Saturday, November 28, 2009

2 - Wandering Abu Dhabi

Here I am right now, sitting in CaribouCoffee, in the middle of Marina Malls shopping centre. Off the breakwater in Abu Dhabi. Visited the giant flag pole overlooking AD's central area, but the Heritage Centre there won't be open till 4pm cos of Eid holiday. The beachfront is under construction to make it a swimming area. I figure when I return here in Mar it will probably be ready. =P

Had breakfast after taking the 901 bus (3 AED from outside Terminal 3, 1 hr) down from airport to the city. Roti Prata set 8 AED! off the little shops. With Tristan and Geordie, who left for the airport thereafter.




Me I made my way to the Breakwater, where this mall is. I tried to upload pics onto Flickr and here's the message that popped. "Access to this site is currently blocked. The site falls under the Prohibited Content Categories of the UAE's Internet Access Management Policy". Wha?

I'll add on to this entry when there's a chance...Heading off to Sharjah later. Before that I'll pop by the Emirates Palace, maybe.




28th Nov 2030pm, Sharjah Airport Departure Lounge
At Sharjah airport, which resembles more like a budget airport terminal compared to Abu Dhabi's relative grandeur, waiting to check in. It's 8.30pm UAE time (1230am Sg) and i am bloody exhausted. It could be the jet lag, or (coming to) two consecutive nights of sleeping on airplanes, or some 3 hours of bus rides today. Or even hunting around for AirArabia's pickup point in town (its across the road off the eastern wall of Qasr Al-Hosn (white fort). It could be walking down half the distance of the corniche just now (didn't get to go in the Emirates Palace, cos of the crowd and i was probably too shabbily dressed with my giant pack to be allowed in). Ah...i know the reason. It's the damn bag...My thighs ache and i just want to get on the plane so i can sleep. (4.5 hours flight this time --> and i reach there at another ungodly hour (0130am). I am REALLY looking forward to a nice clean hotel bed at Alexandria where I can just sleep for a bit and get a proper shower. It would be great to finally settle down on one location for a couple of nights.

1 - AirAsiaX we will go!

1: Flights

Hello all. The SG to KL flight was delayed by an hour, due to weather. Its a good thing I gave 4 hours allowance then. Reached LCCT at quarter to 7 with plenty of time to spare for dinner. Checked in the bag. I don't feel comfortable with the weight. Firstly it seems like too much weight. Secondly, its a bit top heavy and bulky. I'll try to adapt and adjust. Better get used to it, that and I'll try to drop off some weight along the way.

Met up with Tristan and Geordie. Both on the same flight out to Abu Dhabi. From there we split, I make my way to Alexandria while they're off to San'aa.

Right now Im in my first AirAsiaX flight. 2200hrs set off, reaches 0130 hrs. Its a 7.5 hr flight on a budget airline. =). The plane itself is an Airbus 340 instead of the usual AirAsia 320 models. Larger, with two aisles to walk down. Best of all, it's half empty, so everyones sprawled across 3 seats. Me i took up 5 seats. Pretty comfortable for a relatively long haul flight.

Reaching Abu Dhabi at 130am later, will stay about the airport till there's light then make my way into the city. I'll need to catch the 4.30pm bus to Sharjah Airport.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

-1: Of last minute visas (Eid Mubarak!)

The idea is to get the Egypt visa on arrival at Al-Nozha airport. No problem here, since all major airports there issue visa-on-arrival. Until an innocent email to the Singapore embassy in Cairo inquiring about a Letter of Introduction. The reply came "...oh and by the way, the embassy is closed from 26th to 30th because of the Eid Al-Adha holidays..." Hmmm, that got me thinking, if these guys are closed, then where would my arrival into a secondary airport at 2am in the morning without a visa leave me? Not a brilliant idea to be stranded at the airport. So early Tues morning finds me queuing at the Egyptian embassy for a last minute visa (2 days processing time).

"Eid_Mubarak" goes the guy in the pressed shirt at the embassy "Your visa will be ready on Monday, because we're closed on Hari Raya eve". Lovely, i thought, i fly this Friday. ><. The staff there were accomodating though, i plucked out my flight itinerary from back at the car and gave my most pathetic face. I got my visa this afternoon today (1 day processing time!) =)

On a sidenote, how am I going to carry so much cash on me? TCs have lousy rates, and ATMs are hit and miss, even if there are ATMs in the first place. I need to find space in my underwear to chuck stashes of USD notes. 2 days and counting. Woot!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Bandung 080809

Now this is a test post, just to see how this links with Facebook. If it is too intrusive, I'm going to remove from FB.

The trip itself is Bandung, back on National Day. Never did bother to post the report. Did the usual tourist sights to Tangkuban Perahu, Ciater etc. More info after the jump.

P8090168