Leaving on a jet plane...

Forgive my rantings below ah...shall stick with the stuff I wanna blog on. haha. It was an eventful trip home, and I think I was totally lucky in many ways!

Was staying over at Aunt Babe's house for the night, and I left early in the morning to rush for the bus to the train station. I was walking along the road and trying to move as far as I can when I saw the bus running towards the bus stop...and moving off without stopping! I frantically waved my hands, in an attempt to catch the driver's attention, but I knew it was kinda futile. Got ready to walk to the train station with all the barang barang I have...Till I saw the driver stop the bus, and open the doors! I was damn lucky! Gosh. I hurried up the bus, dragging my gigantic and heavy suitcase up the steps and thanked the driver profusely.

Next, the train ride to Schiphol was alright, and reaching Schiphol, I had to re-orientate myself to the entire place!

My luggage

Looking at the luggage, it would be probable to think that I can get it all on board the SQ flight bound for Singapore, since SQ gives 40kg luggage weight for students and 20kg for normal passengers. I went up to the counter and gave her my passport and my booking reference. And I placed my bag on the scales, looking nervously as the numbers jumped...10...20...30...40...50...55.

55 kg

I was stunned and I bet the lady at the counter was stunned. She was speechless, I guess. Then she recovered from her stunned expression and told me to go over to the cargo side to see if I can ship things home cos SIA charges 62 Euros per kg of excess baggage.

Went frantically to the cargo booth and the person told me that the luggage would arrive in SG in 1-3 days time and the cost is 146.20 Euros for 20kg!! I can't have the delay in the luggage, and I din want to spend to ship stuff home!

So I went back to the SIA counter and pleaded to see if the lady could do anything...I told her that I do not have the money to pay for the excess. She asked her supervisor for help, and her supervisor was equally stunned, I guess.

Lady: Are you a seafarer?
Me: No..I'm a student
Lady: How long were u here for?
Me: 6 months, and the winter clothes sure is heavy.
Lady: Are u returning to Singapore for good? Not returning here?
Me: Yes!! Finished my exchange
Lady: Just this once, ok?
Me: Yup yup!!

So, in summary, I got 55kg of luggage over to Singapore from Amsterdam, without extra charges.

Normal passenger has 20kg luggage limit
Student = Two normal passengers
Me = THREE normal passengers
Therefore, Me is more than just a normal passenger.

This was my lucky break and I politely thanked the 2 of them for helping me, and rushed off to the immigration control. Gosh. The queue was long, and my boarding time is in 10 mins, so I asked if I could jump the queue.

And I managed to do so. Phew!

Walked briskly to the Boarding Gate, only to realise that it wasn't time to board the plane...just to send your bags to the scanner.

Was seated next to this Burmese seafarer student who was working in Rotterdam for the Rotterdam-Ireland route. He was the same age as me, and his English is pretty developed. I was simply amazed. We talked a bit, but with the newspapers, personal TV and food coming in at regular intervals, it was more of a on-off conversation. Watched 2 movies onboard...shiok!

Then, I decided to get a deck of cards after getting some shut-eye, and asked if he knew what games to play with cards.

And he knows how to play Big2!!! Played a couple of rounds...simply good! And the cards were great. haha...




Ice-cream onboard!

Food on SIA is like that lor, not amazing and nothing super fantastic. And I was wondering where the quality control of the SIA crew went. Sighs. Only one girl out of the whole lot was worth noticing. lol! And that's because I kept seeing flashes coming out from a seat diagonally behind me.

And the guy has a wife next to him. Haha.

But the flight was smooth and in fact I arrived an hour earlier! Must be the favorable wind conditions wanting me to go home ASAP -_-"

Anyway, first thing I got out of the plane was: "Damn, why am I in T2 instead of T3??" Then, I realised that only DEPARTURE flights are from T3, so it does not mean the arrival plane is for the next departure. How happy I was, to envision walking inside a spanking new terminal. Boohoo.

The next thing, I got my stuff and met up with my parents, and stepping out into the open, I was feeling super hot and stuffy! Gosh. Europe weather is super good...will miss it VERY VERY MUCH!

Feeling so surreal...

Had breakfast with parents and my brother, then walked around T3 since we were in the vicinity. Pretty amazing place, as all new Terminals are, and it was very very bright! Gosh. I wonder how much money is poured into it to keep it running at that level!


How may I help u, kind sir?

Unpacked my luggage and had my haircut, which was VERY VERY important as my hair was freaking long! Gosh. Now feeling much cooler and at home. And it was good that the hair was short, 'cos I could get a quick bath and KOed on my bed after replying to some MSNs.

Sleep is good...home is nice...Singapore? Hmm...I shall see how it goes from here on.

I wanna meet up with ALL OF YOU!!!


The mouse meets the snow globes

Current Mood: Tired