“Don’t tell me I’m dreamin’, ‘cause if I’ve been dreamin’, I don’t ever wanna wake up.
So in love with this feeling, tonight I’ll be sleeping, sleeping with my eyes wide shut.”
It wasn’t my first time to fly solo. Whenever I do, it makes me feel I’m an adventurous person. As most passengers were, I was also excited and nervous at the same time. A lot of “what ifs” coming in. But adding to the formula of my emotions was worry. I was worrying about the work I will leave behind, you know the grades and school year finalization. I tried to amuse myself by talking to OFWs (yes peeps, THIS introvert talked to strangers) as we wait for our turns at the immigration clearance. Worrying suddenly disappeared when everything was starting to get real upon entering the passenger waiting area, lots of Chinese people are there and Mandarin + Hokkien conversations filled the place, no more Filipino words can be heard.
I opened up the pages of my passports (the old and the current one are bonded together for Chinese visa application process). I looked at the stamps and tried to make a chronology of events since my first flight out. September 2010, July 2011, August 2011… March 1, 2013. Wait, what? March 1, 2013! The exact time of the year five years ago, I was a junior at college back then. I never knew five years later I will be back! Oh Thank You, Lord!
“Ni hao! Welcome aboard!” greeted the stewardess as I get on the plane… I was seated in a row without any seatmates, so instead of seating on the aisle seat, I preferred to be seated at the window seat. It was my first window seat since my last flight out of PH in 2013, I remembered that window seat is not just a window seat, but an exit seat, which meant more responsibility to the person seated in times of emergency. The plane took off, and few minutes later, I saw the full moon. It was large and luminous. The child inside me suddenly came out as my eyes followed it. Of course, as a millennial, I took a picture of it as it passed by my window.
The flight was boring and my only entertainment is the music from my cellphone. Good thing, there was a woman with an infant who approached the seat that I was originally seated on and she asked my permission if they can sit next to me. I gladly “gave them permission” (as if I own the seats) and watched the mother carefully attend to her several-months old baby. They’re so cute. Free dinner was being served to us, the mother gave her baby’s share to me, she only took the fruits. I was shy at first but she insisted. Thank You Lord again, I have bread and cake for next day’s breakfast.
I disembarked the plane near midnight. Cold weather was immediately felt as everybody rushed to get our luggages in the Quanzhou airport. I was also rushing because the room that I rented for a night might be closed for check-in and I might sleep outside for the first time in my life. Outside the airport were taxis and the colorum vehicles. All of them have the same intention, which is to get more money from the arriving passengers. I took the taxi hoping I can pick an honest driver, but I only found a driver. Thinking that I could not afford to waste more time, I just agreed to his price and we sped off.
I arrived at the general location where the house is supposed to be located. The actual house was really hard to find, for it is situated in a compound and its alleys and houses are not properly organized. I actually left my luggage at the entrance of the compound and started looking for the house. My fingers were crossed that I can locate the house fast enough so that I can go back to my bags. No one wants to have their bags stolen. I checked the number of each house I passed by, all of their doors were closed. Oh shoot! I could hear dogs barking! I never thought dogs will take part of my adventure! Luckily no one came out of their doors to make false alerts of a burglary. Or else it will be my first time in jail ever! The search ended when I finally saw a house with its doors widely open (yes, doors widely open). I checked the number and it matched the address the owner provided in the website. I rushed to get my bags as I can hear more dogs howling and barking and safely made it back to the house.
I entered the front gate door and saw the small front desk, there’s no one to entertain me. The door of the actual house is also open. I asked many times if there is somebody actually there. No one answered. I started to worry, I don’t have China cellphone number, how in the world could I reach the owner? I read all the posters and flyers around the house and there’s a WeChat QR code (used for making payments and adding WeChat contacts), Wi-Fi SSID and password. I used the WiFi without really asking for permission (I am desperate!) and added the owner in my WeChat. I informed him that I am at the front desk and wants to check-in. He just answered that he actually opened the doors for me and will just process the check-in whatsoever the next morning. As in woah! See how secure China is! Anybody could just get inside their house and take everything away! With the thought of that, I asked if I can close the front door for him to which he gave me permission. Maybe he was just waiting for me and he can finally sleep once I arrived. What a nice gesture!
As I returned from closing the doors, I suddenly heard someone speaking from the living room, I looked around but there’s no one. Don’t worry I do not believe in ghosts. Oh, there’s a webcam and with that he can actually see me. I greeted him and asked which room should I get in for the night, he instructed me to go to Room 101 (with the “CAT” cloth draping at the door) and get the beddings and pillow cases. At last! A sigh of relief as I turned on the lights and set myself in the room. Meow! Meow! What the hey! On the bed there was a cat! It jumped out of the bed and went outside. I missed my home and our cats instantaneously. I followed it and took a video of it (which I posted minutes later on Twitter).
Going to the next day, I only had little sleep. Aside from arriving at the house at around 1AM, I was not fully aware that I arrived at China on the day of the Lantern Festival. I can hear loud bangs and long sounds of firecracker noises as early as 3AM, and there was another one at 4AM and 5AM. I finally got up by 7AM as I prepare for my next flight, a dream-fulfilling Beijing-bound flight. I finally met the owner and finished my delayed check-in process. The guy and his family are very quiet, but I can feel they are really good people. As I organize my things, I felt I was missing the place real fast (that’s one of my “sickness”). I need to be at the airport by at least 11AM, but I stayed a little longer past the time as I waited for the owner to come back from the market. He arrived with his daughter with all the food and proceeded straight to the kitchen. His father called him out and informed him that I am checking-out. He went out and I gave him a twenty-peso bill. He asked what it was for, I told him he can keep it as a tiny souvenir from the Philippines. I had several twenty-peso bills with me, originally intended to be given away to my classmates during the training, but I was so touched by his unique style of hospitality, especially those opened doors, ensuring that I have a room to spend the night, I knew he cannot hide his gladness when he took the bill. He sent me off to the compound entrance and bade our goodbyes. Guess I made a new Chinese friend now.
The flight to Beijing was a bit different with the Quanzhou-bound flight, I owned the rest of the seats in my row once again, my only companion was my hand-carry luggage, but this time I did not sit on the window seat ‘cause I don’t like direct sunlight (it was not my practice to close the window for emergency purposes). On top of it, the undeniable excitement that I was finally setting foot on Beijing… aside from the cold weather, pollution and traffic, I was thrilled about finally having the chance to experience the Chinese capital, Bird’s Nest, the Great Wall, and if possible, a snowfall. The plane’s interior temperature was getting colder and colder as we neared Beijing airport. But “the cold never bothered me anyway!”
At touchdown, I can’t wait to get out of the plane. The plane took a longer time to make its way from the runway to the jetbridge. Beijing Capital Airport must be really big! Stepping out of the plane greeted the cold weather, way colder than in Guangzhou and Quanzhou, considering it was only half past four in the afternoon. Hashtag-Beijing-here-I-am! Finally after years and years of wishing and dreaming! Thank You Lord!
After that momentarily jubilation going into my head, I focused on looking for the guy that I will be meeting at the arrival area. I was looking at the cards waving around, there were different names and different entities written on it. I forced myself to roam around the airport looking for that guy, it was embarrassing for me to do it, it was like a kid looking for his mother around the hall and people started to take notice of me. I told you, Beijing airport is BIG. I nearly went back to the baggage claim area just to make sure I never missed a placard. I don’t have China number so I have no way… no, there’s actually a way. There’s a China Mobile store at the opposite side of the terminal. I walked once again passing the same people who are feeling a little bit annoyed by me getting around. I tried to buy a SIM card but I did not continue with it because the SIM won’t work with my phone, I just asked if I can use their phone and call a person for free. Guess what, they agreed. That phone call was the end of the airport leg of my adventures as I finally found the point person (he was standing at the gate!), I went in the car, I’m on the freeway, I’m in the college campus, I’m in the dorm.
I was 7:00PM. I went outside and looked at the fireworks as it lit up Beijing skies. It was as if China is welcoming me back. But yes you’re right, it was the night of the Lantern Festival. But looking at the fireworks only made my hunger worse, I went straight to the canteen to eat, only to find it is already closed. As for my ultimate challenge, I walked through the coldness of a sub-zero night, with little light around, to buy burgers (buy-one-take-one-free for only RMB15, roughly PHP120). Those burgers kept me company. My roommate has not arrived yet.
I laid down on bed reflecting on the events that turned out. I was preparing to leave Manila the previous day, the previous night I was looking for the house in Quanzhou, everything happened so fast that in just 24 hours, with all that trials of a non-direct flight, I am now in Beijing. Nevertheless, I thank the Lord there were no delays and other major inconveniences during the two flights, and most importantly, He made a way for me to finally be on China again, Beijing in particular, a city listed on my travel wishlist (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JoeCo0327/Travel), now a checkmark is ticked beside it. This was only a dream before, now I can inhale all the Beijing pollution and hear all the Beijing accent. I don’t need to sleep just to see myself back in China once more. Well, if this is a dream, please don’t wake me up. I am just beginning to enjoy this exciting and bumpy ride.
(To be continued…)
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