the plane ride home

Sunday Jan 4th, 2009

I woke up about 5am to finish packing (since we had been out all day and night on Saturday, there were still things of k's strewn all over my parent's house, and random stuff of mine was everywhere too.) So I had a cup of tea to wake me up and threw everything I could find into the suitcase, which I then sat on to shut!! Then had another cup of tea when mum woke up(which unfortunately did nothing to clear my surprise hangover from the night before at the Australian Outdoor Spectacular, oops! honestly, what *was* I thinking??) before waking J then K so we could head out to the airport at about 6:30am.
We got to the airport at 7am, and there was already a big line up for JAL check-in, so I mustered up the courage to go ask the people on the business check in counter if there was any preferential check-in service for people with small kids (like they did for me in Japan). The guy (who must have been the main guy there) said no, but we could line up in the business class line while it was somewhat empty and check-in there (cool!! It pays to ask, right!!) So we line up, get to the counter really quick, and I ask for bulk head seats for all of us - my thought was that K could play on the floor in front of us, so it would be ok since she didn't have a seat for herself. I was SHOCKED to the core when they turned to me and said that not only where there no bulk head seats, but there were no seats for J and I to sit together! WHAT!?!? *apparently* all the seats are pre-booked nowadays, and because J and I had both pre-booked (tentatively??randomly??) when we bought the tickets at different times, then we could not get seats together.
I have to admit, at this time, I started to cry, right there at the check-in counter. I was like "I can't do this on my own!" The guy said the best he could come up with was 1) a single bulk-head seat (C) for me, and an aisle seat (H or something) 2 rows behind on the other side of the plane for J OR 2) an exit row seat window seat, and the window seat behind it.
So we took option 1, with the promise from the guy that he would try to do his best to find us some seats together, "you never know, some people might not show up" or his reassurances that we could probably get people to move for us once we got on the plane. Either way I wasn't at all hopeful. So I was not a relaxed or happy chap, as we went to the boarding gate. Then my saviour, my new best friend, the guy from the check-in counter sees me coming to the gate and he calls me over "just the woman I wanted to see! We found 2 seats together for you (yippee!) and there is a chance that the seat beside you might be free too!"
And would you believe it, we got FOUR WHOLE SEATS TO OURSELVES!!!! It was like heaven on earth (or in the skies or whatever). And K was *such* an angel on the plane. J and I sat on an aisle seat each, and blocked her into the 2 middle seats to play on. She ate crackers, played with the seat belts, pushed the contrast/brightness buttons on the personal tv screen, and just entertained herself the whole time. I could hardly believe it. She even went to sleep!! (I initially tried to get her to sleep in the ergo, but that didn't work, so we both lay down on the 2 seats in the middle and I played her the video of her cousins, taken at the airport before we left and it lulled her to sleep. She would probably have slept for a good 2 hours if the airline hostess didn't drop a can of beer right in front of J and make a big noise. Oh well. That was the only time we was a bit whiny, when woken up from her sleep only 1 hour into it by beer spraying everywhere. Oh, and a bit when we were coming in to land and she didn't want to sit in her seat with the seat belt on. We did't have to walk the plane or anything with her. I *so* know that having the extra seats was our saviour, amnd even if I have used up all my good karma for the year, it was sooooooooooo worth it!

All in all, although I was dreading the plane trip home, it turned out to be such a breeze, that I am thinking we should organise another o/seas trip before K turns 2 (and we have to pay for a seat for her)...maybe somewhere close though. I kinda like the thought of a March getaway to somewhere easy like Saipan, or Taiwan.....We'll see.