“Rory, wake up! Get prepared quickly because we'll be leaving at 8 AM. The breakfast is ready. Hurry up and get over here!”
“I'm coming, mother. Let me do my hair first.”
“You just had your hair cut. What kind of hair-do are you doing?”
“I'm swiping it sideways. I'm not going to do anything else than that.”
“When you're done, get over here or I'll drag you along the stairs! Your little siblings are at the dining table already, waiting for you.”
It's still early in the morning, around ten minutes to 6 AM, and the house was already packed with activities since this family will be traveling to the city of Batam, Indonesia for their vacation. They chose Batam because of it's diversity and the ability for them to make themselves feel like home, away from home. It's also close to Singapore, which is also included in their vacation plans. They are traveling from Glasgow to Batam through London and Kuala Lumpur. The luggage were set the night before along with the documents they need for the trip.
Rory Nerson, who is an Indonesian-Brit, along with his siblings, is actually excited about this trip because he has always wanted to go to Indonesia someday and also to practice his Bahasa Indonesia, acquired from his mother. His mother taught him both English and Bahasa Indonesia to Rory and his siblings. Even though he looks excited to get there, right at the moment he looks like an aircraft passenger who has just got off from a 12-hour long flight. He looks as if he's not in the mood to do anything other than taking his shower and get dressed. Knowing about that, Rory looks for some orange juice in the refrigerator but couldn't find any. Then he walks straight to the dining table bringing a glass of water. Luckily for him, today's breakfast is one of his favorites, fried rice.
Breakfast done, everybody gets to the shower and then get dressed before waiting for Rory's uncle to pick them up. Rory gets his bike out in a bike box because he wants to be able to do a bit of cycling wherever he goes. His parents have already warned him about the risks but he disregarded them. They didn't try to take harsh attitude for that so they've put the risk on his own hands. About twenty minutes later, his uncle turn up with a black Ford Transit then gets in for a cup of tea. Rory and his younger brother, Iain, loads their luggage and making sure that no personal belongings are left behind. Around ten minutes to 8 AM, they set off for the Glasgow International Airport.
They quickly go to the check-in counter as soon as they arrived at the airport. They're on a 12.10 PM GMT flight to London and afterwards on the 2.55 PM flight from London to Batam through Kuala Lumpur. The kids are excited to have their passports stamped for the first time by the immigration officer. Luggages like bags and Rory's bike go to the aircraft's cargo bay. Whilst backpacks, handbags, and waist bags are allowed to be brought into the cabin. Knowing that it'll be a tiring flight, Rory tried to take a quick nap before boarding the aircraft. The nap, however, didn't work well for him. He ended up limbering after he woke up. Rory was told to refresh himself to prevent him from looking like a drunken bet-losing gambler.
They were cheering up as they board the aircraft15 minutes before the flight. As always, safety precautions and details are briefed before every flight by the crew. But all Rory was doing is taking pictures since he has a digital camera on his hand. Only just before they take off that Rory fastens his seat belt and turns off his phone feared that putting it on airplane mode would still disturb the flight. For him, it still feels like a dream to finally be able to visit Indonesia after doing so much research online. As the plane take off, Rory gets familiar to in-flight magazines. This particular one, talks about India and all of its beauties from Bollywood to cricket. The cricket bit actually is what makes him reading that magazine as he plays cricket quite a lot at school.
Halfway through the flight, he uses the in-flight internet access and tries to search for news about Batam. He first looked at its map and he can barely believe that the city takes form as isles. Then he found out that the road is quite hilly there. Also to add that up, he found a go-kart circuit and massive shopping centres. He even discovered that it's very close to Singapore – only takes 45 minutes to get there by ferry.
