The flying nomad....

I guess that's how you feel,for a brief period, as you shuttle through airports across the world,heading to Hindustan.I hadn't done that on over 2 years and if was finally time. The airline had been selected, not much of a decision when it is a super inexpensive deal! :) the next things are always tough.The seats and meal selection. There are times when you make decisions sub-consciously and the seat selection is one of them,if you are claustrophobic. You want to select the aisle, common sense,stretch your legs, trip the air-hostess and have all the wine in her hand on your tee. But every time I try doing it, selecting the aisle seat, not the other one, I end up selecting the window.It feels liberating,no wonder I took the window seat in college too! :D
The meal.When in a new place, do you try the most weird or risk option on the menu? I usually do, with a reasonable hit rate. 'Oriental Vegetarian Meal,Mister.. Rangaanaa.. I'm sorry I can't pronounce it..' said the stewardess, laughing to herself at the very thought of the two words 'Oriental' and 'Vegetarian' co-existing,forgetting the name for a split second.I'm sure the chef looked at the list and went, "Oriental Vegetarian? Oh God.. why, why... is this my biggest test?'. No wonder I got steamed rice noodles, real fat ones, and 6 spears of Asparagus for lunch when leaving SFO and one HUGE slab of tofu when leaving Hong Kong.The cognac more than made up for it, but that's a different story. :)

When in a different country's airport, you look for the best place to experience their food.I was like a guy from Greenland in San Jose, who'd for sure look for a 'Taj Restaurant' when in search of Indian food.No luck on the way home, but one the way back,I found a place at the HK airport that served some yummy veg food.Sauteed vegetables,rice and mushrooms in a thin rice pancake.The texture of an Uthappam,with the thickness of a dosa.Yummy.A must eat. HK is also a great place to pick up some loose tea leaves with a tea infuser packed in a steel box, that is so exquisitely decorated. And then comes the cultural differences. You don't know what is the shopping etiquette is, especially when in the East. I opened this tee,wanted a different size, so tried to fold it in a not so bad way, and put it back. The sales girl, gave me 'You didn't fold it? ' kinda look, or so I thought. I wasn't asked to fold the tee again, atleast. :)Thank God.

As a traveller, you always contend with some characters,at airports or in the seat next to you.Having bid goodbye to my parents(sigh!) I proceeded to the duty free store in Chennai, looking for miniature bottles of spirit. As is the case, there usually is one pesky 'Sir, What can I help you with Sir?' on your back. This guy took it further.As I gave him the teeny weeny bottle, he looked straight at me and shot 'Sir, we also have cigarettes and cigars.Do you want some to go with this?'.Argh! Stop the stereotyping, phellow. He also had chocolates and perfumes, but somehow he thought I'd be more interested in coupling the 'bad habits'. I smiled and with a straight face told him ' One bad habit is enough, right?'. 'Right ,Sir', he said with a sheepish smile. That done, I was working my way through some delicious Singapore street noodles, all spicy(remember,Oriental Vegetarian) when this dude next to me started 'So where are you going?'. I'm not usually disconnected, when in a flight. You do the usual 'Hi' to the neighbour when you sit. This guy gave me a 'I don't say Hi' look in response. And here he was, trying to write my biography. It only got better,five minutes into the conversation,after we found out (yes, we finally found out where we were headed) he popped me the 'Easy Question'.'So.. you make about 60-75 lakhs in our money at that bank you work?'.He truly was chronicling my survival in the recession. And surprisingly, this was an 'easy question', primarily because you always expect it coming, when in the midst of more than 5 Tam-bram maamis around you. I'd mastered the response well, at this point. I make them feel elated.. by nodding at their guess. '65 lakhs?' Nod.. Nod Nod.. 'Naan nenachaen(I thought so). '45 lakhs?' Nod..Nod.. Nod.. 'Naan sonnaen illaya?'(I told you so..) the maami would tell her friend. My mom would have a good laugh too, waiting for me to crib about these people ,with her later! :) So I went Nod.. Nod.. Nod.. with this dude too, my new Biographer.

Best Sight : Watching the skyscrapers compete with the mountains in Hong Kong
Best Buy : Dragon tee and some tea leaves with the infuser, at HK airport ---->
Biggest Regret : Not enough time to listen to all the albums Cathay had. Ah! 78 Rock albums alone! Can we fly around the world twice? :)
Best Watch : Oye Lucky..Lucky Oye (Hindi).Every character is 100% Delhi. :) Brilliant.
Big Letdown : Citizen Kane.Argh! what a pain. So cliched. Such a bore.
Oh so Weird : As an elderly man found out, never knock on the restroom door , to ask someone to quicken, when on a flight! :)
Thumbs Up : Cathay Pacific!