18:00 – Eric & Robyn come home after a pleasant walk through Bangkok’s flower district. They have enjoyed a nice dinner of braised pork & rice and are planning on having a relaxing night in.
18:17 – Eric confirms their flight from Bangkok, Thailand to London, England. It is scheduled to leave at 00:45 on Tuesday, March 30, 2010.
18:19 – Eric & Robyn discuss their plans for their final day in Bangkok. They will check out of their guesthouse at 12:00 on Tuesday, March 30, 2010. They plan to catch the 18:00 airport bus, which will give them plenty of time to check-in and go through customs. To kill the time in the afternoon, they will go see another movie and do some last minute errands.
18:34 – Robyn has a shower.
18:35 – Eric starts packing his large backpack.
18:52 – Eric calls his father in Ontario, Canada. The time difference is -12 hours, so it is now 06:52 on Monday, March 29, 2010.
19:24 – Eric & Robyn start playing a game of Skip-Bo.
19:47 – Robyn wins Skip-Bo.
19:52 – Eric calls his mother in Ontario, Canada one more time before they will see her in London, England. They finalize the details on where and when to meet her. Her flight is schedule to leave Toronto at 23:00 on Monday, March 29, 2010 and will arrive in London at 11:25 on Tuesday, March 30, 2010. Since Eric & Robyn’s flight will be arriving in London at 07:15 on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 and all of them will want time to freshen up and have a nap beforehand, they agree to meet her in the lobby of her hotel at 17:30 the same day.
20:05 – Robyn calls her friend Lisa in Ontario, Canada.
20:06 – Eric has a shower.
20:41 – Robyn starts packing her large backpack.
20:42 – Eric finishes packing his large backpack.
20:43 – Eric starts reading. He’s almost through his book and his hoping to finish it before they fly to London.
21:04 – Robyn takes a break from packing and starts reading her book.
21:26 – Eric goes to brush his teeth.
21:27 – As Eric is brushing his teeth, he starts thinking.
21:29 – Eric asks himself “how is it possible that my Mom is scheduled to leave Toronto 13 hours before we leave Bangkok and yet arrives 4 hours after we land in London, when her flight is only 7 hours long and ours is almost 13 hours long?”
21:31 – Eric walks back to the bedroom to ask Robyn this question but unfortunately his mouth is filled with Listerine.
21:32 – Eric walks back to the bathroom and spits.
21:33 – Eric walks back to the bedroom, again, and asks Robyn “how is it possible that my Mom is scheduled to leave Toronto 13 hours before we leave Bangkok and yet arrives 4 hours after we land in London, when her flight is only 7 hours long and ours is almost 13 hours long?”
21:34 – Eric & Robyn think about it and look at each other perplexed.
21:35 – Eric & Robyn hypothesize about the time differences and the international dateline, but they both come to the conclusion that flying back across time zones is different than actually travelling back in time.
21:36 – Eric pulls out their flight itinerary and rechecks their departure time.
21:36 – Robyn says “don’t make that face – you’re making me nervous”.
21:36 – They look at each other and the “light” finally goes off.
EDITORS NOTE: For some reason, Eric & Robyn had it in their thick little heads that 00:45 on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 meant Tuesday night going into Wednesday morning, when in actuality it was Monday night going into Tuesday morning. Therefore, they’ve just realized that their flight is scheduled to leave in a little over 3 hours.
21:37 – Panic.
21:38 – Still panic but now Robyn starts stuffing whatever she can find into her large backpack, while Eric runs downstairs and explains to the owner of the guesthouse what their situation is.
21:39 – Eric asks the guesthouse owner if he has someone who can drive them to the airport or whether it’s better for them to flag down a cab on their own. The guesthouse owner says either way will work, which is ironic because for the last 6 months every hostel and guesthouse Eric & Robyn have been staying at have been trying to sell them their own stupid products and services, but the one time they actually need someone to help them out, they’re being “hummed & hawed” at.
21:40 – Eric politely reiterates his current predicament and the guesthouse owner says he’ll make a phone call.
21:41 – Eric tells Robyn what’s going on and finishes packing his carry-on bag.
21:42 – The guesthouse owner says his friend can drive them but it will cost around 400 baht. Eric says “that’s fine”, re-emphasizes that they need to get to the airport fast and hands him the money.
21:43 – Robyn brings her bags down to the front lobby. Eric does a very bad “idiot check” of the room and brings his bag to the lobby.
21:44 – The guesthouse owner says his friend will be there in 15 minutes. Robyn nearly has a heart attack because in SE Asia 15 minutes typically means 30 minutes or “whenever we’re ready”. Eric calms her down and tells her everything will be just fine.
21:50 – The taxi arrives and they load up their bags. The hostel owner gives the driver instructions.
21:51 – The taxi drives off.
21:52 – Eric & Robyn have flashbacks to their taxi ride in Indonesia – see blog entry “Maybe It’s Me” – and confirm the driver knows where the airport is. He does.
21:55 – City traffic is slow… f***ing red shirt protesters.
22:00 – Eric & Robyn have a giggle fit over the situation.
22:03 – Eric makes the mistake of looking at the check-in procedures on his ticket and reading the line “please check-in at least 2 hours prior to departure or you may be denied boarding”.
22:04 – Eric makes the mistake of pointing this out to Robyn.
22:05 – Without trying to alarm the driver, Eric inquires about how long it will take to arrive at the airport. The driver says it should only be about 30 or 40 minutes. Eric and Robyn look at each other.
22:05 – The driver, having sensed the fear in Eric’s voice, steps on the gas.
22:06 – The taxi is now driving 120km/h, which is about 40km/h over the speed limit.
22:35 – The taxi pulls up to the airport. He earns himself a nice fat tip.
22:43 – Eric & Robyn check-in.
22:47 – Eric & Robyn have another giggle fit.
22:55 – Eric & Robyn clear customs.
22:56 – Eric & Robyn now go on a shopping spree to use up the remainder of their Thai baht, which is a significant amount considering they were planning another full day in Bangkok.
22:57 – Eric realizes he forgot his toothbrush… 5 baht down, 2995 baht to go.
23:09 – Eric & Robyn buy 3 boxes of Tim Tams, a bottle of Thai rum, a bottle of wine and deodorant… it’s party time.
23:43 – Eric & Robyn finally sit down at their departure gate, having accomplished their mission. They have yet another giggle fit.
23:45 – Eric makes the mistake of saying "I hopes they don't lose our luggage".
Awesome recap. Way to kick it into high gear.
ReplyDeleteROFL. Thanks for the laugh guys. I've done that before (misreading the flight time). Sadly my story isn't anywhere near as good.
ReplyDeleteGlad everything turned out!
Lachlan