I've been back for 5 days nows. Lots of catching up with family and friends. Of course it was Fathers Day today so we had a nice BBQ on the balcony.
I went for a ride with Patrick and Paul in the morning, 52 Km's to the causeway below Waterfall. Even with the climb back out of there I still averaged over 22 kph which is pretty good. There was a bit of a race on the climb up to Waterfall. Patrick had an early attack which I had no problems countering and then I held him almost to the top. However I got an asthma attack on each of the two climbs and I just couldn't manage to keep up on the second climb. I assume it was because of the cold. A but disappointing actually. Oh well. We're having a rematch in two weeks time, weather permitting, when I am used to the cold air!
After the ride we stopped at Tidz with all of the other posers and had breakfast, very pleasant, nice and warm in the sun.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Singapore to Sydney
I went for a walk around Singapore airport, as usual, to stretch the legs. After a while I noticed that the flight departure board was saying final call for our flight so I walked back to the lounge. By the time I got there it said gate closing but in fact the flight crew hadn't even gotten on board yet. So I continued walking on past the gate, went to the loo and then when I got back there was no queue to go in so in I went. A few minutes later they called first and business boarding so I went into the plane.
Same seat this leg of course, so I settled in, got a glass of champagne and read until take off. Gosh this plane is quiet compared to a Jumbo! This leg is much shorter, only 6.5 hours. I finished watching American Beauty and then watched Good Will Hunting and then a documentary on 6 degrees of separation, which is really about network theory. I guess that was a good follow on from the previous movie! We were feed, naturally, I had fish this time, with a nice glass of Riesling and then cheese and dried fruit with a glass of Muscat, delicious.
I tried to have a short nap after the documentary, less than an hour, but it probably helped me stay up later. Once we landed I was the second person through immigration, even though I'd been seated at the back of Business Class and then there was the bag wait. One of my panniers came through only three minutes after I got there but for some reason the second one took another ten minutes. Then I went to oversize baggage to wait for the bike. And wait, and wait, and wait. Not there :( I went to the lost luggage and they will let me know tomorrow. This seems to happen every time I go to Europe. If memory serves the last time, actually the only time, they didn't lose a bag was in 1998, I know they did in 1995 and every other trip since. On the up side I don't have to worry about getting the bike home which makes the taxi ride easier :)
Ah home!
Same seat this leg of course, so I settled in, got a glass of champagne and read until take off. Gosh this plane is quiet compared to a Jumbo! This leg is much shorter, only 6.5 hours. I finished watching American Beauty and then watched Good Will Hunting and then a documentary on 6 degrees of separation, which is really about network theory. I guess that was a good follow on from the previous movie! We were feed, naturally, I had fish this time, with a nice glass of Riesling and then cheese and dried fruit with a glass of Muscat, delicious.
I tried to have a short nap after the documentary, less than an hour, but it probably helped me stay up later. Once we landed I was the second person through immigration, even though I'd been seated at the back of Business Class and then there was the bag wait. One of my panniers came through only three minutes after I got there but for some reason the second one took another ten minutes. Then I went to oversize baggage to wait for the bike. And wait, and wait, and wait. Not there :( I went to the lost luggage and they will let me know tomorrow. This seems to happen every time I go to Europe. If memory serves the last time, actually the only time, they didn't lose a bag was in 1998, I know they did in 1995 and every other trip since. On the up side I don't have to worry about getting the bike home which makes the taxi ride easier :)
Ah home!
London to Singapore
Once we arrived at Heathrow I was first one off the plane, I was after all in seat 1A. I got the bus around to my next terminal and had a walk around. The shops are pretty crap in this terminal, they are renovating so hopefully it will be better next time. I thought about some champagne but it didn't seem that cheap. In the lounge I rang home using Skype, had a coke and some biscuits and then went around to the plane.
I boarded around quarter to twelve, business class, being on the top deck, has its own entry. I needn't have rushed the plane was almost 45 minutes late leaving due to some baggage having to be unloaded and then some paper work problem and then some thing or other. Of course I doubt it matters, they'll just fly a bit faster and not stop as long in Singapore. Some champagne while we waited too :)
The inside is not really that different to any other plane, one nice thing is that I basically have my own baggage bin above the seat. The one thing I immediately noticed once we started taking off is how quiet the plane is. I don't know if it is because we are upstairs or if the plane is just generally quieter. I asked and it is the latter.
Once we finally got in the air I looked through the movie selection, not a lot that I haven't already seen. The new Star Trek is listed but I think I'd rather wait for the DVD. In the end I watched a Hong Kong action movie, Legendary Assassin, very good. The lunch was a salad of peas, beans, lentils with some bacon, very tasty. The main was a beef with beans and potato's. All washed down with a 2004 Cab Sav. Dessert was apricot tart and some Morris Muscat.
I tried a few others and in the end I watched an Ozzie movie called Kenny, about a portable toilet plumber. Also quite good. Did some work on the diary while I watched and then tried to have a nap. Managed to sleep for four or five hours. Then started watching American Beauty but I didn't manage to finish it before we landed. No problem, next leg. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, bacon, mushies and spinach, 2 pieces of toast and fruit. They actually gave us a breakfast card like a hotel to fill out when we first got on the plane.
I boarded around quarter to twelve, business class, being on the top deck, has its own entry. I needn't have rushed the plane was almost 45 minutes late leaving due to some baggage having to be unloaded and then some paper work problem and then some thing or other. Of course I doubt it matters, they'll just fly a bit faster and not stop as long in Singapore. Some champagne while we waited too :)
The inside is not really that different to any other plane, one nice thing is that I basically have my own baggage bin above the seat. The one thing I immediately noticed once we started taking off is how quiet the plane is. I don't know if it is because we are upstairs or if the plane is just generally quieter. I asked and it is the latter.
Once we finally got in the air I looked through the movie selection, not a lot that I haven't already seen. The new Star Trek is listed but I think I'd rather wait for the DVD. In the end I watched a Hong Kong action movie, Legendary Assassin, very good. The lunch was a salad of peas, beans, lentils with some bacon, very tasty. The main was a beef with beans and potato's. All washed down with a 2004 Cab Sav. Dessert was apricot tart and some Morris Muscat.
I tried a few others and in the end I watched an Ozzie movie called Kenny, about a portable toilet plumber. Also quite good. Did some work on the diary while I watched and then tried to have a nap. Managed to sleep for four or five hours. Then started watching American Beauty but I didn't manage to finish it before we landed. No problem, next leg. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, bacon, mushies and spinach, 2 pieces of toast and fruit. They actually gave us a breakfast card like a hotel to fill out when we first got on the plane.
Amsterdam to London
Woke up really early, 5 am, decided to get up and watch TV, no point going to sleep as I'm going to be out of sync soon anyway. I got ready and checked out around 7 am then walked over to the terminal. I went to the KLM bike box desk and they said that they couldn't sell me a box. Instead I had to go down to the left luggage area and buy one there. This was actually much better as there was a large bench there where I could do everything with plenty of spare space.
All set up I checked in, no problems of course, checked the bike in at the over size baggage desk and then went through to the departure area. Almost as soon as I'd gone through I realised I hadn't bought any chocolate before coming through, bugger, and there is no Leonidas store on this side. Oh well, I got a pre packaged box instead.
I then went for a wander around the shops and then to the lounge. I couldn't be bothered doing the diary and just read a news paper and did a Suduko instead. In due course I wandered around to the gate, I needn't have walked fast, they only had one desk open for checking luggage so the queue was enormous. Eventually we got in and it was a fairly pleasant trip over the channel. At one point I could see both France and England. They brought around breakfast, jambon cru, ham, cheese and bread rolls. I decided against champagne, I'll have some later :)
All set up I checked in, no problems of course, checked the bike in at the over size baggage desk and then went through to the departure area. Almost as soon as I'd gone through I realised I hadn't bought any chocolate before coming through, bugger, and there is no Leonidas store on this side. Oh well, I got a pre packaged box instead.
I then went for a wander around the shops and then to the lounge. I couldn't be bothered doing the diary and just read a news paper and did a Suduko instead. In due course I wandered around to the gate, I needn't have walked fast, they only had one desk open for checking luggage so the queue was enormous. Eventually we got in and it was a fairly pleasant trip over the channel. At one point I could see both France and England. They brought around breakfast, jambon cru, ham, cheese and bread rolls. I decided against champagne, I'll have some later :)
Afternoon in Amsterdam
Woke early again today, my body must be getting ready for Australian time :) Worked on the diary and finally uploaded everything until I arrived in Holland. Phew!
After breakfast and a long chat Hans drove me to Schipol. The trip was about 45 minutes, lots of road works, but no traffic jams. It took ages to work out how to get into the Hilton, there weren't any signs from the direction we came, but after a few laps we worked it out. Hans dropped me off, I checked in and then went to the airport for a look around.
Schipol is a huge shopping centre so I wandered around the shops for a bit and then caught the train, which is under the airport to Amsterdam Centruum. I went for a long walk around the shopping area that spreads out from the station. It was really busy, packed with people. I bought some stuff from the junk stores and eventually stopped at a pancake shop for lunch, a bacon and cheese pancake and a coke, not too bad but I think yesterday was nicer.
I then walked back a bit then headed to my right to look at some food markets. There seemed to be some sort of fair on which had to do with University. I say that because there were lots of stalls which had uni books for sale, also job stalls and accommodation stalls, also quite a few free bands were playing. I eventually ended up back in the main walking area where I resumed looking at junk stores, and then I just wandered. I wanted to kill time until dinner time.
Eventually it was close enough to dinner time so I went to an Indonesian restaurant which had rijstafel for one. The sign said it opened at 6 pm and when I got there at 6.15 and it was open, good, I was hungry. The meal was really nice, a total bloat up, with chicken, lamb, beef, pork, gado gado, two salads and several sauces. Fully bloated I caught the tram back to the station and then the train home.
After breakfast and a long chat Hans drove me to Schipol. The trip was about 45 minutes, lots of road works, but no traffic jams. It took ages to work out how to get into the Hilton, there weren't any signs from the direction we came, but after a few laps we worked it out. Hans dropped me off, I checked in and then went to the airport for a look around.
Schipol is a huge shopping centre so I wandered around the shops for a bit and then caught the train, which is under the airport to Amsterdam Centruum. I went for a long walk around the shopping area that spreads out from the station. It was really busy, packed with people. I bought some stuff from the junk stores and eventually stopped at a pancake shop for lunch, a bacon and cheese pancake and a coke, not too bad but I think yesterday was nicer.
I then walked back a bit then headed to my right to look at some food markets. There seemed to be some sort of fair on which had to do with University. I say that because there were lots of stalls which had uni books for sale, also job stalls and accommodation stalls, also quite a few free bands were playing. I eventually ended up back in the main walking area where I resumed looking at junk stores, and then I just wandered. I wanted to kill time until dinner time.
Eventually it was close enough to dinner time so I went to an Indonesian restaurant which had rijstafel for one. The sign said it opened at 6 pm and when I got there at 6.15 and it was open, good, I was hungry. The meal was really nice, a total bloat up, with chicken, lamb, beef, pork, gado gado, two salads and several sauces. Fully bloated I caught the tram back to the station and then the train home.
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