Sunday, December 05, 2010

Home


Bee and I arrived in Melbourne just after midnight.

Much to my (pleasant) surprise, everything went really smoothly and we managed to clear the airport in record time!

First of all, we didn't have to wait for long at the immigration counters, which is the part I hate most about Melbourne airport - that small stuffy room that everyone gets packed into long and winding queues.

Seriously, someone should do something about the ventilation system for that room. Whenever I'm stuck in the line, I always feel like I'm gonna faint or collapse anytime due to lack of oxygen. I swear!

So yes, imagine my excitement when I realised that there was practically no queue and we could pretty much walk straight up to the immigration officers to have our passports stamped!

Secondly, the baggage service was fast and efficient too. We got our luggages very quickly, but even quicker with the oversized baggages, which were already waiting for collection at the oversized baggage counter even before the ordinary baggage carousel started moving.

A very smug Bee jokingly said that maybe he should travel with more oversized baggages from now on to save on time waiting by the carousel.

Smart thinking, Mister! Smart, but wishful. *Rolls eyes*

I expected some hiccups from the customs, especially with the two huge cartons we've got, one of which couldn't even fit into the machine to scan its contents! But I guess luck was on our side. We got a very friendly and understanding officer, who didn't give us a hard time at all. We were in and out of there in no time!

Then we managed to get hold of a maxi taxi to fit all our luggages and oversized cartons in, and it came with a really nice Turkish driver too. He told us that we made his day by being his first "normal" customers because he's been ferrying all sorts of crazy people all night long. I felt so bad about it (plus he was so nice and all) that I repeatedly nudged Bee's elbow to remind him to leave a hefty tip.

A $200 cab ride later, we are home.

Like we had never left.