(Nearly) Frozen on the tarmac

I thought I am a savvy traveler, but then again, may be I am not.

How else would one explain that my trip has 3 transit points for the supposedly simple returning journey? And each transit would practically double the journey time as the plane headed East when I should be heading West. And how about a 12 hour transit at Incheon sitting on the wooden floor just to make sure the computer battery is fed continuously while he typed these very words?

Ouch!

Even with the Arctic Air coming to the North East of US, I never thought I should be bothered with winter clothing. After all, I should be nice and warm inside the terminal building in Cincinnati and JFK New York.

Little did I realize, the CFJ150 plane that I took from Houston would be parked at a gate that would require us to be on the tarmac at Cincinnati, and JFK. The wind blowing at Cincinnati must have a wind chill factor of at least 10 minus and he tarmac is paved with with the whitish powder albeit very thinly. I had to be out there for at least 3 mins waiting for my carry on bag to be handed back to me at the plane side; it was too big to be stored at the overhead compartment.

I was nearly frozen there in my track top, and normal tropical trouser, while the mat sallehs were all dressed up like they are going skiing.

And at JFK, I had to walk in the bitter cold midnight weather just to go from the Delta terminal to Terminal 1. Can't they make a internal building connecting the different terminals?

But it is now snowing here in Incheon this Friday morning. The white water crystals seems to float like feathers; each one of them trying to defy gravity in a windless Incheon. It is white as far as the eyes can see. I can spend the next 10 hours watching it, while my Apple streaming Winter Sonata on Youtube using the free broadband at Incheon.

Lovely.

EPILOGUE (Updated 17 Jan)

I arrived safely at KLIA but my luggage didn't make it. It was stuck at Cincinnati. Come to think of it, it was understandable. It was choatic out there. Arriving at Gate B5 (and having to weather the freezing temp on the tarmac, I was asked to go to A2 which is on the other side of the airport. We were then taken to Gate C7 which by the way is on another side of the airport; no wonder my luggage didn't make it with me to KLIA!

But I am not complaining. I woke up this morning to the news of the plane crashed at La Guardia Airport New York in the freezing water of Hudson River and I am glad my 3 minute ordeal at Cincinnati and JFK are nothing like those folks went through.