My transit story

My video and stills camcorder decide to go awol on me, so I can't upload any pictures for the moment. So here's my transit story.

What was supposed to be a 3 hour transit at Narita Airport in Japan for our connecting flight back to Dallas, Fortworth became a 3 day transit instead.

We boarded JAL from Changi Airport at 6.35 am and by the time we were reaching Narita, we were told that the airport was congested because of flight delays etc. That particular Saturday, according to news we heard later, was one of the worst snow fall day in Narita, whereby the airport personnel were not equipped to handle the deicing and so on. So we circled the sky for about an hour. When the aircraft was finally given the green light to land, there was no parking space. Initially we were so excited seeing snow fall and the airport blanketed in white. But after sitting in the airplane for two more hours without a parking space and our bodies and butt were already aching from the long flight, we panicked knowing that we might miss our connecting flight to Dallas. Then again, we prayed, if there were a lot of delays, probably the flight to Dallas would be delayed as well. We knew that we were not the only one on connecting flights so that was sort of a relief in that sense.

Three hours later, we ran out of the airplane and were making our biggest strides ever. Our American Airline connecting flight was departing at 7.30 pm delayed by 10 minutes so here we are queuing for our boarding pass at only 7.20 pm. We caught our breath and when we saw the flight time changed to 8.30pm, we were a little relief. At least we had time to go to the restroom and freshened up a little.

8.30 pm came and nothing happens. All the passengeres were lingering restlessly, and finally an announcement came that says the American Airline flight to Dallas was cancelled, and all the passengers were required to queue again at the counter to get their next ticket or boarding passes for whatever flights available for the next day.

We were all so exhausted and hungry. While Tahir went to queue, Afzal and me find a seating spot for ourselves. Then we heard that all the other flights were cancelled too. The boarding area were crowded with passengers. BUT what was so irritating was Singapore Airlines had constant announcements asking their passengers to get snacks, refreshments (hot and cold beverage), even phonecards and later sleeping bags. American Airline (AA) did not make any announcement and did not offer anything and Tahir was still queuing until he ached and asked me to take his place for a while. Three hours later, closed to midnight, he finally got a pass for the next day's flight at 10.30 am. I just could not understand why it took so long for American Airline to process that while I'm assuming that SIA just took the same lot of passengers from the same delayed flight to the next day without having to queue again.

Then it really irks me that AA did not offer sleeping bags much less accomodation. Almost every other passenger had a sleeping bag with food. Those who doesn't, at least have blankets with food from Cathay Pacific. What is AA doing? Nothing!

I even went up to Singapore Airlines counter and offered to pay for the cup noodles but they would not let me. At least they took care of their passengers' interest first. So my son slept on the hard cold seats. We did not even have jackets with us because we thought that by the time we reached Mobile, we will be able to withstand the cold and jumped into our car and headed home. A kind passenger seating opposite us offered a Cathay Pacific blanket so I covered my son with that. Tahir slept sitting down, while I had an extra seat to put my legs up and slept in an almost foetal position.

We couldn't sleep properly though, and we could hear some snores from the warm bagged up passengers. When Afzal woke up wet from his pee, I changed him to the extra clothings that I brought only for him. So we waited again. When morning came, Singapore Airlines again made an announcement asking their passengers to get breakfast from them plus hot beverages, an amenity bag and what not. We were waiting for at least something from AA but they did not bother. All there gave was just a tray of orange and apple juices and even then, we had to figure it out ourselves. I think AA was too ashamed to even announce that, which definitely pales in comparison to what SIA gave their passengers.

I took a long walk with Afzal to find some edible proper food somewhere, and we end up on a long queue just to pay for chocolate flavoured Poka biscuits and Pringles. All the time I was cursing AA in my head for their lack of customer service, then another kind passenger gave me a US$10 voucher that I could use to pay for the food and this time the voucher was from Northwest Airline. I thanked the Vietnamese guy but it made me want to curse AA again. Can't they even think of something to make their passenger feel a little better?

By 9.30 am, SIA had their passengers boarded and left. 10.30 am came and then we were told the flight was delayed to 12 noon. I don't know what to feel anymore.

12 noon came and we were waiting to board the flight. We were the first in line because we had a child with us, BUT we were not allowed to enter because our tickets were not valid. Huh??? We did not have boarding passes. Tahir sweared that those were the only tickets given to him and the AA personnel at the counter told him those were all he needed to board the airplane.I was pissed with my own husband then when we had to wait by the side and let the other passengers enter one by one leaving us stranded there but then there were other angry passengers too who could not board the plane. There were also passengers who were already in the airplane but were offloaded because AA overbooked the seats. I went to the departing counter myself and raised my voice, "My husband queued three hours last night and you gave us this, and you told us that was all we needed!" And all AA could say was "We're sorry, there was no excuse on our part for that mistake." Argghhhh!!!!!! They made the mistake and we had to pay for it.

The airline personnel took the stranded passengers back to the AA counter to queue again for another flight out. This time around I made sure I was at the counter so that I can say a piece of my mind, knowing that hubby wouldn't rattle and nag at them as much as I would. There were other flights in the afternoon but to Chicago and San Francisco or somewhere else but we had to be on standby because the flights, according to them, were all fully booked. I told them "we were not going to be on standby. You better give us confirmed seats." Confirmed seats would have to be for the next day at 7.30pm. Well, I am not staying another night at this airport! (and I rattled about how they did not even bother to give us sleeping bags and food and expect us to stay at the airport again. We have not even showered and everything...blah, blah, blah) But the people at the counter were Japanese and they were polite despite my ramblings and anger so they put us up at a hotel. We had to clear immigration but without our luggage because the luggages were on holding somewhere and it would be a hassle. So we left the airport, no luggage, waiting for the shuttle bus in the freezing cold to bring us to the hotel. At least I felt a little bit better, because I sorely need to shower and a comfortable place to rest. We did not have extra clothings (at least I have extra undies) so we slept in the sleeping robe provided while I made Afzal slept only in his brief, and cover him with the blanket. He was so malu at first. Well, we told him we got to survive. At least he has an extra set of clothings that I washed and dried.

Since we had some time that Monday morning, we took a bus from the hotel to the nearest shopping centre and was there for three hours before we went back to the hotel at 2pm. We bought jackets for ourselves. Once we were back at the hotel, we showered but had to put on our since Saturday clothes and left the hotel for the airport at 4 pm rather early, because we just cannot wait to go home. Tahir missed his work and Afzal already missed school.

But when we reached the airport, we were told that the 7.30 pm flight will be delayed till the next day at 11.00 am. My goodness? Are we going to be stranded here forever? What the (whatever) is AA doing? They blamed it on the airport for the deicing was taking longer than expected, blah, blah, blah. I think it is all bull. If SIA flight could leave at 9.30 am why couldn't AA? Because AA just did not try hard enough. This time Tahir lost his patience. They cannot even transfer us to a different airline because according to them, every flights were all fully-booked. Though we complained because of their lack of customer service, she just nodded and I felt that it was pointless arguing. All they could do was to put us back to the hotel. We would have worn the same clothes for another day, and would AA compensate for all these - the fact that we had to buy new jackets, a top, the meals that were not provided etc etc ....

We met some other passengers that were pissed too but they felt sorrier for us because we had been delayed for three nights.

So finally the next day, we boarded the 11 am flight to Dallas Fortworth tapi apakan daya, sudah jatuh ditimpa tangga. Bila kita sampai Dallas, kita kena check out the luggage through customs and checked in again. But of course, luggage were missing.

Itu satu hal. Paspot saya dan suami tidak ada hal tapi entahlah kenapa, paspot anak buat hal. Padahal bukan kali pertama keluar masuk US. Dah masuk tiga kali dah. Pegawai imigresen kata "case of mistaken identity". Kena masuk bilik supaya pegawai lain boleh check lebih terperinci lagi. Nak mistaken identity dengan siapa? Kalau termistake dengan nama terrorist pun, pleaselah, tak tengokke budak tu belum masuk 6 tahun lagi.

Jadi terpaksalah tunggu. Darah nak menyirap pun dah tak boleh. Flight ke Mobile lagi sejam, dan kita seharusnya check-in setengah jam lagi. Setengah jam kemudian baru dapat paspot, terlari-lari dari satu terminal ke satu terminal, sampai kat boarding gate tercungap-cungap, nasib baik tak tertinggal kapalterbang kali ini. Kalau tertinggal, I would be lost for words.

Dah ditimpa tangga, tergolek-golek pulak. Sampai Mobile, kita kena lapor tentang luggage yang hilang, tapi rupa-rupanya luggage sudah sampai sehari sebelum tetapi di dalam kondisi yang tak menyenangkan. Garis dan ada koyak sedikit. Malas nak cakap. Nak ambil kereta sewa terus balik rumah, tidur sudah. Tetapi apabila sampai di tempat kaunter kereta sewa, kami diberitahu kereta sewa tidak ada sebab reservasi kami 21 hb dan kereta sewa tersebut dah keluar sebab kita tak confirm. Kita sampai 24 hb. Jadi kita terpaksa tunggu beberapa hari untuk kereta tersebut. Tak tahu nak marah siapa. Suami ke? Sebab taknak talipon tukar reservasi. Alahai.

Jadi, tunggulah teksi yang macam buah tak jatuh kat situ. Bila teksi datang, pulang rumah, muka ronyok dan hati bonyok, terus mandi, unpack sikit dan tidur...lepas tu anak pun start demam.

Still recuperating...

It will take at least 2 weeks for me to recover fully from this jetlag and all the emotional exhaustion. When most people would have travel back to their home country maybe once in two or three years, we have done that 3 times in 8 months. I'm not complaining to be back but the distance is taking a toll on me and even Afzal, what's when we were on one of the WORST airline ever, and that is American Airline! That is another story altogether. We were supposed to reached Mobile on the evening of 21st January after leaving Singapore on 21st early morning (Mobile is 14 hours behind time) but only came back on 24th January. You would never have guessed where we were for that 3 days...blog soon!

Anyway, dear Afzal came down with high fever for three nights after that, and I was feeling really sorry for him. For both me and hubby, our body clockwork was just not in sync with the central time here. For the last three days, we all slept on the carpeted floor in the living room huddled together under one big blanket, pillows and the cushions from the sofa so that we are within reach of Afzal. Besides the kool fever on his forehead, he had two types of fever medication, a pink and an orange liquid, the orange is to be used if his fever is above 38.5 degrees C and many times, his fever reaches 39.6 degrees C. I also standby a towel and a bowl of water so that I can sponge him throughout the night.

Today he is better, because he has asked for food and eating them. You know he is still unwell when he has no appetite for all the things he love to eat.

And I can't upload pictures from my Sharp Digital Camcorder because of the dew in it wherever it is. I hate this because everytime we went to a cold weather place, the dew comes in and I just could not use the video function and neither could I snap stills freely. Even after "hairdrying" it, sometines it works, and still at most times, it doesn't. Maybe it's time to invest in a good digital still camera. And maybe a separate videocam. Or maybe someone out there know of a good model that works in both cold and dry weathers. Sigh!

The first time I met him...

... was probably in October or November 1998. I was nervous and anxious, and my heart was beating really fast as my steps got closer to the meeting place. Doning a simple and yet stylish purple baju kurung, I had to make a good first impression. There I stood at the staircase landing, breathing heavily and rubbing my chest as if to calm my nerves before I turned the corner to be led to the house where I would be meeting him for the first time.

The door opened. A young girl in a traditional purple baju kurung greeted me. The girl was my boyfriend's youngest sister. The boyfriend that would become my husband now. I came into the house and saw my future in-laws. I salam both my future mak and ayah. No small talk, no interrogation, and all I was asked to do was eat. So I ate the mee siam kuah and ayam goreng, not much though, because I cannot feel the hunger. But soon the night was over and I thought, this was not so bad after all. I was ready to leave and as I salam both of them, ayah said, "Saya cuma nak yang terbaik untuk anak saya." Those words were enough to drown all the other words that he said after that. Those words felt heavy on me. Those were his killer words. I left the house feeling lousy and unsure of myself. Would I be able to be the best wife for his son? Would I be the best daughter-in-law for him?

That was my father-in-law. That was my first meeting of him and it was enough to instil a kind of fear or respect for that man. Hailing from Kelantan, he had traditional values and was very strong on Malay adat. I remembered the day of the merisik or maybe meminang, when ayah would open the greeting with a pantun in the likes of "...menyunting bunga di taman ..." something that I know my side of the family would rather go straight to the point instead of using such flowery language.

When we had our first house, we invited ayah to be the first to open the door to our apartment. I don't really know what the rules were, but I supposed it was something my husband had to do. It was also to show him that we respect him in some way. And he went into our house first, offering his prayers before the rest of us stepped in.

Ayah was strict when it comes to adat and respect for one's elders. He was a meticulous man as well, who expects high standards of hygiene in the home and on oneself. And when it comes to food, that is one area he would not stinge on. To him, good food with great hospitality is likened to the honour of the man and his family.

I somehow tended to believe that my husband, who is not very close to ayah as he is to mak, has many similar traits with ayah that he would like to believe. The only thing that I let my husband see is the occasional grievances that mak will feel because of ayah's insensitivity to mak and I hope that my husband will not do the same to me. I would gently remind my husband how sad that made mak and I would feel the same too if my husband did that as well.

Other than that, for all the similarities and differences that I and ayah had, eventhough I may not have totally agree with his ways, I have never disobey or disrespect him or the adat that he so cherished and valued. I also hope that I have been the best daughter-in-law that he could have for his eldest son. When we were leaving for the States after our second trip back home, ayah told me silently and emotionally at the airport that "Ayah yakin dengan (my name)". That was enough to make me feel that I have done something right with my husband and my son for him to have the "yakin" or confidence in me.

The house is now empty and quiet without him. The loss is felt for his presence is so strong and so impactful in our lives even in mine for whom I have only known him for seven plus years, what's more for those lives he had shaped and changed for the last 40 or so years that he was married to mak, or the 62 years he had known many others.

To ayah, may he rest in peace and may Allah bless his soul and offer him a place in Jannah, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for his yakin in me.

Alfatihah.

What's Cooking?

School has started again after a short winter break, and off to school Afzal went this morning with a full load in his Batman's lunchbox - a small Glad tupperware of spaghetti bolognaise which we had for lunch and dinner the previous day, spaghetti in a zipper bag with an overdose of parmesan cheese that he so loves, four chocolate chip cookies, a small pack of Ranch flavored chips, a cup of jelly and his tumbler of water. And I baked 8 bite-sized tomato and cheese pizza rolls for his breakfast in which he ate 7 (because I ate one) with chocolate milk. And he was still feeling a lil bit hungry. A neighbor called to say that the Dad is sending the kids to school today so Afzal had one hour to linger in the house with tv as his entertainment and feeling a lil bit hungry. I kinda felt like eating mee hoon goreng pedas so in a magical instant, I fried the mee hoon goreng with cili, with added squids. I had my breakfast and Afzal was chipping in as I suap him with the mee hoon. "Enough Afzal, this is so pedas. You might have a stomach ache." "I love pedas" so says Afzal and true enough, he had to go to the loo.

After Afzal left, the house was quiet again. Well, at least I could have full use of the laptop. Oops, did I just sat that? Notty mummy!

There goes my day as I wondered what I should be doing, but I guess, this year I may have a purpose. It is still in germination so until then, until it really comes into fruition, then I may tell the world. For now this morning, I'm happily chatting with a friend in Germany, and my littlest brother in Singapore. Hooray for technology that can bridge people from different universe on one plane! When you're chatting, blogging, surfing, writing or doing some creative work like uploading pictures from your camera or designing a worksheet for your child, time just whizzes by and you realise that you need to cook dinner for your family. Afzal will be home by 4 pm so I must prepare our meals by then. So what shall I cook today? I've taken out the chicken and the leftover squids that I used for my mee hoon goreng ingredients. But I still have not decided what the dishes will be. Arghhh, this is one life of the sahm that just does not fit me - "thinking what to cook". To some, it's a no brainer but to me it's definitely something I have to plan. So I look at this slip of paper I have on the fridge, basically all the food that I have cook before since three weeks ago and I am wondering whether I should just repeat one or try a new recipe. Too much hard work to try a new recipe and I don't have the time, the mood or the ingredients. So I culled whatever I can from the fridge, and voila, I whipped a potful of green curry chicken and squid sambal. That's it. Lovely.

Friday evening, hubby company is hosting a dinner at some seafood restaurant in Fairhope, Daphne, about 45 minutes drive from our home. Hooray again as it means I don't have to cook for that day. At most, I will just make burgers, finger foods or nasi goreng for lunch. These I can handle. But before anyone thinks the seafood is like pari bakar, black pepper crab, sweet sour grouper, kailan or kangkong belacan, you will be so wrong! Seafood is probably boiled or grilled and definitely nothing pedas.

Then next week, it will be the 10th of January, the day of Eid dul Adha, and I am wondering whether I am expected to have a spread of feast. Hubby is working the night shifts on 9th and 10th so maybe he will not bother so much. I will be alone at home on Eid, and will be loyally "laptoping". If I'm in the mood, then maybe I'll cook some dishes that can safely be categorised as "Raya-able". Oh well, we shall see...

Until then.

The white mist came

There was crackling sound outside the apartment and I decided to peep through the blinds. Darkness was what I saw, nothing else. The digital clock showed 3 minutes past 12. I opened the balcony door and the sight that welcomed me was white mist, like as if I was living in the clouds. The mist enveloped the whole apartment. Was it raining? I thought. It was not very chilly but the parapet was a little wet, more so like dew drops after a night of condensation. There were still some crackling sounds, but I saw no activity in sight. It must have been some private celebration somewhere, that there were no fireworks to illuminate the dark night. It felt distant on a cold, quiet and stark morning of 2006. I was alone on the balcony watching the white mist amidst the darkness.

The phone rang early this morning. It brought news of hope. Mankind may have made his decision but only Allah wills it. And He has given a new year for all of us. Insya Allah and Alhamdullillah, I felt calm and full of gratitude. Gratitude to Him and also to those who have made prayers for us, Jazakallahu Khairan. May Allah give you the best rewards. I humbly and unabashly continue to seek everyone's prayers for ayah's well-being and for the woman who loves him so much. Without mak's love and determination to push on for alternative medicines, we might have just surrender his fate to the doctor's predictions. This is a time of great test that Allah has given to each of us. When we believe in Him and his qadaq and qadar, we will then learn to appreciate the reasons for every unfortunate circumstances that have befallen us. Like the saying, behind every grey cloud, there's a silver lining and perhaps that silver lining came early to me in the wee morning of the new year. Subhanallah.