Refugees In Singapore

So we made our way to Singapore after the worst eruption on 5 Nov and stayed there for 2 weeks. It wasn't a leisure trip and we were constantly trying to get updates on the situation in Jogja so we know when we can come back. Most of the time we had nothing to do. Moreover, we were trying to cut down on expenses so that limited the number of activities we could engage in. Yet at the same time, we wanted to expose Dallen to the things that we couldn't provide in Jogja. So when we saw that the weather could hold up (monsoon season has set in and it was raining almost everyday), we took him to East Coast Park for a cycling outing. It was the first time he was on a bicycle and though it was tiring for the adults, I was glad we did it.

Then when we saw that things have settled slightly in Jogja, we booked our air tix and prepared to return. However, man proposes, God disposes. 2 days before we were due to fly, the hubs received an sms from AirAsia informing him that our flight has been cancelled due to the closure of Jogja airport. We went to the airport to see what could be done (cos it was impossible to get through their help line) and got our tix changed to Bandung. From Bandung we will then take an 8-hour train ride back to Jogja. The crux of the matter was, we couldn't buy train tix till we reached Bandung and feared that there will not be any tix left.

On the day of departure, our flight got delayed and I got a feeling our journey won't be smooth. Indeed, it wasn't. When we bought the tix, we paid for priority seating so that we could have more leg space for Dallen to move around. But when we made our way to that seat, we were informed by a nonchalant flight attendant that we were not allowed to sit there as it's next to an emergency exit and we have a toddler with us. I understood that this is an aviation law requirement. But what riled me was 1) we were not informed about this when we bought the tix (it wasn't stated anywhere in the website) and 2) the attendant was so haughty when he informed us about this that his attitude got to me. I was tired and feeling cranky so when he came forward and told us to shift, I went bitchy on him and retorted that we paid for the seats. He simply shrugged his shoulders and gave me the 'too bad' kinda expression. KNN! What kinda service is this! Had he told me nicely that in compliance with aviation rules, we were not allowed to sit there, I would have reacted differently. So while I was still working, I sometimes think my colleagues deserved the rudeness they received from guests cos these people either have no common sense and/or were tactless. That aside, when we reached Bandung and went to the train station, we were informed that there was no more tix for that evening's train ride. The worst case scenario happened! We then made our way to the hotel we previously stayed in and dumped our luggages there. To make the best of an unfavourable situation, we went shopping before making our way home on the 7am train ride.