Archive for August, 2007

Yes..I’m talking about the airlines and that hole in the pocket. You see, I made a terrible mistake last month when I booked my flights online, thinking to save about 90Euros, I could drop from Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport and then take a Metro to Beauvais Paris Airport to connect to Ryanair and also that if I stayed at a cheap hotel there, I will save loads.

Boy was I mistaken. BVA is 130Kilometers away from Paris, and from CDG, its about 1hour to Gare-Du-Nord in Paris, which already cost me 12 Euros. And I had to to travel on the Metro on Line 2 Direction towards Arc Du Triumphe (Charles-du) and transfer to Porte Maillot, when I discovered the last bus leaves at 8:30pm local time!

So, it’s raining …etc, and I got another accommodation which costed me triple! But reachng BVA, I found it’s the same as going back from CDG to England via the A16, only to Exit at Beauvais. Plus that the place is country roads. Remember I said something about London’s Kent Manston International Airport? It’s the same senario! Terminal wise, it’s just as bad as London Lydd Airport, which is just off the A20 near Ashford.

So, in soothe, deciding on the cheapo does not pay that much. If I paid 30Euro more, I could get on Aer Lingus, and without all those hassle! … What a thing for me to remember. I’ll talk about this later. At least , as a consolation, I have the Orange WiFi, which is 15Euro for 10hrs (to be used for 30days..which is a good deal!)

And so..I’ve to see myself how Ryan Air flight itself is. Hopefully, as good as it says.

Nobody sponsored me. And did I forget to mention that the coffee shop short changed me 5euros?

Yeah.. It’s now in Paris..and let me tell you one thing, Etisalat, the UAE Cellphone provider is a rip off. US$10 for Wifi per hour?!! What rubbish! Anyway, Luggage arrived in Paris. Immigration don’t even want to see my passport, or stamp it, as they see the English…. Standard Procedure of the PAF (aka Police). What a shock I got when I found my bag arrived pilfered and damaged. While I was sorting things out, my camera got stolen!! OOOH!

That hurts, lucky I managed to download the Abu Dhabi pictures into the hard drive, which is nothing much. I’ll explain later. It’s raining really heavily now, and I missed my connection to Beauvais airport. It’s either a taxi ride to my Formula One Hotel in Beauvais which is about 130Euros or a trip to a cheap hotel hee, which cost about 85. So I setled for Campanile Louvre Hotel at Porte Du Cliche.

Anyway, battery about to flat. So chao first.

Yes.. I am in Abu Dhabi…and yes… it’s almost Maghrib…and darn it’s SO HOT. Tell you, the airport is small, smaller than Penang Airport, and Gosh..I was cussing and swearing at the 37′C temperature in the evening. Nothing much to say, but Etihad is a good airline, especially for babies, bassinets provided etc.

Ill go into it later on….

Right now, I got to check into the Grand Continental Pink Flamingo Hotel first….. and tell you one thing ,despite the 5-star rating, it’s a 3-star in Singapore!

Chao..and I gotta go to the Marina Mall or Abu Dhabi mall to get my own set of replacement clothes as they are off to Paris!

Yes.. WiFi in KLIA allows me to say thanks to all the well wishes…and well, I’m off now…cus my Etihad Airways flight is called now for boarding.

SO love you guys…see you ..and God Bless.
I try update some pics when I reach Abu Dhabi.

Yeah. Tomorrow is the big day for me… travel alone again…and this time…it’s too long and too far.

Let me recap :

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Paris, France

Dublin, Republic of Ireland

London, United Kingdom

Frankfurt, Germany

Philadelphia, United States of America

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

That is just part of my itinerary for the next two months or so… so, meaning I’ll miss the Puasa at home …in Malaysia and missing my family, and the chance to wear a boria for the Eid Mubarak.

Mainly, though, I might as well make full use of the time for networking basis…which reminds me.. I need to reprint my name cards… and the rest of the paperwork.

And I’m travelling light this time round. No 3 piece suitcase and U know what I mean. Just a duffel bag and maybe a laptop, if the missus lappy don’t play up on me.

So to my collegues and customers, please note that I will be away from the office. Anything urgent please proceed to the requested circular that has been passed on to you. Should you require urgent support or to reach me, please contact me at +1-517-6390392 or my standard numbers thats in circulation.

With best regards

Azrin

Well, I have looked high and low for a wholesome and cheap fare to Europe without me landing in the UK, as I have a lot of things to do. Mainly I got over 4 conventions and meetings regarding Blog Marketing, Affiliate systems and the like in UK, Paris, Dublin and …yes…I am going to the US! It’s an almost round the world ticket for less than RM4900, with me having to stay in Abu Dhabi for free compliments of Etihad Airways, which they say is STPC. So if you transit more than 8hrs, ask and insist for yr STPC, or they will give you at least meal and some travel vouchers.

How did I pay for it….well, with my trusty JCB Platinum card of course. Loads of freebies.

Catch U guys later.

While it’s not that much, Adbrite finally sent out the tranche of checks that were lost in the post. Apparently, I was one of the publishers whom was affected by the bad stack of checks that were lost in the post, and yes, it’s a little help.

What about you……I’ll just bank this small pieton amount to the kitty.