Friday, July 22, 2016

Australia Trip 2016

JUNE 15 - DAY ONE

6:30am - woke up after barely sleeping due to anxiety and excitement. I was already around 90% packed, just had to put stuff in my backpack.
 

7:00am - had breakfast then took a bath. We have to leave by 8am as I was not yet checked-in, which Rey and Shiela managed to do so online last night.

7:57am - I hailed an Uber to take us to the airport. It had a surge rate but we decided to take it anyway. 



Me & Rey, a selfie in Uber
8:20am - arrived at the airport in the Departures area. Shiela was already on her way so we decided to wait for her outside. We weighed in our luggage and we were both around the 15kg mark.

9:30am - had a snack at Cafe France in NAIA Terminal 2 to pass the time. Our flight wasn't until 12pm so we still had more than an hour to spend. I ordered Beef Lasagna for 200php - very expensive but no choice as the selection of places to eat there was disappointing.

11:00am - started boarding PR213!


12:20pm - off we flew for Sydney! Rey and I were seated around row 44 - he was in the window seat while I was in the aisle seat. Fortunately, no one was between us so we had some room. Shiela was seated behind us (row 45) in the window seat. No one was also in between her and the aisle seat passenger.

10:30pm - arrived at Sydney International Airport! It was cold in the airport but I knew it'll be colder outside - and I love it! Passing through Immigration was a breeze so we were out of there around 11pm. We searched for a place to eat but since it was almost midnight, all of the restaurants in the airport was closed already. We saw a McDonald's but it was also closed; we lingered there a bit though as there was free wifi. We stepped outside in the cold (brrrr!) and hailed a cab. The cab driver was very kind (Lebanese, IIRC). Rey made the mistake of trying to board the driver seat, forgetting that Australia cars are right-hand driven! 
Hello Sydney!

12:00am - arrived at our AirBNB in Centenary Park. Had a bit of delay finding our building but after a while, we found the keys in the letterbox (as the host instructed) and we were able to enter the apartment quickly. It was quite spacious, if not a little dusty and dirty. Shiela opted to sleep in the sofa (which was quite spacious, she said) as her room was dirty (it had hair on the bed) and only had a curtain for a door. We tried to have food delivered but it delivery also closes around midnight so Rey and I shared a Nasi Goreng instant noodles that we found in the pantry (microwaved!).

1:00am - bedtime! Rey and I took the bedroom with a patio and it was quite big! The bed was also comfortable. The shelves though were dusty and one even had the top come off, not properly secured/glued! Anyway we were tired from the trip so we fell asleep quickly.

Total expenses: $24aud for the cab