Now I’m sitting at gate 54 in Sydney Airport’s international terminal. It’s been an interesting journey getting here.
Checking in was uneventful, as was passing customs. The security screening, on the other hand, was probably the most eventful I’ve endured. Having removed my laptop as is typical these days, I expected to have no problem with my backup. Not so. Firstly I was asked if there was any other laptop in there – I figured the screening person was referring to my Kindle, so I took that out. It wasn’t enough though, I was asked whether I had a camera. I did – my SLR, so I took that out. Still unsatisfied, the screening person asked me if I had anything else electronic. She wanted to take a look inside my bag, and removed my charging adaptors, battery pack for my iPhone, P&S camera, AA batteries, etc. Basically, my bag was totally emptied onto a tray, and that was sent through the Xray machine, along with my now nearly-empty bag. Finally that was satisfactory, and I had the pleasure of re-packing my bag, and being allowed through.
After having a refreshing flat white, claiming the GST on my new leather jacket from the TRS office, I progressed to the currency exchange place. I know I need 300,000 Won for the ski camp, so I decided to get out 600,000 Won. Unfortunately, all the currency exchange place had was 5000 Won notes, except for a few 10,000 notes. So now I have a pile of cash that’s about an inch thick, and its worth about $700 AUD. Since I neglected to bring an extra suitcase just for my Korean cash, I stuffed my wallet, and distributed the rest in my backpack. Korean currency is pretty annoying like that.
On my way to gate 54, I passed a couple of Asian flight attendants eating an eagle boys pizza with knife and fork. It looked pretty difficult, given the cutlery was plastic, and those personal pizzas are about 90% crust. I also spotted a huge Singapore Airlines aircraft, which I can only assume is an Airbus A380, but I couldn’t get a good look at it.
The seats around here are filling up fast as departure time draws closer. Next stop, Incheon, Seoul.