And today, Neeti is heading back home to Mumbai for a month.
We had painstakingly planned this trip back home. Neeti is heading home now and I would follow in about two and a half weeks. We spent the last few days running around buying gifts for family and friends and completed the packing. And then, as Neeti's departure date drew closer, we were invited by friends in Songdo for dinner and tea, as is usual in expatriate life.
But there was a tingling sense of loneliness creeping inside me. Neeti will be away in India for a month and I will be alone here for sometime - that would be hard! There would be no one to fight with, no one around to talk to. But I steeled myself and tried my level best to be brave and help her out with the packing and the logistics.
And so early this morning, we headed out of Songdo towards Incheon Airport...
We reached there pretty early. After Neeti checked in and received her boarding passes, we decided to have a little date - we headed upstairs to the Paris Baguette outlet and ordered tea and some croissants as we sat down keeping a cheery persona. I knew she was also having similar emotions as I was having.
I got a few moments of Plane Spotting as our order was being prepared...
Neeti would be travelling to Mumbai via Hong Kong - her flight to Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific's CX-421, is a "Fifth Freedom" flight, which would touchdown at Taipei, Taiwan enroute to Hong Kong. And I just realised that would be incredible - Neeti would be in four countries today - starting from Korea, she would pass by Taiwan and Hong Kong before landing back home in India!
And soon I was time to say bye and that made me quite homesick. Hopefully, I would also make it home in a few weeks and would get to see her again.
Have a safe and enjoyable journey back home, Neeti!
