Day 1028: Worst Part of My 19 Hours of Travel (Doha to Islamabad)

So yesterday… I may have been unfair picking on my Rome to Doha seat mates… at least after what happened from Doha to Islamabad.

When THE cardinal sin of flying is breached, worrying about people reclining their seats and opening their windows seem trivial.

When I fly I normally keep a bag at my feet.  I like to have my stuff close and I can’t stand having to get up to fish things out of the overhead bins.

However, since I had been flying all day and the Doha to Islamabad leg was only going to be 3.5 hours I decided to stow my bag overhead so I could have some extra leg room and relax.

Well… ummm… so I almost always request aisle seats because of my legs (I’m just shy of 6 foot)… but for some reason I had been given a middle seat for the last leg of my trip… smack dab in the middle of the wonder twins... who seemed to like the foot space in front of my seat more than their own.

Now, the first thing I should point out is that none of us had placed a bag underneath the seat in front of us, so there was plenty of foot space for all… so I am still kind of confused as to why they kept using mine. 

Secondly, out of the three of us… I was the tallest.

And yes, at one point they both had their feet in MY space. 

Now seriously, the problem is that they were tired.  They were curling up in their seats cattycorner (rather than straight ahead) and as they relaxed their feet would slowly drift under the seat in front of mine.  At least that’s what happened with the guy to my right.  Once he realized what he had done, he moved his legs and it didn’t happen again.

The guy to my left, however, just couldn’t take the hint and was oblivious to my non-verbal cues (kicks). 

Sure, he would move his feet… but it wouldn’t be long before they were back in my space.

Finally, almost halfway into the flight I thought he had himself under control… at least until I stretched and came into contact with BOTH of his feet… and he didn’t make any attempt to move them… so I turned to him and said, “Hey, I love playing footsy as much as the next guy, but this is my third flight today and I’m just not interested.  So, you’re going to need to straighten out so your feet are in front of your seat not mine.”

Yeah… I can be a jerk when I’m tired.  But seriously.  On an airplane, all you have is your seat and your foot space… it must be defended!  

Day 1027: Worst Part of My 19 Hours of Travel (Rome to Doha)

The people I had to sit next to… and behind.

Now… I know I’m going to sound petty here, but I sat next to folks with some of the most annoying in-flight habits… they drove me nuts!  And in my travels I’ve sat next to a lot of different people… some chatty, some smelly, some inconsiderate… but this time around I really scored the dream team.

From Rome to Doha (5.5 hours) I sat behind a guy who liked to recline, which doesn’t really bother me (normally)… but this guy would give me zero warning and drop his seat back with all of his weight, so fast that it would scared me.  Like someone was throwing a brick at my face that magically stopped inches from my nose. 

Although this only happened a couple times during our flight, it really peeved me when he launched back and actually hit my knees one of the times.  My legs had been crossed and he came straight down on top of them, “Ow!  Can you please give me a little warning in the future?”  He didn’t turn… he didn’t respond… he didn’t give me the universal blank stare that says, “I don’t speak your language, but I am sorry.”  He simple lifted his seat up for a second and then launched back again.  I wanted to slap him… but I didn’t.

Next to me was a very quite young woman who seemed perfectly normal until she started looking out the window compulsively.  Now, again… looking out the window is something people do on planes, so I am not complaining.  Sure, every time she opened her window, the glare of the light made ‘The Green Hornet’ unwatchable… but I was less annoyed by her compulsion then you might think.  Sure it was annoying at first… but then I found it funny.   Just about every 15 minutes (yes, I timed her) she would open her window and look out… only for about 30 to 60 seconds… and then close it again.  Honestly, we were up so high there was nothing to see, but she just kept doing it.  Open, Close, Open, Close.

I couldn’t help but imagine her internal monologue: “Good, we are still flying.”  “Is that cloud following us?”  “I shouldn’t have watched ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ before going on this flight.”

Day 1026: Best Part of My 19 Hours of Travel

The BEST part of my three flights has to be the layover in Doha.  Now, if you’ve flown through Doha before, you’re probably saying to yourself, “What’s so special about Doha… the airport feels like a bus depot.”

Well, this is true.  The Doha airport is a very small, bus station feeling kind of place.  BUT, it has some AMAZING food!  And frankly, food will ALWAYS trump décor. 

Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve raved about the food in the Doha airport and it certainly won’t be the last… But you have to be careful… if you ever end up in Doha, you don’t want to end up eating at the wrong place.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the Doha airport has two floors and they have a food court on each level.  I’ve never been to the food court on the first floor, so I don’t know what they have there, but if it’s anything like the upstairs food court it’s nothing to write home about… unless you really want to dine at an A&W or some other random fast food restaurant you’ve never heard of.

That said, take my advice and avoid the “food courts”. 

On the second floor, on the opposite end of the terminal from the food court you’ll find a cafeteria.  There isn’t really a sign and it’s around a corner, so you won’t actually see it right-a-way.  However, it is sandwiched between the Masque, Children’s play area, and Gate 16… so, if you follow the signs to one of those three, you’ll find the cafeteria I’m recommending.

And there you’ll find the best samosas, curries, and stews… and Mountain Dew.

Let me know if you ever check it out.

Day 1025: Back in the Saddle Again!

Well, I’m back in good-old Pakistan for my last 10 week sprint to the finish and apparently a lot has happened over here in the last three week.

Note to self: “In the future, I should probably read a newspaper while on R&R.” 

Lol, just kidding.

Anyway, despite all the worrying my friends and family have been doing over the last week or so, my trip back to Islamabad went incredible smooth… well, as smooth as three flights and 19 hours of travel can be.  

Compared to my routing last time (Belgrade-Istanbul-Abu Dhabi-Islamabad), which took MUCH longer on an incredibly uncomfortable airline, this trip was a dream come true!

This time around I was so intent on avoiding the airlines I used last time that I actually flew to Rome first, where I hooked up with Qatar Airways (a MUCH better airline) and flew to Doha and then Islamabad. 

The only disconcerting thing about my travels was the temperate of Islamabad when I arrived at 3:15am.  It was 80 degrees Fahrenheit outside. 

It’s going to be a REALLY hot 10 weeks.

Day 1024: Godzilla, the Musical

(Do you know of a fun video, website, or picture?  Send me a link: schutzhappens@gmail.com)

Day 1023: The Cape

The Cape stars a good friend of mine from College, but unfortunately the show was cancelled after 13 episodes. 

(Do you know of a fun video, website, or picture?  Send me a link: schutzhappens@gmail.com)

Day 1022: Caprica Trailer

(Do you know of a fun video, website, or picture?  Send me a link: schutzhappens@gmail.com)