Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Lets make it simple

Did a little bit of tidy up. I thought the previous template look so old fashioned. I add the newsreel, just to keep myself posted and change the color of those fish. Actually I was exploring all this settings and suddenly I realized that all these were in the settings tab.


And now I am playing around with this font type. Its fun and entertaining.

Regards

Note: I'm so bored. This journal writing doesn't help.


Sunday, July 14, 2013

Macam pergi je

Are you?

Finally, got the confirmation from accommodation team at Reading. Relief and syukur

I was requested (in advance) to pay a reservation fee of GBP200 to guarantee an accommodation there. The time I went to CIMB, ringgit was at 4.80 something to a pound, so for GBP 200, it was close to a thousand ringgit. Instantly scan and email a copy to Reading and reply was surprisingly fast. Booked a room there and now the flight ticket.

I spent the whole Sunday, trying to figure out the most economical (no need to be fast though!) way to fly from KUL to LHR. Several airlines provide the service, but most will involve transiting in the middle east for a couple of hours before connecting to LHR. I use Skyscanner just to figure out roughly who and how long does it takes to reach LHR from KUL and the first indication suggest that ticket tend to be at it's high side. Sri Lankan still however, offer the cheapest but my gut feeling tell me to reserve this maybe for later.

Qatar, Etihad and Emirates seems competing but I think Emirates faring the best. Return journey on Emirates cost a whopping RM3756 while Etihad and Qatar cost about the same or slightly lower. Emirates operates some A380s in KUL sector but they partnered with Qantas for DXB LHR route. So I guess, I will have to transfer to Qantas at DXB en route to LHR. By the way, I found Expedia fares are a bit lower rather than booking direct at airline's website. No experience though, I heard some difficulty in case of name change whatsoever. Better not to.

Me? Business class? 10 years payback perhaps (credit to owner)
Let's be real, this is where i'm going to ride (credit to owner)
Plan to reward my wife for being very patience with me for all this while so I decided to sponsor her a trip to the UK. But sorry kids, its mom and dad only affairs and both of you are to be grounded at grandma's. We believe both of you will enjoy that as much we will enjoy ourselves there.

Do I need to tell you more?

But, I haven't purchased her the ticket yet. Hopefully there'll be some promotion later towards the end of the year.

Cheers!

  

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Pre-departure Note 2 - digging

I am digging for more information now about the accommodation suggested to me in Reading. Two (or three?) estate agents have responded but few lets on short term basis. The only exception is this one, Walmsley, suggested by the University. The only problem is - it took the agent 'years' to respond. I do not know if that is how they work or my email to them took another 'years' to arrive. I sent them another email this morning, hopefully something positive would land in my inbox this afternoon.

Flight to LHR

Next to this, is flight ticket. Shortlisted 3, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar but found Cathay to be RM200 cheaper than Etihad. Qatar is ok and worth the consideration. Anyway I really do not want to spend 3 hours to HK, waiting in transit for 3 to 4 hours, before flying again 13 hours non stop to LHR. That should well 20 hours total journey time and I should be able to reach the ISS if I were to board NASA's Discovery.

Why not MAS? 

MAS goes for an average 4000 MYR return with good and exceptional service. By far, MAS rank (in term of ticket cost..) first, followed by those from the middle east. SIA? I haven't check on them, but quite unlikely they will offer good bargain. KLM? Heard folks saying having to check in luggage for the second time in AMS. What else? Sri Lankan, could get less than 3000 MYR but of course transiting in Colombo. Perhaps staying loyal to MAS would do, I don't know - God please help me!

[anybody has any experience with Reading please help me]

Monday, July 1, 2013

Pre-departure Note 1

Pre-departure note 1: Reading's stuff etc

It was a very tiring week last week. First, I was caught with flu, fever and all you can name it. Went to meet a doctor and was prescribed with paracetamol, flu pills, vitamin C, cough syrup and antibiotics. The combination of flu pills/medication and cough syrup were so drowsing and I was down in bed for 3 days. Hate it every time I consume the flu and cough medication as it triggered that drowsiness. Can't practically do anything other than to doze off.

Second, I was advised by my Reading's supervisor to look for a decent accommodation there. He advised for accommodation within the university which should save me pounds from travelling etc. I did email an officer from the university and although the reply was warm and receptive, the problem really was, they didn't offer short term stay within the university. The officer advised me to try to contact one letting agent and hope that the agency would able to offer any unit from the list available to them. It was a tiring moment just to get the emails replied. Since their day in UK only started at around 2pm here in Malaysia, I have to spent countless nights waiting for their responds which mostly coming in to my inbox at around 11pm. I understand that they might be busy, and as thousands will come there this coming September, things becoming even more challenging. 

I manage to get this nice lady to respond to my email and even though it sometimes took her 1 to 2 days to reply, I eventually was offered this unit further up in Redlands. I was so joyous to learn this but since no confirmation has been received so far, I decided to wait before I chart my action further. I can't wait to update on this and hopefully things will be much easier with the rest.