The evening flight from Birmingham to Frankfurt on the 9th September 2005 was pretty depressing and nerve-wracking, but thankfully uneventful.
Frankfurt Airport was awful, customs handled my laptop like it was a basketball, and I was really really worried about missing my flight as I didn't know where to go as the announcements were loud and tinny but indistinct, but fortunately I found a nice Scottish lady who pointed me in the right direction.
I watched Downfall on the plane from Frankfurt to Singapore... pretty good film. House of Wax and Monster in Law were shite obviously but by that time I had exhausted the reserves of British comedy and needed something to send me to sleep.
The climb was fantastic, the view once we got above the clouds was awe-inspiring, I wished I could capture it, there was a thunderstorm, splitting the clouds apart, fantastic, I love storms, there have been a few here, but due to the location we only get the tail end, so the storms are rarely destructive... I was really pissed off that I missed the Himalayas, it was night time when we went over... grrr
Experienced severe turbulence over Bali, was very nervous then as it was my first flight... The rest of the flights were fine though, jet lag was bad, got hungry and tired at weird times.
Singapore Airport was nice, though very hot and humid outside and a bit daunting inside as I happened to catch sight of guards with big guns. and hearing what happens if someone plants stuff on you prior to getting searched. I didn't leave my bags for a second. they'd blow it up anyway, hehe unattended bags and all that, can't take chances.
Brief uneventful domestic flight from Sydney Airport to Brisbane Airport culminating in a case of severe luggage strap failure upon retrieval from the luggage area... I forgot such petty annoyances once I left the airport and was hit with an overwhelming blast of heat and dazzling sunshine... "I remember this, it's called 'The Sun', right?"
I'm living in Corinda, in Southeast Brisbane, about an hour's drive from the sunshine coast :) lovely weather here, so bright, and hot, (Queensland isn't called the sunshine state for nowt) and the sky is fantastic, the birds, the plants, the palm trees, everything lush and green :)
For a frame of reference, I'm staying not far from the factory where they make Castlemaine beer hehe. Brisbane people are so nice, so easygoing and helpful and relaxed, but they work hard and go the extra mile :)
From what I have observed they have great taste in music too, British stuff is very popular, I'm listening to early 90's stuff, and also jazz and classical stuff, recently discovered Dave Brubeck, and have been playing him alot on the Dj-ing gigs+events I do occasionally, I do the lighting but because I know more about classical and jazz stuff, I can suggest good tracks to the DJ. He does the sound and I do the lighting and effects stuff, and we both set up the equipment too, (lighting truss and lamps and strobe and effects pieces, lighting laptop, external drive (full of mp3s) loads of cables, power packs, adaptors, etc ) and speakers and mixers, so, its a roadie's/rigger's job too, knackers your back sometimes...
Id love to go to New Zealand, I'm definitely going to save up and go. The mountains, valleys, forests, rivers and wildlife look great, the climate is similar to the UK I've heard, and the population is made up of little communities where everybody knows each other, like Wales... so I've been told... hehehe
Posts
