The day came for me to depart the shores of Lanka, and I was quite ready. I always face reality, most of the time anyway. But I must confess, living in a dream would not be half as bad. A holiday that manifested into many memories of all kinds is what lingers in my head. As I made my way to the airport, I made my final calls to those who are very close to me. Life 4 months after would be much different and seldom give you the opportunity to be complacent. There was a small part of me giving a meagre fight to stay back, but it was drowned.
Upon reaching the airport I met up with MB because we were to check-in together. Obviously, spreading the weight made sense since we knew both of us would be flying heavy. Time taken to check-in in the Colombo airport is ridiculous considering a handful of counters. Then an officer walks up to us informing the flight is overbooked. We were supposed to fly-off at 1.25am, but now the only option would be taking a flight at 7.25am via S’pore. This meant spending about 6 hours in the airport for which the airline assured we will be accommodated in a hotel. Number of people stranded amounted to 9: 3 Lankans, 4 Malaysians and a British dad with his sleepy daughter. The British dad started talking to me, and I replied in the same accent. In need of a demo please ask for it next time you meet me. I sure hope he didn’t think I was mocking him.
Hotel facilities were very satisfactory inclusive of a wake up call. You know, just in case!! Sleeping for 2 hours hardly gets you refreshed, but something better than nothing eh?? All the people were very groggy with the sole expectation of ending this travelling nightmare. It was a good thing I speak the local lingo, if not the poor foreigners would have been a bit lost. Local immigration officials never learn to have more than 4 or 5 operational booths. I mean, are these people retarded?? How hard could it be for them to expand their manpower without having snaking queues? Final minutes in the motherland were ticking away as the suns rays kissed the runway. Did I mention that our baggage's were cleared despite it being overly overweight? Well, maybe its not a bad thing being delayed.
I was to land in KL via S'pore, which meant that there would be a stop-over for about 2 hours. By the time we reached S'pore all the people were tired and doing their best to ridicule the airline. I joined in too because its the only justifiable thing to do. I mean, they messed it up at the start, in it?? In Changi airport walking was not welcomed, but there was nothing we could do about it. I thought KLIA was big, then here I am in Changi and its gigantic. I found a table were people were placing papers and colouring. The child in me emerged and I went to it, ending with about 3 different coloured portraits. There is a lot one can engage in while waiting in Changi, which is a good thing. Landed in KL at about 4 pm on 20 December fully exhausted.
But it gets better, as in, the airline gave us a free ticket for their error. More of my adventures in due time because I haven't had time to settle into campus life as yet. I'm still in the holiday mood to be very frank.
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