Entry 2: The Flight

Thanks to SeatGuru, got very good seats on the plane for the entire journey. At check-in desk, was told to take the carry-on bag out of the checked-in bag, apparently that's not allowed. For those wondering, packed my stuff inside the carry-on bag then put the carry-on bag inside the checked-in bag. Told them I don't want to carry 2 carry-on bags on the plane, still they refused. Was rushed to get out of the line to do this so totally forgot about the liquids inside the carry-on. Didn't want to throw the liquids away so tried to go through anyway, luckily at security they didn't spot it. Goodbye London! First leg of the journey went smoothly, we left on time, after dinner, slept straight away until landing, missed the breakfast. Had 4 hours transit, walked about to find the stuff my friend asked to buy, tried all 5 different shops but didn't find it. Tried to buy some liquor but it was not allowed for the destination, even if bought inside transit terminal, weird? Found McDonalds at the airport!! Was well cheap, large 9 nuggets meal for half the London price! On final leg of the journey, watched Red, King's Speech, Unstoppable and some documentaries on Discovery Channel. Upon landing, first thing I saw coming out of the low-level cloud through the window was Habour Bridge and Opera House. Magical! Time seems to froze, will never forget this moment. What a brilliant view. Arrived finally! Spent an hour at immigration, 5 officers stood at the back talking and look on at a queue of 500 potential illegals. Addon the frustration with an hour queue for baggage search only to find out I don't need a search. Insufficient, ineffective, lack of resources, lack of communication, no organisation. Worst airport ever! Not a good impression so far. A good old friend came to pick me up. We dropped by the nearby phone shop in the arrival hall to get a local sim card. We initially plan to go back to the city by train but the cost for 2 people is the same as taxi so we took the more convenience option, taxi! It was about $30 dollars. Not quite sure why the train here is so expensive?