I was too lazy to wake up early for a river ride to the Royal Palace. Instead I slept in, ate a late and massive breakfast to tide me over for lunch and lazed around in my room until the 12pm checkout.
Upon checkout, I walked upstairs to the business centre on the mezzanine level. I had earlier noticed there was a bookshelf, so I settled in with Kirstie Clements The Vogue Factor.
I was about 20 pages away from completing the book when the lovely reception lady came upstairs to inform me that the taxi for Don Mueang airport was ready.
These reception ladies were great! To make up for the fact I was blatantly scammed on my first night, they arranged for me to share a cab with two Chinese friends (also going to Don Mueang) for no cost.
Check in went well. I was unable to claim the VAT for the watch and shoes as I skipped the step to have the items inspected outside of Customs. Note for anyone wanting to claim VAT - make sure you read the instructions on the back of your VAT claim form.
Disheartened, I snubbed my nose at the tour busloads of Chinese travellers who were raiding the duty free store. Pushing, loud screeching, squatting, scavenging, you name every social etiquette and consideration you can imagine - they were broken by these cheap bargain seagulls. Walking to the gate, I did not need to look at the boarding pass. You could tell which one was the Sydney bound (via Kuala Lumpur) flight due to the amount of foreigners waiting at the gate.
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| Example of excessive shopping earlier in the trip - but it's ok because the idjits can squat next to their brand new shiny things! |
The flight to Kuala Lumpur was uneventful - it was over in 90 minutes. The guy next to me was in such a deep sleep that he was snoring on the plane!
The layover in KL meant that I could eat dinner. The plane had landed at 8:30pm, and what does one eat at 8:30pm? A Medium Quarter Pounder meal, that's what. Malaysian Ringgits make you feel like a king (queen). When exchanged from AUD, you receive so many notes that you don't know what to do with them. I ended going to the Body Shop and buying a Vitamin E packed face moisturiser and rosewater face spray just to finish up the ringgit. I found a secluded Sports Lounge where two Bogans had decided to put their feet up - literally - and had an hour or so of peace and quiet.
At 11:30pm, the predominantly Aussie passengers boarded the plane for the final leg home. Dinner was served at midnight (really Air Asia??), then the lights were turned down for sleeping. I'm definitely not a plane sleeper as I would awaken at every sound and bump. It didn't help that the 'fulli sick' bro behind me was incapable of getting up without pulling on the back of my chair.
As the sun was starting to rise, I also saw a correlation between the people closest to the sun also rise - with grumbly remarks. A spike in toilet usage was also noted at this time.
The plane touched down in Sydney at 9:25am. Border Patrol were filming at Sydney Airport that morning so I had to be on my best behaviour, being Viet and all. I had marked that I had plant/wood products so I was ushered over to the Quarantine Checking line. This line was empty so I made my way to the officer in charge of divvying the passengers to the different stations. I told him I had wooden chess pieces, to which he responded 'Is that all? You're right to go'. I'll have to remember this trick for next time.
70 dollar taxi fare later and I was home.
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