Gold Coast - The Journey to Down Under (Part 1)

Sorry, got no chance to organise photos yet. So photos for CP's birthday cakes as well as those for our Gold Coast trip will have to wait a while more. Ok, some pics for Gold Coast trip are ready. See below.

Meanwhile, just a quick update.

***************************

WY came down with fever the day before we were scheduled to fly Down Under. Everyone panicked! Mother, especially, was very concerned and 'decreed' that if the fever didn't subside by the evening we were supposed to board the plane, WY 'should stay home and give the trip a miss'.

The poor boy was of course very dismayed at the prospect of missing the holiday Down Under. So he cooperated 101% throughout those 2 days, drinking lots of water and herbal tea, popping the paracetamol and resting well in bed faithfully.

At Mother's insistence, we brought WY to the doctor on Thursday evening for a checkup. Much to WY's relief, the doctor examined WY and then reassured him that so long as the fever was gone, he should be able to proceed as planned. No need to give the trip a miss. Actually, I was very relieved to hear that, too.

Anyway, we all proceeded as planned on Friday. WY and WF stayed home with Mother while R and I went to work in the morning.

After R and I knocked off from work at about 1pm, we went to Suntec City to collect the boys' Run-Packs for their Kids' Dash which was scheduled for 2 December 2007. It was quite funny when the ushers asked if we were collecting the Run-Packs for the 10km-Run or the Half-Marathon or the Full-Marathon.... they were trying to guide us to the correct queue. To everyone's amusement (actually, more our own amusement than theirs, lah), we replied, "No, no, no. We are collecting the Run-Packs for Kids' Dash." Hahaha...

After that, we went home and cleaned up the house a little before finally locking the luggage and so on. After a simple dinner of 'giam-png' and soup and then a quick shower, we changed and set off for the airport. Mother, CP and WF took one cab while R, WY and I took another. Note: We checked-in only these 3 pieces. Clothes were mainly in the samsonite suitcase (with only one set of clothes for each of us in the K-Tec backpack - in case the samsonite suitcase doesn't arrive on time?!). The tour-agency overnight bag contained mainly our shoes and slippers. We also squeezed 3 empty bags into the K-Tec backpack - just in case we needed these for purchases!

Throughout the whole check-in process, I felt a little light-headed. Almost like 'floating about' - I have no idea why this was so and why everything felt quite 'unreal'. Perhaps, it was because it had been some time since our last trip overseas and it had been so many years since we travelled with a tour group.

But everything went smoothly, luckily. We met up with the local tour leader called Cathryn and then got our luggage checked in early. Soon after collecting our boarding passes, we said bye to Mother and CP and went through Immigration.

Whilst in the Transit Area, we shopped around a little. For the 1st time in our lives, R and I also went about looking for 'Salem Light' cigarettes which Cathryn had requested us to help her to buy for her counterparts in Australia. As we finally located these amongst the other duty-free items in the DFS, WY quizzed us, "Mama, why are you buying these cigarettes??! The label on the box says "Smoking Kills", leh!!! You shouldn't be buying this!!!"

I was a little dumb-founded and couldn't find a proper 'explanation'. Eventually, I only tried to explain that some Australian friends of our tour leader has requested for help to buy these for them and we were merely trying to help, lor. It was a thoroughly rotten 'explanation', I know, but that was the best we could manage.

Frankly, I didn't feel good at all doing this favour, especially since WY kept trying to 'dissuade' us from buying the cigarettes because we all know that smoking is harmful and something that 'Kills'..... It was like doing exactly what we have been teaching him never to do - help people to do something just because they ask for that something to be done even though the something was not a good thing.... sigh....

Anyway, we didn't want to back out of our word with the tour leader, so we got the cigarettes and then headed towards the gate. Everything went smoothly and we soon boarded the plane.



The excited boys quickly settled down and like 'seasoned' passengers, tucked their pillows into place and buckled themselves down as they waited for the stewardesses to start distributing the all-important headphones....

I realised something - I don't like night flights at all. The air seems cold, looks gloomy and feels miserable, somehow. Supper is also lousy....