made it....phew... what a day. it was pouring like it never had in edinburgh and my gore-tex northface jacket got soaked through when i brought my bike to leave it at Bicycle Works for servicing (it has a wee vacation too!)..... and then due to departure delays, i wasn't sure if the plane from edinburgh will make it in time for me to catch the connecting flight from frankfurt.... i asked one of the cabin crew members in german (and unwittingly got more attention than i needed because everyone was surprised that a wee asian-looking person should speak some german and english...BOO! stop looking please.) and she said that it was likely i would still make it.... and i did... just about -- after sprinting from one end of the terminal building to another hoping to avoid immigration/customs-- and quite ironically so; it seemed that lots of people from previous connecting flights were still boarding the plane in drips and drabs and the airport power failure (yo..tsk tsk.. das ist nicht gut!) meant that the plane couldn't push-off until the power supply was once again stable (now i need to ask my big brother - the aeronautical engineer - why this is so...perplexing). we were over an hour delayed. i was not cheery; me just wanna sleep. people were swapping seats all the time... separated couples cling desperately together... the boeing 747 was filled mostly with aussies with their distinct laid-back accent.... some passengers were not the most cordial. in fact the gentleman (referred with scorn) next to me along the aisle was, may i say, a colonial snob and was reading the Penguin history of New-Zealand. hmm. i was quite lucky that all the bizarre changes of seats by others left a free seat next to moi... on what was an almost full plane. this is the 2nd time such an incident has happened... one other ocassion was when i flew back to singapore from adelaide... i had a whole row of seats to myself on quite a full flight. i of all people?! the small creature with 3 seats all to herself! am i so detestable or are the airline personnel being really kind?! i better not know the real answer for fear of leaving myself with a low morale.
one observation: you don't experience 'rain' above the clouds. it's weird and wonderful... apart from turbulence.
anyways... i was thinning in layers as we approached singapore... from having layers over layers due to the unexpected rainy day in edinburgh... i ended up with a sleeveless top and my happy stripey trousers and my happy shoes, of course. papa was waiting for me at the airport and after some more test on my dwindling patience, my yellow duffle bag and big brother's old back-pack finally appeared on the carousel among those big bulky luggages that mummy seems to think i ought to have one too. (blaggh).
mum was at home unpacking from her Canadian adventures with her friends from her painting class. she was excited with her souvenirs. she had apparently added weight to her luggage by bringing back more stones than she needed. stones. yes. don't ask me to explain. she's crazy about them these days... i think she's using them as an inspiration for her painting.
papa has actually made some progress with clearing/tidying his things at home. i have to secretly admit that i am impressed. it seems my grumbling has had some effect! being displaced overseas makes it such that one accumulates more things than is necessary. i know this very well... so much so that every new little thing i purchase is an agony; i make it a point to get things only if i really need them. it's hard... there're so many things one would like...and possibly very few that one really needs.
mummy and papa took me to the local eatery for dinner, refusing my good intentions to pay for dinner with the usual parental spoof, "little kids aren't allowed to pay" (my eyes-rolling in annoyance; i hate being treated like a kid! they are living in denial i tell you!)... the eatery served dim-sum dishes and i was gobbling things up like i haven't eaten for years. bad table manners may! (oops)
so... yes i am back in the natural sauna...
posted by ~overacuppa~ on Thursday, 24 June, 2004 at 22:08 hrs
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