Sydney - Singapore - Heathrow - Helsinki

Haven't flown with Qantas for quite some time, but it's not too bad compared to Singapore Airlines. The seats seem newer and a bit more spacious, and the controller/handset is definitely much better than SQ's. For one, it has rounded sides - not blocky. It's coloured black and has a nice dot-matrix LCD screen. However, unlike KrisWorld, the in-flight entertainment system is not on-demand. You still get your movies, news, TV shows, CDs, radio programs, and games, but you can't pause, fast-forward, or rewind. If you happen to choose a bad movie, you can stop it, but when you switch to another channel, you have to start the other movie mid-way. Either that, or you wait for ALL movies to finish, then wait for the system to replay the movie you want.

First chance I got, I watched Woody Allen's Match Point. Because of the fixed scheduling, I can't proceed to the next movie once that's over. That gave me ample time to start reading Catch Me If You Can. We got to Singapore just after midnight. Most of the shops are still open, but there's relatively few people about. It's just a quick stopover, so back on the plane and off to Heathrow. Watched The Matador, then finished reading the book. Oh, more good things about Qantas - wines in mini bottles and Cadbury hot chocolate drink.

Arrived at Heathrow Airport around 7am. It's my first time in London, and as expected, it was cold (11 degrees), dark and raining. Heathrow Airport is quite big. We actually had to take a shuttle bus to ferry us from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1. My flight to Helsinki doesn't take off until ten-something, so I had this great idea of hopping off the airport, getting on Bus 77 (which leaves the airport every half hour or so), and have a short tour of Windsor. But it is not to be. We were all ushered through the security checkpoints, and I ended up in this waiting lounge, where the only exit is to the departure gates. By then it's 8 am - not enough time for Windsor and back. Being my first time in Heathrow, I decided to explore the airport. Unfortunately, there's not much to see, and everything comes with a price. You have to pay to use the Internet terminals, the massage chairs, even T-Mobile's Wi-Fi. And the shops are not that many. There's Bally, Burberry, HMV, Harrods, WH Smith, etc. - all no good to me as I don't have a single quid on me.

The flight from London to Helsinki took 3 hours, but felt much shorter. After more than two years of absence, it's good to be back in Helsinki. I even prepared a list of things I have to do once I touch down:

• Change money to euros at the airport money exchange (very important)
• Pick up Helsinki Card at Arrival Hall 3 Travelpoint
• Take the yellow Airport Taxi to Scandic Hotel Continental (The driver tells me just along Mannerheimintie there are already three Scandic Hotels.)
• Walk over to the HKL office inside the Central Train Station (before it closes) and figure out which travel card to buy.
• Buy a packet of stamps at the Post Office stamp shop. (Suomi stamps are hard to come by.)