Day 1 - Eary Rise and Slight Delay

My phone alarm went off at 4.30am. Pressed snooze and closed my eyes just a little longer. If Bibik was around, she'd be the one up earlier than us, preparing breakfast and ensuring that the children are awake. However, now that I have assumed Bibik's responsibilities full fledge, yours truly, had to get her butt out of bed and be like a school prefect hauling the kids to get ready for the trip.

It wasn't difficult getting the kids up. They had gone to bed early last night. As always I was the last to go into slumber land, just had to post one more entry in the blog before going off.

Earlier, Manis and lil' ones were sent to Pet Hotel

The extra early breakfast was simple, scramble eggs and Milo. The cleaning of the kitchen was Farah’s duty right after she performed her Subuh prayers and she was only given 10 minutes to get the job done. Faris in the meantime, was to ensure that all the windows were closed shut and the doors were securely locked. In some ways, it's kind of good that Bibik is not around running the household for a while. It demands my two older ones to be more responsible for their actions. But when it comes to doing the chores, adoii..both ABE and I suffer, and the wet weather was not making the task any easier. ABE would angkat kain and fold them, but if they were still damp, I'd be ironing them till they are crispy dry. Have not been ironing for a long time. After my first attempt, I felt my body ached all over.

Last to be packed, anak bujang's luggage

Our pickup to the airport had been arranged the night before with Amran, our usual cabbie. He sent his nephew with the MPV that morning as the five plus the three pieces of luggage, couldn’t possible go into one normal taxi.

Kamarul, a chap in his mid 30s asked where we were going on our hols, When I mentioned Perth, he looked puzzle. He was unaware that Air Asia now flies to Perth. I explained that AA has just started it's service to Perth last couple of months. l guess to him this meant more business from ferrying families who are going off on holidays to the airport. I wanted to tell him that soon it'd be London and that would translate to "ka-ching" ie dollars and cents. But opted not to as it was already nearing the airport. Nanti tak habis pulak nak bercerita, knowing me the long winded one.

The cab fare from Shah Alam to LCCT was RM100. Rezeki mamat tu lah dipagi hari.

Surprisingly LCCT was not as packed as the day when we sent Bibik back. During the busy days at LCCT, it seemed like Puduraya, both passengers and visitors to the airport could be seen walking to and fro at the small terminal.

The fact that there were not many passengers made the checking in easy. But ABE always prefers to be early. If it says you need to be at the airport 2 hours before, he'd be there at least 3. Me however is just the entire opposite. Selagi belum panggil boarding, jangan haraplah I'd be at the gate. My sense on timing is a lot better now, not too much of racing and rushing anymore, maybe sebab dah tua kot, dah tak larat nak terkejar-kejar in the airport. Zaman duu-dulu pernah a couple of times running to catch to my flight, and it wasn't in LCCT, instead it was in KLIA. Ha berpeluh dibuatnya!!

Once at the terminal, we went straight to the check in area. Queue wasn’t long, just one person ahead of us.

One happy face after the McD's waffle breakfast

“Emm..that was fast.” I thought to myself. It was unlike the previous trips when we stood in long lines till our turn came. Our flight was scheduled to take off at 10.00am and we definitely had time to kill. So apa lagi lah, joms kita ke McD kids!!! The second round of breakfast trilled the kids, of course. Budak-budak tengah naik, they ate like there was no tomorrow the waffles and Egg McMuffins. Cheh…kalu orang nampak pasti they’d think that the kids have not been fed for a while.

We headed to the departure hall not long after that. By then the place was packed as there were another 3 flights, taking off at about the same time as AA-Xt. Found our seats and I went on to send text messages to my Boss, my sisters and a few other close friends. Not long after we made ourselves comfortable in the departure hall I spotted a familiar face seated in the other end of the hall. It was our family doctor and her husband and daughter, also heading to Perth!! Yahh…marilah kita beramai-ramai ke Perth :)

Game Boy helped kill waiting time

An announcement came into the PA system informing passengers to Perth that the flight was going to be delayed. According to the authorities, it was routine operational procedures they were performing. Well, take your time lah, for we do not want to compromise safety with anything else. Nissa was already so eager to leave and kept on asking when we were going to board the plane. I think it was Faris who explained to the little sister the prior to take off flight requirement checks. My guess was, she understood what the brother explained as she stopped bugging me afterwards.

AA-X Airbus 330

The delay wasn’t long anyway and upon getting the green light we were all set to board the plane. Surprisingly enough, we were asked to board first as we had a little child with us. Woo…okay, that was nice. Anyhow no worries as the seats were numbered, so it was not necessary to go rush and “chop” the seats.

Awaiting us in Perth

Flight D7 2712 left for Perth around 11.00am and was due to land at Perth International in another five and a half hours. Yesss…we were well on our way Down Under the land of Nichole Kidman, Kylie Minogue, Olivia Newton John and not forgetting Man at Work, whose popular hits were “Who Can It Be Now”” and “Down Under”.