Monday, April 16, 2012

KUL - CGK - BDO - CGK - KUL

Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah swt.

I always feel so grateful to Allah swt cause due to his blessing, I'm able to do so many things that I could never imagine in life. I never imagine that I could study up to this level (still struggling though!), able to raise a family of 3, able to pay housing installment and been blessed with a beautiful and understanding wife. Life has been difficult for us thus far, but we believe, everything got it reason and there must be a good reward for those who preseverence.

I got an abstract accepted for conference in Brunei this coming July and I never felt this nervous before. Try to think some reasons why people get nervous, and similar to fear, it is due to something that we can't expect or think of. I think the best way to get rid those feeling are to prepare adequately, base on what I have on my plate and dig more just to add on it. The last thing that I should be worried is how to get funding for that conference, knowing Brunei dollar is of the same value of SGD lol.

I still struggle hard just to get the importance proposal ready and with conference paper to add on, I just need to work extra hard. I think I should made good use of time given to me and look for any slot that I can used to produce more results. Been thinking for some good vacation lately to reward myself on those hard times and yesterday was the pinnacle of it. Crossed on KLM website and I thought they are nothing more than a premium airline who sells seats at exorbitant price which similar to MAS. My last flight with MAS was BDO - KUL sector, and after the much controversial merge, the route belong to AAsia. Its funny how those corporate people capitalise on such a popular route, giving less chance for ordinary folks to go to BDO. If BDO was once a popular destination for ordinary people like me, the fact is now no longer holds. AA ticket for KUL-BDO sector was never put on sale and even if I book a year in advance, it still cost more and it not worth the wait. Competition is good for consumer, and the last time both airline compete on the route, ordinary folks like me benefited with chance to fly premium. This is not rationalizing exercise, but a mere capitalization of such a popular route. What a waste.

Why BDO come into scene anyway? BDO is a place close to my heart and liking. For some good reason, I went to BDO for the first time with my wife in 2009 for our honeymoon and trust me, I didn't pick BDO because of romantic factor or else, it just because that was the only ticket on sale back in 2009. At that time, I got less than 250 MYR for return ticket per person and the tripwas worth waiting. Now in 2012, the same flight scheduled in a week time, cost more than 800 MYR before luggage etc, and for return ticket it going to cost me almost MYR 3000 for 2 adults and my 2 kids. I'm not going to pay that much for 2 hours flight in a cramp cabin and Id better look for other alternatives.

I try to contact our previous driver in BDO and ask whether he can pick us up in CGK and return, he replied yes. Its going to cost me more than 300 MYR for that 2 days service and knowing how Jakarta could be, I bet it going to be worth it. I stumbled upon KLM website yesterday, and found great bargain from KUL to CGK return. Economy seats for all 4 of us will cost 1500 MYR and with additional 1000 MYR, I requested for an upgrade to Business. Yes, you heard me right, after long deprived moment, sinking in depressed and anxiety, we will finally fly again to BDO for the third time and to make it more memorable, we'll be flying business, all four of us. I'm not sure what to expect, but I hope it's going to be better than its eonomy. Try to check on MAS, the same route, same time in business will cost us more than 6000 MYR! why paying such for 2 hours flight, I can easily opt for other airlines with less cost. I know MAS air crew probably the best, but the cost is just not worth it for a short haul trip.

Hope BDO will receive us again with an open arms, but with less than a week to prepare, next week will definitely a busy week for us.