Kerri ordered us an Uber at 12pm, which was so kind-- thank you, Kerri! It was way more convenient than catching the bus with our luggage... you'll understand once you see the photos. I lugged back over 60kg of American goodness.
We were about 2hrs early for check in (got to see some great bogans, though, complaining about how unfair the line is... they lined up last?? Yet complained about being at the end???? Oh it was horrendous)............ so we spent 5hrs in JFK. Just sitting. Played go fish. I wanted to sleep but I was determined to kick jet lag in the butt by the time I am home (guess what? I did, btw). I went to the closest thing NYC has for a newsagent (which sells no newspapers.... great) HudsonNews, mainly bc it had a bookstore attached. I was super tempted bc our gates faced the YA section. I walked over there around the 4th hour, and I was horrified at the book selection (and so I ran, far, far away from the monstrosity). I also walked over to the Macca's in the Qantas terminal, and from already hearing a few Aussie accents, I immediately reverted back into the slang, and before I knew it, I ordered "chips, with extra tomato sauce". It was the first time in ages since I wasn't conscious of my wording, and before I could correct myself, the guy just shrugged and said it's fine, he gets it all the time. I safely packed the extra sauce home for mum, as I know she looooooves Maccas sauce (and it's even greater in America, I must say).
I should mention my check in luggage was waaaay lighter than what we weighed back in Kerri's. Damnit (but also, phew!). I had stuffed so much in my carry on, like my bloody hairdryer, for nothing. I also didn't think to return stuff into the suitcases until after they were sent away, oooh well. I'm all toned up now, look out, Australia.
THE TRIP HOME WAS SO SMOOTH, I THINK I COULD CRY AT HOW PLEASANT (...most of) IT WAS!!!
The flight to LAX felt long, but it was only 6.5hrs. I tried to sleep for most of that time, but I also managed to read A NEW FAVOURITE OF MINE; A Court of Mist and Fury. Oh, Miss Hayley, if you're reading this....... prepare to hear me RAVE about this novel!! It's almost (but not quite!!) as good as Lady Midnight. Ohhhh yeah.
We hopped off the plane (at LAX with my dreams and my- I'll stop, I'm sure the other passengers hated when Char and I sung that. On both trips.....) and found out we had to wait 45 mins for the next layover. That's fine, I was just happy to be with Qantas. The standard was soooooo much better than in Delta. Plus, so many Aussie accents surrounded us. I literally teared up, I didn't realise how much I missed Australia. While waiting, I sat down next to this elderly couple (with great fashion sense omg I would like their granny outfits tyvm all Ralph Lauren, sign me up!) who giggled at me as I called mum on Facetime. It was 10:45pm in LA (3hrs behind NYC) and the time zone hadn't affected me too much, I guess the excitement of coming home kept me awake.
When we hopped onto our second plane, we were pleasantly surprised to find out our seats were the ones with HEAAAAPS of leg room. And nobody sat down next to us. Ummmmm this TOTALLY makes up for the trip to NY. 14hrs (twas actually almost 17) with the best seats ever???? We also got remotes for our screens, even that extra luxury was nice (bc ew, those screens are nasty).
We ended up eating 3 dinners during our trip home. Once in JFK, once on the way to LAX, and since LAX was 3hrs behind, it was only just dinner time. And then they switched over to Aussie meal times and so we weren't served food for another 8hrs or so (which is fine, bc I slept for the entire trip except for the last 2hrs.... guys, I had about 20hrs sleep. I felt AMAZING! Well, as great as you can feel when you're travelling across the world while in transit for over 48hrs).
Now to bring up a devastating thing that has really put me off planes. Or travel, for that matter. Charlotte had her headphones on, watching Singing in the Rain, so I don't think she heard all the gory details that I heard.
The old man who sat next to me in the LAX lounge had a heart attack while on the plane.
Like full on stop-breathing-actually-crap-your-pants-about to die, heart attack.
By the way, my phone had a wicked sense of humour, and just as I witnessed it happen, my phone started to play a song called Heart Attack. Like wth??????? The timing.
We were 8hrs away from Hawaii. 5hrs away from the closest island. There was no medical staff on board.
I can still hear the poor wife screaming in this shrill, British accent, 'is there a doctor on the plane?'. Over and over and over again. There was complete and utter silence, except for the sound of her husband choking.
The flight attendants were way too calm. 2 rushed over to the couple, and one said he isn't breathing anymore. The wife and the flight attendant took him to the front, and we never saw him again.
I couldn't sleep after that. I used my earphones and eyemask to hide from what I just saw.
When we landed, 3 hrs later than expected, we didn't even reach the gate. It was downpour raining and the staff set up the stairs for 2 large guys who I think were medics, to come to the front of the plane. It took about 1hr to actually get off the plane and down the stairs onto the buses, that transported us to the terminal. It was very humid, but I welcomed it with my homesick heart.
Highlight of my day: drinking NSW water.
Oh, dear God, bless NSW water.
Since my plane took 3hrs longer than expected to land, I missed my original shuttle bus. Luckily they rescheduled me for a slightly later pick up. But that's okay bc picking up our baggage took a while, and so did lugging it through customs. Btw guys, we may be on Channel 7 news. They filmed us, hey hey. I kind of hope not, mainly bc I dropped all my bags right in front of the security guy checking my customs form. Ughhhh the embarrassment..... ohhh well.
I made it home at about 2pm. The shuttle bus was filled with only one other passenger, a frail lady from Bali. She was very wholesome, I liked her a lot.
Jamaica was a little crap head and didn't help me with my baggage (60 freaking kg..... I can barely pick up my school textbooks, mind you) until they were already at the front door, cheers bro.
The first hour home I told Jam about my trip and took a shower. I had been travelling for 50 hrs. But thankfully I slept for a large portion. I wasn't tired.
The second hour of being home was hell. I still felt motion sick, even worse than on the plane. That was 15hrs ago and I still feel myself swaying. I think from these blogs we've established I must have the worse middle ear balance.
So anyways, mum said she had a surprise in my room and I didn't want to see it until she got home from work, so I just died on my couch feeling like I was on a boat for the following hour.
Mum returned soon enough, and I saw my room.... she got me a massive book case!!!!!!!!! It's so beautiful, I'm happy to give anybody a tour whenever they're around. I can't stop looking at it. It's glorious.
Lady Liberty is nothing compared to this beauty.
Then I unpacked and got sleepy around 6pm, which was 2am in NY. I was holding on pretty strong. Mum gave me my fave pizza. Nothing like Australian pineapples and ham, oh I missed them. America's tasted like plastic.
I managed to stay awake until 10pm, and fell asleep to Mamma Mia.
It was good to be in my own bed again. Surrounded by the smell of all my books and my new book case. My furniture has be shifted around, and I feel like there's so much more space! But then again, the book case is the star of the room. I could easily buy 3 more to cover the other walls in my room, and just give myself a few pillows and have that as my bedroom. Ohhhh I love the bookcase so much. It smells bookish. It's perfect.
It was really weird to wake up this morning, turn over, and not talk to Charlotte. It was kinda sad. I had nobody to annoy. It was too quiet for me. I'm not used to it anymore.
Pictures:
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| Wearing my Verona t-shirt :D |
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| mm yes ringlets |
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| Goodbye quaint houses |
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| Going across JFK bridge |
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| Waiting to check in our luggage |
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| Really not that bad |
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| At LAX |
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| the space!!!! |
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| All three of these people, later on, would watch the same episodes of the Big Bang Theory, perfectly synced. It was really funny to watch. |
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| Bloody Harold 2.0. See his foot???? Gross. He also sneaked one of his suitcases into our overhead locker on the first flight, like ffs we had heaps too but had to squish it bc he stole our spot. Oh well. Lovely to see his ganky old man feet rubbing across the seat in front for the entire trip. |
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| Model shots I find in my camera roll |
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| Ohhh boy |
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| Almost in Sydney!!! tired eyes |
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| Watching Mamma Mia |
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| See ya, friendly Uber driver! |
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| One more pizza for Char haha |
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| Nice! |
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| Not nice! |
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| Why were these in the YA section, I'm offended. |
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| NEED. |
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| EXTRA NEED. |
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| First flight, I think. I was so excited to see home again. |
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| Yay good selection of movies (I didn't watch anything besides 20 mins of Juno before feeling sick) |
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| honestly not bad |
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| Dinner #2 |
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| Just to show you guys |
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| Fancy screens |
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| Breakfast time |
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| Dinner #3 (butter chicken, yum yum!) |
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| My shirt woowoo |
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| At JFK |
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| Naw |
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| SO GOOD TO SEE GREEN AGAIN, didn't think I'd notice it but oh man, I sure did! |
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| Ah, the bus <3 <3 |
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| It's already been dazzled dw |
Videos:
(will be uploaded later when the internet is working better)
I woke up at about 4pm, and couldn't sleep. I was going so well!!! Nevermind. I just rewatched Mamma Mia, and planned what I'm going to do today. Like manage my other blog, which has been sorely neglected since my trip.
Today I shall be eating my Bow Thai and reading x10000. Oh, and reading Lauren and Marie's FABULOUS travel blog, I'm not sure if they want me to promote it, so I'll just say for now, if you're a fellow friend, check it out!!!
Thank you for all who have read this blog, it has been a delight to recite,
until next time (who knows? Maybe I'll blog more... I could do more for travel.. or when I do something fun? I already write on another blog, but maybe I should refurbish this one up for future use?),
1 comments:
woooooooooooo i found it
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