It was an adventure, almost like that in India, for me. The last time I was in Frankfurt, it was an adventure too.
Many years ago, I was on transit in Frankfurt. The air ticket was arranged by the same old PA (Personal Assistant) who gave me an extra day in Frankfurt this time. Not the brightest PA. Back then, the final destination was Graz, Austria. She only booked flights up to Frankfurt and told us (I was travelling with another lady engineer) to get connecting flights Graz when we are at Frankfurt airport. It was a disaster. We found out that the cheapest tickets (we had to fly one way - our travel was Kuala Lumpur to Singapore to Frankfurt (transit) to Graz to Marseilles (transit) to Paris) - was EUR 1000 per person. This worked out to be RM 10000 for the both of us. Where the heck were we to find RM 10000 on a cold morning in Frankfurt airport?
Thankfully, the Lufthansa staff took pity on us, manage to scrape together RM 10000 and got our tickets. Mind you, the initial offer was more than RM 20000 for the both of us, before Lufthansa gave us a discount. Apparently, for one way tickets, only business class tickets were sold! Cheap tickets are available in EU, but only with advance booking - not tickets on the spot.
Anyway, back to my latest trip. When the flight landed, we were greeted by a message, in German, which sounded like " ... airport strike, ... no bags, ... delay getting of the plane...". Rob came to mind immediately. More on Rob later. There was a full strike by the ground crew. All passengers were worried not getting their bags. Thankfully, MAS manage to employ some other ground crew (Lufthansa was on strike) and we got our bags an hour late. Sadly, some other passengers left the airport after believing rumours that bags will only be offloaded the next day. How could that be true? The MAS plane had to leave for Malaysia 6 hours later. The bags must leave the plane before that!
The result of the strike. All were sitting around, awaiting for luggage.
I then got myself on a Inter City Express (ICE) from Frankfurt to Hannover. Good grief! The bloody thing was full to the brim - it reminded me of a very high tech version of the mini bus. Mini buses use to service Kuala Lumpur and they were packed like sardines. Ended up standing for 3 hours. Not a bad thing to do after sitting for 12 hours on a plane. Being a bloody idiot, I got down at Hannover Masse instead of Hannover HBf. One station too early. Had to drag my luggage and catch another train. Not smart!
Finally, I arrived at Etap Hotel, where I spent about five nights. A budget hotel which has all the basics. Nothing fancy. Because of peak demand, the rates were EUR 140 per night. Normally, it would have been a EUR 45 room. Basic and clean. However, I must warn readers that when my colleagues were there last year, two laptops were stolen. No idea who did it. Maybe they did not lock their doors properly. Other laptops in other rooms were OK. In any case, I took along a lock for my laptop. Better be safe than sorry.
Etap hotel revising the rates when the exhibition was over. When I was there, the rates were EUR 120 per nite. Now, it is happy EUR 43 per nite. Simple demand and supply.
Made my way back to Frankfurt after my stay in Hannover - managed to squeeze in a day trip to Hamburg. Hamburg's a very nice city - full of life. This time, I got smarter - booked a seat on the ICE. The bad news was, there was a train strike. However, thanks for Rob, I got myself on one of the confirmed trains - trains that will run even the strike is on. Talk about German efficiency. Unfortunately, when the train reached Frankfurt HBf (main station), there was a long announcement in German. A fellow passenger was kind enough to translate it to me, saying that the train suffered some technical error and passengers need to find an alternative train. Being me, I summarized the situation in a simple "Kaput" for him. He had a good laugh. Frankly, if they announced train kaput, I would have understood. Kaput is the German word for "koyak" (in Malay)! So, the adventure continues - searching for another train which was in good order and not on strike.
I then checked in to a Steigenberger Hotel, near the Frankfurt airport. Good grief. It took me 45 minutes to queue at check-in. When my turn came, the room which I booked for was not available. Jokers sold it to someone else. But, they offered me an upgrade to a very luxurious Executive Room. After 5 days in a budget hotel, this is like a palace. Very cool deco. Comfy beds. Very nice bathrooms. A huge LCD TV. Reasonably cheap high speed Internet access. A very welcome change indeed. But there was a price to pay. The room was in the executive tower. Had a different room number from the 'normal' rooms. I did plan to dress very casually in jeans and all for my stay at the hotel, excluding formal business meetings. I was rather shy. Had to dress in something better. Don't want to look like a bum staying in the Executive Tower. Anyway, I think I still look like half a bum but bad luck, I've done my share.
The weather in Frankfurt was rotten for the two days I was there. Turned sunny on the day I left. What more can I say. Guess my trips to Frankfurt has been nothing but adventures - since my first trip there.
On yes, and now, the juicy bits. Who sat next to me on my flights? When I was there, I sat next to a German chap - about my age, perhaps younger, very friendly. Don't think I was very friendly because I was dead tired after work. Wasn't rude, but just slept all the way! As usual, my ass started to hurt after we flew past India. That's another 7 hours before Germany!
On the way back - oh yes - the best thing happened. Always my dream - and it came true. In the waiting lounge, I saw this very cute gal. Later found out she's from Indonesia. Long hair, slim. Sweet smile too. I boarded the plane first. And a few minutes later, guess who sat next to me? Yes, this sweet young thing. I took the aisle seat and she took the window seat. We exchanged smiles and looked at each other. Then, we both realise that the seats in the centre of the plane, (row of 5 seats in the centre), were all empty. Smart gal. She made a dash for one of them. Smiled at me. I was very happy too. For one reason or another, there were about 80 empty seats.
So, the seat to get, is an empty seat next to you. A pretty gal would be good, but nothing beats an empty seat. Bet you, that pretty gal had exactly the same feelings! Don't get me wrong. I love to have friends, mix around but when I am on board a plane, in economy class, sitting for 12 hours - I rather be really comfortable. No point having the sweetest young thing and being darn uncomfortable. Of course, if I had a sweet young thing back in the executive room in Steigenberger, it would have been a very different story.
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