Send off

Do Buy (continued)

The flight was alright. I was almost falling asleep before we took off, but the food – a “night cap” rather than full meal, given the timing; I chose a tuna salad which I didn’t really like – must have given me the energy to stay awake ‘cos I managed to watch the entirety of Just My Luck. An OK film, not exactly typical me stuff though… then I had a couple of hours kip before waking up to the glorious view as photographed and posted in the previous entry. Breakfast followed, landing soon after.

Arrivals lounge time. I was a bit – OK, a lot – more apprehensive about this ‘cos it’s a lot more fat cat and out of the ordinary than a departure lounge but hey, this is the sort of thing I’m paying for. Turns out I didn’t need to be apprehensive at all, I just walked in, gave a bloke my luggage in exchange for a token, and then queued up to be assigned a shower cubicle thing. After cleansing I went upstairs to serve myself a fry-up and just generally enjoy being the only person in the room who wasn’t just about to head to work. Got up to leave but remembered that I wanted a massage, which I had no idea how to organise. Turns out you just write your name in a blank time slot on the sheet of paper outside the treatment room and then turn up at that time. 35 minutes spent reading CN Traveler magazine in the quiet ‘sanctuary’ room occupied me until my time came and Yee gave me a head, shoulder and neck massage for 15 minutes. Got up and could barely walk cos my muscles were all so relaxed.

3 buses got me home and, well, that’s that. My next flight has been brought forward a day to Sunday, giving me 3 full days in Sydney before going to Auckland on Friday week. Result. Before that I’m off round me Dad’s tomorrow, he’s not doing great but there’s not a lot anyone can do about it :-( he wants me to help him do some shopping though so I’ll be off to Tesco I guess. Was going to go and see Gorgasm play tonight but I’m too knackered. Might see if Wooj or anyone else fancies a pint in Surbiton though. Loz? You reading this? ;-)

Off out this evening for what will almost certainly be an inadvertent big ‘un. Hasty always says he can’t handle beer any more but whenever we meet up we don’t half put it away, and with John coming along too (hopefully) … still, not like i’ve got to get up tomorrow ;-)

Time for a bit of obligatory fatcatluxurytravel boasting: last week I contacted BA saying “Look, I know my membership year ends on Friday, but I’m about to fly loads with you. How about extending it for a bit so I can get a bit of higher status and benefits with you?” Turns out they were happy to oblige and extended it by 2 weeks; 6 days later I’d earnt enough “Tier Points” to make the next level, Silver, and today they confirmed that I’ve reached it. Heh. So now I’m on my way to making GOLD status which means all kinds of perks and shit for the next 3 years, basically (1 year of just-earned silver, 1 year of gold when I qualify mid-2007, 1 year of silver after i fail dismally to requalify): lounge access whatever class I fly is the best one though, natch ;-)

Mmm. Pre-beer curry with the Archers looms large on my horizon. Mushroom dopiaza here I come!

send off

Not a bad send off from AFC Wimbledon today. Went to see them play Horsham in the FA Cup after visiting Dad this morning (delivering some shopping, sorting out his PC and making sure he can keep in contact with me while I’m away etc). It was a great game, despite the ref trying to spoil it by being a total fucking disgrace, and we won 1-0 with a goal in injury time. Best of all was the announcement over the PA at half time that I’d won 450 quid in the monthly prize draw (the “Dons Draw”). Fucking results!

Tomorrow I go to the airport early. Dunno quite how early just yet… thinking about getting there for 6pm, which is 4 hours before the flight, because not only do I want to make the most of the lounge but I have to visit the BA desk first. Only thing is I really feel like watching the 2 big Premiership games tomorrow. Maybe a cab at 6pm will do.

The reason I need to visit the BA desk is because I’m once again making life hard for myself. I’ve never turned up at an airport to try and get on a flight which the ticket I have isn’t for, but tomorrow I’m doing just that: booked on BA15 on Monday, as previously mentioned I got it moved to BA15 tomorrow. Well, the ticket still says Monday, obviously, and I need to get BA to understand that it’s valid. That part should be easy; the other part is that in terms of playing the sad plane geek frequent flyer game I also got the travel agent to change my flights between Sydney and Auckland next weekend: I’m flying on exactly the same flights, but my booking is now on the BA marketed flight numbers rather than the Qantas flight numbers (they are Qantas flights). The reason for doing this is because it triples the amount of BA tier points I earn for the flights… 240 instead of 80. Believe me, this is good news.

That’s today and the future dealt with; yesterday I went to the Cocks with Wooj, Harv and Yvonne for a night of mostly me talking about my holiday, and all of us talking about metal. Got home and ordered pizza, our choice of vendor based entirely on who will deliver alcohol with the food (Topps do). The night before I’d been out with John and Hasty in Wimbledon, an as-predicted big ‘un. I don’t remember the exact topics we ranged over but I do remember at one point we decided that an opinion Hasty expressed was either right, or he was being a cunt: the conclusion was that he was being a right cunt.

Nerves setting in a bit. Gibraltar only kept me for a few hours, Dubai for just a few days. But now I’m about to escape Europe’s gravitational pull and be out of the UK for the longest continuous period in my life so far. Eek! There’s still a safety net: the first few days being spent with family, then a weekend away in Auckland, then family again; but as of next Friday I’ve got 3 weeks on me own in a host of foreign lands. Whoa. Mind you, it’s the good type of nerves – I’m fucking stoked! Bring on Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo. Although I’m still not sure about spending any time in a capsule hotel just because lots of other people want me to… ;-) I also have instructions to visit the Namco museum, and take photos of toilets. Hmm.