G'Day Mate!

So here I am, writing my first entry from Australia. First of all, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to everyone who took time out to send me off at the airport.. It certainly served as a reminder of what i’ll miss during these 3 years abroad.. All the things that we’ve gone through together.. it has become very much a way of life and it is definitely something I’ll always treasure..

4Dees..Well, what more can be said. Thank you for all the memories…from the good days of Pat Wong to the ‘4-star’ Beach resort of Berjaya Tioman.. We’ve been through it all..

S27s.. Our group may have hit a blip of some sort some time ago but I’m really glad that we can finally hit full-strength for our outings recently.. I think it says a lot about friendships.. It is almost impossible for friendships to be always smooth sailing.. Mis-understandings and disagreements will definitely arise at some point of time but these are also opportunities for the friendship to grow stronger.. I certainly hope the episode is well and truly over and the few of us live up to our very own motto, ‘Riding Waves of Adversity to Victory..’

It is unfortunate that amongst the many people who came to send me off that I failed to pay enough attention to someone who stands tall in significance among the crowd.. It certainly was not the send off that we had thought it would be and I certainly would have done it differently if I could turn back the time.. Sorry...

The check-in process took far longer than I had anticipated due to my overweight luggage but the staff was kind enough to let the baggage through without additional charges after consultation with her superior.. and there was to be more good news to come.. I was upgraded to Business Class (or Raffles Class in SQ lingo) as the flight was full.. Wow. I was very much looking forward to trying out the much-talked about lie-flat SpaceBed.. Much to my utter disappointment, the Business Class seats in this particular B777-300 turned out to be the older seats which do not have the lie-flat feature.. Considering this was an overnight long-haul flight, it’s hard to imagine why SQ did not deploy an aircraft equipped with the SpaceBed.. Having experienced CX Business Class as well (also through complimentary upgrade due to flight being full), I would say that the service standards of both airlines are more or less on par though I had expected SQ to be superior in this aspect. But I can’t believe there’s no AVOD on this aircraft…. Ok.. I guess should just shut up and thank my lucky stars that I even got an upgrade in the first place. =) Click, The LakeHouse, and Devil wears Prada were showing on KrisWorld and it further evoked thoughts of zY, whom I’ve watched these movies with…

I’m sure I would settle in to life in Australia pretty quickly but it’s probably the emotional aspects which would take longer.. Everything that I’m leaving behind in the little red dot.. It helps that I’ve travelled to several western countries before, so I more or less have an idea beforehand what to expect.. But then again.. being in a city for tour and staying there for 3 years is a different proposition all together.. Wish me luck…