The last seven days since our flight postponement were full of emotional ups and downs and went by way too quickly. So we're back (again) to less than a day to the big move.
We made the most of our time extension - Celebrated Mother's Day, spent lots of time with friends and family, gave us more time to pack which I now believe is a legitimate form of torture and did stuff like bucket list #3: Taking Lexus out to the park for a proper walk:
Whee.
We've been pretty exhausted over the last few weeks and the last seven days have drained us further but we're thankful that we managed to sit down with family properly and for everyone who helped us get over the line.
Our day ended at 1:30am just before our 9:35am flight with four large overpacked suitcases, four way overweight carry ons, an empty home, and two tired, cried out, grumpy people.
Got up a few hours later at 6:30am, surprised we both managed to sleep. Tossed out a bunch of house things, got ready. I've always wanted to see Tiong Bahru at sunrise but was always too lazy to wake up and having done that on our last day in our home was another box checked for me.
7:15am: My brother arrives and single-handedly carries all four massive luggages each 32kg plus down three flights of stairs to his car. There was a reason why we asked him to help us with the airport move. The three must-haves:
Early riser: My brother gets up at 6:30am everyday because they have three kids who get up at that time.
Extremely strong: He is extremely strong.
Drives a large car: To fit our luggage, a regular sedan would never cut it. Thankfully, he drives a Forrester. Check.
Like I said. Extremely strong.
7:30am: Final goodbyes to the house. Took some photos. Our 75-year old neighbour was nice enough to get up early to say goodbye to us. We'll miss you Cecilia!
7:40am: We're on our way to the airport with everyone and everything comfortably inside his car.
7:41am: I get anxious because we don't know how heavy our luggages are collectively, even though we purchased additional baggage, and individually as well. 32kg is the baggage handler limit as mentioned several times by our friend.
32kg is the baggage handler limit. ~ Chien Han (Friend)
8:00am: Got to the airport which was deserted since all the terminals were closed off for two weeks. Felt a little special being one of the few allowed in. Actually they didn't even check if we were allowed in. Safe entry, temperature. Welcome to Terminal 3!
8:10am: Empty Singapore Airlines counters at Row 4. We were allocated to a Chinese lady to check in. I'm extremely polite with her and make small talk because we need her to be nice to us with our luggage situation.
8:15am: I make more small talk while she checks all the necessary requirements like Covid negative tests.
8:20am: Luggages go onto the weighing scale. I have a greater appreciation for what my brother just did with all four of them as I struggle to lift them a few centimetres off the ground onto the scale.
8:21am: I've never been this anxious to see results since my secondary school days. I make more small talk.
Luggage 1: 29.6kg (OYEAH)
Luggage 2: 32kg (OYEAH)
Luggage 3: 34kg (OHNO)
Luggage 4: 25.8kg (OYEAH)
8:23am: We become the gross couple that had to unpack on the floor in front of the counter to find 2kg from luggage 3 and move that into luggage 4 because...
32kg is the baggage handler limit. ~ Chien Han (Friend)
8:25am: Managed to reallocate a yoga towel and some random clothes and the bigger miracle of closing luggage 3 and 4 up on our own.
8:27am: I struggle to lift luggage 3 and 4 onto the scale. They both make the 32kg weight limit because...
32kg is the baggage handler limit. ~ Chien Han (Friend)
8:30am: Our total check in baggage weight is 121.4kg. That's more that both our weights combined. We are way over even with the additional 38kg baggage we both purchased on top of both our complimentary 30kg limit. MORE SMALL TALK REQUIRED. This time I mention we're migrating. The counter lady says she'll call her supervisor to give us leeway on the 20+kg.
8:31am: We got it! A Changi Airport miracle. Her supervisor gave the go ahead since we're migrating. Go small talk! Tickets printed, passports returned. She didn't even weigh our grossly overweight carry ons. I stop making any more small talk with her and we quickly walk away from her before she remembers to weigh our carry on.
Goodbye anxiety. Thank you God!
8:35am: We walk into the departure zone. Get our bags scanned. Everyone at Changi Airport was super nice to us. Probably because the staff to traveller ratio had been reduced to 120:1.
Locked down Terminal 3
8:40am - 9:15am: With everything at home and luggage finally settled, we felt normal again. Extremely surreal to be at the airport with everything closed and nobody around. There were only three stalls open: Hudson's Coffee (WHO DIS?), Encik Tan, and Heavenly Wang.
We dapao-ed some food for the flight, Sarah had a tea, texted family to keep them updated and made one video call to my sister-in-law and her kids.
9:16am: I took a jog to the bathroom and back because there wasn't one close to our gate. The nearest one was crazy far and we were already running late.
9:17am: I'm back at the gate with Sarah. 1 minute to use the washroom #guys
9:18am: Bags scanned and an overly friendly staff made small talk with us. Again the staff to traveller ratio in effect here.
9:20am: Boarded the plane with just 10 people in Economy. A few in First and Business, not sure why because you get the entire row in economy to yourself. haha poor person talking here. I would totally be in Business or First if I had a choice.
Flight gets delayed slightly because of the rain but we're off to the runway after 10, 15 minutes.
And away we go!
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