No Idea

Arrivé

So yes, I have arrived in sunny (and it is very sunny) Sydney, Australia. The fiasco probably started in earnest when Adam cut his finger off instead of picking me up from my house and driving me to the airport. However, it was an honest mistake and one that I am satisfied he has paid for, although I am not sure he has really learnt from it. Adam, I hope they managed to reattach it, I imagine the rehabilitation will be lengthy and undignified but eventually I trust you will be able to type again. After going through many mixed emotions about Adam’s finger, I managed to compose myself and find alternative transport to Heathrow terminal 3. The trip to the airport was uneventful, I even dozed off for a bit. It would have been much more fun if Adam had not cut his finger off, I admit I scorned his name a couple of times, I am sorry Adam.

At around 9:45 pm I boarded a Boeing 747 400 series and was squished into an economy seat between a rather chubby Australian woman and a very tall Singaporean gent, it was not pleasant and a vague sense of fear and panic began to wash over me as I desperately looked for seating alternatives. There were none, some hippy late-comer kid snatched what I hoped would be a spare window seat. Food was served, I ate beef which was supposedly a meal “designed” by Gorden Ramsey, it tasted like muck. To this day the best air plane food I have ever had was on a Air India flight from London to NYC, the flight may have been smelly, uncomfortable and sweaty but the food was good.

I slept for a bit and then awoke feeling a bit like I might puke. I let fear and panic wash over me again and convinced myself it was the rather odd tasting ice cream that was making me feel ill, I tried to calm myself down and sleep some more. I woke again to the woman in front of me actually puking. I thought this would be the end of the road for my comfort and it would be inevitable that I too would puke soon, my only decision was to chose to puke on the tall Singaporean or the fat Australian. However, I managed to keep my stomach under control, the vomit lady in front was taken somewhere to convalesce and the very attentive staff (Air Singapore stewards are very efficient) began cleaning the seat. It was at this time I felt something drip on my foot, later I would discover it was vomit.

Singapore airport was a weird experience for me. By this point I had no idea what time it was, and I felt really exhausted.

A lady with a vacuum strapped to her back just came into my room and did a quick once over, it was a little surreal, apparently I will see her again tomorrow.

Where was I, yes, Singapore airport, terminal 2. I walked around a bit, dazed, hungry and in need of internets. I found some internet kiosks and fired off a few emails and checked my Facebook, the essentials, then I went and took some quick photos before I gave in and went to the transit hotel where I had a room reserved. The transit hotel is a hotel in the airport, it is conveniently positioned so that you don’t have leave the transit mall and go through immigration etc. I was quickly dispensed to a clean room which had no windows but all the other essentials, including a TV on which I watched The Racoons in an unknown foreign language that sounded a bit like German to me which I dismissed because, well I am in SE Asia. As the room had no windows my sense of time became even more disabled and I eventually drifted off to sleep. It was not the best sleep I have ever had and I did not really wake up feeling refreshed, but a shower before I left the hotel helped me feel a bit better.

I ate a cheeseburger at Burger King. For this crime I apologise. I needed a quick food fix and sadly the noodle place looked pretty bad in comparison.

The flight to Sydney was largely uneventful, this time I had an aisle seat, I was grateful for that. Slept quite a bit, ate some god awful breakfast, which is still sustaining me. Oh, I should also note the films I watched;

• Simpsons the Movie - Basically a long episode The Simpsons, not all that good.
• Harry Potter Goblet of Fire - Fell asleep, not all that good.
• Die Hard 4.0 - Solid action.

I am sure I watched a bunch more than that, but I often fell asleep watching them and/or accidentally leant on the remote and stopped the movie half way through. Restarting the movie is not an option as they fast forward only marginally faster than they play.

So here I am in Sydney, in a tiny but clean room, outside it is very sunny and I think I might use the remaining energy that I have to go and walk about and find some food. I hope this email has not been too long, I probably won’t write as much agian, it’s just nice to document and share the trip.

Flickr photos here.

October 20th, 2007 

Labels: Tags: flight, singapore, sydney, travel