The longest trip on the plane ever

It was the first time I ever went to an ang moh country. It was also the first time I sat in a plane for more than 10 hours. And it was also the first time I took 2 kids on a trip all by myself.

I went on Zuji and found Etihad to be the cheapest and just about the shortest travelling time.

Our luggage were already at least 10kg heavy when we flew there!

I never knew that there was this little board on prohibited items on the plane!

A playground in the waiting area, waiting for Baby.

We got to the gate early. Boarded the 8.20pm plane.

Passengers with young children got to board first!

Their first trip together!

The air-stewardess distributed the menu prior to the dinner.

Had Hoisin chicken with fried egg noodles.

Etihad uses hard and dry breastmeat. Edible but the worst airplane meals in all of my airplane experiences.

She often slept when everybody was awake and vice versa.

Etihad gives out an activity pack that includes basic toiletries which came in handy for us later!

At Abu Dhabi Airport waiting for our plane to London

Occupied with the activity packs

I updated my facebook status at the terminals

The air tickets had a different gate number from the actual one and we only realised it when we were due to board the plane. We made a 10-minute dash for Gate 30 at another terminal just to find out that there was a flight delay.

Midnight snacks which we were too full for

Occupied with tic-tac-toe from the activity pack

After a 16-hour flight, we finally reached London Heathrow Airport.

We had to walk on the tarmac as there was 'some problem' with the usual gate.

Temperature was 10 degree celsius. Very cold for tropical us!

We touched down at Terminal 4 and had to change to the central terminal to depart for the city.

Bought 2A+1C tickets (50 pounds) for Heathrow Express train to Paddington Station.

The lady was shouting,"No Flash!" when she saw me trying to take a pic of the train. Wasn't that a bit late if I was really using a flash?

On Heathrow Express to Central Terminal, just one stop and an opposite platform away

Coco first had a whiff of the unfriendly Brits on our change to the Heathrow Express that served the crowded city line. Her luggage accidentally knocked into a Caucasian, most likely a British, and after she apologised, the guy said,"Be careful next time!" in a warning and hostile tone.

I only knew about it much later when we were bitching about how horrible the Brits were.

I was trying to find the cab line at Paddington Station when an old but rather stately-looking man came and helped me with the luggage, asking,"Looking for a cab?"

We just went with him since we were quite tired from the flight. It turned out that the man was driving a private cab and he charges from 20 pounds onwards.

Upon hearing that, I told him 'they' (the internet) said it cost just 5 pounds to get to the hotel. He said if I am unhappy, he can lower his charges to 10 pounds. I just left it at that.

I told Coco,"We have just reached (London) and already we are cheated."
She smiled, resigned,"Ya lor ..."