missed flight…

i guess those on my facebook would have known, that i missed my homeward-bound flight last night… i was such an ass!

as i stay quite near the airport (15 minutes away), i always leave for the airport 1.5 hr before departure time, instead of the standard “be at the airport at least 2 hrs before”, so that i don’t have to spend too much time at the airport waiting for boarding etc. it has always worked, but apparently one can’t be so lucky every time, right?

i guess traveling too much has made me over-confident. i didn’t take into consideration the other factors that could cause delays… such as accidents, car breakdowns, forgot to bring passport, forgot to bring my e-ticket, can’t get a taxi, road to the airport super jam etc. i thought everything will go smoothly, every time, all the time.

anyway, i failed to get a taxi to the airport yesterday night. i stood by the road, in the cold and rain (more like drizzle in m’sian standard, but it’s RAIN in the desert), for more than 30 min and still no taxi came by! in the end, i had to drag my huge luggage out to the main road to hail a taxi from there.

by the time i got to the airport, i couldn’t find the screen with my airline’s logo on it! a bit panicky, i stopped an airport staff to ask. she turned behind her and was about to point when she realized that the screens above the counters were not showing the airline’s logo. so she said, “oh, the counters have closed”. a sinking feeling settled in my stomach then… shit! shit! shit!

the airport staff told me to rebook my ticket for the next flight, but i asked her if there’s any way for them to call the airline’s person in-charge, coz i was only late by a few minutes. so she pointed me to the airport office to get help from the people there. but when i got to the office, there wasn’t anyone there! omg, time was ticking by… more panic!

i went up to another airport staff for help and he pointed me to another section of the terminal to look for the duty manager counter to get help from there. by the time i rushed over, it’s already 40 minutes before departure and i felt my chances of getting onto the plane slowly slipping by. i found the counter and again, there’s no one there! frantic, i went to another counter (access baggage payment counter) to ask the staff there and they asked me to knock on the door next to the duty manager counter. so i dragged my luggage back to the counter and was about to knock when 2 airport staff passed by and asked me what happened. i told them my situation, and one of them tried to call the airline people to see if they’ll allow me to board. 10 more minutes passed before they called back to say it’s only 30 minutes before departure and they can’t allow me on-board. shit! shit! shit!

luckily the staff who helped me make the call saw my muka kesian (malay: pitiful face) and told me what i should do next: “go up to the cafeteria upstairs and wait until about 10 minutes after the flight has departed. then go down to the airline’s office in the basement. the people from the airline should be back by then. tell them your situation and book yourself onto tomorrow’s flight. make sure they make a printout of your new flight for you.” he even added in a “good luck” before we parted.

when i went to see the airline people, at first they said there’s nothing they can do to help me and told me to call their main office to work things out. but they did tipped me to say that i missed my flight due to illness or something serious like that, so that they don’t penalise me. and they said it in a nice and helpful way, not “it’s-not-my-business-i-can’t-help-you” kinda way. but i guess my muka kesian worked again coz after a while, one of the staff said he’ll try to see if their computers can be linked to the system and then he can book me for the next day’s flight.

waited for about 20 minutes while he kept trying but in the end, he managed to secure the last seat for me! he even put in the reason for my change as, “reported to counter late due to road accident”. and i don’t have to pay any extra charges too! i’m so grateful!

*phew* so much drama… so even though i’m delayed by one day in getting home, wasted time sitting around at the airport as well as the taxi money to and from the airport, at least i’m still going home for this chinese new year! must count my blessings…

come to think about it, i seem to meet with a lot of flight related “bad luck” this year of the rabbit, huh? delayed flight, airport closure, flight turning back halfway, stranded at the airport and couldn’t check-in at the counter… hopefully the year of the dragon will be much better!

anyway, here’s wishing everyone a happy, joyous, healthy, wealthy and prosperous year of the water dragon! gong xi gong xi!

happy new year from the land of the shimmering sands!

a bit late, but better late than never, right? anyway, i spent my new year's eve and new year's day just like in my previous years... avoiding all the crowded places and just lazed around at home. i did went out to have new year's eve dinner with my 2 colleagues tho', just to make it slightly special and different than any other weekend.


oh, and i was recovering from a flu, due to the weather change in sandland. the temperature is getting quite cold now... something to be grateful for, instead of the scorching heat of the summer!


ok, i know everyone's talking about new year's resolutions, something which i'm determined NOT to make every year, but somehow still managed to come up with a semblance of a resolution.


this year, i'm NOT gonna make any. i swear... but just let me give a little update about myself here in sandland, in point-form.


1. i really enjoy having the whole apartment to myself, which gives me plenty of privacy and me-time.


2. i've been cooking a lot, on and off, mostly simple meals. i feel i have a knack for cooking, even though i've not had much practice *perasan*. i'm thinking of getting a smallish oven, so that i can try my hands at baking simple stuff like muffins etc. i also need something to heat leftover food with, so an oven would come in really handy.


3. work wise, things are going quite ok lar. work is just work, so nothing much to talk about... i have made some good friends among my colleagues, as well as some enemies but who said life is all a bed of roses, right? and like what a colleague told me, "we're not here to make people like us. as long as we feel what we're doing is right, there's no need to think too much about it." anyway, those who hate me are just jealous of my awesomeness lah! *flicks hair* :D


4. relationship wise, i'm still happily single and available... still have not found that special someone yet. or rather, like what my colleague said, still have not been found! YET! :D


5. my horse-riding lessons are still on-going... loving every moment of it!


6. financial wise, things are fine too, tho' i kinda regret having hastily invested in a 10-year savings plan that is leaving me quite dry every end of the month, with not much spending cash in hand. now, i can only look on the brighter side of things, that is i finally have some savings put aside.




i guess that's about it... happy new year, y'all!