Thoughts from my long layover at the King Khalid International Airport
3:32 am: Riyadh
8:33 am: Manila
7:33 pm: Baltimore
I’m at the Riyadh airport right now with four hours left to kill until my flight to Washington, D.C.
Last month, I decided to spend the holidays at my brother’s place in the U.S. We have quite a long break this year at work and I thought this is the opportune time to take a vacation abroad so I won’t have to file a leave. Also, I found relatively cheap tickets via Saudia Airlines. Before I bought the tickets, I was looking for reviews on Saudia online. Most of them were negative. I found a few good reviews though. I can live with that. Besides, I’ve been using the world’s worst airport my whole life; I’ve been on a lot of Cebupacific flights; I’ve flown Zestair, Airasia; endured looong hours of delay many times. My only goal anyway is to arrive in Washington D.C. one piece, with all my luggage in tact.
I went through heavy traffic on my way to the airport. It was the last Sunday before Christmas after all, and I understand there are a lot of people flying in and out of Manila. When I got to NAIA 1, I was in line at the check-in counter for around 45 minutes. Yet again, I was inadvertently placed in the loser lane. I think I was the only one going to U.S.; the rest of the passengers (mostly OFWs) were on a direct flight to Saudi. The lady at the counter asked if I was dependent/minor. Harhar. I wear my mental age on my sleeve. Then it seemed like she didn’t know what to do when I told her I was going to the U.S. After what seemed like forever, she finally released my boarding pass and I went to the departure area. There were no seats so went to a nearby canteen to eat.
After we boarded, we didn’t take off immediately. The pilot announced we were going to have a 30-minute delay because of a “VIP” stalling operations at the airport. I tried to catch some sleep. I wasn’t able to check what time we finally took off.
The plane was quite old and there was very little legroom. I wouldn’t recommend Saudia to parents of very young kids/babies or to my mother who goes to the restroom every five minutes.
I brought some pizza with me because I wasn’t so sure what they’re going to serve in the plane. But the food wasn’t so bad. I guess the quality of airplane food is standard for all airlines.
The flight went on smoothly and after almost ten hours in transit, I finally arrived. It’s really cold outside (I’m sure not nearly as cold as MD).
Just finished editing some photos from a wedding we’ve covered last Saturday. I turned my Macbook off because I ran out of batt.
My food from the airline came in a box:
4:37 am – Riyadh
Manila – 9:37 am
8:37 pm – Baltimore
Currently doing work. Because my work laptop still has a batt and I’m a loser. And because I don’t have a book with me and there are no bookstores in this airport. Huhu
5:11 am
10:11 am Manila
9:11 pm Baltimore
Someone’s singing a prayer in the PA. I don’t know if I should drop everything I’m doing and sit/stand still until the prayer is finished.
Boarded the plane going to Dulles Airport. Finally
