i woke up before my alarm, anxious enough already. 4.30am, only ten more minutes anyway. i afforded myself five extra minutes for breakfast, ensuring i could have toast instead of a sandwich. worth it.
i opened up the directions to the airport one last time. being only a two night layover i neglected to purchase any data and roaming wasn’t worth it.
i did one last nervy search to make sure i’d pack everything away, then did another one just in case. not quite satisfied but now needing to leave i exited into the dead quiet hallway outside my hotel room. i hadn’t seen a single other person on this floor while i had been here. i’m not sure what that means.
after a short ride in the elevator i had to drop the keycard off at the front desk. a woman stood there with a wide smile and perfect posture that seemed inconceivable to me at 5am. she took my card and placed it gently in a small tray on her side of the raised counter..
thankyou, sir, i hope you enjoyed your stay.
exiting onto the street, it felt like i had caught the metropolis during the ninety or so minutes it sleeps each night. for once there was no one, no hardworking shopkeepers, no commuting salarymen, no bewildered tourists. the suffocating heat and humidity, my unfortunate abiding memory of the city, was milder than usual. a few minutes into my walk to the subway, just as the first signs of dawn became visible, i encountered a few workers cleaning some pavement. the city is always immaculate, of course they are still hard at work.
the next hour is a disoriented blur, navigating the subway and check-in at the massive airport, still busy at 5.30am. i consider getting a coffee to wake up but the hard part of the morning is done, and i have a long flight ahead of me. I check the time and despite there being precisely one hour to kill until boarding i find my gate and take a seat. i lean back into it, finding it far more comfortable than i expected. i wake up fifty nine minutes later to the sound of the gate opening and hastily gather both myself and my luggage. i pause for a moment and look through one of the windows, picking out some of the high rise towers of the city centre which must be tens of kilometres away. such a big city, where i spent so little time.