Fun in the Sky

The dates/times that appear in this post and any future posts will reflect the date/time in Dubai.

We left Toronto at 20 to 10:00 Wednesday night aboard an Airbus 380 which is the largest passenger airplane in the world and is a double-decker for the full length of the fuselage. Holds around 800 passengers and the plane was full. We were on the lower deck and were seated in the middle section that seats four people. Dad had an aisle seat with me next to him. And the guy next to me was a piece of work and the guy beside him at the other aisle was a man in his late 60s. The guy next to me was a 40-year-old man from Pakistan but born in India but calls Mississauga his home. Everything was going OK at the outset and we all introduced ourselves and did a lot of chatting. The older guy teased the younger guy a lot in jest (because of the way he was) and all four of us did an awful lot of laughing. Drinks are free on Emirates Airlines (beer and wine) and by midnight he (younger guy) had consumed a lot of beer and wine. He kept ordering them and they kept bringing them. He would not always summon the same attendant so it wasn't as if the same person was bringing him the drinks all the time and monitoring. Soon he became very annoying and boisterous!!! He spilled a half-litre of red wine all over the older man's dress pants and he was not impressed, saying things like "I'm a businessman, have meetings when I arrive, "big boys" are going to be meeting me at the airport and look at my clothes!, and "If you were my son, and I have a son your age, I'd kick your ass so hard, blah, blah." The demanding younger man once again called an attendant and this time wanted Febreeze. By now, all the staff were fed up with him and she said "Febreeze, WE'RE ON AN AIRPLANE, we don't have Frebreeze!" Oh yes, and at the outset, he wanted the older man's aisle seat and he tormented him unmercifully for hours for it. Younger man kept making him get up to let him out so he could "stretch", etc., older guy always obliged but there was no way he was giving him his seat. He was getting pretty beligerant and using foul language (f-ing) which prompted a man behind us to stand up and scream at him, telling him to shut up as there were ladies on board, etc. Actually, it was all pretty awful. Once, when he went to the bathroom, the older man called over the staff and suggested he needed to be cut off and of course they all agreed. Well, he was not a happy camper!!! They wouldn't serve him any more and next the supervisor from the upper deck came on the scene to try and calm him down and the final analysis was that the captain ordered that he not be served any more drinks period. At one point, I was a little scared of him as he would start talking to himself really loud and making weird and crazy noises and shaking his arms around (almost seemed like he was hallucinating) and of course everyone had their eyes on our four seats. Poor older man had to attend meetings when he reached Dubai but, unfortunately, no one could get any sleep because of other guy's behaviour. Despite the fact he was cut off, he had every attendant in a tailspin because he kept begging for wine. Older guy kept trying to reason with him. "I've been flying on this airline extensively for the past 25 years and I can guarantee you what the next step is going to be. When you get off the plane, police will be there, will handcuff you and you'll be thrown in the slammer for four weeks. I've seen it many times." And then, maybe at 3:00 a.m.?, a young woman (30s?) sitting in the aisle seat in front of the older man all of a sudden fell out of her seat onto the floor and we thought she had a heart attack. The staff were doing first aid on the floor and I'm not sure what exactly happened, maybe she fainted?, maybe she was drinking too much too?, maybe she wasn't drinking at all? So I guess you could say it was like the flight from hell - and so darn long - twelve and a half hours. He had sobbered up by morning and was a nice gentleman again and we all had quite the laugh because he was missing one shoe and it was nowhere to be found. He was down on his hands and knees crawling on the floor looking under all the seats (ha). Darren/Don may be interested in knowing that the older man is a project manager for museums and science centres in Asia and Africa. He was Uncle Alex to the "t" - same accent, same wit, same looks (only 25 years younger), same everything. The staff kept coming to us apologizing and asking if we were OK and offering to get us stuff, etc. Moving him to another seat was not an option as the plane was full.

We arrived in Dubai on schedule at 7:30 p.m., UAE time, Thursday, and caught Le Meredian shuttle service to our hotel. After checking in, we walked to a nearby mall and I picked up a few things to get me through the night (no luggage). Then we walked around the area exploring. It was pretty awesome, nice and warm, many outdoor cafes and lots of people milling around. Arab restaurants, Indian and African for starters, all reasonably priced.

We are at Le Meridian's apartment hotel called Residence Deira by Le Meredian. We are right in the heart of everything. Friday/Saturday is the weekend here (equivalent to our Saturday/Sunday weekend) and Friday is a religious day here (like our Sunday). Most of the stores are closed Friday mornings but open by 2:00 p.m. BTW, the Dubai airport is spectacular.

One thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's post is that the tow truck driver knows you, Ryan. Dad said his name is Chris Coaster (sp?), Also kids, for your amusement, you know I ripped the side mirror off the car twice this year - well, yesterday, it got ripped off again in fine style - ha.

We are dead tired. It is 12:45 a.m. here, Friday, January 22. Hope we can get to sleep as it's only 2:45 p.m. M.Jaw time so it's going to take a couple of days for our bio clocks to get sorted out.