Plane 1 - Hong Kong to Tokyo - Boeing 747-400
I had quite a dragged out ding-dong session with Northwest Airlines, 2 weeks before this trip as I was haggling for an upgrade seat to Business Class. I was particular upset that I have amassed a bloody total of over 100,000 frequent flyer miles this year and I can't use them. Being the kiam-kanna man of principle, I stood my ground with my No-Upgrade-No-Fly stance and even threaten to fly Delta Airlines instead.
They finally relented and gave me my upgrade. Small victory for me as they didn't dared to call my bluff coz I did exactly that early this February. Flew Delta. Chor Luan. Heh heh....
Tracking back a bit, their reason for not be able to get an upgrade is that this particular leg's Business Class is all full. Well, as I boarded this flight, I counted the number of empty Business Class seats. I stopped counting after 10 empty seats and I didn't even bother to go to the upper deck to see. WTF? While couldn't they just bloody upgrade me in the beginning? Liar, liar, pants on fire!
Anyway the descent was a bit bumpy as I arrived at Tokyo a day ahead of Typhoon Kirogi, which I later found out, won't be making a landing on Japanese shores after all.
Plane 2 - Tokyo to Portland - Airbus A330-200
I have always prefer Airbuses to Boeings as the prior offers a quieter flight. I slept all the way to my delight as I am quite a light sleeper when in the air. We landed in Portland without incident and here's where I embarrassed myself as usual. So the plane pulled into the gate and the seat belt lights went off. We all got up and grab our luggage, getting ready to get off. We were all standing around as we wait for the aero-bridge to line up the plane in order to get the doors opened. So standing around and being restless, I unwittingly reached into my pocket and switched on both my phones.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
What ensued almost immediately after was a flurry of spam SMSes coming from both my phones. 2 messages from my Singapore mobile phone and 8 from my Ch1na mobile phone. All welcoming me to the new network, giving the local weather and how to save money calling and roaming while using their network service blah blah blah.It didn't help matter that I recently gotten back one of the phones from servicing and the ring shrills were at their highest. So standing there and nowhere to run nor hide, everybody was all looking at me. At first I pretended it wasn't my phone but being in the USA where the locals predominantly uses Motorola, there is no escaping from the Nokia SMS beeps. I guess to control the damage, I took out my Singapore mobile phone (the louder one) to start clearing the messages while leaving the other Nokia in my pants to continue with its crazy beeping. I guess my Plan B was to acknowledge one of the Nokia since folks here won't suspect a person to be carrying 2 phones and keep them guessing and getting annoyed with the other Nokia, whoever "the other person" could be, which by then was beeping its 6th SMS.
Plane 3 - Portland to Los Angeles - McDonnell Douglas-80
Just a short 2 hours flight but I did had a panic attack when I realised that my passport and boarding pass went missing, just prior to boarding. I ran to the Alaska Airlines lounge only to remember in mid-route that it was safely tucked in my carry-on bag. Silly me. Quite a deja-vu moment as just the day before, I was sms-ing Deek that I lost my iRiver only to find it my carry-on bag again. Hmm.... seems like everything is in the bag of mine. *scratch head*
Well, it seems like bad weather seems to hover around me as I was told that Los Angeles had a freak hailstorm that day before. It was such a strange occurence that it got my uncle to take pictures of the hailstorm. Will post the pics if I can get it in time.
Anyway, I will have a lay-over in Los Angeles for a day and hopefully there will not be an earthquake as the word around town is starting to spread that one is due anytime now. *shudder*
- Voxeros
1. mihuatang left...
forgetfulness: admit it... you are getting old.
Wednesday, 19 October 2005 9:35 am
airblog? sounds familiar. was that commented by me in MPTMH's blog? forgetfulness: admit it... you are getting old.
2. kIm left...
Wednesday, 19 October 2005 10:22 am
Wah. You are sure forgetful. But if I were the one in your shoes, I would be breaking out in cold sweat already. Hahaha.. 3. JayWalk left...
kIm: Sigh.... perhaps I should start taking ginkoba supplement liao....
Wednesday, 19 October 2005 12:31 pm ::
mihuatang: Yah yah yah! My apologies. Credit the wrong person liao...kIm: Sigh.... perhaps I should start taking ginkoba supplement liao....
4. nadnut left...
Wednesday, 19 October 2005 4:36 pm :: http://nadnut.blogspot.com
more msn orgies! have you had enough of our 'pussy' jokes? =X 5. akk left...
or was it for PMS? hmmm......:)
Good flights, good landings and good time over there! :)
Wednesday, 19 October 2005 5:29 pm
hey! take care of yourself siah! eat primrose oil! boost memory..... or was it for PMS? hmmm......:)
Good flights, good landings and good time over there! :)
6. Lynne left...
Wednesday, 19 October 2005 8:20 pm
Bloody Northwest always make things difficult when it comes to upgrading, I have 57,000+ miles, and I couldn't get an upgrade the last time too, I had to bloody pay for it!!! Idiots! Oh well, enjoy your time in LA, go eat a bowl of beef brisket noodles for me ... 7. Pam left...
Wednesday, 19 October 2005 10:21 pm
ginko biloba jay, it's ginko biloba! 8. JayWalk left...
Thursday, 20 October 2005 1:50 am ::
nadnut: You are asking a guy if he has had enough of pussies??? What d'ya think?
akk: Thanks. If taking Primrose Oil can get a guy immuned against a woman's PMS, I am so heading to Costco to get myself a carton!!
Lynne: You gotta know how to work the "system". Sure they make me grovel a little bit but I have only been denied upgrading once since 2001. That was in February 2005 which was also the time I was about to jump ship to Delta before they relented and acceded to my requests.
Guess I am back to Northwest for now....
Anyway, if you are interested and got time, I can teach you some of the tips and tricks to work around the "system".
Pam: Isn't Ginkoba short for Ginko Bilo... er... I forget....
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