In all honesty, this year, I knew the holiday I wanted to take. I was going to fly to Los Angeles and somehow make my way down to Boulder, Colorado, to see my friend Reindert. I might have picked up a car and driven through all sorts of interesting states - I might have flown to Denver.... It would have been three weeks, in The States, bumming about around somewhere between Tijuana, Tennessee and all sorts of places in between.
This didn't happen.
Instead, my darling adopted 'kid brother', Raj, bless his soul, announces he's going to get married. My 'kid brother' is an 27-year-old Indian National from Mumbai (Bombay). He's awesome. But when good Indian boys from nice families reach a certain age, then the have to find a girl and get married. It's just what is done. Don't make me go into the politics of Indian Weddings and arranged marriages and the rest of the argy-bargy that goes on. (But I am looking forward to getting my hands on the Times if India's Matrimonial pages for a giggle - shaadi.com is just not the same...)
Raj is marrying a lovely, steady, down to earth girl from Delhi. They work in the same company. They're both based in Australia. They're a good match. She has my stamp of approval - she keeps Raj in line. This is a good thing. She doesn't like Marvel movies either, which is also good for me as Raj and I can continue our 'family movie night' traditions.
Anyway, I'm writing this from the Plaza Premium Lounge at Hong Kong Airport. I'm stuck away in this quaint, almost British Empire room, overlooking the Lantau Island cable car, eating their dim sum, drinking their water, abusing their WiFi and I've got a shower booked in a few hours, ready for the next leg. The six hour flight to Delhi. Which is where the fun starts.
Today's my day of reflection, since I've got this ten hour lay over here.
The plane left at 1.05 AM Melbourne time. Horrid hour. I'd been awake since 5.30 that morning and had gone and done a full day at work.
Checking in at Cathay Pacific, there were some issues. I blame Peter Dutton, and I won't go into a diatribe about the militarisation of our borders, but thankfully this was sorted out quickly. Seems the Border
The flight, or what I remember of it was fine. Cathay Pacific are fine - I'll see what the other three legs are like. I dropped a Stilnox about an hour in. The sleep was there, but patchy. I remember being woken by an announcement that the crew needed a medical doctor. The guys next to me slept the whole way over, not moving from their seats. No major turbulence that I felt anyway. All good.
So now I have ten hours to kill in Hong Kong airport. With all that has been going on, I decided against going into town. I'm coming back here for 48 hours on the way home, I'll do my favourite dumpling bar then. Hanging out here for a while will do.
Coming into the airport, I found an area with some loungers. Getting horizontal for an hour or two helped to relieve the Stilnox haze (which was only minor) and iron a few kinks out of my back.
I do know this is the easy part, The fun starts later tonight when I land in Delhi.
I have no idea what to expect. I know that Delhi airport, though modern, is manic. Apart from that, and the fact that the hotel will pick me up from near the Vodaphone concession stand, that is all I know.
This is the adventure.
Am I excited? I think I'm too exhausted to be excited - not from the travel, but the last few months.
What am I looking forward to? To be honest, other than not being at work, I'm looking forward to wearing Birkenstocks and play clothes for the next two weeks. The rest will follow. And writing every day. There should be some good fodder to come out of this trip.
Right, kip time, my lounge chair awaits.
Today's Song: (Because I always sing this to myself whenever I'm stuck at an airport - and still one of my all time favourite bands)
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