I landed in Sydney feeling refreshed after an overnight flight because I managed to get decent sleep onboard.
I had departed Kuching last night with a sobering start to the flight; we observed a 30 second silence before the safety demo in memory of those who perished in QZ8501. We arrived on a happier note some 20 minutes ahead of schedule and had to wait to cross the active runway. So the crew organised for the whole plane to sing Happy Birthday to a young birthday girl.
I had a good comfortable connecting time for the second sector to Sydney. I had scored two extra seats at USD12 each through AirAsia X’s Optiontown partner, even though the flight was nearly chocka. As I knew about this a few hours in advance, I brought along a big pillow to fully enjoy my horizontal rest.
An old school friend Gabriel hosted me for the two night stay even though he already had a full house with visiting family members. While his train station is only one stop from the airport, the fare was a hefty $17 because the airport is a surchargeable or kinda premium station. That is just such bollocks; in many other countries it would be just a normal station!