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Semi-early morning trip to the nearby airport, though definitely a sleep-in compared to catching the train! Huge check-in queue at the airport so we opted for the self check-in machines which were a bit finicky. It kept giving errors for our second flight (Singapore -> Sydney) when we chose seats, regardless of which seats we actually wanted. Eventually it finally worked for seats in the middle of the plane, but then printed out 16 boarding passes! At least the guy at the counter laughed and let us through.

Shimozzle going through security as well, I waited five minutes behind a group of Muslim ladies unpacking their various bags and so on, only for a security man to tell me "gents have to go over there in that line" with a vague wave of the hand. So I stomped off to find this other line, which of course didn't exist! I just ended up waiting another five minutes behind a different group of Muslim ladies which just made me grumpier.

Then I waited 10 minutes in line at Subway to get a ham & egg roll for breakfast as I hadn't eaten yet and needed to have my tablets before getting on the plane. Finally I was served and the guy was like "oh, the breakfast options aren't available". Even better! I ended up at Costa Coffee (a Starbucks copycat chain) where I paid $8 AUD for a coffee and muffin. Typical Australian prices but a comical ripoff when I've been used to paying 20 cents for a cup of masala tea.

Finally we boarded and took off bound for Singapore. Food was OK and the flight wasn't especially turbulent, so not much to report. Annoyingly, although we'd booked Qantas flights this was operated by Jet Airways - a budget airline - so the seats were small and the entertainment was self-provided.

Arrived in Singapore around 6pm local time with about five hours to kill before our Sydney flight. Lots of great options here (it's such a good airport); Shandos had dinner of Hainanese chicken & rice, a typical Singapore hawker dish. I felt bad about not eating local options but after six weeks of Indian food - I went to Burger King. Lucky we ate a substantial meal, since we only got a small snack on the plane for dinner - the proper meal was breakfast.

This flight was actually operated by Qantas and was great, with a huge entertainment system loaded with lots of great movies. Annoyingly - it was an overnight flight and I knew sleeping the whole way was the only way to beat jet lag, so I didn't actually use any of it. Slept most of the way back to Sydney where we arrived on a rainy overcast morning. Mum graciously picked us up once again, taking us first to Forest Lodge to get Schnitzel and then to Erskineville to meet Harold, the dog we'll be looking after next week.

Until next time!Read more