Boarding Blues

It has been ages since I last boarded a plane. Couple of months back, sis invited us to crash at her brand-spanking new crib. Though I no longer remember, something did happened, so we ended up postponing the trip to last week. Alas, the date was set.

Then I remembered, the last time I ever boarded a plane, I remember dad saying to me the day before we depart, "Meng ah, make sure you don't bring anything metal with you. Otherwise you can't board the plane,"

But it has been a decade since and September 11 happened. Security should be much tighter these days, so I called up JM, the frequent flyer I know for some advice;

Me: Dude, I'm cleaning up my bag for the trip tomorrow and I think I have quite a few things they might not want me to bring on-board. Like this bottle opener, would they confiscate my metal-key-chain-shark-shaped bottle opener? Cos I damn lazy to take everything out...

JM: Why do you have a metal-key-chain-shark-shaped bottle opener?

Me: I bought it in Bukit Merah wan lah, I gave you the black fat fish one, remember?

JM: Right. Yeah, well, I think they would, leave it behind.

Me: I hear you can't bring bottled water too.

JM: Yeap, no water.

Me: What about pen knife?

JM: ...

Me: CDs? I mean they're all umm...you know...not originals...

JM: Batu Ferringhi?

Me: No lah, CDr.

JM: I dunno man...

Me: What about a pen?

JM: A pen?

Me: Yeah, you know, pens have a metal tip...I could like poke people or worst, draw on them, or write the word "DEATH" on them...

JM: ...

OK, maybe I was going a wee bit overboard, but come on. It's been ages since I flew so naturally I wanted it to be as smooth as possible. I even left my brand new pack of Mild Seven Lights behind, preventing any awkward moment I'll have when my parents sees it as I empty my pockets and walk thru the metal detector.

I slept at 3am and woke up at 5am. And when the plane took off, I swear I tripped out for like 3-seconds. For the whole 3 days I spent there, I'm quite sure I had only 10 hours of sleep. I'll report back later.