Saturday was truly the ultimate display of madness as Melanie and I tried to get our luggage ready, keys handed over, a few chores and some last visits all before 3pm. If I was to say that we were a little stressed, I would only be telling half the tale and those who know me will be more than aware that it takes a good bit before I get stressed.
After a few final hugs, kisses and tears, we began our journey by setting off for Belfast City Airport. Prayer was answered as we got both our over-weight cases on with no charge. The limit was 20kg, but Melanie’s was 24kg and mine was 31kg! No, I didn’t bring the sink, but I attempted to put all my needed books (probably amounting to half the weight) into the one case with my clothes.
After checking in, we got a very pleasant surprise when two of our best friends arrived to say goodbye. This cheered us up as we left all that we know to be ‘home’.
The flight to Heathrow was rather bumpy on descent, but we survived and after a 30-45 minute delay, we left Heathrow on-board a Boeing 747 bound for Singapore (flying time of around 13 hours). To be honest, neither of us really noticed the length of the flight as we were both knackered after all the craziness of the past week and we slept on and off for most of the journey.
On arrival at Singapore we got our luggage quickly and after a slight misunderstanding, we spotted our names on a card being held by a local taxi driver who was booked to take us to our hotel. The journey took about half an hour and we arrived at a rather large hotel of 20 floors and over 300 rooms (Hotel Phoenix, for those of you who may be interested). Sitting in one corner was a massage chair, and from the window we could see the local skateboard park, kitted with all sorts of ramps and jumps and a few nutters using them.
Thankfully, I could receive a wireless broadband signal which is allowing me to type this up just to let you all know how we’re doing so far.
But I better go. It’s after 7am here (it’s not New Year for those of you in Northern Ireland, but it is here) and I haven’t slept a wink because,
A. I slept too much already and my body clock is messed up
B. I’m probably too excited!