today was simply a crazy day. i had to deal with a late taxi pick-up. a delayed flight. a urgent email that needed to be transmitted. and fr**kin cold weather.
was returning to hk from a business trip in manila. tried to get into the 9am cx flight, but the agent said it's fully booked so we opted for the 11am one, the next cx flight out of manila.
having checked-in online already, i planned to arrive at the airport around 1.5 hours before departure, which means i need to leave the house at 845am.
my lola was supposed to make me hatid to the airport but the driver was unavailable. we learned about this past 630am. my mom roused me from sleep to inform me of the bad news. so i immediately scrambled to get a nissan airport taxi service. all this time, i was half awake and grumpy.
i asked to be picked up at 845am. they're usually on time. but today, the taxi got stuck in traffic at shaw blvd. then got lost finding our address. about 30 mins of agonizing paranoia, i boarded the nissan taxi and headed to the airport.
the airport was noticeably slower than 2 weeks ago. breezed through oec validation and security check within 5 mins. i wondered why can't it always be this way.
knowing it was a full flight, i tried my luck at check-in. this despite having checked-in online already.
"hi. is there any chance for me to get bumped up to business?" i asked. "wait lang sir, check natin," she responded then checks her terminal.
"sa china po worksite nyo?" she asked while looking at my china visa. "hindi sa hong kong po," i clarified.
now, she locates and reads my hk work visa. "nagwo-work kayo sa hong kong?" she asked again. "yes," i replied.
she typed something on the computer then commented, "green member pala kayo. wait lang ha." she ran to a business class counter, grabbed a boarding pass then handed it to me.
voila! i just got bumped up to business class! yes, my very first time on business class.
and it's not the regular business class with only bigger seats and roomier legrooms. you see, we were on a boeing 747-400 that is used for flights to london. so their business class seats were their new seats designed for long-haul flights. and i got a seat on the upper deck.
i just felt claustrophobic with the way they designed their seat cubicles. but overall, it was a fun experience. cool!
bumped
taking stock: the bloodbath
worldwide stock markets are going down ... no, crashing ... no, plumetting. it's a bloodbath out there. and the future remains volatile, at the very least, uncertain.
i've just lost at least 16% of my portfolio's value and it may take some time before i recover. well there's no use fretting about it. so while in recovery, i'll just busy myself bargain hunting.
sunday night dead air
"... but at the end of the day, the fact that when we show up for each other, in spite of our differences, no matter what we believe, is reason enough to keep believing."
and with bailey's voice over, the 2007/08 tv season finally came to an abrupt end. thanks to the f*ing writers strike.
there goes my weekend nightcap.
you see, i look forward to sunday nights, no, i eagerly anticipate sunday tv night -- that special post-dinner, pre-bedtime block when i run a back-to-back-to-back marathon of how i met your mother, private practice and grey's anatomy (yeah, i lead a *sad* life).
i've been sorely missing himym - sorely. i'm also quite bitin with private practice especially now that i'm just starting to get invested with its characters. but with the airing of the last completed episode of grey's anatomy, the reality of the writers strike really hit home big time.
i seriously hope an end to the strike is within sight.
there's always american idol, the a daily show, and the colbert report to fill the dead air. but nothing beats capping your week with three of the super best scripted series currently on air.