Among all my my phobias, the fear of flying is one I wish I didn’t have.
I have narrowed down my worst phobias to three:
1) Fear of flying
2) Fear of bathrooms/toilets
3) Fear of confrontation
I’m famous for #2 and I don’t want to discuss #3 right now. So this entry is about #1, fear of flying.
I was in Tokyo last week with the hubby just for a brief holiday. I needed it.
It was so hot I tell you. July in Tokyo is hot and rainy. But I’m happy to have met some really cool friends and shop a little bit.
Our flight going back was on Thursday night, 6 PM, from Narita.
On Wednesday night I was already concerned that there was a monsoon rain/typhoon named Gorio in Luzon, and that classes were cancelled. Needless to say I was very anxious that night.
I was able to pack our luggage (4.5 pieces) on autopilot before sleeping. I prayed a lot and monitored the weather over Twitter, making kulit my friends and followers to update me.
The following day my husband and I left the hotel at 12 noon and arrived at Narita at 2:30 PM.
I had three hours to kill before boarding at 5:30 PM.
I went shopping for an hour before meeting my husband at Japan Airlines’ Sakura Lounge.
I simply love the JAL Lounge. I think it’s better than the Cathay Pacific Lounge in HK.
Design is much simpler. I want my living room to look like this.
We boarded at 5:30 PM. No flight delays. The typhoon was headed toward Taiwan in the north west. This was the path of Gorio. Note that we were flying home on July 27.
Based on this map of Japan (green) and Philippines (orange), I figured we would feel turbulence around the Mariana trench in between the two countries.
So I kept my eye on the flight tracker on the TV screen.
We were told in advance to keep our safety belts on due to expected turbulence. So I did just that and prayed a couple of rosaries with 1/2 Rivotril (tranquilizer).
I didn’t fall asleep but I was calm. I noticed that from 36,000 feet, our altitude went up to 38,000 feet. It was one of the smoothest flights I had ever taken. We only had a few seconds of turbulence before landing and that was that.
Japan Airlines flies a small plane between Narita and Manila and the Business Class may feel coffin-like, especially when you’re fully reclined. I can’t imagine how cramped Economy is. But the smoothness of what should have been a bumpy ride was worth it and that’s something I’ll always remember.
Thank you for bring us back safely to our kids.
