I apologise. It has been a while since I wrote my last blog. I did promise myself when I first started this thing that I wouldn’t fall behind and it seems that I already have, and I’m only 3 weeks into my stay.
Well obviously given the title, in this blog I will talk about my quick trip to Brussels. Which was two weeks ago.
In our first week of studies we were given our timetables and discovered we had the first Friday off. My initial reaction was to plan a trip somewhere and make the most of my long weekend. And it turns out Kate had much the same idea. We decided to plan our trip together and go somewhere a bit far away, given that we had the time to travel.
I mentioned Brussels, as it was on my to do list and I knew it was only a few hours from Paris. Kate agreed and we booked our tickets. A few days before leaving we both went to the station with our Swedish friends to get a 12-25 card. This was a special discount card that gave up to 60% discount to those who were between the ages of 12 and 25, which we both fitted into nicely. The card costed 49 Euros (100AUD), which our friendly bank would late refund us for.
So we got our magical 12-25 cards and a day later we booked our tickets on the Internet. It wasn’t an extrememly low cost trip, but the tickets we did book were the cheapest available. We booked tickets from Caen to Paris and then from Paris to Brussels with about 2 hours stopover in between.
We managed to book ourselves into the last available dorms in the city. We booked at the last minute so it was extremely hard to find somewhere for 3 nights. We found beds at Vincent Van Gogh Youth Hostel, for me they had a bed for all 3 nights but Kate had to change to another dorm on the 2nd night and the change back on the 3rd.
We left on the Friday at about mid-day. Which was a convenient time and was also the cheapest train available.
I learnt a lot from just that trip there. 1. Was to make sure you eat lunch before you leave as I was starving the whole trip. 2 is to eat lunch as well as pack a baguette or something to eat as I ended up buying a single baguette roll with ham and cheese at a café in the Paris station which costed me 4 Euros (8AUD)! That’s right 8 bucks for a baguette!
In Paris we had to change stations. We arrived at St Lazarre station and had to leave from Paris North, this was task was done through the ever so complicated Paris Metro, which Kate was a gun at so we changed stations just fine. And made our way to Brussels. We managed to get ourselves those sort-after seats with the table in the middle. Which was fun and Kate and I enjoyed taking random photos of us.
I should mention that Kate is a great photographer and takes some amazing photos. When I find out how I will put a link to her blog on this sight. But for now you might just have to look her up yourselves. Kate Paneros is her name. Well Kate Panero to some, but that’s another story which ill save for a later blog. Don’t worry its really not that interesting. Anyways… Kate has a great digital camera, it’s a Canon SLR, which I would love to have, but costs a fortune.
So we ended up arriving at Brussels Midi Station where we were faced with another bloody metro we had to catch to the Hostel. We were given some pretty simple directions though and got there just fine.
It was a pretty decent hostel with some nice facilities; it had nice bathrooms (for a hostel), a bar, a kitchen and best of all it served breakfast. Whilst checking in the friendly girl at the desk gave us a terrifically helpful map, which was later used throughout the whole trip. I asked the friendly girl at reception for some nice places to eat, she pointed out some and soon after Kate and I went searching.
Well I wouldn’t say we found any ‘nice’ restaurants. I’m not too sure if we ended up finding the ones the friendly girl at reception pointed out but we came across a bussling street in a busy area filled with restaurants with every European food available. Each had its own salesmen at the front trying to entice us in by yelling out the specials, which didn’t really work in their favour as it made us walk further away. In the end we gave up on trying to find a cheap Belgian restaurant and settled on the first French restaurant we saw. Shocked at the prices, which were on the menu they first gave us, we went to walk out until they stopped us and gave us another menu, which had 2 course meals for 12 Euros. We ended up sitting down and eating. They had snails on the menu, which we decided to try. They weren’t bad, just had a bit of a slimy texture. Probably wouldn’t order them again. After dinner we made our way back to the hostel. We were shocked that there was not one waffle stall open, considering it was the capital of Belgium which is like the freaking home of waffles!
On Saturday morning we set off to spend the entire day in the city and looking at all the places, which were mentioned on the cool map that the friendly girl at reception gave us. The map was quite colourful and had highlighted all the tourist attractions of the area. It also had other attractions, which locals had suggested. The map was filled with suggestions from locals about what to see and do. Kate and I went around looking at all the interesting churched, museums, castles and palaces. We went to see the Pissing boy. Which is a statue of a Pissing Boy, funnily enough, which they use as the city’s emblem. Must admit it is quite overrated. It is a tiny little statue in the corner of a street. Every so often they put a costume on the Pissing Boy to mark any special occasions. During my brief visit he was wearing this Chinese looking costume, which I assumed was for Chinese New Years, which had ended the week earlier.
After the statue visit we made our way to The Comic Book Museum. Which was suggested on the map we had. It was pretty cool museum and was great to see something different than the usual castles and churches (which after a while start to all look the same). Belgium is home to many Comic Book artists and is where Tin Tin and the Smurfs come from. I was a big fan of Tin Tin when I was younger and all the adventures he went on, I dreamt of travelling around like him fighting all the bad guys, I probably still do…
After the comic book museum we looked around the city a bit more before making our way to the main shopping strip. We ended up having our first actual Belgium waffle from a street vendor before continuing do some shopping. Its pretty strange though as really shopping in Brussels was the same as shopping anywhere else in the Europe. They had the same shops and the same clothes. We entered our favourites, which were H&M, Zara, and Benetton, which had clothes we could afford as well as all those stores, which had clothes, we couldn’t. Zara was having their end of winter sales.
Kate and I ended up coming across a pretty funky vintage store, which was recommended in the map. It had all sorts of cool nik naks. Kate bought a Vinyl Record of Tin Tin as a Valentines gift for her boyfriend Danny. I should mention that that day was actually Valentines Day. For me, I didn’t think much of it being single, but I suppose it would have been quite strange, and a bit upsetting for Kate spending Valentines Day in Brussels with Me. From the funky vintage store I found some leather gloves, which were 8 Euros, which I bought. BARGAIN! They were pretty big gloves so the previous owner must have had some pretty big hands because the gloves were even a bit lose on me. Well you know what they say about big hands… big gloves… After buying them I was able to return the pair, which I was borrowing, from Kate. She had bought a new pair when she first arrived in France so I was borrowing her old ones, which I think she prefers more. Kate two has some pretty big hands. (No innuendo intended there at all FYI)
After the shopping spree we tried once more to find the nice places to eat which were recommended to us. But once again couldn’t. We found a street, which was lined with Thai Restaurants and thought we would eat some Thai as we hadn’t eaten any Asian food for a while. I ended up just ordering the Vegetarian Tom Yum as I wasn’t that hungry. It really wasn’t that great and actually just tasted like tomato soup as it had an overly bearing tomatoey taste. In the end I had to order water, which costed the same as my soup.
Over dinner we decided that we would leave Brussels the next day, As we had already seen a lot that day and wanted to save on the extra nights accommodation and eating out expenses. After we had arrived back at the hostel and Kate checked into her new dorm we used the ever so expensive Internet to book the tickets home. We then discovered what a bastard it was to book tickets on the Internet. We first checked the prices for the Brussels to Paris trip which were at the reasonable price of 35 euro (70 AUD) we then found a train at a good time and price from Paris to Caen which we booked but when we went back to book the Brussels to Paris train it had gone up to 80 Euros (160AUD), which was definitely out of our price range. We ended up having to book a train, which left quite early in the afternoon and which meant we had a 4-hour stop over in Paris.
After our ordeal with the Internet booking we concluded we were both still a bit hungry and went out to explore the surrounding area and find somewhere to eat. The surrounding area was quite ethnic, and by ethnic I mean Eastern and by Eastern I mean… well you know… I say this because one day I mentioned the word Ethnic to lady who stopped my in my tracks and said ‘ Well honey, we are all ethnic!’ but I'm sure you who are reading this know what I mean. Anyways… we stopped at a nice restaurant and shared a pide. After this we made our way back to the hostel and went to sleep.
The next day we woke up had our complementary breakfast, which consisted of a hot chocolate, 5 slices of bread, a bowl of cornflakes, a slice of cheese, an orange ‘juice’ (pretty much orange cordial) and a selection of spreads. We checked out of our dorms and did some more exploring. We first though we would make our way back to the city to do a bit more shopping.
This plane came to a quick halt when we discovered that shops don’t actually open in Brussels on Sundays!! I don’t know about you but I was pretty surprised when I discovered that Brussels, the capital of Belgium… the country, also regarded at the capital of Europe… the continent, had no Sunday trading. I myself think that shops should be shut on Sundays as this is the day people should be spending with their families but I also do find it convenient having shops open on a Sunday, especially when there was a particular wallet I wanted to buy that I had discovered the day before… talk about buyers remorse…
As I just mentioned Brussels is claimed to be the Capital of Europe and I can understand why. First there’s its location, located in the middle of northern Europe it’s only a few hours from France, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, England and Switzerland. There’s also the fact that everyone speaks both French and Dutch. The whole atmosphere of the city was very European as it sort of encompasses both the traditional Europe with its many churches and places and Modern Europe as it also has many skyscrapers and modern buildings. So its no surprise that the EU made it the home of their Headquarters and Parliament which we went to see that day.
The European Headquarters is a bit of an eyesore. It’s a tall modernish looking building with no interesting features. The Parliament was designed a bit better, it also had a modern architecture but had a more distinctive design and a pretty cool look. After Kate and I checked out both these buildings we went to the station to catch our train.
At the train Station we discovered we could not pick up our tickets! We had booked our tickets using a French website, using a French company which did not operate from the train station!! ARG! We did chose on the website that we were purchasing the tickets in Belgium. The company expected us to go to their one office located in the city, which was CLOSED on Sundays. And considering it was Sunday it made getting the tickets quite impossible. Our only option was to rebook the tickets and pay again. Luckily after we booked the new tickets, which were luckily at the same price I was able to call the company using by broken French and cancel the tickets so they wouldn’t charge my credit card… fewf…
So we ended up getting on an even earlier train from Paris to Brussels. At Paris we went to pick up the tickets to Caen, we asked at the desk if we were able to get an earlier train, the ticketer Lady said we were able to but it would cost another 7 euro each, which we were both happy to pay as it meant it would get us home earlier, at that stage we were going to face a 5 hour Parisian stop-over. So we changed stations to St-Lazarre and bordered the train to Caen where we caught the tram back home to Euro Residence were went both went to bed a bit early.
So that’s my Brussels trip… I apologise if it wasn’t adventurous enough for you. Don’t worry there are still more adventures to come. I’m still yet to write about this weekend's random adventures in Paris, which I promise I will write about soon.
I hope to return to Brussels in spring or summer, the city was very quiet in winter and not everything was open. I learnt a lot from this trip. I learnt things that would prepare me for my future adventures. In the future I will defiantly pack more food and book more in advance. I also decided that I didn’t really want to do much more travel until the warmer weather sets in. There wasn’t really any major reason for me to travel straight away. I had a whole year ahead of me and I want to see everything when it’s at is best. Which defiantly wasn’t during winter…
Monday, February 23, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Intercultural Toilet Behaviour
On this trip I have been noticing many cultural habits of my neighbours from other countries. Usually small subtle things like kissing the cheek twice and being late to everything.
One aspect of culture, which I had never really though about was toilet behaviour. Kate thought she had a cultural toilet because on the floor in front of hers was a Cosmopolitan in Latvian. Well she had nothing on what I experienced. One morning I started my day with the usual trip to the bathroom. I sat down and discovered there was something new and different in the toilet room, and it wasn’t a Brazilian FHM. It was a clear plastic bag with rubbish inside of it. Being the nosey mischievous person that I am I peered inside, only to discover there was scrunched up toilet paper soiled with Brazilian skid marks.
I can’t remember my initial reaction. I think I had just smiled to myself. I had travelled to South-East Asia previously and knew that there you have to put used toilet paper in the bin, as they don’t have the plumbing system to sustain toilet paper.
I remember telling Kate and my Swedish friends who thought it was hilarious, all thought it was funny but like myself, was understanding as that was the Brazilian culture and what they had grown up doing all their life.
However, for the next 11 months I wasn’t about to put up with having dirty smelly toilet paper next to me every time I took a trip to the toilet so I raised the issue with my Brazilian friends. I think they were a bit startled and confused when I told them they could flush toilet paper here. I explained to them that they do it in Australia and pretty much in all the developed nations in the world. Still a bit dazed and confused they eventually understood as they had another Brazilian friend with them, who had been living in France for 6 months already, who could translate what I was saying. They guy’s name was Tiago. Tiago looked at me and said he had always flushed.
I sigh of relief came over me as I had know I had dealt with a highly awkward situation. Probably the first awkward situation of my trip but it will defiantly be one of many….
One aspect of culture, which I had never really though about was toilet behaviour. Kate thought she had a cultural toilet because on the floor in front of hers was a Cosmopolitan in Latvian. Well she had nothing on what I experienced. One morning I started my day with the usual trip to the bathroom. I sat down and discovered there was something new and different in the toilet room, and it wasn’t a Brazilian FHM. It was a clear plastic bag with rubbish inside of it. Being the nosey mischievous person that I am I peered inside, only to discover there was scrunched up toilet paper soiled with Brazilian skid marks.
I can’t remember my initial reaction. I think I had just smiled to myself. I had travelled to South-East Asia previously and knew that there you have to put used toilet paper in the bin, as they don’t have the plumbing system to sustain toilet paper.
I remember telling Kate and my Swedish friends who thought it was hilarious, all thought it was funny but like myself, was understanding as that was the Brazilian culture and what they had grown up doing all their life.
However, for the next 11 months I wasn’t about to put up with having dirty smelly toilet paper next to me every time I took a trip to the toilet so I raised the issue with my Brazilian friends. I think they were a bit startled and confused when I told them they could flush toilet paper here. I explained to them that they do it in Australia and pretty much in all the developed nations in the world. Still a bit dazed and confused they eventually understood as they had another Brazilian friend with them, who had been living in France for 6 months already, who could translate what I was saying. They guy’s name was Tiago. Tiago looked at me and said he had always flushed.
I sigh of relief came over me as I had know I had dealt with a highly awkward situation. Probably the first awkward situation of my trip but it will defiantly be one of many….
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Making a House a Home.
When I first walked into my apartment in Eurorisendence I was greeted by the refreshing smell of fresh paint and the glissening shine of nice newly painted white glossy walls. andThe floor a blue thick vinal material. I first walked into the shared living area that had a table and one chair in the centre and a small kitchen on the right which only had a fridge a small oven top with two elements, a shelf and a set of flimsly shelves.
It was very basic. I was later informed that having a table was considered a luxury in Euro residence let a lone the black bucketed share I had also.
My room had a simple desk chair and bed. It had a small built in wardrobe which was just big enough to fit in all my clothes. It also had a sink. There was no sink in the bathroom so there was one in each bedroom. Which is a good idea as it lets you go through your morning rituals alone, without having any ‘sectret life of us’ moments where all flat mates are in the bathroom together brushing their teeth talking about who they last slept with. The sink looked pretty new and modem and had flight on top of the mirror as if it were some dressing table for some movie star.
The bed was in a strange position between the sink and the cupboard and the beside table was just sitting in the middle of the room. I later discovered that the last tenant had kindly left a few condom wrappers in the draw of the bedside table. My bed must have gotten quite a work out before I arrived. Or maybe not considering the condoms had not been used.
Kate and I had ‘better homes and gardens moments’ where we moved my furniture around and redecorated my room. The aparment didn’t come with and bedding so we had to go to the supermarket for that. I just chose the cheapest one there. Its quite difficult buying bedding in another language. It took me to trips to the supermarket as the first time I bough the back that didn’t have a quilt cover and only a fitted sheet which I already had.
The room which needed the most attention in the house was the kitchen. I enjoy cooking and having one 2 cook tops really doesn’t suffice for me. A few days after I moved my brazillian room mates bought a microwave. I am not the biggest fan of microwave and only usually use them for reheating. For the brazillians the microwave was there lively hood. Not knowing how to cook, assumably because they were babied by their mothers their whole life’s, the only thing they started to eat was frozen meals.
A few days after they bought the microwave I decided to splurge out and by a small cooker. I discovered one at the supermarket for 60 euros and thought it would be worth it in the end. So I bought it. The kitchen was looking a big squished together as we had a lot of utensils and plates and appliances but only one flimsly shelve to put it on. They Brazilians already had put the microwave on top of the fridge and I didn’t trust the oven on the flimsy shelves for fear it would break it. So for the time being I just left it on the ground and when I needed to use it I just placed it on the table, which I dragged towards a powerpoint.
Then one day, when I was in kate’s room using her internet. She pointed out to me a hard rubbish area, near the trash bins of the apartment building. In this trash bin was a metal set of shelves and a small card table. I took a mental note and on my way back from a jog that afternoon I had a closer look at them and decided to take them. They were quite lite and I was able to carry them both. I gave them both a good whipe down but neither was extremely dirty. I took everything off the flimsy wooden shelves and put it on the metal shelf. I also put the small oven on the metal shelf as it was a lot sturdier than the wooden one. I moved the wooden shelf closer to the middle of the room and am using now for liter objects like plate, cutlery and mugs. The card table is quite low to the growned and placed this under the window.
After I did all this I looked back and this feeling came over me that I had finally made my apartment my home. The way it was before really didn’t reflect my ideal housing situation but now I couldn’t think of anything better. I have a nice room which is the biggest room I have ever had, and a nice enough living areas (Well it’s a table and a chair but for EuroResidence that’s pretty swave) and a pretty complete kitchen. What more could I ask for...???
It was very basic. I was later informed that having a table was considered a luxury in Euro residence let a lone the black bucketed share I had also.
My room had a simple desk chair and bed. It had a small built in wardrobe which was just big enough to fit in all my clothes. It also had a sink. There was no sink in the bathroom so there was one in each bedroom. Which is a good idea as it lets you go through your morning rituals alone, without having any ‘sectret life of us’ moments where all flat mates are in the bathroom together brushing their teeth talking about who they last slept with. The sink looked pretty new and modem and had flight on top of the mirror as if it were some dressing table for some movie star.
The bed was in a strange position between the sink and the cupboard and the beside table was just sitting in the middle of the room. I later discovered that the last tenant had kindly left a few condom wrappers in the draw of the bedside table. My bed must have gotten quite a work out before I arrived. Or maybe not considering the condoms had not been used.
Kate and I had ‘better homes and gardens moments’ where we moved my furniture around and redecorated my room. The aparment didn’t come with and bedding so we had to go to the supermarket for that. I just chose the cheapest one there. Its quite difficult buying bedding in another language. It took me to trips to the supermarket as the first time I bough the back that didn’t have a quilt cover and only a fitted sheet which I already had.
The room which needed the most attention in the house was the kitchen. I enjoy cooking and having one 2 cook tops really doesn’t suffice for me. A few days after I moved my brazillian room mates bought a microwave. I am not the biggest fan of microwave and only usually use them for reheating. For the brazillians the microwave was there lively hood. Not knowing how to cook, assumably because they were babied by their mothers their whole life’s, the only thing they started to eat was frozen meals.
A few days after they bought the microwave I decided to splurge out and by a small cooker. I discovered one at the supermarket for 60 euros and thought it would be worth it in the end. So I bought it. The kitchen was looking a big squished together as we had a lot of utensils and plates and appliances but only one flimsly shelve to put it on. They Brazilians already had put the microwave on top of the fridge and I didn’t trust the oven on the flimsy shelves for fear it would break it. So for the time being I just left it on the ground and when I needed to use it I just placed it on the table, which I dragged towards a powerpoint.
Then one day, when I was in kate’s room using her internet. She pointed out to me a hard rubbish area, near the trash bins of the apartment building. In this trash bin was a metal set of shelves and a small card table. I took a mental note and on my way back from a jog that afternoon I had a closer look at them and decided to take them. They were quite lite and I was able to carry them both. I gave them both a good whipe down but neither was extremely dirty. I took everything off the flimsy wooden shelves and put it on the metal shelf. I also put the small oven on the metal shelf as it was a lot sturdier than the wooden one. I moved the wooden shelf closer to the middle of the room and am using now for liter objects like plate, cutlery and mugs. The card table is quite low to the growned and placed this under the window.
After I did all this I looked back and this feeling came over me that I had finally made my apartment my home. The way it was before really didn’t reflect my ideal housing situation but now I couldn’t think of anything better. I have a nice room which is the biggest room I have ever had, and a nice enough living areas (Well it’s a table and a chair but for EuroResidence that’s pretty swave) and a pretty complete kitchen. What more could I ask for...???
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The unpleasant arrival to Charles de Gaule
One word of advice to everyone. DON’T FLY BRITISH AIRWAYS. I have learnt my lesson and I hope you all can learn from my mistakes. My flight from Singapore to London was quite pleasant with Qantas, besides the in flight entertainment not working in the final hours, I managed to get some movies in, sleep for about 7 hours and stare at bland screen for a couple also. I arrived in London, boarded the bus to change terminals and arrived at my departure date, where I waited a bit and was informed that my plane would depart 30 minutes late. FINE! I thought, this didn’t faze me in the least as my flight was scheduled to arrive at 9.40am and the airport pick up the university has arranged wasn’t until 1pm so I had plenty of time. Well that’s what I thought. So we ended up boarding the plane about 1 hour late, but again, I wasn’t worried much as I still had ample time to catch the bus HOWEVER, after we boarded the plane, myself and all the passengers on board were informed that there was ice on the wings which was dangerous, so we had to wait for it to be washed off and then we had to wait for air traffic control to find us another place in the que for departure. Again, still wasn’t that worried but after an hour waiting on the plane and it seriously not going anywhere I started to STRESS. So about 3 and a half hours after its scheduled departure time the plane finally departed. I arrived at about 12.30, which only gave me 30 minutes to get to the bus which was leaving from another terminal. Luckily before I had left I had texted my friend Kate, a student from UniSA who was doing the same program as me in France, and informed her that I would be late. After I arrived I switched on my phone to a message from Kate that read ‘ don’t stress we are waiting for other people to arrive also’. This comforted me a bit as I waited for my luggage to arrive. However after waiting half hour for my luggage to arrive I then went to luggage services to see where my luggage was, I then qued in that line for about half an hour to find out where my luggage was.
Well there was one good part of my story, in front of me was Canadian model and writer, Tara Moss, who I began speaking to and telling my story. After hearing my story her and her husband let me go in front of them. I must say that they both were extremely nice people, and coped with the situation a lot better that me AND she does look EVEN hotER in real life than she does on television or in magazines. Throughout the whole trip she kept her cool, smiled politely and kept combing her fingers across her hair as models do. So BA told me that my luggage was lost, SUPRISE... SUPRISE... I gave them my address in caen where they told me they would send it to me and left to meet Kate, who was waiting for me outside the arrivals gate. I had a look of frustration and anger so the customs guy didn't dare check my carry on. For fear i would be practicing my french sware words. I hurried out the arrivals gate and met Kate. Kate took me to the bus to the terminal where everyone was waiting for me and we left to go to Caen...
Well there was one good part of my story, in front of me was Canadian model and writer, Tara Moss, who I began speaking to and telling my story. After hearing my story her and her husband let me go in front of them. I must say that they both were extremely nice people, and coped with the situation a lot better that me AND she does look EVEN hotER in real life than she does on television or in magazines. Throughout the whole trip she kept her cool, smiled politely and kept combing her fingers across her hair as models do. So BA told me that my luggage was lost, SUPRISE... SUPRISE... I gave them my address in caen where they told me they would send it to me and left to meet Kate, who was waiting for me outside the arrivals gate. I had a look of frustration and anger so the customs guy didn't dare check my carry on. For fear i would be practicing my french sware words. I hurried out the arrivals gate and met Kate. Kate took me to the bus to the terminal where everyone was waiting for me and we left to go to Caen...
Singapore - The land of many
Have you ever had that feeling where it has finally dawned on you that there really are over 6 billion people in the world. This fact finally dawned on me when I walked out of the little India MRT sation on a Sunday evening and called see hundreds, if not thousand of Indian men in my sight, as I walked around I saw even more. Some Singaporean friends of mine explained later that Sunday is the day off for all the labourers in Singapore, who are mostly Indian and they all hang out in Little India on this day. Its was SOOOOO Hectic. Sasha and I turned to each other and had the same idea that we really didn’t need to go to India now, because if it was as Hectic as this we just wouldn’t be interested. The thing that surprised us the most was that there was not one Indian woman in site. In traditional Indian culture the woman always stayed home and it was the role of the husband to work and carry out all the chores outside of the house. Sasha and I went shopping at a discount store and we even saw an Indian man buying clothing and bras for his wife. And it wasn’t the sexy lingerie kind either.
It is a land of many contrasts Singapore, You have little India in one part of the island, looking just like India. Chinatown is in another part of the island, filled with Chinese culture, shops and food. And then you can catch the MRT from anyone of these locations and you find yourself in a Cosmopolitan wonderland filled with anything and everything high-tec and new age, filled with all the high-end brands. I think this is what I like the most about Singapore, it fills like you have the intire contenent of Asia all on one small island. I enjoy the cultural aspects that the country has to offer but equally enjoy its modernism, it shopping and its architecture. Another great aspect of Singapore is the people. I have only a few Singaporean friends, but all of them jumped at the chance to show me around and show off the wonderful city which they all seem proud of.
I borded the plane, as I left Singapore with a happy feeling, I was glad I had taken the time out of my trip to see the city and spend time with some friends. Its not everyday you get the opportunity just to pop into Singapore. A feeling of anxiousness also had drawn upon me as I realised my adventures had begun and once I got of the plane again I would be in another amazing land.
It is a land of many contrasts Singapore, You have little India in one part of the island, looking just like India. Chinatown is in another part of the island, filled with Chinese culture, shops and food. And then you can catch the MRT from anyone of these locations and you find yourself in a Cosmopolitan wonderland filled with anything and everything high-tec and new age, filled with all the high-end brands. I think this is what I like the most about Singapore, it fills like you have the intire contenent of Asia all on one small island. I enjoy the cultural aspects that the country has to offer but equally enjoy its modernism, it shopping and its architecture. Another great aspect of Singapore is the people. I have only a few Singaporean friends, but all of them jumped at the chance to show me around and show off the wonderful city which they all seem proud of.
I borded the plane, as I left Singapore with a happy feeling, I was glad I had taken the time out of my trip to see the city and spend time with some friends. Its not everyday you get the opportunity just to pop into Singapore. A feeling of anxiousness also had drawn upon me as I realised my adventures had begun and once I got of the plane again I would be in another amazing land.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Nerves
So you will be all glad to know that I arrived safely into Singapore. It was quite a bit embarrassing getting of the plane as it took me a while to get my luggage. When I first had to put my check-in luggage in the overhead compartment it was too big so I had to take something out. I decided that the something was one of my Spacebags, which I had packed tight and compressed well. However when I tried to put it back in I found it quite impossible. So whilst I was there, trying to shove this bag back into my luggage, and zip it back up, half the plane was waiting behind me. I ended up just giving up and carrying the bag off the plane with me. Once off the plane I attempted again to put the bag back in and found it impossible and thought it was quite a miracle that I got it in there in the first place. I managed to at least make the spacebag stay in my luggage, unfortunately though I could not zip it up completely.
I then made my way through immigration. Which went quite smoothly. No strange stairs as the immigration officers holds my passport up to my face. The guy simply smiled and gave me my stamp… Gosh I love Singapore. I then followed through to picking up my luggage. After doing so I exited out and saw my friend Lyn waiting for me, waving her hands up in the air. I greeted her with a hug as she welcomed me to her home country.
Lyn studies at The University of New South Wales. I met her mid-last year in Adelaide. We were both at The Asia-Pacific Model United Nations Conference (AMUNC), which The University of Adelaide hosted. I was the director of the Model World Trade Organisation and she was the honourable delegate of Italy, her friend Michelle, the honourable delegate of the United Kingdom. Whilst speaking to them they told me about how great Singapore was and how if I was ever there they would show me around… And now I am taking them up on that offer.
Our mission after meeting was to find a place for me to stay and to meet my friend Sasha. I had given Sasha my mobile number, which had roaming and told her to call me upon my arrival. Which she did not. Lyn and I eventually found Sasha at a hostel, which we agreed to meet at, not until I had already booked into another hotel, which was closer to the airport. Once I found out that Sasha had already booked into to that hostel I cancelled my booking at Fernloft and stayed with her. Sasha than explained she had tried calling me but I had given her my number wrong as I failed to write down the final 3 digits.
There was a touch of déjà vu in the air as it was the same hostel that my friend Clare and I went to stay at in Singapore 12 months ago, however once we saw the seedy area it was in and the fact that nobody was letting us in we left and went to a cheap hotel and never entered the hostel. Back then it was known by another name, Sky Orchards, now its called Axis. After entering I soon realised it was quite a pleasant hostel with a nice atmosphere and a bunch of cool and interesting guests.
I said goodbye to Lyn after she had dropped me off and agreed to meet each other the following night at Clarke Quay, A popular night spot on the island. After she left I brought my luggage up stairs and dumped it in my dorm before going down stairs to a table situated at the end of a dead-end street, just out side the hostel, where Sasha was seated and enjoying the night with the friends she had met at the hostel that day. Myself, feeling quite jetlagged, probably not happiest person to talk to sat there for a bit before going for a walk to find something to eat. There ended up being a small take-away restaurant just down the road where I grabbed a Laksa for 3 Singaporean dollars. I sat back down at the table and ate it, whilst chatting to a French Canadian guy from Quebec, after I finished it I retired to the hostel, had a refreshing shower and went straight to sleep.
I woke up the next day at around 9. Not to anything in particular, just to my body telling my I had enough sleep. I woke up, had a quick shower, got dressed and treated my self to a quick breakfast, which consisted of cereal and powdered milk. I did however eat toast which I had spread with Vegemite which I friendly guy from Brisbane had given me after he lent me his tube. I sat down and spoke to some fellow guests for a while as I waited for Sasha to wake up. I found out from the other guests that she had not gotten to sleep to 4am. I was quite shocked by this I had not known Sasha to ever be a party girl or a drinker and thought she probably would spend the entire morning sleeping, but I was shocked when she woke up shortly after and had a shower. We had only booked in to the Axis/Sky Orchards hostel for one night and wanted to see if we could stay there for the following two. We asked the lady who ran the joint and she said that she had no availabilities for the 1st night but did for the 2nd. So Sash and I were forced with the dilemma of finding another place to stay. We spoke to some other guest at the hostel and they also had the same problem.
I’m not sure if it was at this stage of the day or when I woke up but a feeling of nervousness drew upon me. I knew I was a bit worried, as we didn’t have a place to stay as was faced with the annoyance or carting my bags somewhere else. So I wanted to move to another hostel as soon as possible. I managed to get Sasha and the other guest to agree to catch a cab to the hostel where we would be staying, as it would be soooo much easier with our luggage plus cheaper if we all share the fare.
I quickly got on the Internet and found that the closest hostel nearby with availabilities, which I could find on the net. The hostel was Dragon Inn, which is located in littlie India. I told Sasha and the other guests and we jumped in the taxi and left. We arrived to a district muchley resembling India, with its dirty streets, hussel and bussel and loads of Indian people. We entered the hostel which was quite nice and booked in. We were given a map of Singapore by the receptionists, who also pointed out where we were and all of the surroundings.
We thought we’d start our day with lunch in little India before exploring Chinatown and heading to Clarke key at night. So Myself, Sasha, Princess and Nathan had lunch at a nice Hawker. Hawker is the term given here for a quick take away shop. After lunch, princess and Nathan left Sasha and I to do there own thing and run some earens. Nathan is the Brisbane guy I had written about early and Princess is an African American girl, from Southern Carolina. Sasha and were feeling a bit tired at this point and though it would be best if we went to Sentosa island a just did some lazing around on the beach.
Even though I had had a nice lunch and found somewhere to stay for the remainder of my stay I still couldn’t shake that feel of anxiety or nerves. I thought it was best to talk it through with Sasha who commented that I appeared a bit worried about something. Whilst chatting Sash and I made out way to Sentosa.
If you hadn’t heard of it, Sentosa is a small island just off of Singapore’s CBD, it is very picturesque and sculptured Island, filled with plant life, beaches, bars and clubs and an aquarium, all completely man made of course. However when we arrived at the harbour to board the monorail to the island we saw the line up to buy tickets and were extremely put off, it then dawned on us it was Saturday, Chinese New Years and summer hence everyone was probably wanting to go to Sentosa. We decided not to go in the end and leave it to Monday, where, hopefully it will be a bit quieter. So we walked around the shopping centre in the harbour and had a look at a few shops.
We were still feeling a bit tired and thought maybe we should go watch a movie at the cinema located in the shopping mall. We walked in and decided to see Bride Wars, all through summer I had been going to the cinema quite often and had seen most of the others. I had heard from friends though that Bride Wars was funny. Sasha and I then saw it was screening in Gold Class. We looked at each other with excitement in our eyes, and knew without even asking we had agreed on gold class. Sasha and I had often spoken about how we would like to see a movie just once in Gold Class. We tried to go to the one in Marion shopping centre when the Magnum promotion was going however, whenever we arrived the movies had sold out or we had forgotten our bloody Magnum wrappers.
We walked in and treated ourselves to two ice teas before entering the movie where we welcomed by extremely comfortable leather reclining armchairs with cushions and blankets. We sat and the movie began. It was quite funny and entertaining. Sitting in that cinema, watching that movie, made my nerves slowly go away, I didn’t know whether it was because I was feeling distracted, or because I felt a bit at home in the lush cinema or whether it was because I had just talked my feelings through with Sasha.
We walked out and explored the mall a bit further. We discovered the roof top garden in the mall, with beautiful architecture and shallow pools for kids to swim, there was also an arrange of restaurants. Sasha got her camera out and took advantage of the number of photo opportunities. I spoke to Sasha a bit more about my nerves and slowly I came to the conclusion that within 3 days I was moving to France! And no matter what, I would feel nervous because it was such a big move. I was actually a but comforted by this feeling as I had concluded as to where the nerves were coming from, where as earlier there was a few avenues to chose from.
Sasha and I made our way back to the hostel on the MRT (mass rapid transport) (There subway). We got changed and went to Clarke Quay. Clarke Quay is a very high-end area with beautiful views, expensive restaurants (for Singapore standards) and bars and clubs. It was, as Princess refereed, the place where all the white kids hang out. We were going to hang out with Lyn at Clarke Quay but she had texted me earlier to tell me that she was sick and couldn’t go. Sasha and I walked up and down the strip. We ran into Princess and Nathan who we agreed earlier we would meet at the bridge at 9, but Sasha and I arrived at 9.30, we were then told that they didn’t get the quay until 10. So didn’t feel so bad about being late. We decided the cheapest place to go was Burger King as none of the food was really matching our budget. Sash and I ate our burgers and decided to go back to the hostel where were feeling a bit tired. Sasha arranged her travel to Thailand on the 2nd, and I checked emails and started writing this blog. I then felt extremely tired and decided to continue it the next morning.
I woke up in the morning at 5 am to Princess and Nathan entering the dorm. Nathan tried jumping into my bed, located on a top bunk, which he thought was his, he was surprised when he saw me there and jumped back down quickly, I was too tired to say anything and went back to sleep for an hour. I woke up again and couldn’t get back to sleep. And suffered from that horrible feeling of jet lag where my body didn’t know what time zone was in. I lay in bed trying to sleep for another couple of hours, but knew I couldn’t and walked into the dorm next door, which was empty. I took a blanked from the pile in the hallway shelves laid it in the ground and started doing some stretches and exercises. Which I hadn’t done for a few days. After about half hour of stretches, crunches and push-ups, I had a shower, got my laptop and went back into the empty dorm to finish the blog.
Its now 9.45 am and I am the only person up. I am waiting for Sasha to wake up, as she wanted to go to some famous church in the morning, the name I have forgotten. She said there were a few services throughout the day. After that, Hopefully I will catch up with my friends Lyn and Michelle of another Singaporean friend of mine Hans, who lived in the same building as me on Bent st, and whom I rented my car park from. Hans had given me his mobile and told me to contact him when he was free.
So now I shall go, check some emails and spend some time on facebook whilst I wait for Sasha to wake up. I don’t want to wake her, as I am aware that she didn’t get much sleep last night and could probably do with a nice sleep in.
As I have been writing this blog, my nerve feelings as eased even more and hopefully will go away soon. I really don’t like the feeling and have been trying to shake it off through deep breathing and positive thoughts. It is probably a feeling that won’t go away though until I arrive in Paris on the third and am on the bus to Caen, the city where I will be living. I’m hoping also, that my feelings of excitement my overcome the nerves as excitement is a much better feeling.
I then made my way through immigration. Which went quite smoothly. No strange stairs as the immigration officers holds my passport up to my face. The guy simply smiled and gave me my stamp… Gosh I love Singapore. I then followed through to picking up my luggage. After doing so I exited out and saw my friend Lyn waiting for me, waving her hands up in the air. I greeted her with a hug as she welcomed me to her home country.
Lyn studies at The University of New South Wales. I met her mid-last year in Adelaide. We were both at The Asia-Pacific Model United Nations Conference (AMUNC), which The University of Adelaide hosted. I was the director of the Model World Trade Organisation and she was the honourable delegate of Italy, her friend Michelle, the honourable delegate of the United Kingdom. Whilst speaking to them they told me about how great Singapore was and how if I was ever there they would show me around… And now I am taking them up on that offer.
Our mission after meeting was to find a place for me to stay and to meet my friend Sasha. I had given Sasha my mobile number, which had roaming and told her to call me upon my arrival. Which she did not. Lyn and I eventually found Sasha at a hostel, which we agreed to meet at, not until I had already booked into another hotel, which was closer to the airport. Once I found out that Sasha had already booked into to that hostel I cancelled my booking at Fernloft and stayed with her. Sasha than explained she had tried calling me but I had given her my number wrong as I failed to write down the final 3 digits.
There was a touch of déjà vu in the air as it was the same hostel that my friend Clare and I went to stay at in Singapore 12 months ago, however once we saw the seedy area it was in and the fact that nobody was letting us in we left and went to a cheap hotel and never entered the hostel. Back then it was known by another name, Sky Orchards, now its called Axis. After entering I soon realised it was quite a pleasant hostel with a nice atmosphere and a bunch of cool and interesting guests.
I said goodbye to Lyn after she had dropped me off and agreed to meet each other the following night at Clarke Quay, A popular night spot on the island. After she left I brought my luggage up stairs and dumped it in my dorm before going down stairs to a table situated at the end of a dead-end street, just out side the hostel, where Sasha was seated and enjoying the night with the friends she had met at the hostel that day. Myself, feeling quite jetlagged, probably not happiest person to talk to sat there for a bit before going for a walk to find something to eat. There ended up being a small take-away restaurant just down the road where I grabbed a Laksa for 3 Singaporean dollars. I sat back down at the table and ate it, whilst chatting to a French Canadian guy from Quebec, after I finished it I retired to the hostel, had a refreshing shower and went straight to sleep.
I woke up the next day at around 9. Not to anything in particular, just to my body telling my I had enough sleep. I woke up, had a quick shower, got dressed and treated my self to a quick breakfast, which consisted of cereal and powdered milk. I did however eat toast which I had spread with Vegemite which I friendly guy from Brisbane had given me after he lent me his tube. I sat down and spoke to some fellow guests for a while as I waited for Sasha to wake up. I found out from the other guests that she had not gotten to sleep to 4am. I was quite shocked by this I had not known Sasha to ever be a party girl or a drinker and thought she probably would spend the entire morning sleeping, but I was shocked when she woke up shortly after and had a shower. We had only booked in to the Axis/Sky Orchards hostel for one night and wanted to see if we could stay there for the following two. We asked the lady who ran the joint and she said that she had no availabilities for the 1st night but did for the 2nd. So Sash and I were forced with the dilemma of finding another place to stay. We spoke to some other guest at the hostel and they also had the same problem.
I’m not sure if it was at this stage of the day or when I woke up but a feeling of nervousness drew upon me. I knew I was a bit worried, as we didn’t have a place to stay as was faced with the annoyance or carting my bags somewhere else. So I wanted to move to another hostel as soon as possible. I managed to get Sasha and the other guest to agree to catch a cab to the hostel where we would be staying, as it would be soooo much easier with our luggage plus cheaper if we all share the fare.
I quickly got on the Internet and found that the closest hostel nearby with availabilities, which I could find on the net. The hostel was Dragon Inn, which is located in littlie India. I told Sasha and the other guests and we jumped in the taxi and left. We arrived to a district muchley resembling India, with its dirty streets, hussel and bussel and loads of Indian people. We entered the hostel which was quite nice and booked in. We were given a map of Singapore by the receptionists, who also pointed out where we were and all of the surroundings.
We thought we’d start our day with lunch in little India before exploring Chinatown and heading to Clarke key at night. So Myself, Sasha, Princess and Nathan had lunch at a nice Hawker. Hawker is the term given here for a quick take away shop. After lunch, princess and Nathan left Sasha and I to do there own thing and run some earens. Nathan is the Brisbane guy I had written about early and Princess is an African American girl, from Southern Carolina. Sasha and were feeling a bit tired at this point and though it would be best if we went to Sentosa island a just did some lazing around on the beach.
Even though I had had a nice lunch and found somewhere to stay for the remainder of my stay I still couldn’t shake that feel of anxiety or nerves. I thought it was best to talk it through with Sasha who commented that I appeared a bit worried about something. Whilst chatting Sash and I made out way to Sentosa.
If you hadn’t heard of it, Sentosa is a small island just off of Singapore’s CBD, it is very picturesque and sculptured Island, filled with plant life, beaches, bars and clubs and an aquarium, all completely man made of course. However when we arrived at the harbour to board the monorail to the island we saw the line up to buy tickets and were extremely put off, it then dawned on us it was Saturday, Chinese New Years and summer hence everyone was probably wanting to go to Sentosa. We decided not to go in the end and leave it to Monday, where, hopefully it will be a bit quieter. So we walked around the shopping centre in the harbour and had a look at a few shops.
We were still feeling a bit tired and thought maybe we should go watch a movie at the cinema located in the shopping mall. We walked in and decided to see Bride Wars, all through summer I had been going to the cinema quite often and had seen most of the others. I had heard from friends though that Bride Wars was funny. Sasha and I then saw it was screening in Gold Class. We looked at each other with excitement in our eyes, and knew without even asking we had agreed on gold class. Sasha and I had often spoken about how we would like to see a movie just once in Gold Class. We tried to go to the one in Marion shopping centre when the Magnum promotion was going however, whenever we arrived the movies had sold out or we had forgotten our bloody Magnum wrappers.
We walked in and treated ourselves to two ice teas before entering the movie where we welcomed by extremely comfortable leather reclining armchairs with cushions and blankets. We sat and the movie began. It was quite funny and entertaining. Sitting in that cinema, watching that movie, made my nerves slowly go away, I didn’t know whether it was because I was feeling distracted, or because I felt a bit at home in the lush cinema or whether it was because I had just talked my feelings through with Sasha.
We walked out and explored the mall a bit further. We discovered the roof top garden in the mall, with beautiful architecture and shallow pools for kids to swim, there was also an arrange of restaurants. Sasha got her camera out and took advantage of the number of photo opportunities. I spoke to Sasha a bit more about my nerves and slowly I came to the conclusion that within 3 days I was moving to France! And no matter what, I would feel nervous because it was such a big move. I was actually a but comforted by this feeling as I had concluded as to where the nerves were coming from, where as earlier there was a few avenues to chose from.
Sasha and I made our way back to the hostel on the MRT (mass rapid transport) (There subway). We got changed and went to Clarke Quay. Clarke Quay is a very high-end area with beautiful views, expensive restaurants (for Singapore standards) and bars and clubs. It was, as Princess refereed, the place where all the white kids hang out. We were going to hang out with Lyn at Clarke Quay but she had texted me earlier to tell me that she was sick and couldn’t go. Sasha and I walked up and down the strip. We ran into Princess and Nathan who we agreed earlier we would meet at the bridge at 9, but Sasha and I arrived at 9.30, we were then told that they didn’t get the quay until 10. So didn’t feel so bad about being late. We decided the cheapest place to go was Burger King as none of the food was really matching our budget. Sash and I ate our burgers and decided to go back to the hostel where were feeling a bit tired. Sasha arranged her travel to Thailand on the 2nd, and I checked emails and started writing this blog. I then felt extremely tired and decided to continue it the next morning.
I woke up in the morning at 5 am to Princess and Nathan entering the dorm. Nathan tried jumping into my bed, located on a top bunk, which he thought was his, he was surprised when he saw me there and jumped back down quickly, I was too tired to say anything and went back to sleep for an hour. I woke up again and couldn’t get back to sleep. And suffered from that horrible feeling of jet lag where my body didn’t know what time zone was in. I lay in bed trying to sleep for another couple of hours, but knew I couldn’t and walked into the dorm next door, which was empty. I took a blanked from the pile in the hallway shelves laid it in the ground and started doing some stretches and exercises. Which I hadn’t done for a few days. After about half hour of stretches, crunches and push-ups, I had a shower, got my laptop and went back into the empty dorm to finish the blog.
Its now 9.45 am and I am the only person up. I am waiting for Sasha to wake up, as she wanted to go to some famous church in the morning, the name I have forgotten. She said there were a few services throughout the day. After that, Hopefully I will catch up with my friends Lyn and Michelle of another Singaporean friend of mine Hans, who lived in the same building as me on Bent st, and whom I rented my car park from. Hans had given me his mobile and told me to contact him when he was free.
So now I shall go, check some emails and spend some time on facebook whilst I wait for Sasha to wake up. I don’t want to wake her, as I am aware that she didn’t get much sleep last night and could probably do with a nice sleep in.
As I have been writing this blog, my nerve feelings as eased even more and hopefully will go away soon. I really don’t like the feeling and have been trying to shake it off through deep breathing and positive thoughts. It is probably a feeling that won’t go away though until I arrive in Paris on the third and am on the bus to Caen, the city where I will be living. I’m hoping also, that my feelings of excitement my overcome the nerves as excitement is a much better feeling.
Leaving - Blog no. 1
Some write journals in order to document their travels, writing every details about their trip in a book they very rarely fill and don’t show any body else and often forget about it years after their trip. Others don’t write anything at all keeping all their thoughts and memories stuck in their brain letting time and old age slowly wither and twist them before taking them away. Some, more organised and outgoing people write small details of there trip, take photos and keep any small nik naks that they could possibly fit on a page in order to fit in a scrap book so that they have something more visually appealing to remember their trip and show their friends. A much more newer way of documenting trips is to write about your trip on a web page, publishing every detail about your trip in cyber space in order for friends and family and sometimes even random strangers to see. We’ll this is what I have chosen. And I hope it absolutely enthralling and keeps you all on the edge of your seats.
Well the journey has finally began… I’m currently writing this blog on my flight from Singapore. And No! for all of you thinking it, I’m not using the internet on a plane, and going to make it crash. I’m simply writing this blog in word before copying and pasting it on the internet at a later date. I wouldn’t even think there’s a wireless connection in the world that could reach me at 4,000 feet above the indina ocean, no matter how good the wireless is on my MacBook Air, and im not to keen on testing to see if there is a connection for fear I will make the plane crash.
The feelings of nerves left me once I got on the plane, I think I was so concerned about all the things that could go wrong, forget to pack something vital, losing my passport, car crashing on my way to the airport. But once I checked my luggage in and hopped on that plane it was like it finally settled in that I was leaving and I no matter how much more organised I would have like to have been, the fact was, I was leaving.
My Parents came and picked me up and drove me to the airport, defiantly not as organised as I would like to be, it took some time to pack all my stuff in the car, majority of the stuff I was packing wasn’t actually to come with me, but to go my mum’s place as I was moving out of my apartment. So it was bye bye Bent st, my residence for the past 12 months, located in the heard of the city, behing the ever so busseling rundle st.
It was sad saying goodbye and a tear almost came to my eye, but im not much of a cryer and I always comfort myself and thinking ‘It’s only 12 months’… ‘I have the rest of my life to live in Adelaide… and it’s really not going anywhere’
So I sit here typing this blog, sitting my extremely uncomfortable economy seat. So yes, I was declined when I asked for an upgrade, but I was expected it. I am, however, a firm believer that if you don’t ask you’d never know… But they didn’t even give me emergency exit row. My seat isn’t too bad though its two rows back from the the front (of economy) and its an isle so I have easy access to the toilets. I am seated next to a very quite German couple and I often wonder how they are surviving the flight as I haven’t seen them talk to each other once, just sit there glaring at nothing or attempting to sleep, whilst I have watched three movies, the documentary on getting around Singapore, done two laps of the plane and have been to the bathroom three times. And now in my final hour I have decided to get started on this blog. I don’t understand how people could be bored on aeroplanes. I was quite excited when I saw the number of movies available and have planed my journey well. Taking into account that I will be on a 14 hour flight soon that will have the same films.
So in a few minutes I will arrive in Singapore, do the whole immigration mumbo jumbo, be picked up by some Singaporean friends Lyn and Michelle and will soon meet my friend Sasha who arrived yesterday.
So this was my first blog. I apologise that it wasn’t very enthruling but remember my journey hasn’t even started yet. I hope you continue to read, as it will actually mean I’m writing this for a reason. Stay tuned.
Well the journey has finally began… I’m currently writing this blog on my flight from Singapore. And No! for all of you thinking it, I’m not using the internet on a plane, and going to make it crash. I’m simply writing this blog in word before copying and pasting it on the internet at a later date. I wouldn’t even think there’s a wireless connection in the world that could reach me at 4,000 feet above the indina ocean, no matter how good the wireless is on my MacBook Air, and im not to keen on testing to see if there is a connection for fear I will make the plane crash.
The feelings of nerves left me once I got on the plane, I think I was so concerned about all the things that could go wrong, forget to pack something vital, losing my passport, car crashing on my way to the airport. But once I checked my luggage in and hopped on that plane it was like it finally settled in that I was leaving and I no matter how much more organised I would have like to have been, the fact was, I was leaving.
My Parents came and picked me up and drove me to the airport, defiantly not as organised as I would like to be, it took some time to pack all my stuff in the car, majority of the stuff I was packing wasn’t actually to come with me, but to go my mum’s place as I was moving out of my apartment. So it was bye bye Bent st, my residence for the past 12 months, located in the heard of the city, behing the ever so busseling rundle st.
It was sad saying goodbye and a tear almost came to my eye, but im not much of a cryer and I always comfort myself and thinking ‘It’s only 12 months’… ‘I have the rest of my life to live in Adelaide… and it’s really not going anywhere’
So I sit here typing this blog, sitting my extremely uncomfortable economy seat. So yes, I was declined when I asked for an upgrade, but I was expected it. I am, however, a firm believer that if you don’t ask you’d never know… But they didn’t even give me emergency exit row. My seat isn’t too bad though its two rows back from the the front (of economy) and its an isle so I have easy access to the toilets. I am seated next to a very quite German couple and I often wonder how they are surviving the flight as I haven’t seen them talk to each other once, just sit there glaring at nothing or attempting to sleep, whilst I have watched three movies, the documentary on getting around Singapore, done two laps of the plane and have been to the bathroom three times. And now in my final hour I have decided to get started on this blog. I don’t understand how people could be bored on aeroplanes. I was quite excited when I saw the number of movies available and have planed my journey well. Taking into account that I will be on a 14 hour flight soon that will have the same films.
So in a few minutes I will arrive in Singapore, do the whole immigration mumbo jumbo, be picked up by some Singaporean friends Lyn and Michelle and will soon meet my friend Sasha who arrived yesterday.
So this was my first blog. I apologise that it wasn’t very enthruling but remember my journey hasn’t even started yet. I hope you continue to read, as it will actually mean I’m writing this for a reason. Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)