(continue from Call 637 : Kampung People)
Hello Son,
Thursday, August 11 : Day 1
(flight to East Malaysia)
Dad set the alarm at 4 am in the morning.
We got ready.
By 4:20 am, Dad had called for a cab, which
would be arriving in 8 minutes, according to the
text.
We went down to the lobby to wait.
The cab should be coming by 4:30 am thereabouts.
Mom was not aware at the time, but something weird happened.
It was about 4:50 am already ... and the cab had not come.
Dad for some reason, lost all data on his handphone.
The internet data disappeared from his handphone,
so he wasn't able to connect to or contact the cab driver.
In the midst of trying to off his phone and on it again,
to try to call another cab, an actual cab drove over to our lobby.
At first, we thought it was our cab.
As it turned out, it wasn't our cab.
This cab came to drop off a passenger at our block.
The cab stopped right in front of Mom.
It was still dark ... Mom was not aware that there was a
passenger in the back seat.
Mom reached out and was about to open the cab door,
when the door opened, and a man came out.
Ohh.
There was a passenger inside.
Mom happened to utter, "Oh, we thought it's our cab ..."
to which the passenger who came out replied,
"Use this cab, he is free to take you."
Silence.
What?
Free?
As in free???
Dad quickly asked the cab driver if he could wait
for a few minutes. Dad wanted to check if our cab
was on its way to us.
Or not at all.
It was already half an hour late, and because Dad's
handphone was having problems, the internet data
was still completely out, we couldn't track the cab.
The cab driver was patient.
"Take your time," he said.
Dad kinda took his time, tapping the phone,
tap tap tap, to try to get the connection back.
The driver asked, "What time is your flight?"
We told him 7:30 am.
He glanced at his watch.
We should be at the airport by 6:00 am, thereabouts,
at least one and half hours before take off.
It was about 5:00 am then. It would take about an hour
to get to the airport. 40 minutes or so with no traffic.
God forbid.
We were quite late.
Mom was like, "Let's just take this cab ..."
Dad gave a final check on his handphone,
before putting it away into his back pocket.
"Let's go," Dad said.
We quickly hopped into the cab.
We were soon on our way to the airport.
In the cab, with one hour ride to go,
no one can fault Mom for having a million
questions in her head.
Was - that - not - strange?
Dad's handphone kaput, our cab did not come,
and out of the blues, another cab came along.
If that new cab had come a few minutes earlier,
we might have told the driver that we were
waiting for our cab, and that cab would have
just driven away.
Oh gosh.
We would have been stranded, because Dad's phone
was out, and Mom's phone does not have that
cab application ... it would take time to download
the app when we were already quite late!
However, that angel-sent cab appeared at the right time.
Thank you, Son.
You clearly had something to do with that.
For sure.
Free indeed.
We soon arrived at the airport.
There was no traffic.
It took us about half an hour only.
 |
| 5:27 am |
See how fast Dad is walking?
Hahaha.
 |
| 5:58 am |
Gosh, we had trouble here too.
Our flight details were on Dad's handphone,
and his handphone still chose to be out,
we could have been in so much trouble
as we were not able to scan our details
to get a boarding pass.
Thankfully, Dad printed a copy of the
flight details.
Can you imagine,
Dad also forgot to forward the flight details
to Mom's phone for back up?
This rarely happens.
When was the last time Dad's handphone
reacted in this ... this ... menopausal way?
Never!
Then again, we have not traveled
for a very long time.
It was just chaotic.
Finally, we were in the boarding room,
with our Starbucks coffee,
Mom sent a Whatsapp text to her sisters.
Nobody in the family knew we were making this trip.
Mom wrote :
At KLIA boarding room now.
Grandma for sure cannot travel on her own.
Was quite kelam-kabut for us.
Morning, Bryan called Grab (cab).
Grab said will come in 8 mins.
We called at 4:20 am.
Waited 20 mins.
Meanwhile, Bryan's hp lost all
(internet) data. The hp is on but couldn't
contact Grab.
Suddenly, one cab appeared ...
to drop a passenger at our block.
We hopped on.
At the check-in kiosk ...
flight details in Bryan's hp ...
couldn't access.
Thank goodness he printed out flight details.
Scan scan scan.
Failed.
Omg.
Went to counter ...
thought of checking in through
counter / human and not machine.
The human said,
"Scan THIS one"
and pointed to Bryan.
Went back to try again.
Successful.
Boarding pass came out.
Sticker for bag tags came out.
Even with sticker tags, we weren't
sure how to do it properly. Bc there was
one part that says, "stick here" ...
yet it can be peeled off and removed ...
Confusion.
Went back again to the human.
She had to show us how to do it.
Omg.
No need to peel ...
even though can peel ...
thank goodness didn't peel ...
both strips can be peeled off ...
but only peel off one strip.
leave the other one.
Go figure.
Then she pointed to opposite counter
and said to check-in our bags.
We went there.
Thankfully, a human was there.
Not another machine.
Bryan said, we haven't done this before ...
so the human helped with the first bag
and then left Bryan to do the second bag.
The first bag went in.
The pink one.
As Bryan was scanning the second bag,
he asked me, "Did you lock the bag?"
I said no.
I asked, "Did you lock it?"
He said no.
No words can describe the moment thereafter.
Stony silence.
Cold glare.
Not a single word.
Silence is powerful.
I tried to trace the moving roller to see where
the PINK bag was, but couldn't see the bag anymore.
Pause.
Fine.
Great.
Awesome.
Grandma definitely cannot travel on her own.
Welcome back to our travel adventures.
It's been so long since we last traveled.
(end of text message)
Time to board.
When we got on the plane,
Dad exclaimed,
"Aiyah, should have booked front row.
So much leg space."
We were on the second row.
Dad said, from what he remembers,
the first row is normally quite narrow.
So Mom asked the flight attendant
if we could switch our seats to the front row.
 |
| 6:48 am |
Yes, we could.
Look at the leg room.
We could extend our legs fully.
Yes, Mom too, with her 3 inch platforms.
 |
| 9:08 am |
 |
| 12:06 pm |
 |
| Justine said, "Matchy matchy ..." |
 |
| Heart-shaped waffles with strawberries & ice cream. |
 |
| Absolutely delicious. |
 |
| 4:59 pm |
Mom couldn't believe her eyes when the bill came.
47
Why ...
That's the missing connection!
Remember she saw the number 74
in the cab from the airport to Justine's house
and was trying to make a connection??
BINGO.
EUREKA.
ZAP ZAP ZAP!!!
You were clearly with us, Daniel.
Thank you for letting us know.
By evening time, on our first day,
Justine took us to the water front.
We took some photos of the sunset.
 |
| 6:30 pm |
After that we went to a small
Japanese outlet to have dinner.
The sushi was extremely good.
Our bill came :
Mom had to smile.
It has been the most incredible day.
And now, for closing :
87 | 10
8 8
4 4 4 4
ZAP ZAP ZAP!!!
Mom couldn't ask for more.
It really has been the perfect day.
After dinner, we went to the local grocer
to get a few supplies.
We ended up buying all kinds of
instant noodles ...
that we cannot find in KL ...
to give to your Aunts.
LOL.
That night in the room,
we tried to pack all the noodles in to our bag.
Oh boy.
We over-bought.
And so, we thought of the next best thing to do.
Cook a few packets for ourselves.
Hahaha.
 |
| Tom yum seafood flavour. |
 |
| Rice cooker pot. |
 |
| Very easy and simple to use. |
 |
| And delicious, too! |
We retired early that night.
Having woken up at 4 am in the morning
for our flight.
What and awesome day.
Thank you for all the repeated reminders
that you are always by our side, Daniel.
And especially, for keeping your sister safe
and out of harm's way.
(continue on Call 639)
