Flight Home

It was drizzling in Singapore at about 8am yesterday morning. I enjoy the feeling of the dark and cool weather but at the same time, I was getting drowsy. I did not sleep the night before. This is because I played DoTA with my friends till early dawn. After that, I left at 6am to catch the first bus 200 out to Buona Vista MRT station. I carried my luggage up PGP road. The walk made me sweat profusely. KN who went with me was also sweating. We were very eager to get on the bus as soon as possible because we expect the bus to be air-conditioned and cool. To our dismay, the first bus that came was non-ac. We waited patiently till we can enjoy the ac from the MRT. It is interesting to note that they are quite a number of people on the MRT despite it being 615am in the morning. Most of the people are from the older generation but there are also white collar workers who got off at Tanjong Pagar, Raffles Place and City Hall. It makes me wonder what they are doing that early in the morning. On the other hand, maybe they are meeting clients for breakfast? Or maybe an online conference with their counterparts who live in another time zone?

Anyway, I’m feeling very pleased with myself to have chosen Singapore Airlines to fly home this time. My flight was serviced by a Boeing 777-200 aeroplane. This is the long range aircraft. I’m not sure why they are using this type of plane for a short 2hour flight. The only reason I could think of is that they are using it to fly the huge number of passengers from Brunei who are visiting Singapore for the Great Singapore Sales and other events. The plane is the largest plane that I sat in. In the past, whenever I fly into Changi Airport from Brunei, I would feel sad to compare the size of the plane that I was in with the other planes parked there. A small Airbus versus Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet or Boeing 777s – there is no way to compare the size. Finally, my dream of sitting on a large plane has come true! =P In addition, every seat has its individual LCD TV and entertainment system.

On my previous flight back home to Brunei, I was cheated. Although I bought a Singapore Airlines ticket, the service was operated by Silk Air using a small Airbus plane. At that time when I went into Changi Airport, I was very surprised to see why they gave me a Silk Air boarding pass. I didn’t think much of it until I went to the gate. As there were so many planes parked at Changi Airport, I walked slowly to my departure gate while admiring the beauty of those planes. (I love aeroplanes! In the past, I collected plenty of pictures of aeroplanes especially fighter jets). The planes parked were all huge (mostly Boeing 777s or 747s). I was thinking: “Wow! Do I get to sit in one of them?” However, upon reaching my departure gate, I was so shocked to see the size of my plane. It was dwarfed by all the other planes. You can’t imagine how happy I was to fly in a 777. When I got off at Brunei airport, I walked proudly out of the plane because all the Royal Brunei Airlines planes were dwarfed by the Boeing 777-200. It was at least 1/3 bigger than the biggest RBA plane around (a 767, I think). :D

Ok, back to what happened during my flight. It was a rainy weather but not pouring heavily. The rain was just drizzling lightly but visibility was still low. Therefore, most of the runways were closed. At Terminal 2, there was only one runway opened for all flights departing from there. All the planes had to queue up in a line to take off. I was very happy that I had chosen the window seat earlier. The view from the window seat of the planes taking off was magnificent. First, the plane would be parked there waiting to be cleared by the control tower. Once cleared, the thrusters from the wings will start. The sight of the water from the ground being blown back, displaying the monstrous power strong enough to lift the heavy bird. On a side note, I visited the Royal Brunei Airlines hangar before and learnt from the engineer that the force of one thruster is sufficient to blow a person *100 meters away. (*I could have remembered the value wrongly as this was more than 5years ago) There were about four or five planes in front of the plane I was in. I enjoyed seeing each and every one of them taking off. I think I can sit there all day. =P

After they had all taken off, it was my plane’s turn. As the plane slowly accelerates, the rain drops on the side window can be seen to trickle slowly. Then, the plane increases its acceleration more such that the force of the plane can be felt. The experience is something that I always look forward to. I love the experience of the force exerted on me and the speed of the plane. It satisfied my need for speed although I would have loved it if the force was greater. This I think can only be satisfied by a fighter jet. When I was young, I dislike flying. I had a fear that the plane might drop from the sky. Every flight, I would be holding very hard to the armrest and ‘biao leng han’. Minor turbulence or adjustment of the plane’s altitude would cause my heart to sink and grab the armrest harder. Once, I grabbed it so hard that I pulled the adjustable armrest up. It is then I realize that it wasn’t that safe to hold it tight as well. Nonetheless, I still held on to it to provide myself comfort. It was only 3 years ago, when I flew to Singapore, I realize that the fear is no longer there. I don’t know how and why it disappeared. I loved to fly in an aeroplane ever since.

Back to the description – During the acceleration, the rain drops trickled past the window so quickly that the window was dried quickly. As the plane lifts off, I was able to see the wings cut through the mist. I am unable to describe my feelings of awe and the view of this event well. I can only say that it was an event that I enjoy. Once in the air, we were above the dark clouds, there wasn’t any new or exciting to see. This is when I start trying out the in-flight entertainment. ‘I very the sakai’. First thing I tried, was the radio. There is nothing special about this because it is available in most planes. After that, I tried the video game! I was gaming for about 10minutes playing the classical SNES game – Blackthorne. I completed the game before. I got bored after a while because the game would pause whenever an announcement was made. Then I tried out the movie channels. To my delight, it was showing Hitch!

Although I watched it before, I didn’t mind watching it again. There were other movies available such as Robots but I preferred Hitch. It was heart touching and hilarious to watch Hitch again – Alex Hitchin’s role in trying to set up the slob but genuine good guy Albert Brenneman with the beautiful and rich Alegra Cole. Alex Hitchin, the date doctor creates opportunities for the ‘poor’ guys who can’t seem to get anywhere near the girl of their dreams.
“1 dance, 1 date and 1 kiss is all you get. This 1 chance to make it ‘Happily Ever After’ or wake up feeling regret for the rest of your life because she’s with the wrong man”
“At any day, any woman can be swept off her feet with the right broom”

By the way, I didn’t sleep on the plane despite planning to, neither did I sleep the whole day. I conked out at 8pm last night and officially went to bed at 9pm. I was just relaxing in my brother’s room then accidentally doze off on his bed. He chased me back to my room at 9pm. This morning, I was forced to wake up at 7am because I had to meet my relatives for breakfast. I think, if my mom didn’t drag me out of bed, I would have slept till 10 or 11am. I actually conked out again at about 5pm earlier this evening and had a good 2hours of sleep before taking a shower and eating dinner. I think I’ll go to sleep early again tonight. It seems to be a policy for me – “Come back to Brunei to sleep”