I
had noticed the one working day squeezed in between two public holidays this
month earlier in the year and after thinking long and hard, decided to visit
Adelaide. I’d never been to Adelaide or anywhere in South Australia and I
wanted to go somewhere where it wouldn’t be too tiring to fast. Any
destinations north of the Equator would not only be too hard but also meant
longer fasting hours. So I bought my ticket using Expedia and waited. I only
applied for the visa a day before departure. You could apply for it online but
it would cost AUD20 or so. You could apply for it at KLIA itself at the Ticketing
Desk at the departure terminal and it would cost around RM30+. I managed to get
the travel agent we use regularly to apply for it for me and the agent charged
me only RM15. Alhamdulillah.
I
had also managed to get my sister’s and my munchkin nephew’s agreement for him
to come look after dad while I was away. I promised to pay him for his help.
Well, I would have to pay for a nurse anyway and a nurse would cost more than
double what I’d be paying my nephew. He received some pocket money while I paid
less for the service that I otherwise would have to pay. So it was a win-win
situation for us all.
Friday,
17 May 2019
Munchkin
nephew sent me to the bus stop in the morning and I boarded the bus to work. I
brought my suitcase along as I’d be heading to the airport directly from work.
I
left the office just before 17:00 and took the 17:30 bus to KLIA. We hit the
Ramadan peak hour though and only reached the airport at 19:15, 45 minutes
late! I had something light to eat after freshening up and went to drop off my
bag. Unfortunately, only a few counters were opened so we had to queue a bit.
It took about 30 minutes before I managed to drop off my bag. I then cleared
passport control and security check before taking the aerotrain to the
departure terminal.
I
had some noodles which I bought from the office café and it was extremely salty
and just about barely edible. I threw half of it away; starving seemed a better
option than taking all that sodium. I dropped by Hermès and came
out poorer. Yikes.
It
was time to head for the gate then so I made my way to C17. There were a lot of
passengers but I was lucky to get the seat by the window and an empty seat next
to me. Sure, it was at row 3x but at least I didn’t have to step over my
neighbour to go to the washroom what with my wounded knees and all. Oh by the
way, I had to wear my FitFlops for the trip. It was either that or Birkenstock
as there was a wound on my foot next to my left big toe (from the incident on
Tuesday) and I couldn’t wear covered shoes.
We
took off on time and were shortly served supper. I chose pasta and almost
regretted it. I then tried to sleep but you know me and sleeping in planes
don’t go together. It also didn’t help that some passengers were noisy and
restless, in particular the four women sitting across the aisle from me.
Saturday,
18 May 2019
We
were served some sandwich and drinks about 90 minutes before landing. Oh boy,
that wasn’t going to be enough for a pre-dawn meal surely.
We
landed at 06:15, 45 minutes earlier than scheduled. However, the passport
control took ages. There were only two counters opened to process us all and
half an hour later, Singapore Airlines passengers joined the queue. After
having my passport checked, I went to the carousel and was surprised to find
only one carousel (at least I only saw one!) and that my bag had yet to appear
after all that time. Thankfully, it appeared just a few minutes later.
I
had declared that I brought in some medicines (more like my vitamins and
supplements) and fruits (dates) and had to join a long queue to declare my
food. The process was very slow too. I didn’t recall Sydney Airport being this
bad.
I
finally cleared the check and went out into the arrival level. After freshening
up, I caught up with social media before making my way to the bus stop for the
bus to the city. The bus came about ten minutes later and I paid the driver
AUD5.50 for the ticket. It took about 25 minutes to get to the bus stop at
Grenfell Street. I got down and walked down to Pirie Street tram stop for the
tram. I had read that there is a free tram service within the CBD so I availed
of this service and rode the tram for four stops to South Terrace (you need a
ticket beyond this stop). I got down and walked one km to the Airbnb that I’d
booked. It was an overcast start to Saturday morning and autumn was very much
in the air.
I
arrived at the Airbnb 15 minutes later and let myself in. The gate was unlocked
and I took the keys from an empty flowerpot to open the front door. Check-in
was later but the host had agreed that I could come and leave my bag in the
living room. I wandered around the kitchen, used the bathroom and checked the
bathroom up the steep spiral stairs (my room was at the basement and for that I
would have to descend down steep spiral stairs and let’s hope I wouldn’t break
my neck while doing that!). I even met Alice, the host, explained to her that I
was dropping off my bags and then left.
I
walked back to South Terrace tram stop but decided to walk on to the next tram
stop. I walked on and on and before I knew it, I had reached Victoria Square
Tarntanyangga. I crossed the road to take pictures of the fountain, met an
elder Filipino lady who attempted to take pictures of me (she was the one who
offered and insisted) and finally I told her it was OK just to put her out of
her misery. I followed Gouger Street to Adelaide Central Market and was glad I
did that when I discovered the market was closed on Sundays and Mondays. Say
what? I would’ve thought people would want to do their marketing on Sundays too
unless the locals are a pious lot and want to go to churches then.
I
probably spent at least an hour there. Chinatown is just next door and I even
visited two Asian supermarkets and bought some Chinese vegetables. I also went
to Coles but decided to purchase my groceries later as I didn’t want to be lug
them around. I also spent some time looking for honey to bring home for dad.
Who knew there were so many types of honey?? In the end, I bought a bottle of
honey from Kangaroo Island.
I
walked on further until I reached Grenfell Street, turned right into the street
then followed an alley that led to Rumble Mall, a wide pedestrianised street
which is home to many stores. I walked into Myer Centre and wandered around. I
didn’t want to enter the departmental store but browsed Chemist Warehouse. Then
I spotted some benches and went to rest. I was already tired and sleepy by then
from lack of sleep and even nodded off for some microsleep O.O
I
got up and went to Woolworths and Coles to get some groceries. I wasn’t
planning to cook much so I bought a long loaf of wholemeal bread, a two-litre
bottle of milk, a box of cereal and a can of mushroom soup. Those are heavy
enough and I already had a jar of honey but there aren’t any nearby
supermarkets near the Airbnb unless you count the convenience store at the
petrol station about 450 metres away.
I
walked to Rundle Mall tram stop and waited for the tram back to South Terrace. I
sat next to a Malay Singaporean student on the tram and chatted briefly with
her.
Back
at the Airbnb, I decided to fight sleep for a bit because I didn’t want to get
up in the middle of night and not be able to sleep again. I made progress on my
novel before finally succumbing to sleep.
To
be continued
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