whizzed. On the other hand, one of the cabin crew offered us wine, which we had to decline. He asked out of turn because we spoke to him about the bad passengers behind us, and empathised. Not having wine didn't ruin a thing for MB and I. Instead, we made a toast with apple and mango juice at 40,000 ft followed by a 'fist 5' (its like you knock each others fists head-on). We were in agreement that nothing can beat a toast at such an altitude.

We landed exactly after 3 hours flying time, and waited until all of the 'Indians' got out. We even got complimentary gifts from the cabin crew. Who said flying didn't have extra benefits?? If my other friends had been on the plane they would have milked this opportunity to greater heights.

Today, I went to buy bread, something I started doing since I could be trusted with money. That was from the age of 8 yrs or so, I think. The feeling felt almost the same. I believe mum has a lot of stories to tell. She finished one as I finished typing this halfway. It was just a neighbour issue, and how they keep prying on us. One thing about being a sponge is that you get real good soaking things up over time.

Later people, got to make some calls to a few pals and plan the festivities. Peace!!