Melbourne Day 0

Day 0 in Australia!
30th April 2009, Thursday

Adal and Adel are back from Australia!! The past 9 days have been absolutely fantastic despite some hiccups along the way, and they're both extremely happy to have been able to travel overseas spend time together. The entire trip has been quite eventful.

Several days before the trip, Adal had developed cold sores on his lips, and he had thought it would go away in a while (thinking they could be sun burn like he had before), but they persisted all the way throughout the trip. Since they were slightlyl numb and swollen, they were highly uncomfortable, and Adal found out through a pharmacist at the airport that it was a stress-induced reaction which could be alleviated with Hydrocortisone. He ended up going through most of the vacation with white cream smeared all over his lips that made him look slightly idiotic. Even now, Adal's lips are cracking and bleeding in some areas, making it difficult for him to speak or smile even.

On the 30th April, Thursday, Adal and Adel went to Changi Airport in the morning to catch the morning flight to Sydney to transit to Melbourne. Since they had to check in earlier, they sat down to get a drink and pose for some pictures prior to setting off. The flight took 7 hours, and it was night by the time they reached Sydney. From T1, they had to get to T3, and checking out from the Sydney Terminal 1 out was a horrible mess caused by intermittent delays, bad signages, unclear instructions, no clear demarcation of lines, and bad infrastructural planning in the airport. Despite the delays, they were just in time for the last transit bus to T3, which was quite a distance away. When they were nearing the door to the bus terminal, Adal asked Adel if it was air-conditioned. When they both stepped out, they felt the instant coolness of the air. It was cooler than any air-conditioning they'd ever felt! They both loved it.

After 1.5 hours on the plane, they realised Melbourne was even colder, at 9 degrees. Adeline's Uncle, Uncle Keith, came out to fetch them from the airport, and it was really nice of him because East Australia is 2 hours ahead of Singapore, which means he came by to fetch them around midnight in the freezing cold. The drive to their home (where Adeline's Yi Zheung and Ah Yi, Uncle Keith and Aunt Ruth, had so generously agreed to house them for their duration in Melbourne ) took around half an hour, and they were ushered into the house, where they promptly unpacked and slept like pigs/logs until the morning.