Wed 7 Nov 2018.
Idah very nearly got left at Swarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok, Tuesday 6 November. Very, very nearly. All because she failed to check the departure gate, and lost track of time.
After lunch in town, we had plenty of time for the MAS flight MH 0775 for 6.40 p.m. to KLIA. When we passed through Immigration, it was only about 3.45, a good 3 hours early. So early, in fact, that the live departure screen board had not even recorded any flight past 5 pm. I wanted to walk around. I had clearly reminded both Idah and Bal to frequently check the departures screen and note the gate assigned to our flight. I assumed that they would stick together until boarding time.
They did neither of the two.
To kill time, I'd decided to check the endless outlets along the endless corridor. The total length must be at least 1 km. I kept checking the departure info. and finally our flight details came up, and the gate was "F" instead of the "D" originally mentioned. Wow, I just hoped the women would have also seen this.
I was wrong.
At first they were busy looking for the prayer hall. And worse, they separated, on Idah's insistance. She was reluctant to walk around. Her legs were failing her, she explained. "I'll wait here".
I'd walked slowly along the route toward gate "F", finding out that this was the last gate. Finding it still closed, I turned back towards the opposite end, remembering that was where the women walked to. I walked right to the end and couldn't find them. Hoping that they had by now known that our gate was "F", I turned back to "F". I stopped on the way to change the remaining Thai bhats that I had.
As it was now close to the 5.40 boarding time, I walked faster. But still there was no sight of the women. I sat on one of the long seats and waited. And waited. Passangers had begun to enter the now opened F gate. Now I was getting worried.
Then I saw Bal, Kak Long and Sargent, pushing an empty wheel-chair. And no Idah !. A quick exchange between us, and off went Kak Long and daughter and that empty wheel-chair in haste, looking for the missing Idah. "Kak Long knows where we left her" Bal assured me.
I checked the waiting hall again. It had filled up, with a line still being processed by the ground crew, so that was a good sign. The long line meant more time available. Later I found out that the flight was full, making the processing longer. That gave more time.
Now I'd grown frantic, and Bal had turned very quiet. I said to her, worse comes to worse, she should board the flight alone and look after our loaded luggage in KL, and I'd try to join Kak Long in the later flight.
As I walked quickly to and fro between gate "F" and the other intersection, Bal shouted "There's Kak Long !"
How could we not have seen them rush by ? The wheel-chair would have been very obvious. Yet there they were, going down the ramp ahead of us. Summoning Bal to hurry up, I ran to catch up with them, and I would try to stop the crew from closing the gate, if necessary.
Bal and I made it. We were in fact the last 2 passangers. We were asked to board the plane.
It turned out that Kak Long and Idah had an emotional reunion, when they finally found each other. Of course after this it would be a good laugh. Idah had stayed put where she was first left, but Kak Long had a confused idea of where it was, this being a very large place. And the other passangers must have wondered how can you lose someone with a wheel-chair, and the empty wheel-chair is with you ?
I was thankful it ended ok, but when they served the meal in the air, the fish didn't taste good, unlike when we were coming to Bangkok. I also managed to spill the sweet, orange juice on to my right leg, and the sweet stuff went through my pants and wetted my underwear. I had to pour tap water over the trousers in the toilet, wetting all of the right leg, just to try and clean up the juice. It finally dried up before we reached KL.
Otherwise the 5 days in Bangkok were fun.
The last time I was here was maybe 24 years ago. It was the other airport - Dong Muang. The bhat was 22% cheaper. And nobody spoke English. But now the shopping malls are comparable to ours, if not better. And English is understood on the street, even if rudimentry.
Bangkok is a very large city of 12 million, compared to KL with 2.5. Surprisingly, being a Buddhist town, there were plenty of "halal" signs everywhere we went, even among the street food vendors. And in all the malls we visited, there were Muslim prayer rooms, complete with ablution facilities. It must be the Arab visitors, I think. Plenty of riyals there.
In spite of its size, the city streets were clean, including the narrow backstreets. And all the toilets I used were clean, whether in the malls, the restaurants, the tourist spots or at the Chatuchak open market. These 2 observations are something KL might want to ponder. Plus the behaviour of the drivers. Remember this town is 6 times bigger than KL. I didn't see one accident, one argument or even hear one angry "toot" from any of the vehicles on the clearly very congested roads.
We stayed at an apartment, with 2 bedrooms, each with attached bathrooms, kitchenette, and dining hall, all air-con and all nice and convenient. Worked out cheaper than a hotel room without the extra facilities.
The tour guide, "Pear", a 41-year old woman, spoke passable English, and was always punctual, when we never were. Each day was a full 12-hour affair, riding in a van, the male driver expertly manoeuvring through the heavy Bangkok traffic. And at the end of each day we'd be beat. But everyone enjoyed it.
Idah & I reached home at past midnight, Tuesday.
Kak Long wants to go to Bandung again. I said, maybe next time Istanbul?
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