VOU Dancer Edwin Saladoka loving his Bali travels

The journey started with a three hour drive down to Nadi. It felt like any other trip we’d taken, costumes in the back seat, dancers chillin’ under the supervision of our kiwi manager and the skillful driving of our fast and furious driver Soane.

Excitement filled the air, as we were literally a few hours away from leaving the motherland. Of course there were those panicking moments where I thought I forgot to pack certain costumes in spite of my list making habits but most importantly I was super dooper nervous of what was expected of us – Of any team representing the Isles of Fiji. The questions that frequently poisoned my mind with the negative energy I didn’t need were “did I pack this?” Or “Maqe, did I rehearse this correctly?” Naturally I’d be the most pessimistic individual and would worry myself to a near death experience. But for now, I sit on my comfortable seat of Fiji Airways FJ 361 listening to Destinys Child, hoping for the best. Only five hours away from Singapore. Let’s go team Bali

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10 hours and 30 mins is all that it takes to get to Singapore. We are about an hour away and we’ve just had breakfast on the plane. I’m not a fan of plane food but then again I thought, what good is a story if you’re not eating in the sky thousands of feet off the ground. AMAZING. This trip just gets better and better. Flying over Banjarmasin I could see from the window seat of my colleague (thanks Zara) the sleeping earth below littered with stars. It was not as fancy as how I’d seen Beijing on my previous trip, but honestly the magic of being high up was still there.

Then I started to wonder what life was like down there. Here I sat like a god among gods in the heavens (figuratively speaking). Deep beneath the beautiful sea of lights were lives that struggled the unbalanced scale of life, and that reminded me of how fortunate each person was in this aircraft.

Lights are on, cabin crew are doing a magnificent job here on FJ 361, showcasing the overwhelming kindness of our Fijian people. I have picked up on the habit of my confidant on having coffee. Best decision of my life. Hopefully Bali is good to us.

Now we fly over the vast ocean separating Banjarmasin from Singapore. Pulled my seat belt extra tight (for safety reasons) and because I watched a whole lot of plane crash movies before I got here. So here’s to life. God be with us.

We’re seeing land in a few minutes and I’m super stoked to be at the worlds best International airport and one of the cleanest cities in the world, Singapore. Amen Jesus … Amen

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So we’ve landed and all. In transit at this amazing airport, architecture on point, airport music in the air and about 15 tired Fijians waiting to board our 11:20am flight to Bali, Indonesia. Hungry would be an understatement. I was starving (still am). Probably the islander appetite in me. It’s just after nine in the morning and we’ve been here since 5:30am. So many tops uniforms here, air hostesses from nearly every airline. In so much awe of this beautiful place, and it’s only the airport. I was quite itchy to get a glimpse of the outside world of Singapore but there were other matters to attend to… The perks of traveling in a group I guess. Here I sit with human beings, citizens of this planet earth eagerly waiting for the next flight. Not too bad for a bloke like myself. Never thought I’d see these parts of Asia, again, I am truly lucky. I lost internet connection, but I won’t let that dampen my spirits. Bring on the fun and dance Indonesia.

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Apparently I’ve been left with everyone’s luggage. Alone. By myself. Here. In Singapore. Ooh and I just changed some of my spending money to the Indonesian currency. I’m practically Donald Trump. No that’s too exaggerated. I guess if I had the same quantity of cash in Indonesia as I did in Fiji, … Let’s just say I’d have my own island. Forever waiting for friends that left me. Bali here I come!

Edwin Saladoka

VOU Costumes Manager