Down Under Diary

I hope to bring Aritya for travel once a year to broaden his perspective and life experience. Apart from Malaysia and Japan, we both have traveled to Indonesia and Philippines together. Our latest venture for this year was a trip to Perth, Australia during our visit to Malaysia for summer break. After visiting Satya’s parents and spending some time at my parents’ place, we made our trip to down under. Since it was winter, the rain was not welcoming upon our arrival, but we were welcomed by the smiles of my brother’s family there. After a quick lunch we explored the supermarkets and bought some supplies and tried some Australian delicacies. We rested for the day due to bad weather and hoped for a better weather the next day. The next sunny day, we went to a nearby farm and witnessed some native Australian reptiles and birds. Aritya had some nice experience holding a python and seeing kangaroos and koalas for the first time. After a quick brunch, we headed to another petting zoo and saw a variety of animals and birds. We were fascinated to pet and feed some kangaroos and I was particularly excited to see Aritya feeding kangaroos about his height. He also enjoyed petting and feeding llamas, sheeps and deers. We then, made long road trips and witnessed some exotic Australian trees and plenty of plains and farms with grass grazing cows and galloping horses. The next day, we went to the beach to enjoy the Indian Ocean. Although the water was cold, Aritya enjoyed playing in the water and this absolutely was his favorite experience the whole time we were there. This prolonged further than expected and we headed back home to refresh and next took a train to the city. There we enjoyed some Australian delicacies and Aritya enjoyed playing and running. That night, we got ready for my nephew’s confirmation and being his godmom, I did the needful. The next day we enjoyed some food and finally flew back to Malaysia. Our journey continued in Malaysia with train rides, exploring the villages, road trips, Malaysian food and fruits and activities with family and grandparents. Now that we are back to Japan, he is back to his school and seemed excited than ever.

Typhoon No. 20 and No. 21

After long due, we went back to Malaysia. This is a planned trip, so I booked tickets to go Malaysia and Perth months back to attend my nephew’s confirmation. Gunden had been looking forward for this trip for months and finally when the day came, we received a notification that our flight was delayed to midnight because of typhoon warning in Japan. Being disappointed and dreading midnight flights (Aritya gets sick when traveling), we left home for the airport. But halfway to the airport, the typhoon started and the train we were on stopped moving and halted service due to the closure of bridge to Kansai airport. We were stranded at the Izumisano station and coincidentally met and mingled with fellow Malaysians whom were scheduled to take the same flight as us. The station staff went all out to provide snacks and beverages for us and even offered free taxi rides early next morning to the airport once the bridge resumed operation. Aritya became sick at that time and it lingered till the airport where we were stranded again for hours because of flight delay. This was due to Typhoon No. 20 that hit Japan on August 24^th, 2018. Once we were in Malaysia, Aritya was sick the whole day and only got better the next day. My returned flight was scheduled on September 6^th, 2018. Coincidentally, a powerful typhoon named Jebi (Typhoon No. 21) hit Japan on September 5th and this time, the damage was severe, particularly to Kansai airport. Apart from the damage to the runways in the airport, a tanker hit the bridge leading to the airport causing airport closure. Due to these damages, my flight was cancelled and I rescheduled it to September 9^th, 2018. Unfortunately, the airport did not recommence its service by then and was cancelled again. We were upset, panicked and with the help of Satya who was in Japan, we finally re-routed our flight to Tokyo on September 12^th, 2018. Coincidentally at the very last minute, the airline provided rescue flight to Nagoya on the same day but after several attempts, they denied us to change flight again. Feeling utterly frustrated, Aritya and I began our adventure to Tokyo, Japan. He was very well behaved as always in the flight but vomited at the very end upon landing towards midnight (again!). This continued till night at the airport until he slept. We stayed at the airport hoping to take the first train to Shinagawa and then to Osaka. I stayed up and very early morning, we both opted for train as we planned. We managed to go to Shinagawa with a large luggage and a stroller and a backpack. Aritya was very helpful and cooperating as always. The bullet train ride was not so pleasurable this time for both us. Although this was the third bullet train ride train for Aritya, he felt sick several times until he fell asleep. It was devastating to see him suffering during travels. We finally arrived at Osaka and met Satya. He was sick until about breakfast and was better after that. This blog is a reminder of the arduous task that we faced during this particular travel and importantly to remember the deeds of some very kind people we met during this venture.