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Fortunes, families and futures

It is Chinese New Year. The event is celebrated with family with an eye to good fortune in the coming year. The celebrations usually last a couple of weeks or so around the event and our upcoming trip to Malaysia (days away now!) was to include dinners with friends and family of B. Sadly, the plans have been thrown into disarray by a stroke of ill fortune.

One of B's uncles in Kuala Lumpur was found dead in his house. Now our holiday has turned into a funeral trip and happy times with relatives maybe replaced by meals with squabbling and interfering Aunts. Thankfully our time in KL was mostly unplanned, just finding good food, a little shopping and enjoying the city, so the disruptions should be few so long as we can still make Thailand. I'm not looking forward to packing funeral clothes though. Especially for too-humid Malaysia.

There was some good fortune for us this week, at least when it came to saving a fortune. We attended yet another Flight Centre Travel Expo and bought cheap tickets on Korean Air to Prague and returning via Amsterdam late this year. I did feel like flying with Qantas via SE Asia or JAL via Japan, but it was just too expensive. But I don't mind seeing Seoul again, even if it is only briefly (we couldn't get a longer stopover).

We have also been assisting members of my family with overseas travel. My sister departed for a year's working visa trip to the Netherlands, staying with her boyfriend's family. Her passport and visa were delayed in the mail so she came down to Sydney to reapply. Once she obtained the necessary documents I quickly booked her a next day ticket with Cathay Pacific, but she almost didn't go after some disagreement with her host family. It was all sorted out in the end and she took her first overseas flight.

My Mum is also planning her very first overseas trip for later this year, to Europe. We helped her explore the travel gear and camping shops in Sydney, with bother Mum and B buying Pacsafe mini bags, like the one that served me well in China.

Only days to go now. Despite the unfortunate turn of events, I'm excited!
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