Luck is a costly thing

This post was started on a notepad (no, not Bill's notepad but a real old fashioned one) - hence my first handwritten post - at the Bangkok airport lounge, and was added more to it on an airplane to Rome, then added some more to it using Bill's notepad later and here I am, completing it on my work PC as usual. Quite an adventurous post eh? Oh and I wasn't quite sure how to spell 'adventurous', so, well luckily we have internet. Right, let's get to the original post then. The post contains present and past tenses mixed up as a result of it spanning several days, but couldn't be bothered to correct them all so excuse that please.

How often do you get an early plane ride rather than them getting delayed? Not too often right? This morning I was at the Narita Airport in Tokyo hoping to board a plane that is going to Bangkok airport, from where I'd take another flight to Rome. The plane was to depart at 10 a.m., so I was at the check-in counter a couple of hours earlier. The cute lady at the counter (her perfume was a bit too strong though) took my reservation, looked at it a while, checked some things on the computer and then turned to me and asked,

"Sir, your flight has a stopover at Phucket Airport before landing at Bangkok, so it'd be like 6 p.m. when you land there. But instead we can give you a direct flight, which will depart at 11 a.m. instead of 10 and will arrive at Bangkok at about 3.30 p.m. Which do you want?"

Is that even a question? I mean, who wants to be stuck on a goddamn plane for so long when you can cut it short about four hours? I gladly accepted it and ended up in a direct flight to Bangkok. Lovely. I usually hate plane rides for two reasons. One, I can't travel business class and the economy class seats - whatever the airlines is - are fucken uncomfortable. Two, I have this problem where I can't sleep on buses, trains, planes etc unless I'm excessively tired or suffering from lack of sleep. And spending several hours on an uncomfortable seat without sleep is torture so was all too glad about the ride being cut short. How lucky I am!

But then, after arriving at Bangkok I was faced with another problem. As planned earlier, I was to arrive there at about half past six thirty and the next flight to Rome was at midnight so I had to wait only about a little more than five hours. I had my iPod and a good book, so it wasn't going to be a problem. But arriving there earlier means I have to stay there for like nine hours, and hell I was tired even with the shorter trip. So tried getting some sleep on a seat at the airport lounge, but I was going nowhere. Hell with it, I thought and got a room at the airport lounge so that I could have a shower and a few hours' proper sleep. Now, when I got the room, I was told that I will get one meal along with the room and was given a card to present to the dining hall when I get it. The card read something like "Breakfast Menu All Day". So I assumed that I was getting a breakfast menu whatever the time I get it. Cheap bastards. Still, something is better than nothing right? So, first had a good shower, then some sleep and at about 8 at night I went to the dining room expecting to have my breakfast. I presented the card to the guy at the bar and he goes like,

"Sir, do you want coffee or tea?"

You've got to understand that these Thai guys' English is pretty bad, add the Thai-ish accent to that and pretty much they are incomprehensible. So I was like,

"Am I not supposed to get some sort of a meal, not just coffee or tea?"

The guy stares at me, then goes, "Tea or coffee, sir?"

Now, people, do not - I repeat, DO NOT - assume things if you don't understand what the other person you're talking to, says. Or if you're not sure if he understand you. I thought, hell maybe the breakfast menu means just tea or coffee, who knows, maybe that's the Thai way. So I said I wanted tea, but hell I was so hungry and wanted to eat something so badly. Therefore, using a mixture of broken English, sign language and pointing at the menu card I ordered some Thai-Chinese-Rice. The guy happily went away and in a couple of minutes brings me a fruit juice, couple of slices of toasted bread and some buns with jam and butter. I was getting confused, thinking maybe the guy didn't understand me so called him and said that I ordered a rice. He
gives me a big smile and says,

"Rice coming sir."

"What's this then?"

"Breakfast"

Fuck.

No I didn't say that, but so wanted to. I must have looked quite foolish eating a breakfast meal and a fried rice at the same time, at about 8 in the evening. By that time I was wishing that I was not given a direct flight because then in the first place I wouldn't have had to get this stupid
room. Thus would have saved me some money and the embarrassment. By the way, Thai Fried Rice is quite good. You must try sometimes, though I advice you to listen carefully while ordering it.

Anyway, after much adventures - well, not really - I boarded the flight to Rome. By the way, why is it that boarding pass called that? I mean, I know it is the pass given when you board the plane and all, but for all the fancy-ness and posh-ness at the airports, they could have picked a more cooler name. This time, I was on an aisle seat, and on the two seats next to me there was and old couple. Funny accent. A bit too polite but grumpy at the same time. Evidently British. Now, again luck was on my side. This time the flight was going to be 11 hours, and I was hoping against hope that I'd get an empty seat next to me. Though it wasn't to be, the guy in front of the Brit couple leaned his seat back to the fullest and the old fella got pissed off. So did I because the guy in front of me did the same. So after a while, I got up and asked an air hostess whether I could find another seat. She came back in a minute and led me to a seat next to a gorgeous chick! She sure was. We exchanged smiles, me hoping to exchange some more later, like a phone number (huh, you thought something else didn't you?) and I settled down on the seat. Just then, the hostess comes back and says,

"Sir, the couple next to your seat left to another seat. Do you want to go there?"

Damn!

I was made to chose between this hot chick and a good night sleep. But I thought, what the hell, she'd leave after arriving in Italy anyway, I'd get a sleep rather and went back to my seat. And had full three seats to myself and had a really comfortable time there. See, luck is costly!


More about the time spent in Italy and pics in the next post.

Happy Week Fellas!