=Journey of Self Discovery=

Transit at Dubai
Tuesday, October 03, 2006 12:29 AM

7 hrs of flight to Dubai... AFter the hiccup wif the baggage allowance, Emirates finally proved its worth with its excellent services and FOOD!! dat's e most impt thing.. basically we just sleep, eat, watch movie, sleep , eat , sleep , eat and go toilet... we r trying to beat the jet lag.. tried e red n white wine (13.5% alochohol), that proved to be the best lullaby.. haha Dubai Airport is quite nice, worthy of a fight to Changi Airport..BUT, the layout is haphazard..have u ever seen ppl lying down to sleep just outside the gate?the dubai ppl were doing that! amazing... some looked like they had been camping down there for a few days...

Now i understand why some ppl like to shop at Dubai... it's so cheap! one bottle of mineral water cost SGD0.40..although they r using their own currency, we can still pay sing dollars.. we were like tourists... taking photos whenever we could.. and tapping e wireless network was indeed a chore.. 6 of us tried to get the best possible signal by sitting at strategic locations but it wasn't strong at all.. and it kept changing channel.. downloading a yahoo page took 10 mins! imagine.. wasted 50% of our battery power just to try logging in to msn... well done! haven't even reached london and our lappies are alr half dead..

Emirates is such a renowned name in Dubai.. Wherever u go, u can see Emirates name appearing.. Emirates Bank... Emirates here n there.. the information screens were mostly in Arabic.. how i wish i know that language... and we had to ask to check e gate of our transiting flight...

I guessed i was a bit allergic to the wine on board... i turned into a chili crab immediately after finishing the bottle.. n i had red spots on my limbs n neck.. once again, we kept sleeping and eating... it was truly non-stop action.. dis time round we had three meals, ate until i couldn't stand the food anymore.. played battlefield coz it was simply too boring... my god...But it's indeed v fun to travel with frens.. hahah.. and helping one another along the way..

London Heathrow Airport Terminal 3. Sigh, what a disappointment. Im sure the airport is in due time for refurbishment.. It was almost identical to the New Zealand one.. just that there weren't many dogs sniffing around... they just had one big fat dog standing at the entrance, doing the job as a detective..Fengyi lost his baggage and had to file a report.. nice job by Emirates once again! haha.. First impression of the airport was not a v pleasant one as i was greeted by a water cooler that had no water at all!! another (+) point of the airport..

I wasn't expecting the airport to be in such a rather run down state.. hahah and ben's luggages were detained as the 'detective' managed to sniff out his "hei bee hiam"... and his milo.. hahah my god.. i also had a pack of 3-in-1 milo in my possessions.. luckily the dog liked me better.. see, another security loophole. Immigration clearance was also a breeze, unlike what e seniors had told us.. The health screening department ppl talk more than they do work.. n i really admire those three aunties, serving passengers and chatting amongst themselves at the same time.. yeah UK ppl take things REALLY easy...

Now, it's time to take a tube... so what's it really like? basically u can try to imagine it as our MRT in its 1st version.. And of course, travelling with so many luggages proved to be a challenge.. It was even heavier than a full battle order gear in the army... doing a quick calculation, i had about 70kg load with me... no wonder now my biceps are bulging! We were not allowed to take photos even in the tube station... in the airport too.. we were ordered to delete the photos on the spot.. i seriously feel like asking her to KNOCK IT DOWN! haha ...

Same thing, we need to buy a travelling card, sth like ezlink... but it has a special name.. "OYSTER"... in hongkong, u call it "OCTOPUS".. why do countries like seafood so much? i wonder.. up to now , still wondering.. it's so expensive to travel in London.. but we dun have a choice.. a trip from e airport to my hall cost SGD13.50... imagine singaporeans paying that for a ride back home, LTA and CASE's hotlines will be flooded! haha..

Our luggages were enuff to occupy almost half a carriage. Ppl who boarded e tube must have thought that we were moving houses.. hahah The outskirt of London is really backward, sth like what u see in Yio Chu Kang? Seletar area? undeveloped land.. like those in OCS training area.. the tube stations are like our train stations.. not v modernised.. In Singapore, ppl can't wait to get onto the MRT because it's so much cooler inside. In London, ppl can't wait to get oout of the tube because it's so warm inside... the electricity flow is not v efficient too, occasionally the light or ventilation will turn off by itself due to the inefficient distribution of electricity. The tube has cushion seats but there r handles (arm rest) in between. definitely not welcomed by couples taking the tube... hahah..

Finally, i reached Russell square.. the station which I need to take tube from.. everythin was ok until this flight of stairs that were staring right in front of me. Why do the other stations have escalators except for russell square??? my god! I had to carry my 40kg luggage up the stairs, one stair at a time... it's worse than doing SOC or IPPT...wat a welcome gift from London.. after that, we still need to take a lift up to the ground level... guess wat? the lifts are automated but it's so slow that I can run up and down the various levels if stairs are provided..

London's tube is indeed "efficient". Out of the 10 lines, u can expect 5 to experience minor delay or other major renovation work.. If one day, u see on the Straits Times headlines that London tube workers are on a strike, u know that ur fren here can't get to sch anymore!! or if any accidnent happens on a tube, u know that it will be another off day for me, slacking at hall alr.. haha

International Hall is indeed a v nice place.. when things are new, they r really different n u feel good living at this place.. e very 1st thing on my mind was to offload all my luggages and give my overworked muscles a well deserved rest.. internet, so essential in our lives now, was high up on my priority list too..BUT the lan cable that they provided was faulty!! another "excellent" service once again.. feel like strangling them..

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