Flying to Thailand, Circa 2003 A.D.

Well its been a bit, but maybe I should update with some old thoughts of mine.. lets see. Edited slightly and the italitised stuff are addendums.
 

1/9/2003 Monday (Day 1)

I'm sitting, waiting at gate C44 in Dublin airport, and I don't know how I feel, but I never do. As I'll probably remember while reading this (unless I'm struck by altzeimers or some other memory impairing malady, and if so, Jerry I'm shocked you lived that long!) I'm off to Thailand for a month, well, 26 days. Its currently 14:58, and we board in 42 minutes, so I have little else to do but bide my time writing, as the ATM here is broken and I couldn't be bothered checking in all over again to reach the foyer one. I'd never be going anywhere if it weren't for -omitted- (Basically a very old flame of mine that was never quite lit, like most of my very old flames)

she inspired my initial sojourn into the world of travel with last years EU bound trip,

The year before I'd travelled back from Rome in a week after my Mother had married there, it was quite spur of the moment and I took the occasion to fall of a cliff in Leichtenstein and almost kill myself. Still, it did wonders for my sense of perspective.

and she also inspired Thailand, suggesting it over the Greek venture which fell apart so expectedly, not so much an illiad, but an odyssey without the journey – a series of mishaps. 

This is a reference to a holiday I had planned with a big old bunch of school friends, as it transpired the only place it existed in the end was in my head in various lumps of planning stages, everyone cancelled on the day we were supposed to buy tickets. I was incenced

 

The airfield though the vast transparent wall I sit dwarfed by seems abandoned, 'cept for one small group of safety vest wearing workers, aircraft and service vehicles alike sit motionless under this hot day. Trying to be poetic, should stop, judging by what I produced – on to Thailand. From familiarity through scales of unease right into Bangkok, or so I seem to be going. -omitted- (Actually, lets call her Saratoga, Yes..) Saratoga brought back my levity and joie de vivre she'd obviously sequestered on Saturn, thank God for that, I was starting to bore myself.

Well, I guess this is the only time I'll be writing in at least vaguely familiar environs, after this its planes, Frankfurt, and Bangkok, then Thailand, I'm just babbling here, wasting ink, not sure if this pen was so good an idea... maybe, maybe not, 

This and various other sections of this particular journal (Tastefully bound in brown leather, the thing has aged rather well) was written in a rather foolish brown felt tip. I think I was trying to make the thing look aged and well, for use of a better word, 'academic'.

this whole Indiana Jones think has perhaps gone too far, looking as I do, as though headed for a costume party, growing pains perhaps? Maybe I've outgrown this hat and jacket, this month will tell, and hopefully fully reveal exactly what my personality is behind all this 'cloudiness'.

Ha, Sure Jerry. Whatever you say.

I can't wait to get on the plane, to see all this stuff, however, unease has set in, regarding everyone's uncertainty about my continued existence, at moments I feel like I might not be coming back, I am foolish am I not? 

Apparantly alot of people thought I'd be killed on this trip.  I wasn't.

Ancient sages would decree it a prophesy for the future. I'm no sage, however out of date I may sometimes feel, that alone should save this particular confused soul.

18:30 – okay black pen easier to write with, I think, too much brown, wait.... right, good old blue, in Frankfurt airport, and theres a very very annoying ringing noise going on, my God. Anyway, the plane I'm to board is frickin huge, a jumbo jet, looking like it tried to swallow a chunk of New York, it sits intelligently outside where I sit in this massive airport, complete with odd partial aircraft fuselage on one of the terminal roofs.

Again, here it is, my first view of a jumbo jet. And a somewhat silly description. But I'm young, I let it pass.

18:50

Charming pillars festooned with faux grass and flowers are the order of the day here in Frankfurt. That German humour. + theres a casino too.

19:18 – 20:18

Its actually an hour later then I thought it was, forgot to adjust for Duetche time. The are no banks in the passanger area of the airport. I'm telling you, they're losing millions. Flights in an hour and a half, time to snooze.

For some reason 'They're losing millions' has become one of my brains catchphrases. For whatever reason, at various times, my brain will tell itself "they're losing millions" This was but that particular errant thoughts beginning.  Birth of a thought. CAPTURED!

23.07

To my upper amazement theres a status display indicator, showing location, altitude, speed and distance to destination, at the mo we're at something like 540000ft just over Nuremberg. Its a 10 hour flight so thank God we get a hot dinner, and two movies, hilariously: Bruce Almighty, and the Lizzie McGuire Movie.

Theres a radio and everything, naturally I'm listening to classical music. Sitting next to an Italian, and a woman from Indonesia, wish I could remember my Italiano.

Woah, this is scary, a movie in German about a really crappy body belt

“Lufthansa Body belt, with 'Oral Care' 'Eye Mask' 'Socks' 'Shoe horn' 'Ear plugs' Guaranteed to make any journey stress free”

unless you crash.

“What do you need to take a flight with Lufthansa?”

a ticket? A Plane? No..

“A Lufthansa Body Belt” of course. Only five Euro, hell you can do anything with a Lufthansa Body Belt, brilliant.

23:29

Cabin crew just tossed roasting hot wipes into everyones hands, crazy.

Amazingly I'd never experienced a hot wipe before this exact moment.

03:58

Can't see what I'm writing, plane in night mode, snuck a look out the window, its daylight over a vast desert, which, I'm not sure. Wow.

Tuesday the 2^nd of September 2003

6:16 (German Time) Day 2

After a sleepless night aboard this ship with no name the flight crew again gained it feasible to throw hot napkins into our hands, boiling hot desterilisation, nothing quite like it really, 'much' 'appreciated'. At the moment the view, if one could call it a view, is just blinding white, although I can't see much, sitting on the aisle. I think breakfast is coming, hence the scorched palm policy. That desert must have been a part of Russia or something, not too up on my vast horizon stretching deserts but it was certainly something to behold.

I'm uneasy about Bangkok, we land in 90 minutes I think, and still dunno Thai.

08:10

Leaving cruising altitude, starting Bangkok approach.

Ahem, so there we go then. Wasn't that pointless. I'll sift through the thing, try to find something actually interesting, funny, etc. But yes. Off goes Jeremiah.  Must try to write in this thing more often. Quite busy right now, rehearsing 'A Date to Remember' for several July dates at the Phoenix arts club.  Come along if you read this!