As I approach the SQ counter at Beijing International Airport, all staff have left and I wasn't allowed to get pass the check-in counter. Beijing is truly a my city of trouble, never fails to test my ability to react to last minute changes. As usual, I tried knocking on all doors to get this settled for me and my colleague.

Skipping the nutty gritty, 2 distressed Singaporeans went from the customer service counter to the Business Centre, back to the counter again then to the SQ Office at Airport, in the process calling SQ twice and Singapore twice. I must say sometimes what I can do during critical times alone amazes myself, especially so in China. Even admidst the chaos, we befriended a middle age Singaporean couple who also missed their flight due to a delay in their local connecting flight from Dunhuang. Never trust the local system was their first comment to us of their incident. We ended up with a nice chit-chat sitting outside the comfortable chairs in a cosy corner outside SQ office, patient by anxiously waiting for the tickets change to be confirmed. I wasn't sure as this was the first time it occurred to me.

Finally, they confirmed us on the 0005 flight which was about 8 hours from our initial flight. So my colleague and I spent tour time sitting around at Starbucks and McDonald, entertaining ourselves with our incessant chit chats :) I am glad that my colleagues was there, time seems to be alot faster when someone is with you.

5 hours later, before the check-in counter opened, we happily bought our luggage to check-in at 2105, I was so confident that being the second in line I would definitely be able to board. Just then, the counter staff had to give me another heart attack by telling me that I might be denied boarding as the airline had oversold their seats inventory for this flight; crossing my fingers, I prayed that some magical luck of my mysterious star sign will help me get through this crisis. True enough, she told me I was granted entry after checking with the manager. Other than luck, I suppose being a business traveller has certain privileges since you pay a much higher price for your tickets?

By the time I receive the long awaited boarding ticket, I started kissing my ticket and keep smiling to myself. In times of disasters, I suppose you become a little insane, especially since I didn't get enough sleep during the 2 nights stay in Beijing.

On my way back, I hit the seat and knocked out completely,  waking up completely surprise to find the menu and earphones already given to me about 4 hours later. We touched down Changi at 0605 and by the time I got on a taxi, it was already 0700. Keeping in mind I had to treat it as if nothing had happened, I immediately prepared for work and reached office at 0900 sharp, ready to start. If mine was a desk bound job, I couldn't imagine how I could have withstand the gravitational pull of the drooping eyelids for 10 hours straight at my desk. (Yes, I even OT-ed today).

Now I don't even know if this whole entry made sense because I had officially gone 48 hours without a proper bed and rest. I must say goodbye to the world and ready to concuss. Till then~ I kiss my boarding pass goodnight. You are most prized possession of the day.