aDrenais' Book of Shadows

I returned to Abu Dhabi yesterday after a 9-day Singapore-Brisbane block, happy but drained. My suitcase was filled to the brim on each leg, and even before I left Abu Dhabi I sported a huge bruise on my right calf courtesy of my use of my right leg to slow the descent of my super heavy suitcase down a ramp. After a day's rest, my whole body is still aching from dragging too many kilograms halfway around the world; serves me right for overestimating my own capabilities.

The suitcase was understandably full for the Abu Dhabi-Singapore sector because I was bringing stuff home in preparation for my resignation. For the Singapore-Brisbane sector, it was loaded with supplies for Ren, who is currently serving her internship in the Gold Coast, Queensland. Some canned food, lots of instant noodles, and odd items that she forgot to bring along with her. Returning to Singapore from Brisbane, the suitcase was full of things I bought from Harbourtown (lots of books, a couple of tops, and 2 pairs of shoes), as well as Elgin's purchases that wouldn't fit into his carry-on bag (I brought him along on my Brisbane layover, but that's a story for another day). And the suitcase on the Singapore-Abu Dhabi sector is always chock full of pork and leafy vegetables that I cannot purchase in Abu Dhabi. This time round, it was also filled with CNY goodies like pineapple tarts (3 containers-full), love letters (that were of course crushed by the time they arrived in Abu Dhabi - I don't know what I was thinking taking them on a 7 hour flight), and canned fruits. In addition, I played porter to 3 friends who need their stuff from Singapore, and thus had probably another 5kg added to the total weight.

I'm proud to announce that I successfully carried a tray of 30 eggs from Singapore to Abu Dhabi. Granted one egg was broken, but that still leaves me with 29, hah! There's a shortage of eggs in Abu Dhabi at the moment due to the bird flu epidemic in Saudi Arabia (according to the supermarkets; I haven't read anything about it in the papers) My friends and I have resorted to bringing eggs from overseas, carrying them in our carry-ons because the price of eggs in Abu Dhabi is exhorbitant.

I managed to meet up with quite a few friends in Singapore, and was able to attend my beloved Jay's concert on 18th Jan, his 29th birthday. Plenty more to write about, plenty of pictures to post, but they'll have to wait for another day.

I'm so long-winded that I actually dedicated an entire entry to the unbelievably dry topic of my luggage. Gah.