Mum said “lets just say goodbye normally as though you're just going back to Chester”, so we did. It was the last in a long line of goodbyes and 'see you later's for me. I wasn't so much sad as overwhelmed by the support and equally excited about the unknown challenges lying ahead.
Its fascinating to see the people you're flying with, wonder if they'll be sat next to you, amazed at their diversity, feeling the buzz of their mixed emotions, some tired, others excited.
The flight from Manchester to Dubai was the best I've had yet. A television screen in the back of the seat in front of me allowed me to choose from films, television shows, and radio programmes. I watched The Green Hornet (for Mal), The King's Speech (to see what all the award hype was about) and Glee (for Alex, haha~). By far the coolest thing though (to a geek like me) was the fact you could view in front of, behind and underneath the plane via cameras, giving a massively different perspective on the flight (especially take offs and landings) and, I feel, a greater sense of control. Adding to this was the detailed flight information also readily available on the screen, including altitude, speed (an average of 300-400 mph during the main part of the flight), and distance and time left until we reached Dubai. I was regularly offered drinks, and the food was delicious (see picture).
On arriving in Dubai (a bustling airport) my fellow passengers and I were met with a huge queue (see picture). Behind me in the queue was an extremely bitter, impatient and above all racist man. I held my temper!
Then I asked a lady on a lottery stall to take my picture. I walked a long way to Gate 125, past reams and reams of people, many sleeping. Nearby, a faint alarm sounded like a singing cricket, almost relaxing!
Second flight, also 7 hours long, was uneventful except I got chatting to the girls sitting next to me. One was travelling to Australia from Malta having visited relatives there and the other a native of Borneo, heading home to see her mum after 6 years of studying and living in Sunderland. My first impressions of Malaysia were how green it was, and how palm trees were everywhere. Two hours after landing I had finally made it through a huge immigration queue and collected by suitcase. At immigration, I handed in my passport and arrival card for inspection then was issued a temporary ID which I have to carry with me everywhere in Malaysia. They also scanned my index fingerprints with a machine!
I met Jane outside the airport and she hadn't realised I would have a suitcase, so she had brought her motorbike for us to ride! We got a taxi instead and headed through heavy traffic to a spa, where she had booked a 90 minute massage for me! Unfortunatly we were too late arriving and we had to cancel.
Then we went back to Jane's apartment. She lives on the 6th floor and outside are more apartment blocks and a secondary school. We went for dinner around the corner to a street stall and sat on plastic chairs on the pavement, watching people live and work and scurry around us. The street stall was manned by a husband and wife team who were very friendly. We ate a variety of fish based products, aubergine, fat noodles cut into chunks with a kind of soy gravy then spicy flat noodles with sausage and tofu. Dessert was crushed ice flavoured with brown sugar. Also floating in the bowl was sweetcorn, dyed green tapioca in long shapes like tentacles, and small cubes of jelly. Delightfully strange! I love how so much is new around me, its like learning to do everything again, although Jane said I was better with the chopsticks than she was!
