:)

I am so happy, I'm going to Perth again 3 weeks later! :)

Friday was pretty fruitful. I got the chance to visit Sats Catering on Friday. We took an exclusive tour (it's exclusive now because they do not allow visitors after the food contamination incidents at Prima Deli and Royals) around the production floor. It was an eye-opener for me. We saw how they made pralines in the chocolate room, how they prepared sandwiches in the cold kitchen, how the lady picked salad leaves even though they all look very good already! The smell at the baking center was heavenly! Did you know they make their own sausages too? It was such a cute sight, pop pop pop out comes the sausages from the sausage making machine. The guide also told us each chef fries something like 800 omelettes a day??!! There's a First Class kitchen dedicated to preparing meals for First Class passengers, and ethnic kitchens. The Japanese kitchens were particularly interesting. All the tableware are so pretty.

I saw how much work is put into preparing inflight meals, I will never waste meals onboard again :(

We were treated to a random sampling at lunch. They served us food from CX714. Gosh the food tastes so good on ground! Apparently we lose 30% of our sense of taste when we are 30,000 feet high.

Met up with lela, shimin and huimin in the evening. I am so ashamed to say the last time we met was more than a year ago. And we still laughed over the same old funny incidents which happened during our secondary school days. :) Okay, good luck to you, huimin! You shall end your playing days tonight!

The long weekend in Perth .. 2

Sunday was spent at Fremantle. I heart Fremantle! We went to the much talked about Sunday market. It started to rain when we tried to get to the harbour so we hid in a cafe and fell asleep zzZzzz because it was so warm and cosy inside. :) We had the "original and world's best fish & chips" at Cicerellos. Yum! We took a stroll along the beach.. The sight was beautiful.. the breeze was I have remembered to bring everything Bran asked me to, except for my camera. Photos won't do the place any justice, you have to be there to take in the sheer beauty of Fremantle.

By then, it had already felt like my heart weighed a ton..

We took a slow back to the train station.. and held hands throughout the 40 mins train ride back to Midland.. I couldn't stop crying when I parted with Bran, the next time we meet again could be 3 months later.

I cried when I walked away from Bran, I cried on the train, people were looking but I didn't care.. The cabbie even asked Bran if he wanted to turn back.. I cried my way back to Perth city. Everytime the scene replays in my head tears well up in my eyes.

I stayed in my brother's rented room for the entire Monday. It was simply too cold to get out! It's not that I didn't want to return to Singapore, but the ticket required me to stay in Perth for a minimum of 3 days.. so I earliest flight I could catch was the midnight flight from Perth to Singapore on Tuesday morning.

I was back to work an hour after arriving in Singapore.. It was a bittersweet trip. I could not wait to see Bran again, but I knew I would have to bear with the heartache of parting with him all over again.

How was your weekend?

The long weekend in Perth .. 1

I haven't felt this way for a long time - I am very glad to be home - after being on the go for the past 4 days. Please do not mistaken, I really like to be at home. To the agony of Bran, I like to stay home, especially on weekends :). I've never felt so glad to be back home.

The long weekend was exceptionally fruitful. I have been planning this trip since the beginning of August. When SQ finally launched their Natas fares in mid-August, I must have been one of the first few to grab a ticket to Perth.

The most important task to the trip is done, but it was only the start of many more errands. The most burdensome task of all must be bran's bike - in fact it was my biggest worry. Bran has asked me to bring his beloved bike with me when I go over. I had to collect the bike from bran's brother, contact the bike shop to arrange for packing, contact the airline to ensure sports equipment will be accepted, contact car rental to make sure the bike can fit into the car, and the endless worries about getting the bike to the airport, and how to manage the bike on my own when I arrive in Perth. Mind you, the box measured 140cm x 70cm x 20cm, and weighed 15kg!

At one point I was so upset that I told Bran I didn't want to go to Perth anymore. I still feel very guilty about this.. because we have been looking forward to the weekend together for the longest time.

After one month of anticipation, the day has finally come. Bran's brother, girlf, mom and aunty were very kind to offer to send me to the airport. When they came in Clare's Colt, the box couldn't fit into the car! Let alone fit the 5 of us! Thanks to Shannon's quick thinking, and thankfully Papa was not using the Trajet that night, so we took Papa's car and drove ourselves to the airport.

I could still remember the anxiety and anticipation of meeting Bran again after two months. I was so excited I could not fall asleep :)

I arrived in Perth at 6:15am in the morning. The customs & immigrations took some time, partly because of the bike. When the doors opened, and I saw Bran seated at the waiting area, I couldn't have been happier. I missed him so much!

We drove ourselves to Bullsbrook where Bran's camp is and dropped off his bike. It's nice to know where Bran's workplace is. I like to call that place Hogsmeade, and Bran's camp is Hogwarts. Bran knows I can understand better if he relates everything to Harry Potter, so he has started refering to Bullsbrook as Hogsmeade too :). Speaking of which I'm reminded of the Harry Potter attraction which will open in Orlando next year, but I'll save that for another post!

We spent the entire Saturday in Perth City. We had lunch at Dragon Palace with my brother, (everyone says it's they serve the best Dim Sum there, but honestly I think we have exceeded our sodium intake for the whole month) and we walked around Perth City till 10pm. We bought Bran's favourite ham shavings, walked to the bank of Swan River, and tried to enjoy our ham before the seagulls tried to steal our snack! It got too cold so we walked back to the city. I had an enjoyable evening with Bran at The Shed, it's an alfresco drinking area and there were fire places to keep ourselves warm. Then it was back to Hogsmeade for the night..