Well, this half of this journey has been fairly uneventful so far. A few things to amuse, one with serious consequences.
My husband drew my attention to the marvellous amount of legroom at the beginning of the economy section. I laughed to myself, then whispered back I thought you had to be fit to sit near the emergency exits.
That gentleman does not look fit enough to do a heroic life-saving leap and twist to open the door. To speedily empty the plane. He was rather portly and snugly attached to his seat, with the added encumbrance of a neck brace. Glad we were in another section of the plane and hoping no one would need to put his prowess to the test.
Talking to two very tall Kiwis in a lounge in Hong Kong, sharing this story with them. One of them laughed saying, 'It is very cold by the doors, we have to wear double socks when we sit there.' So watch out what looks inviting might not be all that comfortable.
We were on a new aircraft, which had a few peculiarities that baffled even frequent flyers. I fought to put my headphone connection into the socket in my chair, to no avail. On closer inspection discovered one of it's prongs was bent at an odd angle, making it useless.
The first toilet stop, once we were airborne was uneventful. Not so the next. My husband and I paraded to the toilet section together. Helpful as I was unsteady on my feet at times and did not want to fall into someone's lap in an ungainly heap. There was a queue as one toilet was out of action. When I finally entered the seat was very wet, as was the floor with it's decoration of bits of discarded toilet paper.
Empty cardboard toilet rolls, stood upright, trying to make up for the lack of paper. Thank goodness I had a cold and had tissues stuffed up my sleeves. The final indignity, as I washed my hands, was there were no paper towels, and the dirty water was reluctant to leave the bowl.
As I moved back to my seat I warned my husband and gave him a tissue. I accosted the first stewardess I met and rattled off all the missing items, necessary for an essential service on an aircraft, especially long distance.
Our eight-hour stay in the lounge in Hong Kong was very pleasant, we particularly enjoyed our noodles in the noodle bar. Between people watching, sipping coffee and tea, with the odd snooze, the 8-hour stopover was managed very well.
Until I went to use the facilities successfully and brushed my teeth. I had one of those very handy travelling fold-up toothbrushes in a plastic case.
Once extended for use it refused to retract back into it's case. I pulled and struggled with it to the amusement of others in the facility. Finally, it gave in! I have concluded, I could keep a film crew fully occupied for most of the week with things happening to us.
Just about to start the next leg of our journey, watch this space. Again it all went well till after mealtime when I was given an extra glass of iced Coke.
I took two sips and then, fell asleep rudely awoken by the ice-cold fluid everywhere. It helped my shingles and not much else. What a mess!
2024 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen
Photo: Pixabay License
