Shan in Japan

Auckland welcomed us (mum and me) to blue skies and sunny weather yesterday.  First thing we did was go to Mission Bay for a pot of steamed mussels for lunch.  There are a few things that I am looking forward to devouring such as fish and chips, meat pies and plenty of kiwi wine and beer.  These days when I come back to New Zealand, I feel more and more like a tourist.  This is the place I grew up as a kid, but it seems quite foreign to me now.  I only have 4 days here, so got to make the most of it!  My Grandmother turns 90 years old today - bless her. 

"Can you hold the plane for a bit?" was my last plea as I stood at the gates without a boarding pass at 5:15pm for a 5:15pm flight. Travelling light has it's advantages as there is no need to check in luggage. This has also made me complacent about rocking up to the airport less than an hour before the plane is due to depart and getting away with it. If it was an Air India flight, I am certain I could arrive at the airport after the due departure time and still get on the flight as those guys are always behind schedule! I have never missed a flight before and now I missed my long-haul flight to New Zealand. Not exactly a flight you can just hop on the next plane a few hours later.

So how did this happen? It's my own fault for not allowing enough time for unforseen circumstances. Now I appreciate the airlines' mantra of checking in at least 2 hours before departure. Even if it means sitting around bored, eating overpriced and poor quality airport food. Everything was going smooth as I got the E train from New York out to Queens. When I got to Jamaica center and changed to the 'Airtrain' - a computerised train to JFK airport, it had a computer glich. The platform attendant assured me it would be fixed in 5 mins. 5 mins turned into 30 mins, then another train came along, so I changed to that one as then train with a computer glich had an 'out of service' sign on it. As soon as I got on the next train, the computer glich train magically fixed itself, doors closed and off it went. So I had to wait another 10 mins before the second train would depart. From this point I knew I would miss the flight, but a slight optimism of a flight delay compelled me to keep going to the airport. Unlike Asia (excluding Japan) this is the western world. Things tend to run on time and to schedule - except for bloody computerised trains! Ironic.

Air Tahiti were quite good about rescheduling my next flight at almost no cost. I fly out tomorrow - same time and I plan to be the first person to check in!

Just upped a few snapshots of London and Paris. 

http://imageevent.com/shanakin/londonandparis