Somewhere above the Indian Ocean, Monday evening

Garuda Airlines wins points in many categories. They provided toys and baby food for the kids, spare diapers and wipes, and were well stocked on snacks and apple juice. Their hospitality beat the competition. So we wondered, why is this considered a budget airline?

It seems that the skimping is on the planes and the pilots.


The flight to Singapore was bad enough. We boarded, sat for an hour, and disembarked due to undisclosed technical difficulties. We arrived 3 hours late, learning that Shanghai's airport is inconceivably devoid of food but well equipped with a toddler playground near gate 17.


The flight to Bali left 1-1/2 hours late - just after the plane arrived. We didn't mind. We spent the time easily among the multiple playgrounds, cafes and restaurants, gardens and free internet access spread through Changi Airport - clearly a point of pride for Singapore, and rightfully so, especially compared to Shanghai Pudong International. Changi was more decorated for Christmas than anywhere else we'd been in Asia. Santa walked through, certainly refueling the reindeer to begin his own evening of international flight. A long hall strewn with gardlands and Christmas lights prompted L-- to yell Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! to all of the passers-by on the travelator. Although from this 2-year-old's mouth, it sounded more like Maaaay Kit-mit! Maaaaay Kit-mit!


Once on, the flight was smooth. No trouble, and I could have sworn I saw Santa and his reindeer fly past the window soon after we took off. Nearing the end, captains announced expected turbulence as we began our descent. Rain shot past the windows. The airplane shook. We saw the lights of the runway go right past our windows.

And the airplane began to climb.

I prefer not to know exactly why they chose to abort, but I fear one line of a stressful conversation was simply I can't do it!


We circled for a while, then landed at another airport about 20 minutes away. Most folks disembarked, but at midnight on Christmas Eve our girls had finally fallen asleep so we welcomed Christmas on the plane. It was 3:30 in the morning before we reached our hotel.