Saturday, September 26, 2009

Canberra to Sydney to Jakarta

Got to Canberra airport and we decided it would be a quick drop-off so as to minimise the tears. Difficult to leave my loved ones. After getting my boarding pass, we said goodbye and, for the most part, held it together, but we were wet-eyed. The girls anchor me in so many ways, which is why being apart for two months will be a real test.

In the waiting lounge, the smile returned while reading Uncut: David Stubbs on a re-release of one of Duran Duran's Rio: Ultimately, some pop dreams are about transcendence, others about yachts.

Plane was late leaving Canberra. Nothing like being in the transit lounge at Sydney airport, waiting for the bus to take me to the international area, and seeing a message that the flight to Jakarta is boarding. Had an "express" pass to get quickly through customs. Then had a sprint to Gate 32, where it was the final call. Hot and sweaty, that's how I begin this leg of the trip.

The sign I can see from seat 25B: "Please do not proceed into Business Class Cabin - Except in an emergency." From one classless society to another.

Whiled away my time reading crime novel, listening to Q station to drown out the periodic crying, and practising speaking bahasa with Benny, a student studying accountancy at Monash University who was returning home to Jakarta for a friend's wedding. Learnt some new phrases: "kalau tidak salah" (if I'm not mistaken) and "dengan diri sendiri" (by themselves).

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