Down Under and the Land of the Hobbits

After a long hiatus, I'm back! As you would now realized that I am not your regular blogger... as I would just disappear from here and god only knows when I will re-appear....like today hahaha.

My entry today is about my trip to Melbourne and the south island of NZ...yup the Land of the Hobbits.

We had nearly missed our flight, my mom and I, on the evening of 11th November as I had totally forgotten that we need 2 hours to check in. We finally got ourselves into the Airbus A320....I think. Silkair...we were one of the first to fill the plane since SIA stopped servicing this route. It was also another eventful moment when we arrived at T2 departing from T3 for our connecting flight to Melbourne...gosh we hadn't realized how far T3 was...poor mom she walked as fast as she could. I regretted not asking for the wheels. Better prepared the next time, I thought to myself.

Nahhh!..this baby, no wait...this behemoth wasn't for us..we only got to fly the 777..... hope lah...or as my ex boss would say " pe-lan pe-lan tunggu" or "slowly wait la" ...so sad, can only see, make me lau nua nia :(

On board SQ 237, we were met by a fabulous young crew. As luck would have it, we were certainly well pampered by Jackson, Amelie and the rest of the crew put in charge of our coach. As usual, I couldn't sleep on long hauls and this one was no different except that I had this set of crew to keep me awake with their wit and charm. Nothing fake about their warmth. Indeed they made me feel as though I've known them all my life. I had first class treatment at the galley despite being a coach passenger. They were even polite to the old lady with wobbly knees and showered her with genuine warmth & concern as she shuffled her way to the loo.

I have only heard so much about SIA's cabin crew's star service but now I can vouch for it b'cos Jackson, Amelie and the others (so sorry I couldn't recall all their names....simple things slip my memory these days...GOSH,....am I suffering from Alz....? hahahha hopefully NOT.) went the extra mile in making sure my mom & I felt so at home. I certainly hope the airline knows how to value these boys and girls and reward them abundantly.

(waiting for the pics I took with them...hopefully Jackson still remembers to mail me some of them lo :P...so this space is reserved for them :) )

We touched down at Tullamarine Airport and with the much valued advice given by Jackson and Amelie.....we checked through the Immigration counter without any hassle. Thanks so much again, guys :).

3 days later and we're off again...to Christchurch, NZ.

...and we're off to the Land of the Hobbits but this time on board Jetstar.....

my dearest sis & mom....

...and moi of course

We got our H1N1 jabs for free, courtesy of the Australian government and of course my dear sis, who paid for the docs services. Then with only a single day's rest, we were again off to the Land of the Hobbits...yup....New Zealand. What a gorgeous country! Words failed me again. I can't even begin to describe a land abound with so much of nature's beauty.

we're just a couple of thousand kilometers from the snow capped mountains of NZ :)






almost there now.....

....and touched down! we're finally here....

Next....stay tuned for Chapter 2 - Departing for Queenstown in a couple of hours.