Context:
Just had a brunch with Mba Juju and Olive at F block kitchen. We had fries, toasted bread, chicken fingers, and yogurt. Our first time cooking rather less Indonesian-tasted foods since we arrived. It turned out well. We'll see how far the food can keep going. Planning to go to the library today with Olive, while Mba Juju will go with Mba Hesti to inspect a house. While waiting, I thought I might actually write a post (something I've been planning to do since day 1 of my arrival).
How Was the Trip?
To begin with, I am very grateful that I have arrived here, to say the least, considering all the things I went through during my trip.
So I was scheduled to depart for Canberra on 8th of January from Jakarta. Since I was in Bener Meriah at the time, I had to fly to Jakarta first. Yes we do have a tiny tiny ariport in Bener Meriah, but it does not have any flight that goes to Jakarta. So I had to transit in Medan and eventually fly to Jakarta.
So that was the plan. Until things began to go wrong. Bener Meriah - Medan flight was scheduled at 9.40, but no airplane seemed to show up. It's not until 1.5 hours later that the airport crew confirmed that our flight was canceled due to bad weather. If you asked me, the weather seemed fine. The sky was technically clear, with only minor dark cloud. But it was fine. I had taken flight with worst weather condition.
We were given two options: 1, we can request to be transferred to the nearest airport (Malikul Saleh Airport Lhukseumawe) who actually had a flight schedule at 3pm; 2, to be scheduled for tomorrow's flight with no guarantee that it will fly tomorrow; 3, ask for a refund (only 90% is refunded).
What was my decision? I knew I had to be in Jakarta at least the following day. And my dad thought the same too. So, these where my decisions:
1. Ask to be transferred to the nearest airport and ask to be transferred to an available flight once I am in Medan.
The first request was OK. The problem was no seat was available for Jakarta. And finally I was only facilitated with the first one, while my second flight was refunded.
What would I do in Medan? If you thought that only LION group ran out of seat, you are wrong. All flights are fully booked: Garuda, Citilink, Sriwijaya. They all ran out of seat. The only option I had was to fly to KL and bound to Jakarta. I personally didn't like idea. So I talked to LION CS and they were very difficult on me. I explained to them my situation and that did very little to my rescue.
It was 4pm and I could not find any flight. I decided to not sleep at all and just sit at any bench available in Kuala Namu airport. I checked all the flights going Jakarta and the earliest flight was at 5am. I thought there would be at least one person who would oversleep and I will take over his seat. No, I was wrong. Everybody seemed to be catching their flights.
11AM and finally one CS crew took pity on me and she worked with her team to fly me with any means possible. One seat was available. I don't what happened whether someone had missed his flight or anything. I just jumped to the opportunity. I paid IDR 2,100,000 and 2,5 hours later I was in Jakarta.
Now I have over 24 hours to take care of everything. From the airport I went straight to Matahari to get a pair of jeans (I should have taken 2 pairs at least, got some cash changed, and many more.
The next day I went to Gunawan's and got my luggage and went straight to the airport when it was still 12.30pm. I didn't mind. I don't want anything to go wrong. I had enough of drama.
Things were okay, until I forgot that my powerbank and charger was left near check-in counter, while I was already in the boarding room. I ran and told the airport crew the situation. They let me go out and took my things.
Flight was on schedule. Now I can relax. 6.5 hours flight with Qantas was just okay. Nothing fancy. I watched a film but I forgot what it was. But what I remember is that I was listening to Carole King's. Indeed she is the greatest singer there is. But even Ms King can't put me to sleep. I stay awoke the whole time and even the entire day. You know when you are over tired that you loose the sense of tiredness?
Like all those trouble aren't enough, when I arrived in Sydney I was supposed to take my luggage to be transferred to another flight. This is new to me. Normally when I have a connecting flight, I won't get my luggage until I arrive in my destination. It's different here. We declared our luggage in Sydney, so it has to be claimed and then dropped again.
Clumsy that I am, I took a wrong luggage. In my defense, they looked very much alike. Luckily I realized that when I was still lining up for a declaration. Unluckily they won't let me step back and change the luggage. I went through all the processes. I went out to arrival terminal and straight to Qantas luggage service. Explained what happened and instructed to go to a place and returned the luggage. When I asked about my luggage, they say: do that in Canberra. So I got to an airplane without knowing what would happen to my luggage. My fatigue was all over me so I forgot what worry felt like.
I hoped to catch some sleep in an ATR-class airplane from Sydney to Canberra. That didn't happen. I stayed awake.
Arrived in Canberra airport, welcomed by Hannah and Holly. They were super nice and I felt welcome from the get go. I went to the Qantas luggage service at Canberra airport and they told me that I will get my luggage in the next arrival. It was a relief. 1.5 hours later, there it is: MY LUGGAGE. FINALLY.
Hannah got us a van taxi and it took us all the way to Toad Hall. Thought I might sleep, but no, we had to go to a bank office to verify our account.
For now that's enough. We will talk about everything some other time. Ciao....
Just had a brunch with Mba Juju and Olive at F block kitchen. We had fries, toasted bread, chicken fingers, and yogurt. Our first time cooking rather less Indonesian-tasted foods since we arrived. It turned out well. We'll see how far the food can keep going. Planning to go to the library today with Olive, while Mba Juju will go with Mba Hesti to inspect a house. While waiting, I thought I might actually write a post (something I've been planning to do since day 1 of my arrival).
How Was the Trip?
To begin with, I am very grateful that I have arrived here, to say the least, considering all the things I went through during my trip.
So I was scheduled to depart for Canberra on 8th of January from Jakarta. Since I was in Bener Meriah at the time, I had to fly to Jakarta first. Yes we do have a tiny tiny ariport in Bener Meriah, but it does not have any flight that goes to Jakarta. So I had to transit in Medan and eventually fly to Jakarta.
So that was the plan. Until things began to go wrong. Bener Meriah - Medan flight was scheduled at 9.40, but no airplane seemed to show up. It's not until 1.5 hours later that the airport crew confirmed that our flight was canceled due to bad weather. If you asked me, the weather seemed fine. The sky was technically clear, with only minor dark cloud. But it was fine. I had taken flight with worst weather condition.
We were given two options: 1, we can request to be transferred to the nearest airport (Malikul Saleh Airport Lhukseumawe) who actually had a flight schedule at 3pm; 2, to be scheduled for tomorrow's flight with no guarantee that it will fly tomorrow; 3, ask for a refund (only 90% is refunded).
What was my decision? I knew I had to be in Jakarta at least the following day. And my dad thought the same too. So, these where my decisions:
1. Ask to be transferred to the nearest airport and ask to be transferred to an available flight once I am in Medan.
The first request was OK. The problem was no seat was available for Jakarta. And finally I was only facilitated with the first one, while my second flight was refunded.
What would I do in Medan? If you thought that only LION group ran out of seat, you are wrong. All flights are fully booked: Garuda, Citilink, Sriwijaya. They all ran out of seat. The only option I had was to fly to KL and bound to Jakarta. I personally didn't like idea. So I talked to LION CS and they were very difficult on me. I explained to them my situation and that did very little to my rescue.
It was 4pm and I could not find any flight. I decided to not sleep at all and just sit at any bench available in Kuala Namu airport. I checked all the flights going Jakarta and the earliest flight was at 5am. I thought there would be at least one person who would oversleep and I will take over his seat. No, I was wrong. Everybody seemed to be catching their flights.
11AM and finally one CS crew took pity on me and she worked with her team to fly me with any means possible. One seat was available. I don't what happened whether someone had missed his flight or anything. I just jumped to the opportunity. I paid IDR 2,100,000 and 2,5 hours later I was in Jakarta.
Now I have over 24 hours to take care of everything. From the airport I went straight to Matahari to get a pair of jeans (I should have taken 2 pairs at least, got some cash changed, and many more.
The next day I went to Gunawan's and got my luggage and went straight to the airport when it was still 12.30pm. I didn't mind. I don't want anything to go wrong. I had enough of drama.
Things were okay, until I forgot that my powerbank and charger was left near check-in counter, while I was already in the boarding room. I ran and told the airport crew the situation. They let me go out and took my things.
Flight was on schedule. Now I can relax. 6.5 hours flight with Qantas was just okay. Nothing fancy. I watched a film but I forgot what it was. But what I remember is that I was listening to Carole King's. Indeed she is the greatest singer there is. But even Ms King can't put me to sleep. I stay awoke the whole time and even the entire day. You know when you are over tired that you loose the sense of tiredness?
Like all those trouble aren't enough, when I arrived in Sydney I was supposed to take my luggage to be transferred to another flight. This is new to me. Normally when I have a connecting flight, I won't get my luggage until I arrive in my destination. It's different here. We declared our luggage in Sydney, so it has to be claimed and then dropped again.
Clumsy that I am, I took a wrong luggage. In my defense, they looked very much alike. Luckily I realized that when I was still lining up for a declaration. Unluckily they won't let me step back and change the luggage. I went through all the processes. I went out to arrival terminal and straight to Qantas luggage service. Explained what happened and instructed to go to a place and returned the luggage. When I asked about my luggage, they say: do that in Canberra. So I got to an airplane without knowing what would happen to my luggage. My fatigue was all over me so I forgot what worry felt like.
I hoped to catch some sleep in an ATR-class airplane from Sydney to Canberra. That didn't happen. I stayed awake.
Arrived in Canberra airport, welcomed by Hannah and Holly. They were super nice and I felt welcome from the get go. I went to the Qantas luggage service at Canberra airport and they told me that I will get my luggage in the next arrival. It was a relief. 1.5 hours later, there it is: MY LUGGAGE. FINALLY.
Hannah got us a van taxi and it took us all the way to Toad Hall. Thought I might sleep, but no, we had to go to a bank office to verify our account.
For now that's enough. We will talk about everything some other time. Ciao....
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