As we made our way to Mactan Airport and flying in the midst of covid-19 pandemic, I was quite scared and my stomach was rumbling in fear. Suddenly my anxiety turned into "awe'' as we arrived at the terminal in Mactan and NAIA international airport. I have never seen an airport so quiet and practically deserted. Strange experience of a long haul flight in the midst of corona virus pandemic.Gone in the airport are hundreds of people up and about, people pushing in-between people, rushing, running frantically, some searching for their boarding pass, the long queues, the security screening, everything is quiet. A lot of hand sanitizers all-throughout the airport. Scanning luggages at security is a breeze. The big reality check for me is to walk past shut retail stores and closed food outlets. Always a wise idea to grab a pre-flight dinner. We walked towards our gate lounge passing many empty gate lounges, seemed to be I then realize our flight is the only one leaving. The once crowded airports and less than 50% passenger capacity inside the aircraft is haunting. Flight crew doesn't come close to passengers as much as they used to be, but social distancing when they served dinner. From there on to minimize contact flight crew handed a snap-zip-lock bag to every passenger. Inside the zip-lock bag are snacks, fruits and drinks. Luckily! my'daughter secured a pre-reserved seat for us, right in the front row, more space more legroom and extra seat next to us. Absolutely me and hubby sit comfortably. Can you imagine all passengers and stewardess wearing a face mask for 16 hours for the entire duration of our flight? We all do and we all did it remarkably. KLM flight went smoothly. When we landed in Netherlands and the familiar Schiphol airport, I still call Netherland Home Away From Home. Thoughts run to my mind. Such a beautiful sight to brighten my day, seeing the happy faces of my family. Me and hubby are so fortunate to have our loved ones. As always I look up the horizon and talk to my heavenly friend and say ''thank you'' for all the blessings, good health and the gift of having an incredibly awesome family in our lives.
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