My First Step in Europe

View from the top.

Well, the United Kingdom isn't really in the middle of continental Europe, but hey, it is one of the primary hubs of the continent.  I can't be more thrilled to step in the UK - almost a year ago.  It's still fresh in my mind.
Yung UK trip, particularly London, was not a liesure trip but a working trip. Thank you sa company ko, QBE, for sending me and an officemate, there - for free with allowance. Bongga talaga. Nakakakaba man ang visa application but hey - approved. 6 months Business visa. Choosy pa ba ako?!


Skip the other stuff, i was off to London via Hong Kong - and that wasnt bad for a 1st time out of the country trip!

It was a long flight and it was literally an "all day" flight - from the time we were off at Terminal 3 at around 5AM and arriving in Heathrow at 3PM - timezone is backwards. 12 to 15 hours travel time in total. No sleep. The heck. It was pure excitement!

Touchdown - Heathrow.

While on the plane, para akong tangaa. Di makakilos. Palibhasa economy. Pero di na ko choosy. Libre naman kasi. Nasa window seat ako, dko naman mabuksan ang bintana kasi mainit. All throughout the flight tanghali ang dinadaanan namin. Mainit talaga. Di rin ako makatulog kasi alanganin sa pwesto. Masikip kasi may katabi akong magasawang foreigner. Maybe nakatapos ako ng 2 or 3 movies. Di na masama.

May flight path. Dun ko tinitingnan if malapit na kami. Nakaka excite. Di ko lubos maisip,  nasa ibabaw kami ng China, Russia at iba pang bansa. Saya lang.
Ignoramos.
Bakit ba, di lahat ng Pinoy nagkakaroon ng chance to travel - for free.
Finally, nagsalita na si Captain, malapit na daw kami.
Excited.

Binuksan ko ang bintana.
Behold!
My first glimpse of the United Kingdom.

Beautiful. Green.
Smile. Thankful.
Then a few more moments, nagland na sa Heathrow.... and my companion, Joms, and I inched our way out of the plane... to finally breath London air.

What this means is.....

1st step outside the airplane door and brrrrr... it's cold in here. No aircon needed.
Smile. Thankful - we arrived safely.


Next hurdle - Immigration. Di pa lubos ang tuwa dahil baka mapabalik kami ng de oras. In any case, at that point though, I was thankful enough to have my first step in Europe.