@Changi Airport

It's been a very peculiar day. People are indeed very funny. From the time I sat having my morning coffee at my favourite coffee spot at Cengkareng Airport, I've managed to attract people to unsettle my groove. That is, the little bubble I travel in when I'm on my own going from one place to another...the bubble from where I curiously observe the world around me. I tend to enjoy the solutide of my bubble, thoroughly lost in my own thoughts and conversations in my head ... often breaking out into laughter by something that caught my attention. What can I say, one of the best friends of an only child is her imagination! And with parents who cultivated my intelligence to dream and build worlds and weave stories from everything I observed since as long as I can remember... is it surprising that I can amuse and entertain myself for hours on end?


Photo by Jeff Kubina

During my "travel bubble" times, I tend to be quite anti-social - in a polite (go away!) manner, of course..., but not at all chatty to strangers. Today, however, from the time I got to Cengkareng airport, a series of peculiar people-instigated incidents took place that were mildly surprising, to say the least. First there was the couple that of all the places to sit at my coffee spot in the international departure area of the airport, chose to sit right smack between me and my view of the tarmac. So instead of looking out at planes coming and going, I ended up staring at a man's flipflops. Sigh.

Then, when I got to Changi airport and was pleasantly surprised that my flight was delayed, enabling me to saunter through my favourite shops instead of powershopping...(yes, I have yet to master the difference between WANT and NEED) I found myself in a conversation with a shopkeeper who asked if he could try the drypickledsalty mango that I had just bought and was eating sparingly. "What's that?" he said - to my surprise, because I am pretty certain that EVERYONE Singaporean knows of this delicacy - "Can I have some?" Um, er, yes...of course! I answered, handing him my precious little jar of salteddriedpickledmango.

Wandering on, I found a sign that said that wireless internet is free! Yay! I thought to myself, quickly looking for a quiet spot - preferrably with AS FEW PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE. Ah, found one! Facing the glass wall that looks out to rows of Singapore Airlines and Silk Air planes. A perfect row of three chairs, which I fully intended on HOGGING to myself. I expanded my bubble as big as possible, thinking I was sending STAY AWAY vibes...and lo and behold "bang!" someone plops himself in the chair two seats away from me. Not sure if he meant to or not, but his presence totally popped my bubble. Sigh. How he managed to make reading a book a "noisy" activity, bewilderes me.

Sooooo....I decided to go to the coffee and snack shop that has lots and lots and lots of tables and chairs facing the tarmac...but that meant I had to buy something to eat or drink. Ah, the price of one's privacy. I found a perfect spot, as far away as possible from people already sitting down. And as I began settling in with my coffee, a little boy came stomping - yes STOMPING - on the long bench that connected several tables, stopping dangerously close to where I was going to sit. Now don't get me wrong, I like children...a lot...but not when I'm trying to enjoy my quiet travel bubble! So I started huffing and puffing and blowing up my travel bubble again, and eventually he ran off at the beck and call of his mom who was, until then, fast asleep. Amazing things, mothers...there sensors work even when they're fast asleep!

Ahhhh...finally. I plugged in my earphones, opened up my laptop, and began surfing the net. Then suddenly, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! a shadow blocked the light that was coming in from the glass window in front of me. Yup. You guessed it. Of the 10 - yes, TEN - tables ... EMPTY TABLES, mind you ... lined up in between me and the glass wall in front of me, a family decided to sit right smack in front of me. They stayed for a while, then blessedly went off...but waaaaaaait! Another family has JUST taken their place. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Actually it's fine. Just peculiar. I mean, seriously. I still have an hour to go before I have to board. Soooo... I think I'll look for yet another spot. Or go shopping. :) This is indeed one airport where I do not mind at all being delayed at! Thought it is very dangerous...I actually managed to NOT buy a book, but did buy yet more crayola markers (pipsqueaks, to be exact...two-toned, and if you click the marker at an angle, the colours mix!!! way cooool), walked into Charles and Keith but managed to NOT buy shoes (yet), bought a 4GB flashdisk - for only 26 SGD - at the store where the man ate my driedsaltedpickledmangoes, simply had to buy DKNY perfume because I was too scared that my perfume would be confiscated by Singapore Airlines (and yes, I simply HAD to buy the travel pack! two new apple fragrances! couldn't decide which I liked best so...hey! a travel pack of BOTH fragrances! yes, of COURSE I NEEEEEED that one!), aaaand...stuff from the pharmacy (my weaknesses remain...pharmacies and bookstores and shoe stores).

This has been a good stopover. Time to go for a walk. Maybe without my bubble. Maybe I never had it up in the first place? Hmmm. I wonder. ;) how's your day been?