Mushroom Huts and Fleeting Thoughts

There was a time when all I ever dreamed of was to ride an airplane.  The friends closest to me would know that… and that time was not so long ago.  It was just last year when I started flying.  A few years back and less than a year out of college, I was very lucky to be given a scholarship in a foreign university but I guess I was not emotionally ready to live in another country at that time, studying a course I just really have grown into and which I feel is so not me for 2 years.  I have foregone the opportunity.

In early 2007, I decided to fulfill – or even force – my dream.  I packed for a weekend in Cebu and I had a blast!  I just realized that a part of the riding-an-airplane dream was a longing for life experiences that I cannot learn from books.  And so I’m sharing these travel anecdotes while killing boredom on a flight back home.  Part I is about flights, cab rides and airport tales. 

§  Looking for an airline office in Shanghai to settle some flight details, I had to walk for a good one hour from the hotel as no cab driver understood the English address written in the paper I was holding.  When I finally found the booking office, the system was down and I had to be directed to a farther office, which again, no cab driver knew where.  That was the longest walk of my life – alone, in a foreign city and only knowing very limited Mandarin from my former Chinese roommates back in college!  Good thing, the hotel’s address is written in the room card holder in Chinese and I was able to ride the cab on my way back. 

§  Riding cabs in Petaling Jaya (PJ), Malaysia, on the other hand, could be a breeze.  Although I learned that it’s the passenger who pays for the toll fees!  From the cab rides to and from the office in Bandar Utama and the Hilton hotel in PJ, I learned that cab drivers in Malaysia could be good conversationalists in English.  They issue receipts too.  In one of my rides, the cab driver showed me Universiti Malaya – the school I was supposedly enrolling in a few years ago.  It looked a lot like UP to me from the outside.  I’ll leave it at that.

§  In another ride, I learned what “Jaya” means – Success.  That’s the reason why it is usually affixed in the names of places there – Cyberjaya, Putrajaya, Petaling Jaya and all other Jaya’s you could think of!

§  In yet another cab ride in PJ, I was coughing profusely when the cab driver offered me lozenges wrapped in red cellophane that bore the name “Hacks (Gula-gula).”  I was so amazed because a few days back, while riding the MRT in Singapore and also coughing profusely, one old lady gave me the same lozenges but I was so scared to try it out, not knowing what it could really be!  I just thanked the old Lady then and kept the Hacks.  When the cab driver gave it to me, I finally tried it out, knowing that it really is for cough. And boy was it effective!

§  To Malaysia from Singapore, I caught a 7AM Singapore Airlines flight at the Changi International Airport to catch a 9:30AM meeting in Malaysia (our office is in Petaling Jaya, about 45 minutes away from Kuala Lumpur) and in the boarding gates, I was suddenly surrounded by a pack of African teenagers.   One of them approached the very sleepy me and asked, “Miss, how far away is Kuala Lumpur from Singapore?”  And I shot back, “It’s about 45 minutes away.  You are with this big group?”  Proudly, he shared with me, “Yes, we are students from a country named Botswana.  Heard about it?  Our government is sponsoring our tertiary education in CHIS but it’s a loan.  If we do well, it will be converted to a grant.  Have you heard about CHIS?” “Err… nope.” “I also don’t know until now what CHIS stands for!”  A few minutes after, I realized that this guy from Botswana, style and all, looks like a high school friend – Carlos Lopez!!! K-ozz, if you’re reading this blog, it is a meant to be a compliment. =D Your skintone, though, is much lighter.  

§  Arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), I got quite confused where the baggage carousels were.  After going around and finding no luck, I realized how stupid I was not to read the signs. Disclaimer: it was not a usual sign. Haha!  I found out through the drawing that I had to ride the KLIA Express, a train that connects 2 buildings and is exclusive to the airport.  Cool! I have never seen one like it.  Usually, the trains found in airports connect it to the city – like Shanghai’s Magnetic Levitation Train (or Maglev), which I did not have the chance to ride.  The students from Botswana got lost too, by the way.

§  Another airport story but this time, it is at the Pudong International Airport, on a flight back to Manila, I met a good soul – Ate Wilms.  We sort of became buddies while waiting for our flight.  And together, we witnessed how a very trusting Pinoy was robbed of her baggage which contains important documents such as land titles.  Minutes before, we were told by a Pinoy who usually accompanies OFW’s to the airport to stay away from the culprit (who, sadly, is another Pinoy) as there have been a number of victims before.  The modus operandi is that he will act as some chummy friend, would gain your trust, and ask you to hold your baggage while at the check-in counter.  Before we knew it, he already victimized the too-trusting Pinay. 

More anecdotes are coming in my next blogs.