Kaladkarin’s UK Adventure – The Prologue

11:40 SGT, having breakfast at Changi Airport

This morning, I woke up with my pulse racing. As I scrambled to cram some last minute packing, I realized that my hands were literally shaking. I was so jumpy that when a hanger fell out from my closet, I thought my heart has leaped out from my chest. I wasn’t even this close to an anxiety attack on the day I picked up my bags and chose to leave my home in Manila for the flats of Singapore.

As with any irrational (and often imagined) dilemmas of mine, I always do try to break down the problem into chunks to figure out why I was so nervous. Maybe it was the fact that it was my first official venture out of Asia — are things really different on the other side? Is there really a huge discrepancy as to the warmth and hospitality that you could expect from people over there? Will I get bullied, mugged or traumatized? Will immigration find that itty-bitty detail I overlooked — that last thing that never crossed my mind — and deport me back, humiliated? Sheesh, no wonder my nerves are all over the place.

After several bouts of psyching myself out, the jitters finally wavered once the nice lady at the SQ check-in counter gave me my boarding pass and I was waived through immigration. I tell you, nothing could be sweeter than realizing that one of your bucket list goals is actually on the way to being checked. Excuse me while I finally attend to daydreaming about the adventures ahead.

16:00 SGT, having lunch aboard the SQ Singapore-London flight

It’s my first time on business class — I warn you, be prepared for a whole lot of bumpkin-ness. Did I mention I’m on the coolest plane ever?! The seat is enough for 2 people, it actually reclines to be quite a comfy bed, and almost every 15 minutes, someone brings you simply the most irresistable dishes. Part of me is still paranoid that something’s going to go wrong and burst this bubble, but the 4 glasses of wine I’ve already had since boarding the plane is definitely helping. What did I tell you, promdi overload right? =P Right now, I’m fiddling with the movie player in front of my seat — I wish they had Harry Potter 1; that would have been awesome.

21:15 SGT, still fiddling with the movie player

I just finished watching Limitless — that was surreal! I found myself wishing over and over that that pill was real. Just imagine the possibilities! Ah yes, messing with the mind is such a risky thing, but wouldn’t it be so worth it? The mental blocks, the helplessness during the lack of motivation — wouldn’t it be grand if taking care of it was simply like popping a Panadol?

Back to the real world, here’s another promdi alert — there’s a utility in the dashboard player that plots the real-time location of the plane on a world map. Right now, the though that I’m flying over the plains of Africa and the waters of the Caspian Sea, is simply blowing my mind. At this moment, I know that I want this kind of life; I wish this bubble would last forever.