The very beginning of my journey to Australia (written Jan. 2)

So the day I left to come here my throat started to get a tickle...and all through traveling it started getting worse and developed into a cough.(Sounds pretty bad)...and recently got a stuffy/runny nose. Last night I noticed my voice was starting to get hoarse...and this morning it is almost gone! It's so weird....I've NEVER lost my voice b4...and I have tried when I was younger...I always wanted to know what it felt like lol. I don't know how bad it is right now cause I don't want to try to talk loud cause I don't want to wake anyone up...but so far me testing it...it's kinda close to being gone! It doesn't hurt at all...just annoying!


---The first flight from Seattle-London was about 9 1/2 hrs and was pretty good! I had a window seat and was sitting next to a guy my age from Dublin, Ireland. He is a street performer there playing the drums and plays in bands. We talked for a bit of the flight getting to know about each others cultures. I had nice leg room and in the back of the seat in front of me there was my individual tv, where I could watch new released movies, shows music...even the flight path we were on! I watched District 9 (so weird...prob won't watch again), and slept a couple hrs. I had a screwdriver right b4 dinner, white wine w/ dinner (it was the best one I've had so far!--wish I remember which one it was!---then another screwdriver right after dinner! (all free....I was impressed :D ). That helped me to get some sleep.


-We got to London about 12:30 noon their time...and I was EXHAUSTED. I hadn't been able to connect w/ my friend to go out but that was ok. The Heathrow airport (the section I was in) was crazy. SOO busy...and loads of ppl. There were tons of shops there.... Gucci-Mac-Tiffanys-Victoria Secret---Sooo many HIGH END stores...it was crazy! Then they had eating places....HUGE liquor store, chocolate store, electronics store, gaming store, book store...I couldn't believe it! I was already feeling sick so I just ate bagel & cream cheese there. I was hungry and didn't want to risk trying something I didn't like. I couldn't believe the cost of things there! It was like $3 for a med. size bag of chewy gummy fruity candies...and that was in pounds...so in USD it was almost $6! I tried sitting down for a while to kill the time but I was so tired...just wanted to sleep but knew there was no way I could lay down w/ my things in such a way to feel comfortable it wouldn't get stolen. So after a while...I went to the bathroom and slept in one of the stalls! (gross...I know...I made it as sanitary as possible!)..but I coudn't get into a position there to really sleep...but I was able to get about 20 min of a refresher. After that I just made sure every hr or so to get up and walk around for 10-20 min to keep me awake.


-The flight from London-Singapore sucked. It was the longest flight (about 12 1/2 hrs). The seat I was in was smaller than b4, I had a window seat, but it was above the wing and the window placement made it difficult for me to see anything. There was an old couple seated next to me...they were from Nice, France....and they were...well... French. Enough said! :) The woman was nicer than the man, but they spoke very broken english. I only got about 2 hrs of sleep on that flight as well....and I didn't like the food they served...I had chicken..but it looked gray and it grossed me out!


-When we got to Singapore it was HUMID...so much in the airport...w/in minutes I was sweating. Luckily, they had free internet...so I tried to send everyone a text from there...but I did it wrong and didn't realize it till I was here in AU already. I only had an hr inbetween flights there...which was a bummer cause I've heard GREAT things about that airport...a river through it, free massages, lounging chairs, huge tv/movie screens, soccer field...etc. I wish I had time to explore it but I didn't. This flight was pretty good, cause it was only about 1/2 full..I had a good window seat (but it was night--couldn't see anything)..but the best part was I had no one sitting next to me...so I could get up whenever I wanted...and best of all I put up the middle armrest and was able to actually lay down a bit! I got the most sleep on that flight (maybe 2-3 hrs total)...plus the food was the best there...I had a real salad (other flights it was quinoa or something like that) slow roasted pork in a lemon butter sauce w/ steamed veggies and potatoes. I didnt eat the pork but dipped everything in the sauce! :)