With his many trips back and forth from Malaysia to London and back, A has been blessed with enough Emirates Skywards points to enable him to acquire certain perks when flying. And he can also bring a guest along (aka his wife) to enjoy said perks. So when before I would dread long haul flights, this time, not so surprisingly, the perils of airport checkins, security checks, waiting lounges and the limited leg room in planes were erased.
"I feel like we are too young to be here," I said when we were eating dishes from the buffet in the Heathrow Emirates Lounge. Looking around us, the people there were older, looked more established and business-like. We had our backpacks in tow with sneakers on, I felt really out of place. Akin to an imposter - they would figure out that we don't belong anytime soon.
"It is like we haven't earned our chance to be here yet. But here we are. It is definitely God's gift and nothing else." A nodded at my comment.
As I gorged on servings of blue cheese, entrees with sweet beetroot and juicy, slowly braised lamb, it was like a dream. Minutes before the gate was to be closed, we hoisted our well-filled tummies to the plane and like I predicted, I went into a food coma a few moments after I put on my seatbelt - only to be awoken to another set meal halfway through the flight.
After arriving in Dubai, we were lucky enough to have access to the Business Lounge there too. So from lounge to plane to lounge - this journey was really free from hassle. Again, there was another buffet waiting for us. And although I wasn't that hungry to begin with, I ended my time there having tried most of the dishes available. From briyani, to pasta to friend noodles and cheesecake - again it felt like a dream. After a few encounters with buffets in my life, I have come to a certain realisation.
"I don't know how to behave in buffets. Do I taste everything in small amounts? Or have alot of something I like? And when do I stop?"
Basically, I left the buffet feeling like a mini hippopotamus. Buffets are good, but dangerous.
As we walked towards the gate for our flight to Kuala Lumpur, the lady at the counter scanned our tickets. Mine scanned green whilst A's scanned red. "Sir, you have been upgraded onto Business Class." Mind you, this has happened before - we were both upgraded on our previous trip home. But as I shielded my heart from disappointment from not being upgraded, this came to us with a big surprise. "My wife will take the upgrade," said A. I love my husband.
Thus, with the many perks that came with this trip, travelling long distances did not feel too bad anymore. We felt well rested, well fed and overall, happy. But of course, as I have tasted the sweetness of travel through the lens of what could be, as I will be travelling back solo and perk-less to London in a few weeks time, the self will need to come back down to Earth and face the realities of routine everyday travel. It was nice to be treated, especially after long successive days at work. But the danger now is if I were to look around the lounge and business class cabin and say, "I can get used to this."
If it happens again in the future, hopefully it will remain to be a gift and not an expectation.
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