Seeing Elsa in Sydney

It has been decades since we last sat down to really talk and catch up on each other’s lives. High school reunions occur when one of our foreign-based classmates would come home. Oddly, these times would be the rare times we, Cebu-based classmates, could meet up.

Elsa visited over a year ago and invited us to go to Australia. When Linda and I found out that we had expiring air miles, we decided to take Elsa up on her offer. It took me a year to put in place our trip, since we made sure that we got the seats on the dates we wanted. This is not easy when you are using non-revenue tickets. The only way to ensure travel dates would be to book a year ahead. On the other hand, Elsa and husband George had to file their annual leave, at the start of this year, to jive with our visit.

So, I got on my Cebu-Manila flight Sunday afternoon after checking through my luggage to Sydney. My arrival at the Centennial 2 Airport was barely enough time for me to go through immigration. However, I already had my boarding pass issued in Cebu. Since I was not able to take something in Cebu’s Mabuhay Lounge because I met a friend and forgot the time, I munched on oatmeal crackers while waiting for our international boarding. My Manila-based travel companion Linda was charging her mobile phone in the pre-departure area. (It is always good to have some cookies/crackers in your traveling bag for emergencies. And be sure to charge all batteries before you leave home -- batteries for camera, mobile phones, etc. Don’t forget to put chargers and a universal travel adaptor into your luggage!)

On a cold Monday spring morning, we were waiting for Elsa and George Arreza in the Sydney airport. They were a bit delayed because the Sydney Philippine Airlines office advised an arrival time forty-five minutes later than our actual landing. After hugs and kisses, and apologies from Elsa, we were off to buy our tickets for New Zealand, as we wanted to be there by Friday. On the way to Flight Centre, the biggest travel agency in Australia and New Zealand as we were soon to find out, Elsa got a call from our classmate Helen Tessie in Brisbane. Helen was so excited to welcome us to Australia. She was as worried as Elsa when they found out in the emails of Linda’s initial Australian visa rejection.

The Arrezas have a newly married daughter Jenny (to Lebanese George Michael) and a son Jan Michael. Their house in Fairfield, about an hour’s drive from Sydney, is a three-bedroom, two-storey affair in a very nice neighborhood. Since Elsa is full-time with HSBC, she hardly cooks and would rather dine in restaurants that abound in their area. So, we had our fill of the food offerings of Sydney and later in Canberra, the capital city of New South Wales.

Golfer George is with the Reserve Bank of Australia (like our PNB) and his siblings are also in New South Wales, so Arreza reunions are fiesta-like gatherings. We had bottles of good Australian reds at the end of the day -- one of the highlights of my stay. The vineyards and wineries in Barossa Valley, South Australia, are among the world’s best.

We left our big luggage with the Arrezas when we flew to New Zealand that week-end. George & Elsa could not extend their leave (we had some itinerary changes over the year!) but promised to take us to a sumptuous buffet dinner with their whole family when we came back the following Monday where we stayed overnight at the Mercure Airport Hotel.

Within that week with Elsa, Linda and I were able to chat our way through all the sights…well into the night and at breakfast the following morning. George was a very indulgent kibitzer to all our “remember when…” sharing. More on Sydney in my coming article for the Lifestyle section.

Meantime, travel safely and enjoy!