Later

I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but I'm on holiday at the moment. And unlike my usual holiday activities, which alternate between futzing about the house and going on vintage clothing spending sprees in Melbourne, this time I'm leaving the country for the first time in over a decade. Not to be one who does things by halves, I'm travelling over 15,000kms to visit Copenhagen, and go on a luxury cruise around the Baltic Sea.


I'm currently just over 10kms above the Strait of Malacca, doing 837kph, according to the battered little LCD screen a few inches away from my nose. The seats on this KLM Boeing 777 are crammed closer together than they were on my previous Malaysian Airlines 777, and if I let my mind dwell on the fact I actually get a sudden wave of claustrophobia. It doesn't help that I have a morbidly obese Chinese man in the seat next to mine, who apparently considers his seat to be some sort of economy class throne and has regally commandeered both armrests. He appears to be asleep at all times, except when he senses a catering trolley nearby, at which point he attains full and suspiciously instant wakefulness.


At least I'm on the aisle, so I can lean out, and stretch my legs, and not consider the horrible mental image of having to clamber over his gut if I want to go to the toilet or stretch my legs.