So, Sydney was pretty much my stopover from Adelaide to Jakarta, only it took 5 days lag. I took off Adelaide on November 24th after a rushing lift from my bern-bern (from home to airport), and arrived in Sydney in 2.5 hours-ish). I was so lucky that I didn't overweigh my checked baggage, although my cabin baggage clearly exceeded the allowance (but nobody cared, so..). I met Puput at the carousel and we went to the hostel together (after 1 hour waiting for the shuttle picking us up), with lots of baggage i supposed we looked like total weirdo asians.
long story short, we arrived at the hostel. we went to the reception desk straightaway and (expect to) make a quick check in. so, i will illustrate the check in process in dialogues.
me: hello
receptionist: hi, how can i help you?
me: uh, we already made a booking via hostelclub.com under my name, my last name is Fahadi
r: ok, lemme check
*5 mins awkward silence*
r: uh, it seems like we cannot find your name, so i think hostelclub made a mistake, you were not enlisted as out guests
me: *shocked* what do you mean? i have the booking itinerary, here you go *showing the email on my blackberry*
r: yeah i got that, this isn't your fault, but also not ours. however i'll try to find you guys a room for tonight although i can't guarantee you can stay there as long as you've planned, 4 nights right?
me: yes *straight face*
*more awkward silence*
r: right! we found you a room for 4 people, so you're gonna pay for that price, is that okay?
puput: yeah, better than being hostel-less
r: ok, so blah-blah-blah *explaining the key deposhit, and other shits*
still shocked, we went upstairs (to the 2nd floor without elevator -- aussie's 2nd floor is american 3rd floor) with our huge bags and suitcases and got into the room. the room was decent, actually better than the room i had in Melbourne. we had couple hours of nap and whatnot, and then we were getting ready to go exploring the city. first day's plan: royal botanic garden and general area of circular quay (opera house, etc).
when we were about to go outside the hostel, we were trying to check the map to show us which direction we should take, and then this Hungarian man looked (had been looking, actually) at us and,
Hungsarian man: hey girls, you look lost
putri and I: *grinned, chuckled*
putri's and my mind: we ARE lost, dear sir, what do you expect?
(another) long story short, we got to the circular quay. as soon as we saw the Opera House, we chocked, well--I chocked, could hardly breathe, like, I was seeing something I only got to see in pictures or TV. I guess Puput's feeling is not that different from mine, well maybe even more overwhelmed: she studies architecture, so Opera House for her was like Hollywood for those who studies arts/acting/filmography. It was Australia, at the end of spring, and I still wore late winter coat!!! Because it was cloudy with bits of rain and stuff, but we didn't care, we took pics and whatnot and enjoyed our first day of living the dream :)
Well, at least that was the moments we could get to forget about the shocking hostel booking-fiasco and have fun.
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