SYDNEY to SINGAPORE

Day 1

We left home really early, in the dark at 5.45am because the Qantas flights to Singapore have changed to morning flights. Mum liked it because we got to have breakfast at the Qantas Club, and I filled myself with hash browns, sausages and hot chocolate. 

I was watching the departure times, because our flight was a leaving late, and Mum was asking me geography questions, like "where is Wellington? Where is Johannesburg?" At least I knew Joburg was in South Africa, and I now know Wellington is the capital of New Zealand!

We rolled down the runaway at 9.45am, and because the Captain told us there were headwinds the flight would take 8 and a half hours. Mum told me Singapore was two hours behind Sydney, so I worked out that we would arrive in Singapore at 3.45pm and we did. 

We were sitting on the right hand side of the plane, so we had great views of Sydney harbour. I saw the city, and the Harbour and Anzac Bridge, but I could also see where Willoughby Bay was, near Primrose Park and Wonga Road. I also saw Manly Dam where I did the field trip to check out water quality. 

There were heaps of seats on the plane, so Mum quickly grabbed four seats when the doors closed, and I had two, but I had the window seat.                                                                                 Mum took a photo of me, and I took a photo of her ! I saw how far Sydney expands - it took about 15 minutes to reach the Blue Mountains, which Mum told me was part of the Great Dividing Range which goes from Queensland to Victoria. I could see why there are not many towns in the Blue Mountains because they are so steep and covered in forest. Mum says I need to learn about Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth, so I guess I will !

We flew over Australia and Indonesia watching movies, and reading books. Mum is reading about Laos, but she also slept a bit. 

As we flew around Batam Island and over Malaysia into Changi Airport, I saw oil refineries like at Kurnell at Botony Bay. I also saw the Straits of Malacca where Mum went water-skiing with Georgie when she was a teenager. The Straits of Malacca are between Singapore and Malaysia. 

We arrived at Singapore's CHANGI airport on time and we got through immigration and collected our bags in half an hour, it was SO fast. Mum says Singapore airport is one of the best in the world.   We were in the taxi heading down the PIE (Pan Island Expressway, Mum told me, everything in Singapore has initials!) to our Singapore home: the Tanglin Club. 

We were welcomed by the Tanglin Club staff, who have known me for 10 years: Joanne & Raz especially and after we dumped our bags we met our friends Toby & Sancha & Adam for dinner. Mulligatawny soup and rice for me and Mum (Georgie's favorite). Sancha & Toby were one of the first people in Singapore to meet me after Mum brought me home after the adoption ceremony, Toby is also 10 years old.Phoebe couldn't come tonight because she's studying for her exams -she's 14 years old. 

Toby & me - smiling because our parents made us!

Toby & me being silly (because we actually are!)

 We didn't get back to our room till 10pm and because I kept coughing I couldn't go to sleep so I did this blog quickly. 

Tomorrow we just have to have a lazy breakfast at the Tanglin Club, then go back to Changi to fly on Vietnam Airlines to Hanoi, then on Lao Aviation to Luang Prabang. Mum is going to make me work out how many kilometres there are between Singapore and Hanoi, then work out how fast the plane is traveling, and then make me work out how long the flight will be! BUT, she's already told me it's about 3 hours !

As we were descending into Singapore we were watching the flight path, and Mum was making me change the metres to kilometres (I mean in altitude). I was okay when we were 1000 metres above the land! 

Signing out from Singapore.