Flight back to Manila.

24th, Christmas Eve, I woke up early to do some last minute shopping for gifts to bring back home. When I was finally done with all the packing and preparation, I took the airport limousine bus that'll bring me to Incheon Int'l Airport. I was the only passenger at that time, thought it's a good thing, but it felt really awkward when the driver did the customary short speech and bowed at me. I was sleepy and tired so I dozed off while endless Christmas songs were being played on the radio. When I woke up, I heard the song "I'll be home for Christmas", thought it was perfect for the situation as I'm literally on my way home for Christmas.

I glanced at my watch every so often, calculating the time it'll take. The bus departed at 6:20 pm, and usually, it takes only about an hour to get to the airport, but considering the traffic I added another hour to my calculation. There was moderate traffic on the road that night, but I sort of expected that. Time and time again, I assured myself that there is nothing to worry about. At 7:30, I eagerly checked the surroundings for signage that'll show where my location was. I was more than surprised when I saw that I was still in Gyeonggi, still far from the airport. I patiently waited but unable to calm myself, my flight was at 9:35, it was past 8 and I was nowhere near Incheon. By the time the clock hit 9, I was in state of panic, and kept on calling Chris to inform the airline that I'm stuck in the worst traffic ever and I'm going to be late. He talked with them and they said they'll wait for me till 9:10, later than that, they wont accept me. I bit my lip hard, at that time I just entered Incheon area and all I could see are endless rows of red tail lights.

My head was in a frenzy of thoughts. Part of me says I won't be able to make it, too bad the ticket isn't rebookable nor refundable. I kept telling myself it's now or never, I can't bear to lose that much money, not now, not ever! I sweated profusely while I prayed for a little Christmas miracle. The bus barely moves and when it does, it's slower than a person running! At 9:20 the roads cleared as we entered the intersection going to the airport. The driver sort of recognized that there is a huge possiblilty that I'm going to miss my flight, so he sped up as fast as he could. As soon as I got off the bus, I ran to the airline booth. It was 9:32 pm when I checked the time.

Even before reaching their designated table, one of the ground staff called my attention from afar, asking if I was Manila bound and I said yes. He then asked if I was Emma, again I said yes while catching my breath (I knew they were expecting me). I let out a sigh of relief when they accepted my passport and handed me the boarding pass. They asked if I have any liquid items or gels in my baggage... Crap! I said to myself. I forgot all about that. I prepared a luggage for 'check-in', and not for 'hand-carry' so obviously I didn't have that 'liquid-thingy rule' in my head while packing. Since I'm late, they could only accept hand-carried ones and I do have wine, and some skin care set I bought as gifts for my family. He said I should give those up and people from the security gate will confiscate those items. I felt really bad but he didn't leave me with any other option, besides, getting on my flight is more important than those things. It was 9:36 so he asked me to proceed and got another staff to escort me to the gate. I told the security personnel who opened my luggage that those items were gifts for my sister's wedding. I was ecstatic that I didn't need to throw those gifts away, I didn't forget to say thanks and I greeted him a Merry Christmas. He must have seen me so stressed, anxious, and in a hurry so he let me pass through easily.

Since the boarding gate is located at the far end of the airport, the staff and I took the train, she seemed oblivious to my presence. She was on her walkie-talkie the whole time and kept on checking her phone so I wasn't able to talk with her. I finally showed up right in front of the gate 10 minutes after the scheduled departure. One staff took my luggage from my hand and stowed it somewhere while I was frantically searching for the ticket and my boarding pass in my pocket. Another staff then asked me to hurry up and enter the plane. As soon as I went in, I looked for my luggage but couldn't find it, so the stewardess had to call an airline staff again and asked about my missing luggage. A different staff came inside the plane and escorted me back to the gate upstairs. He called his crew in the walkie-talkie and at an instant, 7 people showed up, he then asked me to find the person who took it. One guy came forward, explaining to me that when he measured the bag, it wouldn't fit in the overhead compartment so he took the liberty to bring it to the cargo area. I couldn't bear to be angry at him for not informing me before hand, afterall, I'm the cause of delay.

It was way past 10, almost 11 perhaps when the plane took off. I didn't bother to check the time, I just kept my eyes closed, avoiding the stares from fellow passengers. I was so exhausted and it didn't take long before I fell asleep. A stewardess woke me up, handing me my meal and my immigration card. I couldn't be happier knowing I'll be home just in time. The plane arrived an hour late from the scheduled time of arrival. It was 1 am then, officially it was Christmas day, I couldn't help smiling as I go along the almost empty road back home.