My Ramadan 1440 Hijrah Trip: Part II

Sunday, 19 May 2019

Today, I planned to do some culture things i.e., visit the Art Gallery of South Australia and some museums. I left quite late as I wanted to check in for my flight back home (it sucked that you had to check in for the flight back when you’d only arrived barely 24 hours before). I took the tram to Rundle Mall tram stop and walked along Rundle Mall before crossing over to the Art Gallery. I spent about an hour there. I don’t usually visit art galleries, preferring museums over them. An hour was just nice enough to spend there.

After the Art Gallery, I went to visit the University of Adelaide very briefly before heading across to the South Australian Museum. It was interesting to note that the locals loved spending weekends with their families and significant others at galleries and museums. I spent another hour in the museum. The weather was dismal anyway and was drizzling on and off.

I went to check out the National War Memorial but didn’t linger long as it was starting to drizzle again. I walked back to the State Library and on to the Migration Museum behind. It started pouring very heavily then and I was glad I was walking beneath some shelter then. I waited out the rain and when it petered out, I hurried over to the Migration Museum. A man at the front desk greeted me cheerfully.

The Migration Museum was a compact museum on the settlement of the city and the story of the aboriginal people. It took me less than an hour to finish the museum.

The weather had not improved but at least it had stopped raining then. I crossed over to David Jones and walked through the Food Court. There was one stall selling halal food; unfortunately, the Food Court and the departmental store closed at 17:00 on Sundays and Maghrib was at 17:20 then.

I rested for a bit before venturing around Rumble Mall. I decided to buy some confectionery and even a bottle of fish oil (it was so dang cheap over there!). As it was getting late (the overcast dreary weather didn’t help), I rode the tram and walked back to the Airbnb. It was about half an hour to Maghrib when I arrived at the Airbnb.

I spent the rest of the evening resting.

Monday, 20 May 2019

I left after 09:30 and took the tram to Rundle Mall. I walked over to Art Gallery tram stop and rode the tram to Botanic Gardens. Today is nature appreciation day, heh. I spent a while here, admiring the landscape and enjoying the autumn weather.

I then took the tram to Exhibition Centre before returning to Rumble Mall and changing trams for Victoria Square. I returned to Adelaide Central Market and Chinatown. The market was supposed to close today but some stalls were opened. Nothing much caught my fancy so I took the tram back to South Terrace and walked back.

I didn’t have that much to pack so after that was done, I made further progress on my novel.

Tuesday, 21 May 2019

Well, it was time to head home already. I got up for pre-dawn meal and after my meal, I had a quick shower before performing prayers. I left at 06:40 and as I missed the earlier tram by a few seconds, I had to wait about ten minutes for the next one. This also meant I also missed the 07:16 bus to the Airport. I took the 07:32 bus and had to ask fellow passengers for small change for my note.

We reached the airport at 07:58 and I joined to bag drop queue. Just like at KLIA, it was a long slow process. I then went through security check and then browsed the duty-free shops. I had to go through another security check and clear passport control before getting to my gate (of course the officer had to remark on my LV bag, what a jerk). We boarded and took off on time.

I spent the time up in the air alternately dozing off and reading. I also performed prayers on board as I didn’t want to rush when I landed.

We landed at 16:10 and my left half of FitFlops decided to tear off so I had to shuffle along awkwardly all the way to the aerotrain, passport control, bag carousel and the KLIA Transit platform. I rode the KLIA Transit to Bandar Tasik Selatan and changed for the LRT.

I arrived in Ampang about 18:30 and it was drizzling. Dad was waiting for me and drove me back home.

So that was my short trip to Adelaide. It’s a small city and my duration was just perfect. Anything longer and I’d be yawning for the rest of my stay.

Oh, and guess what? I didn’t see a single cat during my trip. Not even a whisker.

My Ramadan 1440 Hijrah Trip: Part I

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