As the airport winds down for the night it adopts a sombre atmosphere. The bustling crowds of passengers, families, groups, individuals, chattering excitedly, nervously, expectantly about their flights, browsing the many shops, eating, rushing, reclining, surfing, talking has been replaced by hushed tones, solitary diners, cleaners and shopkeepers preparing to close for the night.
Outside, take offs and landings become sparse, as operations are curtailed for the night. Like an unruly teenager having held too many late night parties, Sydney Airport has been slapped with a noise curfew. My flight is the last to depart before the doors are locked.
I retreat to the Qantas Business Lounge, using the last of my passes to enter. Here I can have a seat, a free dinner of roast chicken and a complex pumpkin dish, cheesecake and cheese crackers. Hopefully a shower too.
It is quiet and calm in here, guest murmuring, one child’s voice reminding me if Alex in tone and enthusiasm. I miss him, miss B, feel the nervousness of night flights returning. The lounge staff have switched the television to X Factor, watching Psy and his Gangnam Style. I suspect his recent popularity here is more a case of Westerners trying to hook into what is already a long popular genre in Asia: K-pop. A quick view of PopAsia on SBS reveals it’s repetitive and style of substance nature. J-pop, the origin of where I’m headed, is no different.