We left Penang for Bristol on 3rd December, 2007. The first leg of our journey took us to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (a.k.a., New Bangkok International Airport), took approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. We waited for an agonising 5-hours for our connecting flight to London's Heathrow Airport. The flight was pretty uneventful, barring a few restless moments from Nathanael, and we landed safely at Heathrow Airport at 7.40pm (GMT) local time.

The queue at immigration was very long, for UK nationals that is, since most passengers on the flight were British passport holders. With only a handful of foreign nationals, it didn't take long for us to pass through immigration. At immigration, we were asked to provide evidence of a recent checkup and chest X-ray (to rule out TB) for myself and Bee Yoong. We didn't have any, so we were told to report to Heathrow Airport's Medical Health Unit for a chest X-ray. At the Medical Health Unit, our names and address details were simply entered into a computer and we were allowed to pass immigration.

We collected our luggage and proceeded to the arrival hall, where my friend, Ran, was already there waiting for us. He had driven all the way from Bristol to pick us up from Heathrow. Amazingly, we were able to fit all of our luggage into the boot and front seat of his Peugeot 406. The three of us sat in the back with Nathanael in a new car seat, which Ran bought for him as a gift. We had already decided to buy him a new carrier, and he gets a new one (from Mothercare no less) as soon as he arrives in the UK! Indeed, God knows our needs!

We reached Bristol at around 11.30pm, clocking up a total journey time of about 23 hours. After dropping off our luggage, Ran took us back to his flat and cooked supper for us, before walking us back to our flat (he lives 2-3 minutes away), and helped us with our luggage (our flat is on the 3rd floor). We went to bed at 3am, worn out from the long journey and the change in time zone. And so begins a new chapter in the lives of "Treasured Trees" in Bristol.