still lucky

despite the numerous mishaps that happened during my recent trip to london, i still feel god damn lucky because i got back to the u.s. a day before the scotland yard foiled what was dubbed as yet another terrorist attack.

the scenario: ten planes going to different cities in the united states, taking off from london's heathrow airport. among the passengers are suicide bombers who would detonate the liquid bombs in mid-air, as each plane travels across the atlantic ocean. just the mere thought of it possibly happening gives me the creeps. much more when that thought actually includes me in one of those planes. goosebumps.

i don't mind not carrying anything inside the plane (just travel documents and probably a book, all inside a transparent plastic bag). i don't mind not carrying a bottle of water or any of my favorite drinks. i don't mind travelling with my glasses on, with my contacts and cleaner safely stowed in my checked-in luggage. i don't even mind not bringing my ipod inside (this is a stretch!) just as long as i have peace of mind in that trip.

so during the past two weeks, i was an escapist non-pareil. survived the emergency landing of my flight from lax to heathrow. woke up at 4:30 in the morning to a fire alarm in the hotel that eventually led more than a thousand hotel guests on the streets of london wearing nothing but their PJs/boxers/nighties/comfy sleepwear. (i didn't realize i could actually put all my impt stuff inside my black messenger bag in less than one minute. when we realized that the hotel was being evacuated because of this fire alarm, we had to leave our room immediately and bring only the basics -- passport, wallet, camera, cell phone, glasses -- in that order, for me.)

on my last day, dear charl decided to meet me up anywhere along high kensington street so we could have high tea somewhere near the kensington palace and gardens. a block away from the location, we noticed a phalanx of people being driven out of the area. not knowing what was happening, we walked right ahead. turns out the police has been exasperatedly telling people to vacate the area? why? a bomb was reported to have been left inside the israeli embassy. there i was, in the middle of central london, on my last day in the freaking city, being yelled at by british police to "leave the bloody area immediately because a bomb might go off!"

but hey, i survived. and everything has been charged, not only to my credit cards, but also to experience.