All FOGGED Up

Monday 25^th Dec 2006

A separate entry, cos this is my experience in the foggy city of Xi’an. I arranged to leave Xi’an on Monday on a 1715 flight to make it for the 2355 flight from Beijing to S’pore. Monday being the important day of the CT scan, I wanted to be there as long as possible so I can put my mind at ease. Probably not the best move for me.

Left the hospital and hotel at 1300 for the driver (feng) to send me to the airport. Reason why we left so early is that it’s foggy, all highways except the ones that lead to the airport have been closed and all cars drive very slowly on foggy days. So I had a rushed lunch and left. Though feng drove slowly, there weren’t tt many cars so we actually made it to near the airport at about 1400, which was way too much time to spare. So kind feng decided to drive round Xianyang (a city nearer to the airport) for a spin, to show me the large Wei River as well. Was slightly paranoid that he’d drive me to some ulu place to rob me (cos some parts he passed by was really very ulu). But on the whole it was all right, we were chatting here and there, I was telling him about S’pore and he telling me about Xi’an and Shaanxi province. Reached airport at 1500. It was already slightly chaotic there, and flights were being delayed or cancelled due to foggy weather. I went to check in, but was told by the check-in staff that the flight’s been delayed, they don’t know how long it’ll take, because the plane is still in Shanghai Pudong (2 hours flight away). I was calculating, cos if this flight was delayed means I might not be able to catch my 2355 flight, and I didn’t want to spend a night in Beijing, rather stay in Xi’an where I know more ppl, can see tj also… so I started making calls to tj and my parents to consult them as to what I should do, and called my colleague A to inform her that I prob might not be going to work on Tuesday. Was just standing there waiting, then suddenly the station manager started shouting who’s going to Beijing? They freed up a plane and it was departing in 40 min. I could live with tt delay, so I hurriedly checked in my luggage, bade goodbye to feng (who was there with me all the way looking after my luggage, kindly lending me his phone to make china phone calls etc.) and proceeded to the boarding gate.

We boarded the plane about 1730, I was happy cos the plane was pretty new and there was an empty seat next to me. The plane slowly taxied to the runway, and we’re getting ready to leave. 10 min later there’s an announcement telling us “due to bad weather, the plane has not been cleared for takeoff, the pilots are in contact with Air Traffic Controllers for more details etc. Ppl started switching on their handphones and telling their loved ones they weren’t gonna be at Beijing that night. Anxious passengers started asking the cabin crew questions, but they weren’t able to answer either. Finally, at about 1800, the plane turned back to the tarmac, and we were offloaded.

We boarded a bus to take us back to the terminal. It was a scary ride, it was pitch black, the fog was like a wall choking you, and we could only see the blinking lights from a vehicle <5m style=""> Now we understood why they turned back. But they didn’t tell us outright that the flight was cancelled, only that it was delayed till weather conditions improved. Commonsense told me that the colder it gets, the worse fog gets so I decided quickly (after a phone call to tj) that I wasn’t going anywhere that night. So feng was told to come back to pick me up while I proceeded to cancel my ticket and get back my luggage.

It was terrible. Ppl were pushing and shoving at the ticket counters, waving their flight schedules and paper tickets (not boarding passes mind you) and screaming at the counter staff. I know they tried their best, but there were just too many rude ppl. To cancel the ticket, we had to return our boarding passes at one counter, and proceed to the next to get our paper tickets stamped “Delayed” then reclaim our baggage. There the problems started. I did not have a flight schedule or paper ticket (booked thru e-ticket) and I wasn’t as aggressive so the staff didn’t really attend to me till much later, and ppl were just pushing in from the back, by the time I was done I was so squashed inside I couldn’t get out, but I did in the end.

While trying to claim my baggage, I realized that I didn’t have my luggage tag with me, hence they were unable to find my luggage for me. First time I don’t get a luggage check-in tag, my flight gets delayed. Best. After trying calmly to explain to the counter staff that they didn’t give me a luggage tag, they finally went to the system, retrived the number and returned me my luggage. By then I had spend 1.5 hrs shouting, getting pushed at the airport. Was just so drained. Feng came to pick me up, where my original room was waiting for me…

Feng told me that after I proceeded to board, he felt that as it gets later the fog would thicken, so he waited another half hr in the airport before he finally left. When he was driving back to airport to pick me, the visibility was so poor (~1m) that he had to strain his eyes to focus on the road. After that, he drove me back for dinner and rest in the hotel. Was very tired then… what a way to spend Xmas. Ate a lot for dinner that night.