No, for real this time, unlike that last time in Malaysia when were on that bus that tried to pose as a plane by putting wings on the logo and naming it “airbus”. This time Im on my jetstar flight back to Melbourne via Darwin, my last (well second last if you count it as two flights) on this great adventure that I’ve been on this past month and a half. It has been an amazing journey for me and I’ve felt as though I’ve matured over this trip and much more knowledgeable about the things in the world. I just want to thank Gabriel one last time for putting together this awesome experience. All the best for your mission trip tomorrow and hope you have a smooth flight and don’t catch malaria, and your two years in NS. It might be tough but im sure you’ll get through it. Time might slow down but it will never stop and before you know it, that 2 years is gone and you’ll be back in Melbourne, with all of us waiting. And besides, its not all over yet. Still have that month in February, which we would make the most of.
Anyway, even though Im glad to be heading home, Im also quite saddened to be leaving Singapore, which has essentially been my home for the past month, and Gabriel and his family has somewhat become my adopted family. As the plane took off and I watched the Singapore skyline, felt kinda sad as I was in a way leaving my family behind. But I know I’ll be back in Singapore. Its such a great place to be. Good food, good food prices, good transport. Whenever I have the money and time to travel, Singapore will definitely be on the list of places to go.
Right now I have the best seat that I’ve had so far on this trip. Im towards the middle so have more leg room, right behind the emergency door so if there’s an accident or something, I don’t have to go far to get out and I don’t have to do anything since Im not at where the exit is. Furthermore, I have the entire row to myself lol, so I can stretch out and sleep lying down if Im allowed. But it also means I can use my laptop more freely and not be cramped like I usually am.
My last day in Singapore was rather uneventful, just stayed home and didnt do much, except tick down the time and head out. In the morning though I did go next door to the shopping centre (called Lot 1 as I’ve recently learnt, after all my weeks in Singapore lol) to pick up some last minute gifts for people and get cable ties so I can secure my luggage, as my second lock was left somewhere. Possibly Malaysia after that...unfortunate incident with my Adidas bag. Gabriel also had to head out to the doctor to get vaccinations for his trip tomorrow, but since it was a bit too late, he got some pills instead, which apparently has “vivid dreams” as a side effect lol.
After a while, Gabriel left to do something and I just stayed home and wasted time by just sitting at the computer reading news and listening to music, before I decided to set out and go. I say goodbye to Gabriel’s grandmother and we have a bit of a talk about returning to Singapore and usual going away stuff. And from there I made my way to Changi Airport. Along the way, I discovered a new riddle:
How many people are stupid enough to travel from Choa Chu Kang to Changi Airport via MRT?
At least one: me
Getting there was such a pain. Walking from Gabriel’s place to the MRT was bad ehough. By the time I got to the station, I was sweating like a pig and must have looked like the biggest idiot, carrying my luggage and hand carry while wearing my laptop bag. And both my bags were sooo bloody heavy. Luckily my luggage had wheels so I could just wheel it there, but my hand carry (a big billabong bag because I gave my ugly orange aldofo bag to Pete to take to Malaysia and i didnt want it because it was so ugly) didnt and I had to carry it all the way to the station before I could let it rest. It was so heavy that at MRT station, when I was buying my one way ticket to the airport, the arm which I used to carry the hand carry was shaking so I had a bit of trouble putting in the coins. And now my hands are really sore. Whats more is that at the MRT station, as I was about to catch a lift to the platform (as if ride that narrow ass escalator, or God forbid, take the stairs), a security guard asks to check my bag, so she directs me to this table and gets me to haul my heavy ass bag onto this table, and I use my shaky hands to unlock it for her to inspect, which she only glances at. She also asks to check my luggage but I explain that I needed scissors to cut the cable tie, so she just asks me what is inside and lets me off to catch another lift. I took Gabriel’s advice and rode the front carriage which was good because it was relatively empty, compared to the sardine cans in the middle carriages.
Soon enough, I get to Changi Airport and there, I had some problems as the check in gate for my flight opened late, and I had to wait for ages before being able to line up in the long as line to check in. In that time of waiting for my check in, I took the time to weigh my bags and found that my luggage was underweight, at 18kg, but that my carry on was 10kg...and that it was 3kg overweight. I didnt care so much that I was overweight but that I have to lug around 10kg around the airport in Singapore, Darwin and in Melbourne...bloody hell. And when I checked in, they did weigh my hand carry as well but they let me off and didnt make it check in which was good of them, though they did ask if I could chuck some of the stuff in my hand carry into my luggage, which I said I could but because my luggage was cable tied, they would need scissors to open it. After that I headed to my gate after learning I cant by $30 bailleys because I was stopping over in Darwin and would have to buy from there first, which was a tad gay. I also had a sample of it and damn was it nice. Think Bailleys is my favourite alcoholic beverage, along with Heineken.
From there I went to my gate, which I had to wait to wait a while to open and also call Gabriel to let him know Im at the airport and also call Mum that my flight back would arrive at 2, not at the 1040 my itinery says I would. I also learned that my flight would leave at 1030, not 9:45 as my itinery said it would. Which meant more waiting. But I didnt mind. Before long, the gate opened and just had to wait to board, which soon arrived, which brings me to now. This should be posted when I reach Darwin, which should be like...7am Melbourne time? Something like that.
Anyway got to go now. Battery dying lol. Hope to see you soon. Also happy Birthday Gabriel’s Mum. Best wishes.
P.S. Im at Darwin now, charging my laptop. So gay, my flight isn’t for another hour and a half and I’ve been here for over an hour I reckon. My flight boards at 7:55 and right now its...6:34. Hard to tell how long I’ve been here since my watch was stuck to Singapore time for a while and not Darwin. In my time here, I’ve realised I may have missed my chance for cheap alcohol, as I don’t think I’ll have access to the duty free shop in Melbourne and I couldn’t buy alcohol here in Darwin because I forgot to exchange currency in Singapore because I assumed I would be buying it from there and the only way to get to the money exchange was to go through immigration which meant I couldn’t go back. So gay. Full price for a bottle of Bailleys? Oh well. No choice I suppose.
In my time here just wasting away waiting for my plane, I’ve had a breakfast of bacon and eggs with toast, and might I say, it was good. Not good because it was cooked well. Frankly I reckon my ones are better, where the bacon is so crispy you can eat them like chips. But it was good because I haven’t eaten bacon and eggs in I don’t know how long. Even though the food there was great, I still miss good old western foods like that. When I was eating it, it reminded me of a time when Betty said “I was such a white” because I was having coffee and cake for breakfast in Malaysia, and well in a way I am. I love my bacon and eggs. I love my coffee and tea.
Anyway, think this post is long enough. Next post I make, I’ll be sitting in the comfort of my own room. So good bye Choa Chu kang. Good bye Singapore. Good bye world.
