Past bedtime.

We travelled by land to a Southern Tagalog province once and our co-passengers talked way past midnight; lights out was not observed and quiet descended only when the folks ran out of stories to tell.

Travelling by plane is another story; travellers are more discerning of "lights out" policy and the added amenities of in-flight music and movie, and personal gadgets such as Ipad allow passengers to settle quietly once the flight crew draws the curtains signalling "night time," inside the aircraft.

But there are other banes to both land and air travel. Take the unruly child whose parent cannot or decide not to control.  Or the drunk passenger seated beside or behind you who decide to sleep your side or continuously fidget in his chair.

One time, a burly Caucasian man called a stewardess to tell off an old Asian woman who was pushing his reclined seat while he slept. The crew told the woman that reclined seat is allowed but not during meals and while the plane is descending. The poor guy who must have felt guilty after the crew admonished the old lady then became friendly towards the Asian.

On a flight bound for stop in Japan, I had a female Canadian co-passenger who immediately took possession of the empty seat between us. Another time, a compatriot returning to Manila kept on talking to me even while I was already sleeping. Because the two seats between us were empty, I took one and slept all the way to Korea.

On a land tour to Boston several years ago, the Chinese tour guide kept on reminding the travellers to avoid using the on-board commode which he said was for emergency use only. A middle-aged woman who obviously was not able to hold on, rushed to the toilet anyway.

In another flight, a group of loud policemen headed home from L.A. to Columbus, Ohio and who were visibly under the influence of alcohol took fancy of a young couple whom they needled throughout the five-hour flight. I was seated near them and avoided them like plague.

Another time, a has-been Philippine actor was a seatmate in a flight bound for Manila. He was a nice fellow and talked about his glory days in Philippine show biz, and showed photos of himself and his wife posing with his contemporaries who are still active in the movie industry. This fellow was attending an Amway conference in Manila.

Lucky me, anywhere I go, either by land, sea or air, I always manage to catch my zzzzs.