Bangkok, Thailand and Melbourne, Australia
I was sound asleep and very comfortable in my hostel bed when my alarm went off at 4:40am this morning. I got dressed in the dark, got all of my stuff together and went downstairs to check-out. It was only when I got out of my room that I realized the massive storm that was currently over Bangkok. Luckily it lightened up in the 20 minutes it took for me to get into the car taking me to the airport. The driver was a bit chatty at first, but it was too early and I was too tired to really respond.
We had an uneventful ride in the dark and arrived at the airport so that I had over two hours to get everything situated. Bangkok’s international terminal is absolutely huge and very modern. I had to wait in a pretty long line for check-in, but it moved rather quickly. I rearranged my things so that I only had to carry my purse (Thai airlines allows you to check multiple bags. Each person just has a weight limit they can’t exceed without charge) which was really nice.
Passport control was really easy, but I was once again held up at security because of my water bottle. I really never can seem to get it right.
My gate was really far away, and while I walking there, I felt like I was at the mall. There were so many retail stores, selling pretty much anything you could think of. I found myself getting distracted along the way and stopping to look at everything. I only have 150 Baht left, which really isn’t enough to buy anything worth having, but not worth exchanging back to USD. I highly doubt there is anywhere in Australia where it’s accepted, so I’ll just have to keep it as a souvenir.
Once I finally got to my gate, I was confused by the system they had going. Each gate has two levels, and we all started on the top one. After about 20 minutes of waiting up there, with lots of people and very limited seating in the immediate vicinity, a line began to form and one by one people were allowed to go downstairs. They had another security check you had to pass, and because I hadn’t filled up my water, I made it through without trouble. There was still time, so people found seats in this new area and we waited for the call to board.
Unfortunately, this flight was full, but I have an aisle seat, so I guess that’s lucky. It’s probably better this way anyways because I am trying to stay awake throughout the flight so I can go to sleep soon after I arrive back to my room. Right now we are passing over the last bits of Indonesia and are getting ready to cross the Indian Ocean. It looks like, if I’ve calculated everything correctly, we’ve got a bit over five hours left. So far, I’ve watched a movie (Tangled) and an episode of Hawaii Five-O. I also devoured a large breakfast of eggs, potatoes, a grilled tomato, sausage, yogurt, fruit, bread, and tea. One more meal service in about 2.5 hours, and I’ll have a choice of fish ball in green curry or veal loin. I have yet to be disappointed, so I’m sure either will be quite yummy.
Tomorrow will be a busy day. I have to go to the grocery store when I get up because I don’t have any food in my room, and then I’ll spend some time uploading pictures and updating the blog before sitting down to start some schoolwork. I have a lab due Monday and a finance tutorial due Wednesday that need to get done, I need to listen to the diffusion lecture from last Thursday, and I need to begin the process of planning my paper for biomed assignment #2. It’s a lot to do in the next couple of days, but it’s been really nice not to have to think about it for the last week. Only four more weeks until study period begins, and I know it’s going to go by quickly! And I just realized that means I’ll get my exam schedule soon as well; something else to look forward to (not, haha).
I continued to pass the time by watching Hawaii Five-O; I think I may have gone through seven episodes. After I wore that out I switched over to a Reese Witherspoon film, but didn’t get to finish it before we landed. Somewhere in there I had a great shrimp dinner (they ran out of the veal, and I really didn’t want fish ball curry). It included a nice shrimp and fruit salad and my last serving of rice for a while. I need to have a rice detox at this point because I’ve had it at almost every meal over the last week.
We landed, I got off and got my bags all very easily. I got through customs, but had to go to quarantine because of some of the things I brought back. Australia is very strict about that kind of thing because they are out on their own here in the ocean, and don’t want anything brought in that could lead to some sort of outbreak.
A 20-minute SkyBus trip, short metro and tram ride trip later, and I am finally back in my room. I’m probably 75% unpacked, but am tired and ready for bed. Reflections on my trip will come sometime over the next few days, if I can find some time in-between everything else that needs to be done in the next 48 hours. For now, all I can say is thank you Thailand for an amazing week and an overall awesome experience that won’t be forgotten anytime in the near future.
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