Monday, January 5, 2009

14 Hours in the Heathrow Airport

Waving goodbye to my friend at 730pm, I wandered off from the newly built Terminal 5 with my 3 big bags weighing a combined 28kg. With such baggage(physically!), I decided to head to Terminal 2 where my flight was supposed to take off at 8:50am the next day.

8pm - Took the Heathrow Express train to Terminal 1-2-3

9pm - Had Coffee and cupcake, bought munchies to last me through the night from Boots before it closes

10pm - Every shop in T2 has closed. Found a spot to camp out, using an 'illegal' power plug to juice up my laptop. All power plugs in the Heathrow airport public areas are supposed to be deactivated, even the staff are not allowed to use them for personal usage.

11pm - Started to browse through the year's supply of Cosmo that I downloaded from www.verycd.com on New Year's Day.

1120pm - Felt my IQ level going down with the flipping of each page of Cosmo. Deleted the whole lot.

1130pm - Started to read Elle. Lasted through a magazine. While the articles are smart and interesting, realized that there were more ads than articles. It felt like a comic book(Look at those pretty pictures called Prada, Gucci and Dior!), but for grown-up women (or men! I'm not judging here).

12am - Couldn't stomach another copy of Elle. Started on the Scarlett Assassin by Margaret Atwood, winner of the Booker Prize. Noticed that more and more people are sleeping around me, on the carpets, on the seats. Munching a bit of candy to keep up the energy levels, so that I will not feel sleepy.

4am - Cannot stop reading the intriguing novel, not even when smelly, homeless man started to sleep near me. Must persist..

5am - Shops start preparing to start up. Finished the novel when I realized that I had read this book previously as I found myself anticipating the endings rather accurately. Dead tired, decided to head off to T1 where my air-ticket had indicated.

6am - Cursing and swearing, as I discover that the ticket was wrong and I was supposed to check in at T2. Brain not working anymore. Couldn't even manage a smirk when the air stewardess got scolded by her colleague for pronouncing Singapore as "Sin - Pore"

630am - Finally got rid of bags !! Tidied up in the toilets, toothbrush, facial foam. Nice, clean and wet. Damn it, I forgot to pack my face-towel in my hand luggage.

7am - Went past the gates ! Shopping time !!! Was ecstatic for 5 minutes when I realize that the number of shops numbered less than 10.

730am - Feeling miserable, tired, sleepy, just want to board my DAMN Plane !!! Plane delayed for an hour. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

735am - Started to freak out as I realize that I would miss my transit flight from Zurich to Shanghai. Hyperventilate! Panic Mode, called for help at the Information Desk, was reassured that the staff at the boarding gate will do something regarding the situation.

745am - The waiting. Oh the dreadful waiting. Tempted to buy 46 pounds LongChamp bag which I always see on the arms of Parisian girls. Bored, started to read the new Jeffrey Archer novel blatantly at WHSmith.

755am - Can I board yet ? Can I board yet ? Runs back to bookstore to continue reading.

805am - Can I board yet ? Can I board yet ? Runs back to bookstore to continue reading. Not even tempted by chocolate, this is BAD

815am - Can I board yet ? Can I board yet ? Runs back to bookstore to continue reading.

830am - Can I board yet ? Can I board yet ? Runs back to bookstore to continue reading.

840am - The status has changed ! I can board the plane !!!! Heads happily to gate, even happier to see that I was not the only one panicking about missing the transit. Not enough energy to even kick up a fuss now..

850am - Can I board yet ? Can I board yet ? Trapped at the 'holding pen', Stares blankly, nods off to sleep, stares blankly

9am - Can I board yet ? Can I board yet ? Yes I can !

920am - Can we take off soon ? Can we.... ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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