Arrival in Melbourne

They said something like "Ladies & Gentlemen, we have just landed in Melbourne International Airport ...." This was on 12 May 2006, 12.30am-ish.

The pent-up excitement was slowly unwinding itself & there was a flow of relaxation in me. A little upward surge in my mouth soon turned into a huge grin & smile.

I collected my backpack, which is always next to me & waited. FINALLY, after what seemed like enternity but in reality, just a mere few minutes, we were let out of the plane & into the actual terminal building itself.

1st stop
duty-free - but not for me, since I had done my shopping in Changi Terminal

2nd stop
passport check - the guy was asking me a couple of questions like "where r u from?", "what will you be doing in Melbourne?", "any goods to declare?" ...

3rd stop
collect luggage - i still chuckled at the thought that the concern that the nice lady at the Changi Airport check-in counter asked about my "9-kilo" luggage. It definitely seemed light but to me, nah!!

luggage collection wait - I thought bags could not go any bigger than those I encountered at the luggage belt.

4th stop
green channel - if you have nothing to declare. I would discourage those who have things to declare but decide to try their luck. Please, don't!!

red channel - if you have stuff like I do (gourmet egg jam- kaya in attractive packaging)

5th stop
wait for friend to fetch me from airport

There are 2 terminals at Melbourne Airport, the International & the Domestic. One need not guess where I was.

Whilst waiting for my friend, I fended off taxi drivers who came up to me one after another "Miss, you need a taxi?" with "No, thank you".

There is no need to be rude, ladies & gentlemen. Just decline politely. The taxi drivers know. You counter 5 words with just 3 words.

There was the toilet but I dared not go, since I had luggage to take care of. Safety first, my dear.

There was also an information counter. I named it the "free brochures for you all to take" counter. I loaded up on whatever I could, in English of course.

Tried calling JR but either my mobile went on strike or I didn't request "auto-roaming" from my service provider, 'cos I could only SMS saying I had arrived & cleared customs.

JR replied back, that he was on his way & I could start making my way out of the terminal to the waiting area. Which I did.

Outside the International terminal, there was the Hilton Hotel. I was like thinking, "Man, they sure know how to locate hotels!!"

Places like the Melbourne Airport Hilton are quite good for people who do need their 40 winks & will pay for that.

If my friend was unable to fetch me & I didn't dare to take a taxi (mind you, a SINGLE LADY taking taxi at 1am in a foreign city??? u gotta be nuts!!), I would take up 1nite's stay in the Hilton, till daylight broke, when I would dare to take the airport shuttle bus.

OUTSIDE the terminal, it was blowing cold. So, I put on my jacket & waited in the blistering cold night on the seat provided. It was a "silent night", with no vehicles except for a bus ferrying the airport staff home ... and a few taxis here & there.

My flight into Melbourne

In the last remaining minutes prior to boarding the Emirates plane, my tummy was "full of butterflies". If you were me, reading my mind, you would understand.

In a sign of independence, one is responsible for oneself. No more further evidence than that of carrying your own luggage. I watched silently & thinking to myself, "IT IS FINALLY HERE!!" ... as my hand luggage & backpack were loaded onto the scanning machines for one last security check. A wry grin came from me.

Then, into "no man's land", the little area whereby they make all passengers (inclusive of first-class) assemble. I had one thought: what IF & that was a very big IF, someone needed to answer Mother Nature's call?

I am always thinking a lot, the good stuff & the bad ones.

THEN, we were allowed onto the plane & our pre-assigned seats. There was someone on my seat. He got up, apologised & went to the one behind my seat, which I presumed to be his actual seat.

It was not a full flight. Depend on how you look at it, one could also say that the flight was half-empty. The one good point of this was that I get the entire row to myself. I forgot was it the centre row or either of the wing seats that I got.

Despite having flown before, I still thought of every flight as my first. I was full of excitement. I have not seen my friend in Melbourne for nearly 3 years & here I was, just 8 hours away from seeing him.

There were the usual suspects in the seat pocket: 1 vormit bag, the safety booklet, inflight magazine ... and my favourite, the menu.

Here is what Emirates offered on my flight:

Bar Service (selection lifted off Emirates menu)

• Aperitifs & Cocktails - dry martini (wat about the wet one? hehee!!), campari, whisky, brandy, gin ...
  
• Wines - both Reds & Whites
  
• Champagne - this one must pay $$$ to drink (30 Dhs, not sure what currency that is)
  
• Spirits - whisky (Scotch, Jack Daniels ...) & Bacardi Rum
  
• Liquers - Baileys, Tia Maria
  
• Beers - they didn't say but since it is a flight from Singapore, may I dare presume that Tiger is on the menu?
  
• Soft drinks - fruit juices, spring water ...

The "actual food", I am not sure since I don't remember much. Airline food is definitely never on the same class as restaurant food but I quite enjoy it.

The best thing one can bring when eating is this saying: Hunger is the best appetite.

The actual dinner (my pick):

1. appetizers (i forgot wat it was)
2. seasonal salad (i ate it all, left out the cherry)
3. main course: salmon the size of my palm (chef's recommendation, so I picked that)
4. dessert: strawberry shortcake (i ate that all)
5. bread & butter: i discarded the bread
6. cheese & biscuits: they gave cheddar, which I ate, whilst keeping the biscuits
7. beverages & chocolates: i chose OJ & every passenger got 1 piece of chocolate, the size of a SG 50 cents coin

They sure don't lose out to Singapore Airlines. Also, the portions ain't tiny either.

Later, they served us food again. Mebbie about 1 hour prior to touch down. It was known as the "savoury snack".

Savoury Snack (my pick):

• Beef Pastrami - 1 open-faced sandwich with peppered beef slices (known as pastrami) & oh, how I HATE this veggie: aubergine/eggplant!!@!!!
• OJ

To while away the EIGHT HOURS of flight:

• I walked up & down the aisles every 1 hour
• drank at least 1 teeny-weeny paper cup of drinking water
• watched movies (as they were not the ones I liked, I do not remember it)
• be an online gamer (Othello was my choice of game)
• think/analyse the flight - like how I felt, my fellow passengers, the service
• go toilet to freshen up & apply moisturizer

More later in next post.

Departure day for Melbourne

I remember this day well.

My flight was due at 3.20pm & I had to be at Changi International Airport 2 hours beforehand.

Guess what time I woke up? Nearly 11am!! Ha ... I remember waking up & telling myself that the "big day to travel" is FINALLY here!!

Don't know why but my family seemed more anxious than me, with them telling me to pack more long-sleeved tops ... blah blah blah.

Phssh ... I've studied in Perth before & experienced 4 cold winters (I think). So, temperatures of 10-15 deg is nothing to me. As a result, I didn't pack too many thick nor long-sleeved tops.

I was at the airport by 1.10pm, checked in early & the check-in lady was surprised that my luggage allowance was only 9kg!! She further advised that the temperature was about 14 deg or so & asked why I wasn't scared. I smiled & thanked her for her concern, before telling her that I had studied in Australia before (see above). Then, she went "Ahhhh ..."

Went for lunch with my dad. I think I had duck rice & a glass of soya bean drink, while my dad had Teochew porridge. Then, we went to the NTUC mini-mart to get some last minute stuff for myself.

Said "bye-bye" to my dad & went into the Restricted customs area. The shopping there was really good & even better for those people who had no time to shop when they were out in Singapore, plus NO GST IMPOSED on departure flights!! Got Biotherm products on behalf on a colleague.

Bear in mind that food & beverage prices will not be like what one is used to outside at Singapore food court prices. More likely, it is higher & portions ... well, as I didn't eat there in the Restricted area, I won't know.

Lastly, before I boarded my flight, I called my colleagues asking if they had any last-last minute shopping wishes, they said "none" & I switched off my HP.

Melbourne, here I come!!!