The 27 hours flight

It was a great achievement!! The longest ever flight we have taken in our lives.

We used to think that flying back to Malaysia was long - I was looking at a non-stop 11 hours flight to KL whereas Yih Jia had to endure that 11 hours along with an overnight stopover at either KL or Singapore and then a further 2 hours flight to Sibu the following day.

This was the ultimate....but it all started off with a very enthusiastic couple at the airport.

We were still fresh, raring to go and full of energy.

Emirates has their own departure hall on a new wing in Auckland Airport - it was a slighlty longer walk but a completely new area.

The plane on the right of the picture would be our "home" for the next 20 hours - an Airbus 340. Unfortunately the Airbus A380, the newest plane, is not for us - we found out that it flies to Sydney and then Dubai and then connects to Heathrow Airport.

We were landing at Gatwick Airport in London - but hey....the our ticket only cost us NZD1.9k. It would normally cost NZD2.8 to 3k for a return flight to London!!

A quick stop in Brisbane and then a 16 hours flight to Dubai...

Almost there.....I decided to take half an Imovane sleeping tablet after Brisbane which put me to snoozy land for about 5-6 hours, which is the longest I have ever had on a plane. Yih Jia decided the natural way...she will be taking the tablet on our way back to Auckland; one does not need to explain.

Dubai airport - I was accessing the internet to check my Facebook. We were a bit dissapointed with their toilet facilities, or lack of it. All the Emirates flight lands in this airport and yet, we are made to wait in line to use their toilet....geez. They have quite a few fancy shops around but we were too tired - maybe on our trip back.

After 3 hours on solid ground, we were off again. This time it was a 7 hours flight to Gatwick airport and on a Boeing 777 plane - which we definitely found more comfortable.

Overall, the flight wasn't too bad. Food on Emirates was really good - probably the best amongst the airlines we have been on. Only thing - no foot-rest on their seats.

A true achievement for us...27 hours of flight time. We were glad that we took a long 4 weeks holiday to travel in Europe to make it worth our travelling time!