Sunday, August 13, 2006

Hellooooo....I'm back!

Since I started blogging, I've never gone without posting for so long! But it was a much needed break from everything: Dubai, work, blogging, traffic, the heat and humidity and the sheer boredom of UAE summers.

I just got back from a weeklong trip to London, which was loads of fun. I'll write more about the trip in my next posts, I promise. Right now, I need to recover from a sort of hellish trip back, which saw me spend 6 hours in Heathrow airport before the plane even took off. It was absolute madness, I've never seen so many people waiting in such long lines in an airport. It took 2 hours for me to be able to make it through security alone! And all I was allowed to take on board was a plastic bag with my wallet, keys, passport and boarding card. But I was so happy to finally make it on the plane, nothing else mattered.

Reading glasses are allowed, but not their cases. Contact lens containers are allowed, but no contact lens solution. Tissue packs are allowed, but without the plastic wrapping around them. No phone, no book, no magazine, no newspaper, no iPod, no laptop, no make-up, no perfume, no cream, no toothpaste, no water....nothing!

Flights were delayed, that was a given. Mine was delayed for 3 hours. But I was impressed that no one seemed to be losing their temper, no one got upset. People just went with the flow and made the best out of the situation.

I don't know how long this situation will last, but if security measures are going to remain this tough, then airport authorities are going to have to find a way to streamline the process because they can't let this mess reign for too long.

6 comments:

Lou said...

Glad to hear that you got back safe and sound.

I'm also glad to here that no-one was losing their temper with all the delays. After all, these temporary regulations have been put in place to keep us all safe.

I noticed an article the other day (think it was in the Gulf News) where passengers flying from Dubai to the UK on Emirates were kicking off about not being able to take their hand luggage onboard. Unreal!

Looking forward to hearing about your trip :)

nzm said...

Welcome back!

I had a little tirade at the poor Lufthansa guy at DXB the other night as I left for Germany. Poor guy felt the brunt of my wrath, and I almost never lose my cool, but when I do, it's not pretty.

I'm going to blog about it later tonight!

Anonymous said...

Hi T - I'm happy you're home safe and sound. Now make sure you don't die of toaster electrocution!!!

Blague à part - It must be hell to travel these days, especially from London! It is always a shame to have to go through all this because of a handfull of people, but I'd rather not bring anything on board than explode "en route" - if you get my jist... I guess that's why everyone bears the wait without much complaint.

I agree though, that if these measure are applied forever - they'd better put their best operation strategists on it!

Mar said...

Welcome back. Perfect time to travel and relocate :) Yay! See you in a few weeks

BuJ said...

hand luggage is allowed now but apparently still 20% of flights from heathrow are cancelled coz they cannot handle the business.

also 5000 or so bags have gone missing in heathrow! they can fill a football pitch or two, so how do you lose them?

Dino$ said...

i jsut recently got back to uae too after a long summer with GREAT wEATHER!

*sigh
*tries to breath suffocates on humidity..

welcome back