In booking this "mistake" fare, I took a small risk that my 5th grandchild (3rd granddaughter) would be born close to her due date (April 13) -- and sure enough, Mabel Alice arrived on April 18. Her arrival set in motion a few changes in my transportation from Portland to my departure airport, Vancouver, Canada, when I learned that my son/his wife and 5 year old daughter Geneva (my 2nd granddaughter) would be visiting Portland this past weekend -- and created an opportunity to ride with the back to their home in Bellingham,Washington -- an easy train and subway ride to Vancouver Airport. So, that's what I did.
So this morning after we dropped off Geneva at her pre-school on the campus of Western Washington University -- I hopped a AMTRAK Cascade train for a beautiful, mostly ocean-side ride into downtown Vancouver on a beautiful, sunny day - total cost of the ride $12. Once there, I easily navigated my way to the airport via Vancouver's "sky train" for $2.75 ("concession fare" for the young and seniors -- for others it's $4).
I'm writing this from the boarding area -- where a new-looking ANA Boeing 777 awaits. Interestingly, I made it all the way through regular security (USA's TSA Pre-check doesn't work here) with only showing an ANA emailed QR code (they automatically checked me in) on my phone and with no one matching the name on the email to my passport. Hmm? Quite a contrast from the very caustic questioning that Canada border security had given me when I exited the train: "Are you traveling alone?...Why are you going to Malaysia? Do you know anybody in Malaysia? What do you do for your living?" All these were asked with a tone of disbelief -- as if to suggest "Why would anyone travel alone to tour Malaysia where you don't know anybody." Perhaps she thought that officiousness was necessary in her job. She ran out of questions when I responded to her demand for what I had done before I retired -- and passed me through. In hindsight, I wish someone like her was doing the airport security screening!
And finally, to the common question -- how long is your flight? Well, the answer may well give some insight into why the fare was so cheap. 10 hours to Tokyo, 5 hour layover, 7 hours to Singapore. As I tried to pack too much into too short of time, my initial plan to begin a train journey from entry point into Malaysia (just beyond the causeway that connects from Singapore) gave way to adding a booking on a $29 Air Asia, hour-long flight to Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's capital and most populous city. Total time enroute on 3 flights: 28 hours.
And the next adventure is underway...
