The thunder, lightning and rain was heavier overnight than the previous days. I woke up early, after a fitful sleep, as I intended to leave for the airport by 6.30 am for the 9.20 am Royal Brunei flight to Singapore. For some strange reason I could not do web check-in for the flight. Breakfast opened at 6 am and I was the first guest to walk in to the dining hall when the door opened. The menu was different today with Thai noodles, plain rice, egg rice, Thai mango fish, cakes, etc. I tucked in as much as I could.
Must say that the stay in Higher Hotel was value for money. Excellent location, comfortable room and amenities and very helpful staff. At the time of checkout my refundable deposit was returned. For reasons unknown then I could not book a taxi through the Dart App from phone. Later, I saw that the phone was on airplane mode! The receptionist booked a ride for me and also gave me change to pay for the Dart ride.
The Dart driver, Thon, is of Chinese descent; his grandfather had reached Brunei in search of a job and since then three generations have been born in Brunei. He told me that it is next to impossible for foreigners to get citizenship in the country now. The only way to become one is to marry a local. He mentioned that the Dart engagement gives him enough to lead a comfortable life in Bandar Seri Begawan.
When I told him that I am flying to India via Singapore and Delhi, he said that there is a direct flight from Chennai to Bandar Seri Begawan. Good information for any future guidance, I thought. All the drivers of the Dart ride I used in Bandar Seri Begawan turned out to be exceptionally friendly and knowledgeable. Education shows and civic mentoring from an early age pays dividends.
At the Royal Brunei counter, I was told that my luggage would have to be collected in Delhi and rechecked for the flight to Ahmedabad. Besides, I would have to get the Air India boarding passes in Singapore from the transfer desk. I wouldn't have been worried about this had I been able to complete web check-in. Every time I tried to, I was asked to pay for seat selection for the flights I had taken from Ahmedabad to Delhi and Delhi to Singapore. That was ridiculous because the counter clerk at Ahmedabad airport never asked me for any charges when I requested for the change in case there were any vacant window seats.
Anyways, I settled in comfortably into the well-maintained aircraft of Royal Brunei and enjoyed the inflight services. I opted for breakfast, second of the morning, of scrambled eggs, baked beans, hash browns and sausage. They served excellent coffee too. The flight landed on time in Singapore. The time between the flights in Singapore was about 110 minutes. As soon as I got off the aerobridge, I made haste to the transfer lounge. When I reached there after about 12 minutes of brisk walk, I found the four counters closed. I panicked as there was not much time for the gates to open for the Delhi flight.
I started looking around for an information counter and there was no indication about any anywhere. Fortunately, a staff working in one of the duty-free shops asked me to go to E transfer counter, where, he said, I may get my work done.
By this time full blown panic had gripped me. I part walked, part ran to the E Transfer lounge located more than 15 minutes away. What will happen if I don't get the boarding passes there? Will I miss my flight? Overthinking took over. When I reached the E Transfer lounge, I found that the Air India counter was unmanned! Greater panic! However, two other staff were servicing customers across two other counters. I approached one of them and she calmly asked for my passport and baggage receipt. A huge wave of relief swept through me. Finally, I would be catching my flight after all. She told me that I would have to collect my baggage in Delhi even though the boarding pass for both the flights were being issued.
She must have seen the panic on the face and thought that I was on the verge of a breakdown. When she handed over the boarding passes to me, she said that I can walk slowly to the scheduled gate as I still had over 20 minutes for the gate to open. I did as she told me to. The mind and body regained equilibrium and I reached the gate well in time. The Air India flight was nearly full and it left the aerobridge for a right time departure to Delhi.
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