Bye Bye Australia … SYD to SFO

Bumpiest flight … ever! On (mostly) and off since we left SYD nearly three hours ago. Luckily, my wine glass was on the tray table or I would have been wearing the Pinot Noir I requested with my pre-dinner nuts. (See the video attached to this footprint.)

But back to the beginning of our day … which started at 4:00a for Mui. I forced myself to stay in bed until 6:00a since it made no sense to get up any earlier. By 7:30a, having watched the aircraft that will return us to the US land at SYD, we were ready to head over to the terminal.

Check-in at the UA counter was swift. The security checkpoint didn’t take long either. A good start to our travel day.

First on our agenda was a stop at the Tourist Refund Scheme office. Scheme … sounds like a scam, doesn’t it? But it’s not. It’s Australia’s version of what is more commonly known as the VAT refund program. Got a nice chunk of money back from our various purchases. Even better, the amount is to be credited to our credit card, so no dealing with last minute Australian dollars to spend.

Refund pocketed, so to speak, we headed to the Singapore Airlines Lounge — SilverKris. We got a few nibbles and drinks to while away the time before making our way to Gate 25 to board our flight.

Boarding was called on time at 9:30a and went smoothly. We found our seats 1L & 2L and got ourselves settled in. PJ packages were sitting on the counter, so we helped ourselves to those and asked a flight attendant for the mattress pads. All set for a comfortable trip back to the USA.

UA870 pushed back from the gate at 10:29a. It took awhile for our turn on the runway to come. At 10:53a when we were wheels up.

Turbulence reared its ugly head almost from the get go. The flight attendants were not allowed out of their seats for a much longer than usual period. When they were given the green light, service began immediately … beverages and warm nuts up first. Mui and I both opted for Pinots.

Next came our meal … I suppose lunch in Australia; dinner in the USA. On the tray were the first two courses — a mesclun salad and shrimp cocktail. Then came the mains — chickpea and zucchini tagine served with bulgur for me; beef short ribs in a wine sauce … served with green beans and a potato mash for Mui. For dessert, I opted for the vanilla-hot fudge sundae; Mui got the apple pie … with a scoop of ice cream on the side. All much tastier than the usual airline fare.

After the meal service, Mui lost no time in donning his PJs, making up his bed, and going horizontal. He’s always quick to get into sleep mode when flying. Not me. As I write this, I am watching my second movie. I’ll probably catch some 😴 s later when it is closer to bedtime in California … hoping to keep the worst of eastbound jetlag at bay by putting myself on US time.

Ciao for now from this side of the Pacific …Lue lisää