Day 14 in Cambridge

Today is my last day in Cambridge! I'm finally going home! I can't wait to get back home. I really miss my darling...

I woke up rather early today & packed my luggage as I'll be checking out before leaving for the factory. I ordered the usual breakfast & paid for my stay as well as the chinaman's. He is indeed a real big burden but thankfully that's the last thing I'll be paying for him.

I moved my luggage into Alex's room as he will only be leaving on Friday morning. He's flight home is a few hours after the chinaman.

It was a slow & relax morning as we had already completed the course. We were only waiting for Alan to mark our papers & hand us our certificates. Meanwhile he wanted us to remove the upgrades that we've done & revert it back to a basic system. We accomplished that in a jiffy & had our lunch in the training room. It was sandwiches again. But this will be the last time I'm having that for lunch!

John Craven came in to talk to us & I gave him my business card so he can look me up when he's in Singapore for the sales meeting in March. A meal & a drink with him will be nice. Maybe I'll get Jeramie to join us too as John is the person in charge for EVO systems. I foresee it will be for our good to get on his good side.

Alan handed us our certificates & David had the highest percentage. He got 94% while I had 91%. Alex was 90% & the chinaman got 85%. It was a good score for I had expected much less from him based on his understanding of the english language, but he has proved me wrong. Good for him! Now I don't see any reason why I should support him in China should he encounter any problem. Hahaha!

David drove us back to the guest house as I had a plane to catch in the evening & he offered to give me a lift to the rail station too. We all had our brief goodbyes & exchange contacts. I do kinda miss them in a way. It was overall a pretty good experience.

I managed to get on the direct train to Kings Cross Station & switched to the Piccadily Line to Heathrow Airport. All in all, it took me less than 3 hours to get there. I reached Heathrow Airport just before 4pm & my flight was 935pm! I was really early but it is definitely better this way than to miss my flight home!

I found myself a real cosy seat near to the check-in counter & whipped out my laptop thinking there's wireless internet access at the airport. I was wrong. So instead I took out my PSP & carried on with my tennis game until the check-in counter opened at 630pm. I got my luggage checked in & went about to get myself a bottle of water & a smoke outside.

It is funny how there isn't a single trash can visible inside & outside the airport. I guess it was because of the 911 incident in the US years back. Terrorism still creeps in their heart after so many years. There were cigarette butts lying all over the floor, empty cups & rubbish all over the place. It seems that littering is legal here. Back in Singapore, you will either end up with a heavy fine or made to sweep the roads (read: Corrective Work Order) or even worse, both!

I really wasn't used to throwing cigarette butts on the ground but what choices do I have? I still had at least 2 hours to go & I had nothing better to do than smoking. Well, I do have 3 more packs of duty-free cigarettes & our Singapore govt has a serious problem with that so I happily puffed away in the cold.

I made my way to the baggage screening area & queued for approximately 20 minutes before it was my turn. Next up was the immigration counter & I passed that in a moment. I was about to make my way to the duty free shops when someone called out to me. There is this section that screens just shoes! I was made to remove my boots for screening & I was feeling a little absurd over the mixed odour of everyone's feet. Real interesting.

Heathrow Airport's duty free section is a huge consolidated area before going to the gates. There are all sorts of branded boutiques & restaurants but I wasn't in the mood for any of those. I just wanted to get home real quick. Then the best thing happened. My flight has been delayed! Argh! I had to wait 1 more hour for some reason I chose not to know.

I did get to board the plane eventually & was already feeling extremely drowsy from the medication I took an hour before. It was to prevent my ear drums bursting from the pressure. I dumped my stuffs into the overhead compartment & plunked myself into the seat & knocked out before the plane took off.

12 hours to reach Bangkok. 4 hours transit plus a 2 hours flight to Singapore & I'll see my darling! I can't wait to see her!