Aussie and I, Part 1

At nine fifteen p.m everyone except my sister where sitting in the living room waiting for the airport express van to arrive. ” Akki come to light the pahana” My mother shouted. I repeated. “coming!” was my sisters reply. ‘peep’ out side we heard a faint horn. “Its the van” Said my father calmly. “Its the van?!” asked my panic stricken mother. I ran towards the toilet.  False alarm ‘sigh’. the van had certainly not come yet. My sister, my father, My mother and I lit the pahana(finally).

Then at nine thirty we heard the engine of a van. yes it was here. My poor helpers where crying because all of us where going (usually when we go abroad at least one member of my family stays back). And so  we got into the van and waved vigorously at our sobbing helpers.

At the airport we went through quite a lot of  checking. Finally we came to the Araliya Lounge.  All of a sudden the lady at the counter said ” this card, the invitation to the business lounge, is for two people only”. ‘Sighs more trouble”. My sister and I agreed that we could stay out, but our parents refused to let us stay out by our selves. So after a lot of bargaining  the lady at the counter let all of us in. At one o clock we left to the boarding lounge. And after a long half an hour  we boarded the plane.  Thai airways is a very nice flight  even if they gave rice and curry for dinner, (mind you a very late dinner). As we where taking of f  I slowly watched the lights of my country get dimmer and dimmer and soon we where in the Thai land air space and now my journal will commence!

Flight:Thai Airways

Time:2.30 am

date:16.12.09

Well it was pretty boring (ok fine, very boring ). Probably because there where no t.v screens on the back of the seat in front of us. At least I fell asleep for two hours and ate for one hour ( the flight was three  hours).

Menu:Rice, chicken curry and Dhal. (well a typical Sri Lankan lunch, not dinner)

My view: Not bad (sort of boring, taking that I eat the same meal every day)

Desert: A strange purple cheese case (the colours probably there to match the colour of  the flight theme) that had chocolate cake at the bottom in place of  biscuits.

My view: actually it wasn’t that bad!( I hope I get to say that again)

Well after that I slept through the whole flight( thank goodness)

Place: Bangkok  Airport

Time 4.30 a.m

Date:16.12.09

A long line people who were apparently foreign to Thai Land led us to our bag. Our bags where easily identified due to the purple ribbon on them. As I carried my red Kipling bag I tugged  behind me a purple roller bag. My family and I where trying to find a taxi that  was big enough to carry our extraordinarily big luggage (and trust me trying to find a taxi that big and walking around in circles (very big) more than two times is not pleasant). Finally we found a booth with a taxi big enough for us. We  got to the Manhattan hotel. I rushed straight to the toilet. As soon as I was out I ‘plonked’ on the bed and fell soundly asleep.

At about eleven thirty we went to the MBK shopping center ( my mothers paradise and my doom) and I managed to get my hands on two pairs of shorts that I badly needed and a two polo t shirts. This market is a fascinating place but there are a few bad qualities about it . As I went walking through the dense jungle of people that surrounded me a bottle with an amber coloured liquid caught my eye. So I went to inspect. It turns out that not only was there that strange liquid which was alcohol inside the bottle there was a monocled or spectacled cobra ( I couldn’t make out the markings but I know it was either of these because of the patches on it)  and a scorpion. I asked the lady there why she puts them inside the alcohol. Apparently they where the ones who gave the alcohol its taste, flavor and strength.  Now that really troubled me to see those creatures who have done absolutely nothing to us to end up in a bottle of alcohol that was made up three quarter of themselves.

Really today wasn’t my day because whilst I dodged these people once again something caught my eye. Some big frames with some big bugs that included a Goliath beetle and locust nailed to them. It also had a large insectivorous bat nailed to it too. I went through another frame with only butterflies nailed to them and then one caught my eye. I was amazed. Not only troubled but disturbed as to find the rare and elusive Yellow Pansy (Junonia hierta) butterfly nailed to the frame. How can people not have  a heart! It was hard to forget. Throughout the day it would pop up in my mind.

After all that shopping we stopped at Dairy Queens and I got a vanilla cone for myself. I parted with my sister and mother who badly wanted to keep shopping. So I went back to the hotel with my father in a … SKY TRAIN!. It was quit a sensation being pushed and pulled  and then flung forward and then end up tripping and almost falling on your back because it keeps pulling you backward. We finally got back to the hotel. Well I had a long two-hour snooze! Later on I was to be awakened by my mother and my sisters noisy arrival. I realized how dirty I was ( It was not that I was covered in dust or some thing it was just that I hadn’t taken a wash since last night) so I rushed and took a wash.

We were to go to my mothers relatives place for dinner. Pretty soon her driver who was also a part-time taxi driver came in his taxi to pick us up.  Her house was really big  (when I say big I mean big). So I had a very nice dinner. Saying that three-quarter of  my dinner was tom yum soup and the other quarter was green curry and rice. Surprisingly this was home cooked by my mother’s cousin’s maid and herself. Pretty soon her driver came once again to pick us up and take us back to the hotel. I quickly changed into my pj’s and as quickly as I lay down on the bed I fell asleep.

Place: Manhattan Hotel, Bangkok , Thailand

Time: 10.30 am

Date: 17.12.09

I woke up with my head at the foot of the bed on the verge of falling of and cracking my head on the rock hard floor. I took a wash and we went down for breakfast. It was quite nice .

Menu: Hash browned potato, scrambled eggs and pancake.

We went back to our rooms to change our shoes. Then we went back down and went to a shopping center called Robinson. It was time for more shopping (Oh no, SIGHS ). Now shopping isn’t something I really like. Technically I’m trying to say that I hate shopping without being harsh. I especially hate trying on clothes. First I try on a simple skirt, After I show it to  my mother I go back and change into my normal clothes, when I open the door my mother tells me to try on something else. So it goes on from the simple skirt then to various blouses then more skirts then comes the PANTS. Now the PANTS irritate the life out of me having to put them on and take them off isn’t up to my pleasure.

Later in the day we went down for lunch to a small restaurants on the side of the road,

Menu: Pad Thai, Rice, Green curry chicken, Red curry prawns,

I thought it was quite nice actually but I didn’t eat the prawns . My favorites were the Pad Thai noodles. They where the best I would ever try! (so far). After lunch we went to the sky train station.  More shopping!(yay,NOT) (I wasn’t enjoying myself) |-( .  This time my father left and I was forced to tag along with my mother and sister on their trip to the Central Department Store. Central is a very big mall and will probably be one of the most easiest places to get lost in, along side Bondi Beach.  Now central has a lot of brands to choose from like Gucci, Prada, OshKosh, Abercrombie and Hush Puppies ( Hey, I didn’t know the brands I just looked at the labels).  After what felt like a whole year of shopping we finally took a sky train from Chit Lom to Nana and walked the rest to the hotel. We awoke our father who had apparently fallen into a deep sleep.

We each took a wash and started packing up our clothes, shoes and other stuff. After a little while we went down and sat in the lobby waiting for our taxi to arrive. After a little while we where finally greeted by our taxi driver. He was responsible for taking us to the airport. Now with luggage like ours your probably going to need a very big taxi, like the one we came in from the air port. Our luggage is about the size of a five ton elephant and this had to be packed into a teeny-weeny taxi that can only hold a one ton elephant baby elephant.  Now somehow, I’m not sure how because I didn’t see the process, we managed to fit the five ton elephant luggage into the teeny-weeny one ton baby elephant taxi.

On the road there was a big traffic jam. There was even one on the highway. This traffic jam was twice as big as Colombo’s busiest roads.  Now the good point when your stuck in a traffic jam in Thailand is that none of the people start horning and horning like mad people.  They don’t even scream and shout. They just sit and wait patiently. Quiet as mice. Not even one measly squeak. After about a very silent period of about one hour we finally reached the airport. We put our five ton elephant luggage on the trolleys and wheeled it away. Finally we got to the checking counter and got rid of our five ton elephant luggage. When we got to the duty-free my mother and sister looked like they where heaven while I thought  ‘Oh boy, More shopping. When will this end?! ‘  “Now no time to shop we have to get to the lounge”  said my father. ‘YES!’ I was silently rejoicing. “Aaiiyooo… thathi what men I need to get my eyeliner” said my thoroughly disappointed sister.  “Then get it later, we have to get to the lounge fast”  said my father. Surprisingly my mother and sister stopped pleading, but they where still in their dream state. My sister who was staring at the hand bags in one store looked like she was going to cry, at that precise moment she managed to trip on the escalator. Luckily for her she didn’t fall and squish her face. That may not have happened but it was very close to happening, but that didn’t switch her out of the dream state. And if that doesn’t I don’t know what will.

Later on we went down an escalator into a drab white-washed corridor. At the end of the corridor was to be the Thai Airways lounge.  It didn’t say ‘ Thai Airways Lounge’ , it didn’t say ‘Airways Thai Lounge’, it didn’t even say ‘Lounge Airways Thai’  It said ‘Bangkok Airways Lounge’. “Oh god” ‘Sigh’. We had to go all the way through two identical Duty- Free’s (the only difference was that they where backwards) and through another white washed drab corridor until finally came to a pair of transparent automatic doors that said that said ’Thai Airways Lounge: Thai Smooth as Silk’ . Then we walked into an arctic powered by Ac’s.  The carbon foot print must’ve really done damage to the ozone layer.

So in the lounge we sat and ate a few pastries. After they finished my sister asked my mother “Shall we go?” ” Ya, ok”  was my mothers reply.” Where are you going?” asked my father. I answered for them ” Don’t act as if you have only been with them for only one hour or something. It’s pretty obvious”. ” Ahh ok, But you better come soon”.  And before you knew it they where off like a fly to a cows backside!. Eyes set on the latest perfume or a new Kipling handbag,  or maybe a pair of black high heels.

Half an hour later they arrived carrying only two toilet bags, a bottle of whiskey and a new perfume. Wow this must be a first!  Absolutely amazing.  Usually when they go to a shopping mall they end up with enough bags to cover their faces. My initial thought was five bags in each hand. But now I am stumped. Once it was time we set of to the boarding lounge which was a long way from where we were. Whilst going I asked my father how long the flight was. Apparently it was six hours!  What was I to do for six-hours Each movie lasts just about one hour only. And I would probably get sick of watching six movies. Once we got to the checking counter before you enter the boarding lounge, the man who was checking our stuff suddenly said ” Ahhh Maddham you noot allawd to take liqids on dha plane” (honestly I don’t know how I understood what he said) taking out the bottle of whiskey that we got from the duty-free. After a quick exchange of words my mother and sister ran towards the Duty Free to return the bottle. My father and I proceeded towards the boarding lounge. Now whilst they where gone we had got bumped up to business class! And I’m not lying. Ahhh… business class the big round comfortable seats that have enough space to fit a gorilla in and still be able to move around in. Unfortunately my father refused it because he wanted us to be together ;(.

After what seemed like a decade my mother and sister came just in time, because as they came we boarded the plane. In the plane I sat in the normal seats. And whilst the plane proceeded down the runway there was a passenger announcement ” tail wind: blah, blah, blah…”  Then something just registered to my brain “Flight duration nine and a half hours” I turned around to glare at my father who was next to me “since when did six hours become nine hours?”.

After some dinner that was not to my pleasure (I didn’t like it so much that’s why I refuse to say what it was, Not only that but I’m not sure what it was ).

Flight: Thai Airways

Time:7.00am

Date: 18.12.09

I woke up to find that the sun had risen successfully and I was still very unsuccessfully still stuck on the plane. Time for breakfast ‘on the plane’.

Menu: Blue Berry Pancakes!, Sausages and a very fat hash brown.

My View: The Blue Berry Pancakes where the best! ( yes! I finally got to say it once more, But even better!). But even the rest of the food was nice.

Now on Google Earth  my father and I use the flight simulator. We would take off from the Sydney Airport Runway 25 and then crash somewhere. Once I think we crashed into the Sydney Opera house. The only reason we crash all the time is because no matter how much we try it wont land. It landed successfully only once and at that time it wasn’t supposed to land! . So as I said we take off usually from the Sydney Air Port off Runway 25. Now today I think we just landed on it (At least we didn’t crash on into it!). Finally after reuniting with our five ton elephant baggage and placing it on its rightful place, on the trolley (actually its right full place should be is on top of my the cupboard in my parents bedroom). And so after a lot of wheeling and walking we finally found Uncle Steff. Uncle Steff  was our family friend and we would be staying with him during our stay in Aussie. So after a noisy greeting and a lot of staring directed at us we loaded the bags and drove to Uncle Steffs house. Whilst going I explained what my true aim here is. I didn’t care if I didn’t see a kangaroo or a koala or even a Wallaby. All I wanted to see was Australia’s amazing bird life, I wanted to see The Laughing kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae), Rosellas (Platycercus elegans), Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla) and what I really really want to see is the Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus). Uncle Steffs next comment delighted me immensely ”Well then good for you they come to our balcony”.  Whilst going I saw a kookaburra on one of the power lines and then I remembered the song. If you know the song “kookaburra sits  on the old gum tree” Well I know a modified version.

kookaburra sits on the electric wire,

Jumping up and down cos’ his bums on fire,

Ouch kookaburra, Ouch kookaburra,

how sore your tail must be!

Hehe! We finally got back and before I could go my mother, sister and father went and took a wash so as I walked into the bathroom it was time to go pick up Aunty Giana. I wanted to see her really bad so I rushed and got into the car. We arrived at McDonald’s where Aunty Giana stood patiently in her pink outfit and blue scarf.”Now nanga that’s what a Rosella looks like” (Rosellas are a bright red and blue bird that has been compared to Aunty Giana!) as said by uncle Steff. We went to the supermarket at Engadine called Woolworth’s but it was given a nickname by us  Wooly’s is what we called it. Its variety was amazing. From fruits to flowers to chocolates to ice cream to various breads.

We stopped and checked out the small bakers called Bakers Delight, and very delightful it was. One of the ladies who worked there asked us from where we where from, and before anyone else could answer Uncle Steff answered for us, surprisingly the answer was ” Ahh, Washington” Every one stifled a laugh, “Oh really what a shame because in Canada we have a branch. Ahh, Its cauld Corn? Urmm, no naut corn. Hmmm, Ahh! yes Cobs. So If any of you’ll go to Canada take a look at the one there”(Her accent was quite new and very funny to us too) ” Alright” we replied, we will thank you”. Not once did that lady think we where from any other country … like Sri Lanka! maybe. Nope not at all she was completely convinced. Once we where out I asked Uncle Steff why he said we where from Washington. “to save the ‘Chit-Chat’”  was his answer, it may be a tad bit strange but its true. On the way back I saw a whole flock of sulfur Crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita). They looked much to me like large flightless swans with no such visible neck. One of them flew straight at the windscreen like a mad maniac. Apparently they where like crows in Sri Lanka they never had!. “If you ever hold a sausage there’s a Cocky right next to you”. Humph Uncle Steff maybe right because when they carry out all the groceries there are about twenty off them all trying to corner you. Well then all  you have to do is get past their feather fury and get to the car as fast as you can.

We went back and as we got there I ran to the shower. Ooh there’s nothing better than a warm shower on a freezing cold day! As I came out I heard the most coolest, wackiest, amazing strange funny, etc. thing on Earth a kookaburra. It sounded like a laughing hyena crossed with a choking frog ( not that I have heard one). I went out on to the deck. Our neighbors have a big blue, gray pool and in front is just jungle. I stared into the leafy undergrowth. In there I managed to find a green figure. A bird showing its bright green behind, Then turned around. I almost fell over this feathery green bird behind that turned out to be a beautiful king parrot. Its breast was a bright crimson that you could probably see from a mile away, Its wings and tail where an olive-green but brighter.

After dinner we made the water-bed with Uncle Steff. I was delighted by this because I have never slept on one and I have heard stories that its really fun, and so right after making the bed that I would sleep for the past few days I quickly changed and jumped on the bed. It felt like I was swimming in jelly. I bounced on it twice and I was satisfied! And so I wish you a very good night before a very tired Flit drifts off to sleep.

-From your friend Flit, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!

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