The Senator Lounge in Frankfurt is unlike any airport lounge I've ever been in.
We had flown through Frankfurt many times and never known that it existed. The main lounge sent us to the Senator Lounge because all of the other lounges were full. Plus, we had more than six hours to kill, so we might as well spend it in a less crowded location.
Like I always do, I pulled out my drawing books, did a bit of painting, and took some photographs. When I looked up, I noticed the man across the lounge checking the departures board, and he looked remarkably familiar. I don't usually recognise celebrities, and in the past I've sat right next to them and asked them what they do for a living. To me, at least, this man looked exactly like Keanu Reeves.
Renuka is a lot better with faces than I am, so I turned to her. She studied him carefully and came to a conclusion. “Yes,” she said, “that is definitely him.” I wasn't convinced he looked a lot different from the photograph I had last seen, so I pulled up some pictures on the internet. There he was, right in front of me, an exact match, so I went over and asked, “Are you Keanu?”
Without missing a beat, he says, “No, but I'm often mistaken for him.”
I could immediately see where this was going.
It must be no fun being a celebrity. First, someone approaches you, then they ask for a selfie. Suddenly, everybody else starts to notice, and your moment of quiet has descended into chaos. Plus I avoid selfies, and celebrities. But Keanu seems different, which is why I approached him in the first place.
Since I'd already started the conversation, we talked for a bit. We talked about my favourite topic, talent, and where we were headed. At some point, I asked for his name.
“Jonathan,” he said.
Which means nothing, but the moment I went back to my seat, I looked for Keanu's middle name. No, it's not Jonathan, it's Charles. Who is Jonathan? He's the character that Keanu Reeves plays in the film Bram Stoker's Dracula.
So did I meet Keanu or not? I'll leave that for you to decide.
Onwards to Singapore.
On the way back at Singapore airport lounge, you will not get the local coffee, but because you're in the lounge, any amount of coffee is free. So I take the escalator down, walk 200 m, and get a kopi. And I pay $2 for this privilege.
Then I have to bring it back to the lounge and transfer it into the lounge coffee mug because they will not microwave it if it is in the non-lounge coffee mug.
After which I have to get the original coffee mug washed so that I can return it 200 metres away on my way to the security check.
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