Day 1, Saturday 2nd September 2006

Melbourne to London:
~ Melbourne Airport to Hong Kong Airport

Melbourne Airport Farewell. Mum, dad, Steve & Jas (brother and sister in law), Phil and David (“my boys”).
Everything felt so surreal…I packed close to the last minute and was a bit nervous and stressed… mum drove dad, David and I to the airport. Phil, Jas and Steve also came. Everything seemed ok…mum looked a bit teary but ok.

It wasn’t until the doors to customs closed behind me when it hit suddenly that I won’t be seeing these people for a month! I went through customs with teary eyes! The officer (young girl) asked if this was my first time overseas, said I looked excited…I felt more nervous!

The flight to Hong Kong was ok. I was in between 2 nice ladies, Celine and Robyn. Sleeping was a bit strange – a bit too uncomfortable for my liking, but I managed to get some quick nods here and there.

We arrived in Hong Kong about 6-6.30am, so nothing was open except Starbucks. I really wanted some ‘pads’… but the airport staff had no idea what I was talking about when I asked where to get some…they just smiled and nodded… oh well…
Then a nice English girl from my flight offered me some! That was really nice of her. I didn’t enjoy sitting in a middle seat of 4, and having to make sure people weren’t asleep when I wanted to use the toilet…

Upon landing at Hong Kong airport we could see all this steam coming from the above the windows…and the smell was a bit like burnt…fruit or something… the flight attendant said it was normal because we were landing in 30degree (Celsius) weather and the steam was the heat from outside! I can still remember the smell… not nice but not too offensive either… it was a strange sight to see the plane surrounded by steam.

I also noticed some tablets in my bag at the airport… I think they were called, “No Doze’ [later realised they were some kind of caffeine hit to stop you sleeping in the plane]…and after the recent terrorist issues, I was a bit concerned and threw them in the bin, because I had no idea what they were… later I realised they probably came from that English girl and didn’t realise they’d fallen into my bag. So it was nothing to worry about. She told me I will love London, but it’s very different from Australia. She basically warned me not to expect things to be the same. I never saw her after that.

We spent about an hour waiting to re-board the plane… I had a few chats with an English lady with 2 young girls, about 6-8yrs old. They were cute because they were talking about going back to school etc. I think they had a holiday in Australia. They were very nice people. I just loved hearing the kids’ English accents!

Back on the plane… the food wasn’t too bad. I am such a fussy eater I was worried I wouldn’t like anything… apart from actually liking the food, I couldn’t believe HOW MUCH food they kept serving us! My favourite was the Cadbury hot chocolate :p

Celine felt sick after leaving Hong Kong… so did I. I remember watching “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on the tv screen…and then listening to James Morrison’s Jazz station on the headphones… but I kept checking the Flight Path on the screen because I was soooooo over being in the plane! I felt sick and just wanted to get off! They forgot to give me lunch, so I had to request it…then I couldn’t eat it… felt too sick… The flight staff said they would give Celine something to make her feel better, but they forgot…it seemed they were so busy they didn’t keep their word… and forgetting my lunch wasn’t nice…but they were nice about it.

Actually, I think I gave Celine my “barf bag” and later wondered if that was such a good idea…luckily I didn’t need one :)