Sciatica - it's a right pain in the...

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I've woken up this morning to the continuing drama that is Qantas deciding to ground all their aeroplanes. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be of the slightest concern to me, however a quick check of my flight itinerary shows that it's only 48 hrs until I am due on one of the said Qantas fleet to head to Perth.

OK deep breath - they'll sort these arguments out with the unions quickly eh? By Tuesday it will all be sorted? I decided to watch the news. Thousands of stranded passengers around the world saying they're stuck - other carriers are full and they are having to wait for 3/4 days to get an alternative flight. Surely not - Singapore to Perth is a major route - so I check out skyscanner. Worst fears confirmed - only one flight now available on Tuesday, with some unheard of Chinese airline, where the price of the ticket is over £1,500. More than my entire round the world ticket. Qantas will reimburse the difference but that's not the point. Qantas say they won't talk to passengers unless it's less than 24 hrs to go before you fly, which in my case it isn't. I'm just going to have to watch this space to see what transpires...

To cheer myself up, I decided to go shopping. Orchard has mall after mall of lovely lovely shops - ranging from the high end LV/Chanel/Gucci flagships, to New Look and Marks and Spencer. It's a hot day so it's nice to spend time undercover in the aircon! Small amount of spending later (new flip flops mainly to replace the 4 pairs I've already exhausted by walking the equivalent of a half marathon every day), and I'm done, but not without a quick visit to the supermarket. I've discovered the joys of 'Cold Storage', a supermarket that appears to stock a hybrid of Sainsbury's and Waitrose branded products. Bliss - I might even cook for myself this evening for the first time in weeks (OK, make that months - I know, I've been living a pampered life with Mum...)

I've managed to set off a bit of sciatica in my left thigh, I guess through the fact I'm lugging around a lot of luggage with a fundamentally wrecked back and walking miles with the uber supportive footwear that is the flip flop. There's only one remedy - a soak in the enormous swimming pool at the condo. I briefly contemplated the gym, held on to my lower back and leg, and then thought better of it and jumped in the pool. It's an enormous pool and I'm the only one it in -again, could be that someone had decided to call Greenpeace but I wasn't in there long enough to be caught.

Speaking of whales, I don't want to speak to soon but there is becoming less and less of me on this trip. I'm still eating and still having a few beers but I've dropped a size and feeling much better for it. Long may it continue - although I have a sinking feeling that the moment I hit Oz, the beer consumption will increase and with it, so will my waistline...

One final thing for today - I headed at 8pm to Singapore Zoo for the Night Safari. You walk into the place and it's all lit up with dinky garden lights, with open air restaurants all themed around the jungle. An electric tram took us around the park to see the animals come alive at night - it was out of this world. The animals are not caged - they roam freely around the park and are free to interact with other species. Deer casually walked up to the tram, two cranes (winged rather than metal variety) decided to have a stand in protest in the middle of the road for a while to hold us up, rhinos and elephants tucked in to their dinners less than a few metres from where we were sitting. It was an amazing experience - a definite 'must do' for anyone visiting Singapore. I'd like to see the zoo too and if this Qantas thing drags on, I'll be going back for sure.

Back to the condo and I have broken the news to Anver that his house guest might be outstaying her welcome. A plan is launched - Qantas is paying out up to AUD 375 per day to stranded international passengers to cover hotels/food etc. For as long as I'm stranded, I'm going to be drinking Singapore Slings in Raffles courtesy of the CEO. Bring it on....

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