5 Flight Stoy - Lots of surprises, learnings, and discoveries.
Cities/Airports:
Dunedin -> Christchurch -> Sydney -> Singapore -> Kuala Lumpur -> Bengaluru -> Adoni
Dunedin - I started my day at 7:00 am and ran around town to finish various tasks before leaving for my 6-week vacation. Thanks to my flatmate for driving me to Airport. We started at 5 pm & reached Airport around 5.45 pm. I entered Dunedin Airport, did check-in, and got my tickets on the phone. Then, I went through security and to the boarding gates. After 15 minutes, I realized I was at the wrong terminal of the Airport. 🙈 I quickly ran to the correct terminal. This terminal was domestic like you must walk to Airplane (as seen in the photo below). It was a beautiful evening with the moon rising over the plane. I got on the plane, and to my surprise, the cabin was tiny.
Christchurch -
I reached Christchurch around 7.30 pm, and my international journey was going to start the following day at 6.00 am. So I decided to check in and wait near the gates. To my surprise, the message on the entry to the international terminal read, "Doors will open at 4.30 am". So I had to come up with plan B. Plan B was quickly finding a place to have dinner and booking a room for the night. I checked nearby places to stay, but they were expensive, so I booked a place in the City's center, far from the Airport. I had to make a phone call and make sure they could let me in the backpackers for the night. Yes, that's a thing you need to ask. Usually, backpacker hostels close their doors early (say 4 pm-6 pm) and leave keys somewhere accessible (kiwi style). I started walking out of the Airport, searching for city buses and kept walking to the nearest bus stop, which was almost a km away from the Airport. Luckily it was clear weather with a light breeze. I found a supermarket and a few restaurants adjacent to the bus stop. I had a burger from Burgerfuel (must try vegan V8 Burger here), then remembered I didn't buy any chocolates or anything to take home (India). I will explain "Why?" in another story. I purchased CookieTime cookies from the supermarket and ran to the bus stop. I reached on time for the city bus; phew! The bus driver was friendly, and we spoke for about the next 20-30 min on many topics. The bus dropped very near to the hostel. I booked a single room for the night as that's the only available option (NZ$ 85 🙄, I usually pay 15-20$ for a shared room at the hostel). As this was my first time in Christchurch city, I decided to go for a stroll and explore the surroundings. It is a charming city center, and there are tram lines with cafés next to them with awe-inspiring architecture. I loved wandering around the city blocks and found the museum and the city library, but they were closed.
Then walked back to the room, walking along the tram lines. Once I reached the room while checking for email updates, I had to login into the MySejahtera app to be able to transit to Kuala Lumpur without hiccups. So eventually, I was able to do that but had to go through a lot of login trials, uninstall/reinstall cycles, and clear cache memory for the app. 😵 It was already 12.0 midnight took a nap for a couple of hours. I woke up, took a hot water shower, and refreshed for Run 2.0. I pre-booked an uber in the night for pickup at 3 am. I reached the Airport at 3.35 am and went to the international terminal. The gates were still closed. I waited for them to open, and within a few minutes, there was this massive queue. After check-in, security, and immigration check, I finally reached the gates and got on a flight on time. This flight had a more significant cabin than the last one. I found an audiobook on the in-flight entertainment system.
Sydney - I was flying with Qantas, and the flight attendant gave me a form to fill out before landing in Sydney. She said it's mandatory to fill out the form even if I were not exiting the Airport; pretty Illogical if you ask me. A co-passenger offered me a pen while trying to reach for my bag in the overhead compartment. I landed in Sydney and started walking in search of international transit. As the Airport was going under renovation, the sign boards were all over the place. Many signs directed to closed sections of the Airport. The a4 sign boards (very poorly managed) were misleading as they were attached to the temporary stands that could rotate in any direction. I found a queue with nearly 100 people standing for the transit; as I was flying on an Indian Passport, I stood in the line. If I had a passport from NZ, Singapore, Canada, the US, or the UK, I could have walked into express entry lanes. I ensured that the queue was for international transfers and not arrivals by asking the security officer who was helping others with queries. After nearly an hour, I got my turn to speak to a security officer who asked me to present my passport and the form I filled in on the flight. I asked her if it was necessary to fill out the form as I was not exiting the Airport but just transferring to a different international flight. She wondered, looked at my boarding pass, and told me this was the wrong queue. She pointed me to another door which was for international transfers. It was a complete waste of time and annoying to know I was standing in the wrong queue. The signboard didn't help me, and even the security officer I reached out to before standing in the line didn't know about the process. My first impression of Australia and the procedures were unpleasant. Probably this is just the case all around the world post-pandemic. Luckily, I could try some Turkish Gözleme at the international terminal eateries. I take immense pleasure in trying out different vegetarian cuisine from all around the world. After exploring and window shopping, I headed towards the gate and boarded the flight. This flight was more significant than the previous one. I watched the movie Dune for the first time, heard some songs, and continued the audiobook The Inner Self on the way to Singapore.
Singapore -
I landed in Singapore, and as soon as I entered the Airport from the jet bridge, I connected to Wi-Fi and searched for a way to exit the Airport. I applied for an "SG-Card" (Required to enter Singapore city) three days back, and I had it ready to show the immigration officer at the airport exit doors. Singapore Airport is massive, and It took me 15 minutes of brisk walking to get to Terminal 1 Arrival Immigration. After waiting for 35 minutes in the queue, I got my turn. I submitted all the required documents to the officer and registered my biometrics. Then I was allowed to enter Singapore; yay! I was going to meet a friend after seven years who happens to live in Singapore. Pretty excited to explore the City with her. I will post another blog about exploring Singapore. After 23 hours in Singapore, I was back at Changi Airport. After waiting in the queue for 15 minutes, I got my boarding passes for the next couple of flights at the Malaysian Airlines counter. After that, I quickly ran to the immigration gates anticipating long queues, but the process was automated and took less than 5 minutes. The first machine scans your passport, and you enter the next gate, which takes a photo of you, does image recognition, and lets you enter the Airport. There are no security checks after immigration gates. The security check happens directly at the gate. Pretty easy to follow and an exciting process. One of the best experiences at the Airport so far in my life. I boarded Malaysian Airlines for the first time. This time it was a small domestic flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur -
I landed "Safely" in Kuala Lumpur. I said safely because the ride from Sg to KL was rough and turbulent. I was unsure if this was always the case or just lousy weather (Malaysian Airlines have a reputation for going missing). It took 25 minutes to board and reach the international terminal on the bus. I checked with immigration officers and understood it was not the best Idea to exit the Airport within my time frame. It takes approx one hour to leave the Airport and to enter back into the Airport with immigration gates queues and taxi to the City takes approx. One hour and back to the Airport from the city center in one hour. I also have to be back at the boarding gates an hour before the flight as the security check happens at the boarding gate. That means I hardly have less than 15 minutes to explore the City. I only had 5 hours of layover and decided not to exit the Airport to explore Kuala Lumpur. As I was in the Airport for the next 5 hours, I explored every corner of the Kuala Lumpur airport within the international transfers zone. I went to and fro between both terminals a few times in search of restaurants via Sky Train. I found a Starbucks and decided to try it; this might probably be my second time at Starbucks. To my surprise, the cost of coffee and cakes were not over the roof, and they were affordable.
I met an Indian mom and daughter at Starbucks who came to explore Malaysia. It was nice meeting some Indians on the long trip; they were on vacation by themselves. How common is it to see just a mom and daughter (in her late 20s) travel together and explore different countries? I have never heard of this. Probably this is why I need to travel more to know more about life and possibilities. Finally, after waiting for eternity, I went to the boarding gates, where I met a south Indian family who lived in Australia and was traveling to India after the pandemic, just like me. After boarding the flight, I realized they had secured the seats next to me. I learned a lot about schooling in Australia after speaking to the kids in Year 7 and Year 4. It is always great to connect with kids as they have little prejudice towards things and their understanding of the world always inspires me. I experienced this a lot while teaching (how to make robots) kids in Auckland after school or during holidays. Again, the weather was terrible, the Malaysian pilots were awful, or the flight was not in good condition. It was a bumpy raid from KL to BLR. I have to tell you this, the hospitality and style of Flight attendants in Malaysian Airlines felt ten times better and homely than Qantas.
Bengaluru -
I reached Bengaluru safely. I anticipated the processes in the Indian Airport would be slow, but that wasn't the case. The officers at the Airport were swift, professional, and respectful. Then, after going through the Immigration gates, I reached the baggage collection point. I waited for nearly 45 min, with no sight of my bag. Finally, a staff person came and checked if everything was alright. Salute to the guy who proactively came for assistance. After ten more minutes of waiting, I went to the missing baggage office and registered a complaint about a lost bag. The journey was far from over. Then, I gave all the bag details and registered a complaint. He could not get any information on my bag on his computer. He was unsure if the bag had ever reached Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. After that finally, I came out through the arrival gates and met mom and dad. It has been more than 1210 days since I saw them. The driver parked the car somewhere and had never seen the Airport before. It took some time to explain to him to come to the arrival pickup location. Then he drove straight to my hometown, and It was downpouring that day.
Adoni -
I finally reached my hometown at 7 am Indian Standard time, i.e., 2.30 pm NZST on 18 June. I made a few phone calls to Qantas and Malaysian Airlines to find out about my missing bag the next day. I kept checking updates on the baggage missing or lost baggage websites. I stopped looking on the fourth day and had faith in the system; eventually, someday, the bag would reach my home. After six days, I received a phone call about my trolley bag. It was located and would be on the next flight. It wasn't clear how or where they lost the bag. Finally, I received my trolley bag after eight days.
My Timeline (in NZST),
15 June 5:00 pm - Left Dunedin City 15 June 6:35 pm - Departed from Dunedin Airport 15 June 7:35 am - Arrived at Christchurch Airport
16 June 6:00 am - Departed from Christchurch Airport 16 June 9:35 am - Arrived at Sydney Airport 16 June 1:20 pm - Departed from Sydney Airport 16 June 9:00 pm - Arrived at Singapore Airport 17 June 8:00 pm - Departed from Singapore Airport 17 June 9:00 pm - Arrived at Kuala Lumpur Airport 18 June 2:00 am - Departure from Kuala Lumpur Airport 18 June 6:10 am - Arrived at Bengaluru Airport 18 June 2:30 pm - Reached Adoni City