SEA after 9 long months + the flights from ARG to VIE
Coming back to Southeast Asia's humidity after living through Argentina's winter is an experience. Buenos Aires' winter is not as harsh as other cities in the country, but for a tropical archipelagirl like me, it was a huge change.
For several months, I have been acclimatised to Argentina's temperature, which is lower than the Philippines. Hence, it wasn't a huge surprise that I felt like I was slapped with humidity when I arrived in Hanoi.
The moment I walked out of the airport, bam! Ang init (trans: It's so hot!) I guess I can compare it to Manila City's heat, which feels so different compared to the regular heat we have in Calamba.
Here are some anecdotes from my flight back to SEA from Buenos Aires.
In EZE: Peaceful Departure, The Yellow Fever Vaccine, and the few Filipinos in line
I left our home at 8 PM ART. My flight was supposedly for 23:55, but due to the weather, it was delayed for 3 hours.
I overstayed in Argentina for a short 7 months, so I had to pay the overstaying fee of 40,000 ARS (roughly around 40 USD). Overstaying is not illegal in Argentina, so it's a usual destination for digital nomads. I will be writing about my entire journey from getting my visa to going back home once I get home.
After paying, I fell in line to check my luggage in. When they saw that I was bound to Vietnam they asked me for a certificate of vaccination for Yellow Fever, which I had way back when I was younger, thus I didn't have the document to support that. They held me for a few minutes while my boyfriend, Napolitana1, communicated that for me.
After roughly 30 minutes, they let me through, and I checked in.
I bought a few souvenirs before finally going to the boarding gates and saying goodbye to Napolitana and his family. I was so sad to leave.
My flight was originally scheduled for 23:55, but because of the weather, it got delayed for 3 hours, which is annoying, yes.
Once boarding started, we fell in line. I heard the two men in front of me speaking Tagalog, so I approached them and asked to confirm if they were Filipinos, which they obviously are!
They are seamen who just finished a contract in San Lorenzo and are now flying back home.
Behind me was an interracial couple, the woman was a Filipina too.
I talked to her and her husband who is English but holds an Argentine citizenship.
We talked about their life, how they moved around Asia a lot and they went to Cordoba in Argentina to check on their property. The woman and I talked about how we loved tropical food, and as people who are accustomed to it, the variety of food in Argentina makes us homesick in a way.
I also asked about their marriage since I'm also a Filipina intending to marry an Argentine citizen.
It was a profound conversation that had to be cut because I'm seated on the back part of the plane, and therefore, I'm in a different line.
EZE - GRU - IST
Smiling through the annoyance
I'm seated on the aisle seat, as I usually do, because I pee a lot and I don't like disturbing people.
Unfortunately, I am surrounded by a quite annoying family.
One of the daughters in front of me reclined her seat so close to my face. It was my fault for not saying anything, but to be fair, she had a lot of backup in case.
She then lost her AirPods. She stood up several times to peek and look around. It was shown to have been dropped in our area and was being covered by the bag of the woman beside me.
Her mom was seated behind me, and she put her legs up on the back of my seat. Imagine how close I was to the IFE. Not only did she have her legs up, but she also moved a lot. Needless to say, I didn't get to sleep well on that flight.
Turkish Airlines - IFE
The in-flight entertainment on Turkish Airlines is good. They have a lot of movies you can choose from, award-winning ones from all-over the world.
They also have fun games, and they have newly-released music in the system! About 70% of the flight, I was just listening to Mayhem, GNX, and Damn on rotation.
They also have in-flight Wi-Fi, which is surprisingly speedier than I would have imagined. I paid 35 USD for the unlimited quota since I planned to work while I'm on the flight, and I can say it was worth it.
Turkish Airlines - The food
The food they served is great too, there were not much varieties - meaning they served the same set of menu for all of my flights, but I can't complain. The food is good.
I also like that they have a sustainability initiative. All of the utensils and plates were reusable, except the cups.
Turkish Airlines - The flights!
I liked most of the aspects of my flight with Turkish Airlines. I am annoyed with the delays, but I don't think that is something within their control -- I don't know.
The thing that annoyed me the most was my flight from IST - HAN almost being delayed for 24 hours. While working on the plane, I got an email from Turkish Airlines saying that my new arrival date in Hanoi is Jul 17 instead of 16. It was not okay, so I immediately ran to their area.
Luckily, my original flight didn't have to be moved at all, but it was also delayed for 3 hours.
Quick stop to IST, and IST - HAN
Since my flight is delayed, I still have a few hours to roam around Istanbul International Airport.
I saw two men fighting (verbally). They were speaking a language I didn't understand (I just assumed it was Turkish). Their friends try to break them up, but they continued shouting at each other.
I bought some essentials at Duty Free. I bought hand cream for my mom, skin care for me, and a deodorant because I didn't put any on before I left home.
After which, I grabbed a very early breakfast. I ordered chicken biryani and a cup of Turkish coffee. While I was in line, my friendship bracelet with CH and MN2 burst. Surprisingly, they had the same things happening with theirs! CH's burst at home before their flight, and MN misplaced his at home. So all of us didn't have the bracelets, and we plan to buy one during the trip.
Arrival in HAN
The flight was pretty quick, and I don't have much to write about it.
HAN airport is pretty straightforward. After we arrived, we had our passports stamped and we headed out. They didn't even check my bag...
After an hour of a taxi ride, I arrived at the hostel where my friends greeted me outside (because I had to borrow money, I didn't bring any yet).
My first impression of Hanoi
Hanoi is interesting, very different yet very similar to the Philippines, I would say. We noticed that most of the people are skinny, and that they didn't have rice on their menu. Every meal is filled with veggies and is very healthy.
I was surprised to see people using electric fans on the street. Most people are also sitting on stools on the side of the street chatting with their friends! Very casual!
I'll be writing more about it in the coming days!
Footnotes
My boyfriend is a huge part of my stories, but I feel like "my boyfriend" sounds too repetitive, and "my bf" is too casual. I also don't like to use his name because he's private, and even though my writings don't reach a lot of people, it's still published publicly, so let's call him Napolitana like the pizza he likes.↩
I will be using initials for my friends for their privacy, too.↩