Well, what can I say???
It was eventful to say the least ........... on arrival at Changi Airport at 5.30am on Saturday June 2 we were told the flight had been delayed for at least 3 hours!
They offered to put us on another flight, to which we agreed....using ANA (All Nipon Air) leaving half an hour later than our original flight was expected to.
That meant we would have just on 30 mins to get from terminal one to Terminal two at Tokyo, plus seat allocation, boarding pass etc....
Flight was great...attendants were amazingly helpful and very friendly.
Service was excellent.
Arrived Tokyo and boarded American Airlines for New York after a mad rush to get to the departure gate. The plane was waiting and we were last on.
Then the drama's really started.
I took ill with Food Poisoning 6 hours into the AA flight to New York. This was very unpleasant and I will not go into details other than to say that it was far easier for all concerned to have me in the bathroom area of the plane and this is where I stayed for 3 hours wrapped in blankets as I was so cold. The Air Crew on this flight were so very helpful .......cannot stress enough as to how helpful they were. ...and the drama's did not end there either!
A white 'powder substance' was located in a cellophane cutlery bag in the economy section. The couple that were effected had to be kept away from everyone else in case of 'possible' contamination.
See photos below of the drama's unfolding after our arrival at JFK...
Again, air crew were on the ball and responded quickly, quietly and efficiently.
To cut a very long story short, on arrival at JFK (New York) airport the plane had to taxi to a remote area where there were fire brigade, police, FBI, Medical Dept etc waiting.....they came on board in full gear to 'test' this powder while all passengers had to wait for over 3 hours , and after a 13 hour flight this was not pleasant for anyone!
soon given the all clear and this was after I also was checked by medical staff. They had already organised an ambulance and wheel chair, which I declined as I felt I was able to walk to customs 'under my own steam'. In hindsight, this was foolish ..... but at the time all I wanted to do was 'get the hell outa there'.
The situation at JFK was even more worrying due to the arrest of 4 Terrorists that had planned on blowing up the Fuel Lines at JFK ...... this all was happening just prior to our arrival.....hence the added security of police, FBI, and associated teams!!
We arrived at the Sheraton Manhattan Hotel at 11.00pm ........ six hours later than first expected. After a nice long hot shower we went for a bit of a wander before going to bed at about 1.30am after a long (24 hour) flight with all the associated drama's!!
Now here in New York for 3 days, leaving for Chicago on Tuesday morning.......
