11NOV2005

 Finally the day arrived to which i was looking foward to for last 1 month. The great excitement was in the air as i was going back to my native place Delhi to catch up with my parents, friends and relatives whom i had last seen 8 months back when i had to move to Sydney for doing an MBA. As usual had a quick shower did some last minute checks and i was all set and done for the trip. I had already checked the seats which i wanted on www.seatguru.com and done a web check as i am a krisflyer member.

A quick telephone call to the silver taxi service and the cab was there in flat 5 mins at my North Sydney Apartment. The Sun was shining bright thankGod because its been raining a couple of days back. I decided to check out the morning city life which was awakening up slowly. So told the driver to drive through the city than the normal cross city tunnel which people normally take.

Arrived at the Sydney KingsFord Smith International Airport Exactly 2.5 hours before the departure time. Took a trolley from the trolley vending machine after donating a AUD 2 coin and i was inside the terminal . I could easily see the long economy class pax line. But then the webcheck in was to save me from that madness. Quickly told the ground staff handling the Economy line as to where the webcheck in baggage drop point was and soon i found myself standing in the business class line.

A quick weighing of my baggage showed that it was about 36Kgs 4kg+ the normal limit allowed but unlike QF no tantrums were thrown. A heavy tag attached to my bag, boarding passes issued, The baggage receipt issued and i was all ready.

My Gf who had come to see me off seems to be feeling a bit hungry now so we decided to head for the food court. The food court is an amazing place as u not only can enjoy the meals but also can savour the action at the airport a perfect venue for plane spotters like us. Food and a date with ur fav airlines... I think planespotting like trainspotting too is a male dominated hobby. While my baby indulged in devouring the 6inch sub from subway along with cookie and coke. I decided to get up close and personal with the beauties which were walking and on and off the tarmac that day. Here are a couple of pics of those babe who i had admired included the AirNZ,SingaporeAirlines, Malaysia Airlines, China Eastern and China southern.

Finally it was time to bid farewell to my Gf for a 45 days. It seemed it a bit tearfull moment for her but i reckon that i was really happy because i was going to be in company of other beauties which i admire offcourse i am talking abt Airplanes what were u guys thinking lol ? After a quick round of hugging and PDA (Public Display of Affection) at the airport i moved quickly to the customs. A quick stamp on my passport and now was the turn of the security check.

We were advised to remove the laptops from our cabin baggage as they needed to be xrayed seperately. I forgot to put the keys on the belt so as soon as i passed the metal detector it beeped. Opps a quick apology tendered and this time the keys removed too i was cleared to invade the duty free. But  as i move to do so i am mobbed by some security agents and told that i have been randomly selected for a ballistic and a chemical test.

I just nod and follow them quickly they take swabs of my sweat from my fingers and the interior and exterior of cabbin baggage which are examined by the machine after which i am allowed to carry on. Maybe because we north Indians look a bit like turkish lebanese ppl thats why i was caught like that. Bt as far as i am concerned this the nearest i have been to when it comes to racial discrimination on part of australian authorities.

As i had got bit late in that chemical testing tangle i dashed towards the dutyfree quickly bought the 2 litre hennessey cognac and i was done for the day. My flight was due to depart from the lastgate which was in the extreme end of the terminal from where the UA flights to the east coast depart. As i arrived on my requisite gate i could see the boarding had already commenced while on the nearby gate the boarding had just closed for the NRT bound JAL flight.

 SQ 232 SYD-SIN

After surrendering a tab of my boarding card and walking through the jetway soon i was standing infront of the gorgeous singapore ladies guiding pax to their requisite seats. The mascara and the foundation was clearly visible i guess the girl had overdone her makeup that day But anyways the bottom line is she looked cute if not atleast perfect

 Once i jumped into my window seat i went into photography clicking mode too. I was waiting for the JAL plane to commence push back but that didnt happen pretty much soon. BTW the JAL Boeing 747-400 had an exclusive livery and she looked great.

Anyways the japanese and the singapore chick both commenced pushback together. Once in the taxi position the Captain came on the PA system and told we were waiting for the NRT bound hottie to clear the path and soon we will be on our way. This wait lasted for about a couple of mins and soon the our giant was taxing across the tarmac. As i was in photography clicking mode i continued taking pics of the domestic terminal and planes parked in the remote stands before we finally lined up on one of the parrellel runways for the long journey back home.

Within no time the 4 engines of the giant singapore chick came alive pushing us foward down the runway and soon we glided up in the sky providing nice views of the botany bay to the passengers. BTW botany bay beaches are the planespotters paradise too and very famous among sydney spotters as one can really get upclose and personal with the planes.

Once we reached cruising altitude the bar service was commenced. We were handed over menu cards as to decide what we wanted to eat and drink. The best part of the flight started now ie the liquor service was commenced. For me the need of the hour was rum and coke plus a beer. Instead of going for Heinekan i decided to try Tiger beer a thai brand and no wonder i was impressed. My asian neighbour from Thailand who was sitting besides me seems to have got tipsy after drinking a couple of beers only while urs truly couldnt feel much. Infact this made me speculate and analyse myself as to whether i should call myself a drunkard. Anyways the nibbles were great along with booze and in no time the meal cart arrived

I went for the singapore noodles along with stir fried veges and chicken in hot chilly sauce. Offcouse besides this there was bread, a selection of white or red australian wine, cheese and creme cracker biscuit and last but not the least the choclate icecream cone of streets brands. For our indian brothers who dont know streets brand the same brand in india is called Walls.

Once done with the meals it was time for a nap or for theexploring the Krisworld. And indeed the IFE didnt let us down. U could play games, take part in quiz watch many movies running simultaneously. I watched a couple of movies while at the same time keeping the progress of our flight. The map would show the famous landmark distances too.

We passed over through Denpasar or Bali as we commonly know it and i could see the airstrip down below. Finally decided to take a snap thanks to my neighbour who was sleeping like a dead man . Then after an hour got up went to the loo to freshen up myself. Another meal service commenced which consisted of coffee or tea along with a snack. Took coffee as we were gulping down the food the captain came online telling us about flight information . Soon the connecting flight information started displaying on our ptv sets. There were flights scheduled to everywhere, KUL, Kuching, Penang, Delhi, Denpasar. Indeed Changi is a great Hub.

Within matter of few mins we commenced our descent for a smooth landing at Changi International Airport.

As the brakes were applied the cabin crew came over the PA and said Ladies & Gentlemen welcome to Singapore. The local time is 5:30PM. We would be shortly arriving at our boarding gate passengers are requested not to remove their belts till the seat belt sign is switched off. Its important to note that there are heavy penalties and imprisonment for bringing narcotics into Singapore which also includes a death sentence. Thankyou.

I disembarked quickly and paced quickly towards my the boarding gate of my Delhi flight which was in another corner. If i correctly remember my Flight from sydney arrived at F8 while i had to go to E 52 or something for the Delhi flight . Went to the loo for a quick leak. Whats really funny was that the urinals were situated at a lower height as if we were nursery class children.

Didnt get much time to explore the airport and by the time i arrived for my Delhi flight gate the boarding had commenced. Again same issue. Had to remove the laptop from my cabin baggage for seperate inspection. after surrendering one of the tab of my boarding coupon i simply went to the aerobridge as boarding for my lane was in progress. Took up my seat and again went in photography mode. But the damm flash wasnt working and it was getting dark so decided to call it a day in regards to pics.

SQ 408 SIN-DEL

The delhi bound flight was more or less uneventfull besides the fact that this team my neighbours were too hootties from brisbane who were going to Delhi for some yoga and stuff.

Before we took off i clicked a couple of pics of aircraft at the changi terminal

As we waited for our turn to come up for take off i could see the long que for departures it looked like a maze of 777,s . Here is a short of a SQ 777 which took off before us

One thing which really amazed me of the 777-300 was the engine power. I reckon the whole airplane  vibrated as we took off from the runway. As it was getting darker we could clearly see the lights of various cities in Malaysia and the ships in the ocean.

The flightpath which we took for the delhi flight was That we flew from the Singapore and moved along the coast of malaysia and Thailand then we took a left turn and crossed bay of bengal finally entering the indian land somewhere between calcutta and Hyderabad. With flying over allahabad, Kanpur and landing at IGIA airport

The Krissilver magzine had quoted that the flight time was 5hrs 30 mins but we made a neat touch down exactly 40 mins before time. And by the time it showed that the flight would arrive at IGIA i was even out of the terminal on the way back home...