On this day, I decided to share my experiences in the last 18 hours - from the departure from my work country, Vietnam to arrival back in my home country, Malaysia. It was both emotionally, mentally and physically draining to the soul. I had been waiting for this day; exactly 12 months 3 weeks = 55 weeks = 386 days. In some ways, I know I'm lucky since I've managed to finally go home and see my family while many others are not so privileged as me.
My journey started at 4.45pm yesterday. Having spent the last 2 weeks carefully packing for my trip, I was finally ready to leave. Knowing that I wouldn't be back to my apartment for at least 6 weeks, I cleared all perishable food from my fridge, cleaned the dishes and even washed the dirty laundry. I've got to say that my apartment never seemed so empty as last night. With 3 luggages to check in and a backpack, I made sure I travel as light as possible since I wasn't sure what to expect in this trip.
My friends texted me while I was on the way to Tan Son Nhat International Airport - there was already a que of people lining up for check-in and baggage drop. Guess I wasn't the only one that was anxious to go home. By the time I arrived, I was half expecting the que to shorten, BOY! How wrong was I... For no apparent reason, the land crew just seemed to work slower today - could it be due to the NO AIR-CONDIONING AVAILABLE IN THE ENTIRE AIRPORT ? I was lucky as I queued in a row that the land crew worked faster than others. In 20 minutes, I was all checked in and documents verified. More than enough time for me to slowly walk through Immigration.
Since there wasn't many outgoing chartered or passenger commercial flights, only 1 Immigration officer was working with 1 hand carry luggage scanner being operated. Even then, it seemed so empty. Crossing through Immigration was smooth sailing, thank goodness. I saw only 1 Duty Free Shop was opened and passengers crowding inside to buy liquors, cigarettes and fragrance. Such a sad sight to see when Duty Free counters in International Airports was the one place where everyone wanted to go - get their most expensive goodies at the lowest point ever.
This is ME waiting at the Boarding Gate for my plane to arrive. I was told there was 70 passengers on this flight, meaning we would have plenty of space between passengers. Definitely not the most effective load factor for a plane but at times like these, what else can one airline ask for. At least, the plane is making some money rather than being on the ground taking dust. Which by the way, when we landed in KLIA, I saw many Air Asia planes parked on the ground - they must be making a huge loss.
On the Departure Light Box, previous flights were either cancelled or for cargo purpose. So much for international travels
The sight of a QUIET Airport.
It's truly a sad sight to see one of the most patronised airport in SEA turn into a quiet township - almost lifeless. Hopefully a turnaround will happen soon.
