My 1st flight...@ age 30!!

Bangkok...of all places. I was a lil nervous when I learnt that I'm being sent for a 1-day trip to Bangkok.  Doing survey is ok.  But going on a flight was freaking me.  And Bangkok is surely not the 1st place I'd like to go on my 1st plane ride...maybe KL wld be btr since I'm familiar with the place, culture & language there...but oh well, I took it as a challenge.

And the mgr (SY) I'm supposed to go to is also not someone I talk to in office...not someone I'd go on a trip together...so my colleague was laughing at me on the whole idea!  And it was really stressing me up!  But I just took it cooly...I made arrangements for the tickets etc.  I didn't like the idea of getting stuck in a jam for 1 hr to go to the city for shopping & SY also just went to BKK for shopping so since both of us didn't wanna go to the city to shop, we decided to take the 2nd last flight back.  If we wanted to shop, we've to take the last flight back but we'll reach S'pore @ 10-ish.  It'll be too tiring coz we're taking the 1st flight to BKK @ 8.45am (thus having to be at the airport by 7-ish), coming back @ 10-ish on a Fri was not a welcomed idea!  So we decided to come back by the 2nd last flight, reaching S'pore @ 8-ish.

The day finally came.  We met @ 7.30am, I got my 1st boarding pass & while SY had b/fast wif hubby, I went to office to kill time...by snapping photos of my workstation & this:

Our flight was @ 8.45am...so by 8am we cleared immigration & headed to our gate.  Damn, they didn't allow hp to be on, so there goes my mp3 listening.  Luckily there's in-flight VOD, so after browsing the catalogue (was tempted to watch GURU, but refrained), I decided to watch Night At The Museum!!  But since the flight was shorter than the movie, I cldn't complete the last bit (I presume abt 1/2hr more) of it.

SY calculated the no. of hrs we had before we cld check in, and told me we had 3 hrs. 3 hrs!??!  I'm already full with the in-flight meal, so I'm unlikely to lunch @ the airport...so wat r we gonna do at the airport?!?  If we need an ave of 1.5hrs to & fro city by cab, we have 1.5hrs to SHOP!  So let's go to the city...1 shopping ctr where I can get cheap stuff wld be gd enuf for me.  The landing wasn't smooth so I felt like I was on a roller-coaster ride going downwards!  And it didn't help that some of the pax went "woooooohhhh"...in thrill!  I looked at SY and sarcastically asked her "what? roller-coaster ride is it?!?"  To which she shared with me that landing tests the skills of a pilot...some pilots make smooth landing...this pilot's landing sucks!

Anyways...after we touched down at Suvarnabhumi airport, SY went to make a toilet trip while I changed for another S$50 since we've decided to go shopping (initially I only changed S$50 for survival).  While changing money, I realised this Suria celebrity Nurul (can't stand her btw) & her family I suppose was in the same flight.  I just pretended I didn't know her.  Fish...I had no intention of bitching in this entry! Sorry.  Back to work.

The moment we reached the arrival hall's taxi stand, I instantly got amused & fascinated by the multi-coloured taxis in BKK...there's purple, orange, green & even pink taxis!!

Ok...call this crazy photography, but I purposely took the plate no. of my taxis, just in case anything untoward happens, at least whoever finds my camera will know I had been in this or that taxi! Hehe.  And oh...guess what I saw while in the taxi?!

McDonald's!!! Hehe. Jakun!  Anyways, the whole journey was just 1/2 hr from the airport, but we got stuck in a jam for abt 20mins.  So we took abt 1hr to get to where SY intended to bring me - PLATINUM FASHION MALL...a wholesale/retail store at this area called Pratunam:

SY did worry the cab driver wld bring us to Pratunam (instead of Platinum) Centre which is opposite...which he did actually coz he was on the extreme right lane where Pratunam Centre was...and since he cldn't get to the extreme left lane to bring us to Platinum, he dropped us in between these 2 & we took an overhead bridge to Platinum which was just few metres away.  In there, we went on separate ways...planned a mtg place & time...then off I went from 1 level to another...up to level 5 (there's 7 levels!)...and it was 10 more mins before our shopping time is up.  By then I already know what I wanna buy, so I quickly got some clothes for Amsyar & some home stuff (cushion covers & tissue box casing) for Mom & met SY & hopped onto a taxi back to Suvarnabhumi airport to check in & get back to work.

The journey back was syiok, bcoz the driver went at 120km/h thus we reached in just 1/2hr!  It was a smooth ride on the highway, thus I got to really appreciate the beauty of Bangkok.  Such a huge city.  The horizon is so beautiful...I nvr saw CLOUDS as beautiful as what I saw here in BKK!!  Something I don't get to witness in S'pore with all the high-rise!

I mean...look @ that! Isn't that how clouds are depicted in cartoon images?!?!  Amazing!

Ok, reached the airport, checked-in for our flight home which departs @ 4.50pm BKK time & it was abt 2pm BKK time so we had abt 2hrs b4 we head back to our gate for boarding.  The survey was really fun.  SY found it stressful as she's not used to it.  But I managed like a pro.  Except some problems I faced with cameras.  It was behind counters & those I cld see locked in the showcases, they hid the price tags under the item! Damn!! Means I had to ask the salesperson...who wasn't keen to entertain me asking prices of so many models.  And I had problems remembering the prices which are in 5 digits (eg. 11,230 baht) as opposed to a 3-digit S$599!!  I'm a right-brain person who responds btr with visual rather than auditory, so I remember prices btr when I see the tag rather than remember what the sales person utter to me!  Darn!  Other than that...all was gd.

By 4.10pm BKK time, SY & I met at our gate & we boarded the plane after making our last toilet trip.  Oh ya, what sucked was that I was having my 3rd day u-know-what...so it wasn't comfortable for me going to toilet.

Once the plane took off...I realised that Night At The Museum wasn't available as they movies available were limited to those that were lesser than 1.5hrs considering the journey is short.  So I decided to watch Jim Carrey's The Number 23 (which I nvr knew existed in the 1st place!).  Wrong choice.  It was goddamn boring.  To R(A) for my liking.  I mean, Jim Carrey & no comedy is so...not fun!  And the service this time sucked!  Look at this...my meal is served...but the cups were empty till 20mins later the steward decided to ask what I'd like for a drink!

Because I was unhappy, this time I decided to take home with me the toothpick & sugar!  Hah!  Actually, when I fly, now then I realise that these steward & stewardess are nothing but like those waiter/waitresses at restaurants!!!  What's so great abt the job then? Oh well, yeah, I know...getting to see the world F.O.C I suppose!??!  Whatever la...as long as it makes them happy & satisfied!

Home sweet home almost 9pm.  Interestingly, I'm probably the 1st person who went on a flight with no one to send me off.  Hehe. Coz I drive & I've season parking @ the airport.  So it's as ez as driving myself to airport empty handed wif just a pouch on my waist, go on my flight, come back wif 2 heavy bags of shopping goods (I got foodstuff eg chocs & chips too while doing my survey) & driving myself back home!!!  No need to trouble anyone!  Sad feeling...mixed with amusement at how independent I am!

Oh well...all's well that ends well...I had a fab experience on a flight for the 1st time on my life!  That 1 day BKK trip sort of covered for my horrible vacation this yr.  I take home wif me some beautiful memories of the sights of BKK on video & a dying desire to plan for a shopping-spree vacation to Pratunam, Bangkok nxt yr!!  Weeeee....oh....Insyallah!

Back to work tomorrow...sianz...look forward to coming wkend...coz I'll be on leave on Mon, 25 Jun...so will have yet another long wkend!  Yeehar!