September 15, 2019
I’ve been to Dubai several times, only up to the airport. I haven’t so far planned on getting out of the airport to explore this city popular among Filipinos.
The connecting flight to Athens was at 11 am. We could have boarded a cab to see the city even for a few hours. Instead we wasted our precious time sitting. eating, sleeping, eating again, at the Emirates’ passenger lounge.
There were still a lot of tables and chairs when we arrived at the lounge at 4:30 am. In two hours, passengers swarmed the area and grabbed every seat available. The chaos and noise drained my energy and put me in a bad mood. Sa dami ng tao, naubos ang mga pinggan. I was already in a bad mood. Naiingayan ako, naguguluhan sa dami ng tao. I don’t like airport or lounge that is too big It loses it’s personal touch. It feels like a fast food or a marketplace rather than a comfortable and luxurious lounge to rest while waiting for the next flight.
What made me a little bit at ease was the presence of our kababayans working at the airport performing different tasks.
This one is Lilet from Bulacan. I ate 4 scoops of ice cream. They no longer have unlimited Haagen Dazs.
I went back and forth looking for food but I didn’t like their food. When I saw Edmund’s sausages, parang ang sarap. I asked him where he got them, dun daw malapit sa ice cream. Balik-balik ako but they ran out. I was already annoyed. I couldn’t find clean dinner plates. I asked the Filipina staff but she got distracted. While I was standing near the kitchen door, a guy went out of the door and while he was holding the door open, I heard a loud voice unmistakably a kababayan she said ” nakaka-stress naman”. I heard plates banging, that must be their kitchen.
I asked two more times wala rin. I went to another buffet area and they ran out. Another Filipina staff helped me get a newly sterilized, hot plate. I have a plate but they ran out of the sausage. I went back to our table and I just got three sausages from Edmund’s plate.
Masarap ito, pwede na sa wala.
Seven hours of waiting in a noisy, congested lounge made me exhausted and annoyed. I didn’t feel relaxed and refreshed to get ready for my 4 hours flight to Athens. The 7 hours lay over was a test of my patience. I failed. It threw me in a bad mood and made me irritable. With two more hours till our boarding, we left the chaotic lounge and walked to the duty free shop. To kill our time, we looked at liquors, watches, gold jewelries, heart shaped diamond stone, golf shirts. I read some magazines at the bookshop while Edmund chatted with the Filipino employee.
