Tears, noodles, sleep deprivation, and more noodles & Dan's series of unfortunate events

We've arrived. Finally.

But lets backtrack for a moment… This tale begins before we set out. We had all day Sunday to kill, so Dan, Cheryl (Dan's mum) and I decided that there was no better way to waste time than an afternoon of shopping at Chadstone. This is when the bad luck fairy first decided to strike poor Dan. After trying unsuccessfully 3 times to remember his pin number for his visa, the nasty machine ate his card. Leaving him with no access to withdraw cash with less than 12 hours before we leave the country. Of course, it was a Sunday and the bank was shut. Ooops.

We arrived at the Melbourne Airport to meet Jodie and Matt and their families. Then, much to my surprise my mum had decided to travel down to say goodbye to me again. (We'd already had tears and said our goodbyes the day before!) We all sat and ate a lovely meal of noodles at an Asian restaurant in the airport. We moved on to the PJ O'Brien's to have a few brews before leaving. Tahsh, Dom and Nathan, decided to make the trip as well and joined us for one last drink! The tears flowed when the four of us said all of our goodbyes to our families, and we disappeared behind those big doors.

In packing our bags I'd been so careful not to pack anything that was going to get me into trouble. I'd been so careful. At the first baggage screening point, guess who got found with scissors in the carry on??? As if, I would've remembered that there was scissors in my pencil case! Dan was subjected to a 'random' explosives check on his bags, luckily he remembered not to pack any bombs!

We boarded our big flying kangaroo for the 8.5 hour flight to Hong Kong. We squished into our economy seats, I got the window seat of course, and excitement was flowing through us. That quickly disappeared when reality sat in that we would be stuck in these seats for a VERY long time. Supper served at 2.30 am was a nice noodle dish. The immense noise that the plane made, the annoying kid in front of me with his reclined seat, combined with some funny turbulence made it rather difficult to sleep.

When we arrived in Hong Kong for our 2 our stopover, Dan went to turn on his phone and realised that there was a sweet black spot covering the screen. Being in his pocket pushed up against armrest mixed with turbulence was probably to blame in this second in Dan's series of unfortunate events. Whilst in Hong Kong, Dan was able to call the bank and organise a replacement visa, although it will take some time - until then he'll just have to live off me!

The strangest sight at 6am in the Hong Kong airport, two little dudes in blue uniforms walking around, holding the biggest machine guns ever. Scary.

Then it was back on the plane for the 13 hour flight to Heathrow. Luckily this time the arse end of the plane (where we were) was half empty, so the poor blonde chick next to us shifted into one of the many empty. Dan and I really spread out and it seemed as though I'd enjoy this leg better. Then I realised that no matter how much space I had, I would still be stuck on this stupid plane for another 13 hours. Then breakfast was served, Noodles with a Dim Sim. Not what I really call breakfast food, but anyway. I Watched bucketloads of movies (I did like 'The Fugitive" - Harrison Ford is kinda hot!!) but still couldn't really get a nap in. We were made to close our windows so others could sleep, plus we were constantly chasing the sunrise. I did sneak a few peaks at some of the most spectacular sights ever. Flying over the Himalayan snow covered mountains was awesome. Then over ice covered Russia, with enormous open cut mines in the ice and snow. "Lunch" was then served to us at 10am UK time, or 9pm Aus time - go figure, and you guessed it, more noodles. For an Australian airline, the menu has a definite Asian influence.

Landed on time and passed through immigration and customs with ease, and after a quick change of clothes we headed off to our first tube adventure. On the walk the final event in Dan's series of unfortunate events took place. The zipper on his beloved reversible Walllabies/Reebok jacket broke. Poor old Dan.

Arrived at the train station where we were supposed to just give our accommodation a call and they would come pick us up. Called, and they couldn't find our reservation. So we were left in the cold, and dark (at 4.30 in the afternoon!!!) while they looked harder. We had to trip down to a local internet café so Matt could email them our confirmation - problem solved! Accommodation is nice, got a little kitchen and bathroom. Jodie found out the hard way, you have to turn on the water heater before you have a shower, otherwise your water is cold! Then it was down the street for a quick meal (Definitely not noodles - there is only so many you can eat) before it was home and bed by 8pm.

The 13 hour sleep got our batteries energised for a big day in London. Dan and I set out for a little adventure in the city - we actually both need warmer clothes, so that was our aim. We thought we'd get off the train at the stop for Buckingham Palace, and check out Lizzie's pad on the way into town. However walking through the park, we noticed crowds and crowds of people, apparently at 11.30 on some days they do the changing of the guards. There was way too many people to see anything, except for some people on horses wearing funny hats. We decicded to leave and head into town, wherever that was. We found some other guards just up the road which were changing too, so we watched that and got some silly photos. We found Picadilly Circus and Pall Mall, and Regent Street and lots of other Monopoly spaces!! Found a food court with lots of yummy shops, but we couldn't go past KFC, which had Tower Burgers. I wish we still had them in Australia. Dan topped his meal off with a side of baked beans. Walked around there for a while, until we headed out to Canary Wharf, which is a newish shopping plaza in the Docklands area.

A few other quirky observations that we've made, Fanta is a weird colour, a light orange almost yellow, there are hardly any bins in London, and you have to pay to use public toilets.

That's about it for our first day and a half in this incredibly cold and bleak looking place. Its only 9.30 but I'm definitely ready for sleep; Its been dark for 5 hours already!!