breaking news, guys, BREAKING NEWS! i am coming home! yup, this bit of information has now been confirmed, signed and sealed, with my itinerary delivered into my inbox! what a relief, i never realised how stressful it is to co-ordinate my flights home. it felt like everything that could've gone wrong did go wrong, but whew, all is good now. come come, let me tell you my story...

around about in August, i was really hoping to fly home to malaysia in time for my cousin's wedding and christmas, and had set my dates for the 20th of December (this is after giving myself ample time to get from Hobart to Sydney, with the possibility that the Aurora Australis would not make its arrival date in Hobart on the 10th of Dec). a quick check on AirAsia and MAS informed me that this venture of mine will not come at a cheap price BUT NO MATTER! seeing as this will be my first Christmas back home in 4 years, i am willing to shoulder any cost! however, because i am a chronic procrastinator, i did not get around to buying my tickets. also, because i am Chinese, i was hoping against hope that the prices will fall, and it did. it fell, and climbed back up, and fell again, and climbed again and then sat at a constant AUD 1,069.00 for the Syd-KL sector; i knew then that my i had missed out on any hopes of getting a cheap-ish ticket.

BUT NO MATTER! mou man tai, i will gladly pay that price!

around about 2.5 weeks ago, we realised that the Aurora Australis was in trouble. as i type, it is currently locked in ice about 6m in thickness somewhere in the Souther Ocean and has been for the past week or so. all of us on station have now come to the realisation that there is no possible way for us to make it back to Hobart by the 10th. because i am a pessimist, i highly doubt we will make it back by the 20th.

so, on one hand, i was giving myself imaginary pats on the back because i hadn't bought my 20th-Dec tickets due to my chinese kiam-siap-ness, yet on the other hand, i am very deflated that the prospects of me celebrating christmas in Malaysia is rapidly vanishing before my eyes.

a very tough decision had to be made: either 1. buy ticket for the 20th and stress out like fuck until i actually step onto the aeroplane and potentially miss the flight and burn $1.4k OR 2. push going-home date back and buy tickets at a cheaper price plus eliminate stress factor but miss out on Christmas in malaysia boohoo. after much agonising and consultation between parentals and wise veteran Antarctic expeditioners, i have decided that i shall go with option #2.

however, it seemed that the Universe wouldn't even let me go for option #2. when i was trying to buy my tickets from AirAsia, i was told that i couldn't use my credit card because of this SMS security code that i needed WTFFfFFF how to get an sms in Antarctica??? Commonwealth Bank is retarded. anyway, after much scrambling around and tearing-out of hai, PayPal came to my rescue AH PAYPAL why didn't i think of you sooner? you saved me an additional $16 too, bless you.

so, i am now flying home on 29 December ya Allah please let me get home by that time or else...i don't even know. that being said, I AM EXCITED! suddenly going home seems so real and tangible! omg char kuey teow satay pan mee with extra ikan bilis gold-hair-man's char siew and siew yoke chicken rice achem roti and teh o ais COME TO MEEEEEEEE!