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Well I guess this blog would have to be entered under the Singapore Airport location really, as the day began properly here at 7am this morning.
I had got up at 2am, got the taxi down to the airport half an hour later, had a Burger King meal for breakfast as I was starving, waited for the airport to actually open for 20 minutes (?!) as it was "before 4am". I got the Bali-Singapore flight no problems, read my book the whole way, and landed in Singapore at 8:35am.
That spelt the start of about 10 hours I had to kill at the airport. I was really hungry again, and I didn't fancy noodles etc for breakfast like the Asians (or is it lunch?), so I went to Burger King there too for a breakfast meal.
Lucky I had landed at Terminal 1 from Bali, and the Dubai flight left from the same terminal, so I didnt have to go far...just up 1 floor on the esculartor infact! I found a window seat and set about finishing the last 4 days blogs I hadn't yet posted. This editing and posting didnt take much long than about an hour, so with 1 down and 9 to go, I went looking for more comfortable surroundings.
I found a nice coffee shop in a quiet corner with comy leather chairs, parked my bags next to me, and set about killing more time. Goodness knows how, but I managed to kill the entire time either reading/listening to music/using the free internet, and it didnt seem to take as long as expected.
Eventually my check in desk opened, I checked in my bags no problems and went through security. By this time I pretty much felt like a zombie, and wandered around the duty free aimlessly to kill the last hour or so until the flight. Having got on the plane I was stoked to find I had landed myself a row of 3 to myself. I listened though the safety talk, and as soon as we had taken off led down over the 3 seats and tried to sleep. In the 7 hour flight I managed about 4 hours of disturbed sleep I think, which I'm not sure made me better or worse.
We then landed in Dubai and were ushered through the terminal down to the next gate, where my 3rd and final flight would be departing. Here I had to kill a couple more hours, again in duty free and just reading/listening to music. Unfortunately on this flight I didnt have the luxary of 3 seats to myself as it was much busier. However in the 3 seat row I was in the middle seat was free, so both the bloke by the window and myself had a little extra room. I killed this last flight by watching movies and playing Battleships/Chess on the inflight entertainment, which made it go relitively quickly, and before I knew it we were landing in London...I was home!!
Waiting to get off the plane looking out the window, everything was stereotypically grey looking, but I wasnt quite prepared for the temperature change as I walked out into the landing tunnel. It was absolutely FREEZING! It was about 1 degree and as I was wearing shorts and flip-flops it was hideous. I then went through immigaration and as I saw the 'UK Boarder' sign, it really struck me...I was home. 50 odd hours of travelling and 4 hours sleep were coming to an end.
Dad then picked me up outside the airport and I changed into warm clothes in the car, just as we were getting onto the M4 for the familiar journey back to Wiltshire. A year travelling on the otherside of the world had really come to an end. It has changed me, in more ways than just a hair style, for the rest of my life.....
(Photo - Home sweet home.)
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