Do you like watching movies on a long-haul flight? Until recently, I had never watched movies on a long-haul flight. I don’t know why, but I decided to make history during my recent flight from Sydney to Singapore by watching two movies.
It was my last chance to change my personal history. It was, as Elvis Presley said in one of his songs, now or never. After all, I did not know when I would go on a long-haul flight again.
The Qantas flight from Sydney to Singapore took 8 hours 20 minutes. A friend on the same flight with me said she was half way into her third movie when it was time for the plane to land. Like her, I was also into my third movie.
It took me a long time to pick the movies on the plane. I am fussy about the movies I watch; I love logical, light-hearted stories with happy endings. No sad movies for me, please!
There were many Harry Potter movies but I decided to skip them. There were also many movies for children, too, including Frozen, Beauty and the Beast and Shrek. I also decided to skip them.
Finally, being a Korean drama fan, I chose a Korean movie and an English movie. I cannot remember their titles now. This just showed how new these movies were to me. I had not read about them anywhere in the print or social media.
Watching movies on a long-haul flight is actually good. It helps you to forget that you are stuck inside a metal can for more than eight hours! Instead, you are transported to a fantasy world where the hero or heroine’s mission is your mission.
My flight from Singapore to Melbourne took seven hours 25 minutes. My companion had brought along a book with her to read on our long-haul flights. But she did not even read a single page. Instead, I found her napping most of the time.
I was glad I did not bring a book with me. Otherwise, it would have taken up valuable space inside my small luggage.
Blessed are those who can sleep on long-haul flights. I cannot sleep on a plane even when I am dead tired. During a long journey, the flight crew will, at some point, encourage you to sleep by switching off the lights in the cabin and putting down the shutters.
It is difficult not to buy anything when you travel overseas. I went to Australia with one small luggage and returned to Malaysia with an extra hand-carried bag. There are many made-in-Australia face creams and moisturisers. I just had to carry some home and compare them with those available in Malaysia. Some I gave away as gifts to my sister who had helped me look after my mother while I was away.
Throughout the long flight from Singapore to Australia and vice versa, my companion went to the toilet only once. As for me, I went at least thrice. I was glad I was given an aisle seat which allowed me to get up anytime I wanted without disturbing my fellow travellers. I got up not only to answer the call of nature but also to stretch my legs to encourage blood flow.
Plane toilets are not comfortable. If you are larger than the average person, you may feel like Gulliver in the land of Lilliputians in the plane’s toilet. Every time I was in the toilet, I just prayed that there was no turbulence. The queues to the toilets could get quite long, especially after meal time.
Long-haul flights may also mean long waits at airports for the connecting flights. I had to wait for about eight hours at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) to catch the connecting flight to Singapore and from Singapore, caught another flight to Melbourne.
On the return journey, I had to wait a whole night at kila2 to catch the connecting flight to Kuching early the next morning. I could have booked a hotel room nearby but after spending much Down Under, I decided to save some money.
Despite the formidable challenges we face on long-haul flights and the long tiring waits at airports, all of us should travel more because travelling is good for us. It can, among many things, help us reduce stress, helps us exercise more because of the walking we have to do, and it creates lifetime memories.
So how about making your travel plans now, my friends? There is no need for you to travel overseas. Start by visiting towns and cities in the state and nation first.
