Di Perantauan...

29 July 2007

Pukul 4 pagi aku dah bangun. Time ni lah aku baru terhegeh-hegeh nak packing. Kelam kabut gak, memandangkan aku dah suruh my dedicated taxi driver untuk ambik aku kat rumah pukul 6 pagi. Sebenarnya, flight ke Perth pukul 9:40 pagi. Tapi aku nak singgah office jap before ke airport sebab nak ambik documents and coats. On the way ke airport, hujan turun dengan lebatnya. Pukul 7:45 pagi baru sampai airport. Waktu nak check-in, terserempak dengan ND yang nak pegi meeting kat Jakarta.

After checking in, I headed straight to the business lounge. The thought of having a quick nap in the business lounge came to mind, but I quickly dismissed that idea as it was less than 2 hours away from the departure time. Takut overslept pulak! Instead I decided to treat myself to a hefty breakfast, feasting on what is available at the business lounge. The rest of the Malaysian delegates were also there, some looking overly tired for having to get up so early in the morning, some looking ever so eager to get on with the mission in Perth. I was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about this trip. There are a number of issues that need to be discussed carefully during this round of meetings.

Four passengers had gone missing after checking-in and this had delayed the entire boarding process. They finally showed up. Thank God! As the result, we were airborne 20 minutes late than scheduled. All in all, it was a smooth ride to Perth with minor bumps here and there. I sat next to a businessman from Perth who was on his way back from India (which I found out only minutes before we landed in Perth).

I slept for a while and woke up just in time for ‘brunch’. To my surprise, the meal served was an exact replica of what I had for breakfast at the business lounge. Takkan recycled kot!! Ha.. Ha. Tapi makan, tetap makan lah kann..

Sampai kat Perth, we proceeded to the Rydges Hotel which all of us would be staying for the next one week. Oh btw, the bus yg suppose to take us from airport to hotel datang lambat 30 minit…so sampai hotel pun dah lambat. And the fact that it is now the tail end of winter season in Australia, it was already dark when we reached Rydges at 5:30 p.m.

Lepas checking-in, aku keluar dengan other delegates for dinner. Teruk jugak le we all menapak coz semuanya tak tau ke mana nak pegi. Finally, we all berpecah. Majority pegi makan fish and chips, while aku dan 2 orang lagi (because takde tempat dah nak pegi) ended up kat kedai mamak… err, Northern Indian Restaurant…ke tiga-tiga belasah beriani (talk about trying something new!!). Lepas dinner, singgah ‘drug store’ untuk beli some supplies for my stay kat sini. Tengok tv jap… sambil layan sms kengkawan and then zzz…