July 11, 2008
Leaving on a “jet” plane…
(I had typed this up in my laptop at the end of the day, but had no Internet access so could not upload it until July 21st because I had no time)
My aunt wanted me to try some lamb before I left NZ, so she made me breakfast of lamb and mashed potatoes. It was pretty heavy, but it was more like brunch than breakfast as I knew I’d be skipping lunch. It was 10am before I knew it, and I rushed through a hot shower, and did my final packing, including a box of fruits for my mother.
Jin and Auntie drove me to the airport, and helped me check in my luggage and the fragile box of fruits and honey. They saw me off about 11.30am, and I wandered around the duty free shops before boarding my plane which was scheduled to depart at 12.50pm.
I had been sniffling all morning, and was sneezing a lot before I boarded. I was like… my first day in Auckland I was sick; now my last day I’m sick too!!
I was fortunate as my seat was 11J which was the front row where there was plenty of leg room; plus there was no one sitting next to me! I put all my spare stuff into that seat.
I took a nap after taking off, but it was very light sleep as everytime the stewardess came to give us something, I woke up. For example, when she came to give us salted peanuts; and later when she came by with the lunch trays.
After a hot lunch of fish and potatoes, plus custard buns and potato salad, I felt much better and stopped sneezing. I didn’t really want to sleep, so for the next few hours I watched movies and played TV games. I managed to watch three movies (Be Kind Rewind, Spiderwick Chronicles, Over Her Dead Body) and one episode of Everybody Loves Raymond before I had to surrender the headphones at 7.30pm.
I took a light nap as we were touching down, and wandered about the duty free shops at the international terminals before catching the train to the arrival hall.
And… I was back in hot ol’ Malaysia.
Well, I did swear not to complain about the heat anymore after the cold in New Zealand…
I’ll be back, NZ! And this time, I plan to swim with the dolphins in summer.
9:47pm
