Saturday was an early morning start, in fact 5am, to leave the house in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia, to return to Kingston upon Thames in the UK.
The first flight left the Island of Penang, the Pearl of the Orient, at 8am, which seems a reasonable start time, but as with all flights you have to get to the airport after loading the car, drop the car off at the rental company, check in at least one hour ahead of departure. Such a lot of waiting around.
The connecting flight left Kuala Lumpa’s KLIA airport at 11am, it would have been just as quick to drive down from BM to KL, about four hours, compared to the 45 minute flight. But would I have had the fee packet of peanuts and a plastic cup of orange juice given by the airline MAS (Malaysian Air Systems)?
On arrival to the massive airport of KLIA, it is empty. It was built I think a as hub, with the expectation that major airlines would use the airport as a stopping off point, a refueling point, but it never happened, all we can see are MAS planes, no foreign airlines at all.
MAS is a very good airline, I would recommend them, good service, reasonable food, and plenty of drinks, and most flights are full, especially with passengers flying from Australia to the UK and visa versa.
But it is a long 13 hours in the air for the next leg of the journey. At least there is the in flight entertainment.
No.
I start to watch a film, and nearing the end of the film, the in flight entertainment breaks down, leaving me frustrated, not knowing the end, and with nothing to do. I had not taken a book with me, I had planned to watch films, I had not enough battery power to play Mahjong, I had read the newspapers, the in flight magazine, and I could not sleep.
Some of the passengers started to complain to the aircrew, that did not do any good, as it got both parties, passengers and aircrew upset. Me? there was nothing I could do about it, so why worry, sit back, and watch the world below float past, knowing that I was better off up there in the sky, than the poor people we were flying over, the Indians, the Afghans, etc, some in the grips of winter under meters of snow.
It was a time for me to reflect, to plan, to realise where I had gone wrong, what I had done right.
It was a time to reflect on the differing cultures, ways of life, standards, beliefs of the people I had the fortune and misfortune to encounter and work with.
It was a time to reflect on me, what had happened in the past year, in the past weeks.
It was as I sat there looking down at the vast expanse of snow, thinking that only a couple of hours ago, I was in a very hot country, so hot and humid that my body was swelling up, my feet and legs were continually swollen, probably due to the retention of fluids, and people were still back in Malaysia in that heat. In the UK with the moderate temperate temperature, it is comfortable, for me it is cooler, yet down there below me, there were people freezing.
Where do I want to be? In a hot country, a cold country, a cool country?
In all the zones people were just getting on with it, adjusting to the environment they were in.
Me? Sometimes I am in hot environments, sometimes cold, sometimes cool, there is variety, and I enjoy it, Can it continue? I would hope so. But, I know there will come a time when I will have to settle down, make decisions, or put in place decisions I have already made.
Today, my “in flight entertainment system” has broken down, I feel deflated, depressed, so much to do, so many people to consider. I sit here wondering what to do.
I must not complain, as like the passengers and air crew, they just upset each other.
There must be action, I must move. Without the movement I will not get anywhere.
Unknown to all the passengers, one member of the air crew was working on the in flight entertainment system, and bit by bit, step by step, with the help of ground staff and a radio, it took time, but the problem was solved, I was able to rejoin the film, to see the end, and it was good.
All situations, problems can be solved, if we step back, look at it from a different angle, to stay calm, take things in, in a calm relaxed way, take one step at a time.
Anyone can make that journey from the hot humid climate to the cool temperate climate, it may get cold along the way, you have to make the journey, one step at a time.
But, the one thing you have to do is to make the first step. We have to start somewhere. (Click)
My journey was a long one, and I stuck with it. There was a lot of waiting, frustrations, happiness, joy and beauty, but it was worth it, even if I now need rest to get over it.