Around The World

For the first time I planned a trip without a travel agent. I wasn’t 100% happy with the how my previous trip had been handled and thought about all the money I had spent for their commission. I decided it would be fun to do it myself. It was a decision, which probably had a big part in me leaving my high paying bank job to be a travel agent.

Generally, airline tickets are the biggest expense for any traveller and finding the best deal can potentially save hundreds of dollars. Budget airline, Air Asia has opened up travel through Asia and has a model that has been successfully copied by many other airlines.

Air Asia’s hub is the low cost carrier terminal in Kuala Lumpur. It flys into Australia, Europe and Asia. Unlike full service airlines, Air Asia is a point to point carrier only. To make up for the cheap fares, you pay money for your baggage, meals and in flight entertainment. You can also pay extra money to pick your seat and purchase insurance. If your flight is delayed at one point, it is a case of ‘too bad’ for your connecting flight.

It was exciting; hoping all would go to plan. We had to be up in the early hours of the morning as we had a limousine picking us up to drop us at the Gold Coast Airport. Limousines are surprisingly good value when you consider the cost of a cab and split between four people they are excellent value. Splash out and get to the airport in style. Why not I say?

The plane was comfortable and on time. As I got to Kuala Lumpur LCCT I had to race through immigration and customs to catch a connecting flight. This part didn’t go so smoothly. The world was going through a swine flu endemic. I must have run a fever and the thermal scanning had picked me up and I was led to a cordoned off area for further testing. I was nervous, and not completely aware of what was going on. The last thing you are told on the plane is that Malaysia has a death penalty for drug offences. Was there drugs found in my bag? Horror stories of Schapelle Corby were running through my head.

Anyway, it took about ten minutes before they cleared me of swine flu and I got in the line for immigration. I suggest the airport change this system. I got in a line, which had two immigration officers serving it. All the other lines had four or five people serving it. I was getting very stressed about missing the connection. Ah, the airports. Sometimes, they are half the fun of the whole trip.

If there is one airport in the world you want to spend some time in; chances are it is Changi Airport, Singapore. A frequent winner of the world’s best airport, Changi is renowned for its shopping, eating, design, efficiency and atmosphere.

It’s a perfect come down to the high you are on when you are on Singapore Airlines. Chances are that if you had to spend time in economy long haul, it would be Singapore Airlines.

Singapore is an island county off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres north of the equator, in the Southeast Asian region of the Asian continent. It is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north, and from Indonesia’s Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. A city-state, Singapore is the world’s fourth leading financial centre and a cosmopolitan world city, playing a key role in international trade and finance.Airports excite me. People going, people coming. I think I could spend all day there. I dream of getting an airport job just people watch. I left the doors of Changi Airport only once – to get a tobacco hit – and my few hours spent here were no where near enough.

Getting upgraded on a flight is one of the goals of all travellers. Due to flight cancellations, my flight got re-routed and I had to catch a flight from Bangkok to Thailand on Thai Airlines. This flight let me achieve the ultimate – a free upgrade.

I didn’t notice it was an upgrade till half through the flight when I peered through the curtain and saw economy class, with their plastic cutlery, three seats in a row and alcohol rations. Too bad this wasn’t the worlds longest flight.

Now once we landed in Hong Kong, we had 7 hours to kill – not knowing much about the place prior, we looked at a train which took you through the city – the logistics of the city however made this option unavailable. We got out the airport, a bit of mission, and saw there was an expo on in a convention centre about a fifteen minute walk away. The convention centre proved quite boring so we made our way back to the airport. All the stores were closing, and we were starving and thirsty so bought water. It was some sort of replenishment water so I didn’t drink it and remained parched.

We went to check in, the first in line, however due to some mess up, we were not confirmed and had to be placed on stand by. We waited nervously until about two hours later we were told we would be on the plane.

Hong Kong airport is probably bigger than some small countries. I still think there is a lot more to Hong Kong, and to China than this airport – due to my definition on countries being UN recognised I do count this as a visit –eventful at that – but likely to back again.