It’s always so hard to leave the house — not because of the place itself, but because of the people we’re leaving behind. Number one, of course, is our apo. He’s grown enough to understand when we’re going out; the moment he sees us dressed up, he asks where we’re going. And when he doesn’t want me to leave, he tells me, “Wowa change inside clothes.”
Theo asked, “Where you goin’, Wowo?”
We’re going to ride an airplane. See you in three weeks apopoo.
We left our house at 7 pm. Antinola showed disappointment that we were leaving without eating the dinner she prepared. Nothing special about the food. Naisip lang nya na nagmadali syang maghain tapos hindi naman pala kami kakain.
It was a little heavy traffic along EDSA going to the airport. What else is new?
The sky was heavy, as if the typhoon was ready to pour down a lot of rain. I just hoped our flight wouldn’t be bumpy.
We arrived at 8:20 pm, still early for our 11:30 flight to Dubai. Mabuting maaga para hindi nakaka stress, na nagmamadali.
We were directed to another security check section. Walang tao, pero ang ending nya, iikot uli kami dun sa maraming tao, where we first tried to enter.
We have ample time to wait at the lounge.
Emirates flies from NAIA Terminal 3. The lounge was crowded with passengers coughing and blowing their noses.
One woman, in particular, was coughing continuously. Talagang hirap na hirap sya. Gusto ko na syang lapitan at sabihin “ipahinga mo na yan”.
I happened to see her companion in the restroom, and she told me they were part of a two-week Rome tour—38 people in total. Interestingly, I later saw both of them boarding the plane in wheelchairs, even though earlier in the lounge they were walking around to use the restroom and get food.
As if that wasn’t enough, my husband also has a cold. I really hoped I wouldn’t catch whatever virus or bacteria was floating in the air. Otherwise, pareho kaming parang aso, kahul ng kahol. Awoooo!
We were sooo sooo busy we booked our plane tickets a little late na. We also deliberated whether to take Philippine Airlines to Dubai. We also considered Qatar. When we ultimately decided to take Emirates from Manila, rows 1 to 3 were already booked.
This Boeing 777 looks very new. It’s huge and fat.
Despite the typhoon threatening to disrupt air travel, our nine-hour flight to Dubai was thankfully very smooth. Thank you, Lord. The pilot never had to turn on the seatbelt sign except during takeoff and landing.
We took off at 11:30 p.m.
Strangely, about two hours into the flight, I started feeling dizzy and nauseated. Nahilo talaga ako. I removed my blazer, thinking maybe it was because of the stuffy air. It felt warm inside the cabin—perhaps the crew had set the temperature too high. I haven’t felt dizzy on a flight in many years, and considering how smooth this one was, ewan bakit ako nahilo. I tried to control throwing up pero nasuka talaga ako.
I tried to sleep and managed to doze off intermittently. My husband, on the other hand, was struggling with nasal congestion and couldn’t breathe well, so his sleep was also restless. Hirap daw sya makahinga.
The flight attendants all look like candidates to the Miss Universe beauty contest. The tallest one is from Ukraine, meron from UK, South Africa, and two are from the Philippines, Aimee and another one. Aimee said she’s been with Emirates for 19 years beginning when she was 31 years old. She was a Medical representative daw before.
#emirates #dubai #travel
