An insight of me: to the land of the Scot'Ish..

I feel a lil bit empty, and bored on a quiet Saturday night.. Sigh~ So here goes a potentially long-winded post.

-- Weeks preceding departure --

A few weeks before leaving Brunei, I tend to get "Eh Bern, bila belayar? or Qi Shi Fei? or When leaving? " on a daily basis. Hahaha.. All the time the same answer .. "Dunno eh.. Belum confirm". I seriously do not know when I was gonna leave. There was no word of confirmation at all. Once in a while, I'll stop by the office to enquire on any developments.. Same thing jua.. "Tunggu approval" was their favourite response.

As a matter of fact, my tickets was confirmed exactly 3 DAYS before I left, i.e. on a Thursday. I still remember, on the previous day, i.e. Wednesday, I found out that my tickets weren't even booked! Knowing that nearly every flight to UK will be packed in around this period, I was really worried. I don't wanna be late for school. Luckily, I guess as God has planned it to happen, I managed to get the tickets the very next day!! What a surprise.. I had mixed feelings then .. hahaha.. Typical excitement, a lil sad, and also slight nervousness.. I just don't know what to expect. LOL

Prior to leaving my home town, I remember getting bombed by all sorts of advices and even some criticism most of the time, esp from those uncles and aunties as you would expect:

"Why Scotland? Scotland is a really cold country la.. Gloomy place, everyday no sun! "

"You won't be able to comprehend what the lecturers gonna preach due to the infamous Scottish accent"

"Backpacks ought to be carried in front of you, not at the back. I've seen cases where strangers steal from backpacks in crowded places"

"Remember drink lots of water even though cold"

The above are some of it.. LOL..
Anyways , besides that, I went around shopping for stuff. Apa apa pun beli.. But there is something to be learnt in the end.

I ended up unloading lots of stuff just to satisfy the "<=35kg" baggage limit.

1 box of meegoreng --> 2 packs of 5
6 packs of biscuit packs --> 1 pack
5 tubes of toothpaste --> 2 tubes
Lots of clothing --> Just right amt of clothes

Thus part of my shopping effort is wasted. I ended up bringing mainly clothing, nothing else. I wonder how some people can bring their rice cookers somemore.. Steady..

Hmm.. besides shopping, being advice-bombed, chasing the office ppl, packing.. I also started to COOK! As we all know, food in UK is super-exp.. Luckily I managed to learn a few recipes before leaving..

-- Departure day --

I tried to get as much sleep as possible the night before. But I remember ending up sleeping at 3 am I think!! It wasn't because I was suffering from one of the pre-departure symptoms at all. I was busy filling my laptop with mp3s and such. Remember my previous post at which I mentioned I pandai2 wipe out my harddisk?

Anyways it was a surprise too really. I was anticipating a loss of appetite and sleepless nights prior to leaving. But luckily NO.. Thank God.

Honestly, and slightly embarassingly, I remember I all of a sudden had this sad feeling when I was dressing up about to leave home. My eyes were starting to water. I gave my beloved puppy a final massage too.. Halfway thru, I couldnt take it and had to divert my attention to smth else.. LOL.. My biggest fear was breaking down in the airport! Thus I told my family to not get too touchy touchy during the send-off.. Hahaha

Flight was around 7++ pm. I arrived at the airport at around 4+ pm. Did the check-in thing, and of course hoped to sit alongside a friend. And God willing, I sat beside one of em.. Phew.. I dreaded the thought of sitting alongside a stranger throughout the 18 hr journey la.. Hahaha

Anyways once the checking-in was done, it was the waiting period now. I was surprised, my stomach churned and was craving for something to eat. Thus we stopped by the Airport Restaurant. Yum yum.. I ordered Mee Goreng plus Milo if Im not wrong.

Pre-departure meal: Mee Goreng plus Milo Meal verdict: Mee Goreng tasted a tad salty. The Milo would have tasted better if it was a lil more concentrated.

source

See.. No pre-departure symptoms.. I managed to finish it all. Thank God.

After eating and slight bombardment, we went back to the whatever-you-call-it-departure-area, there was this large crowd already there as expected. Lots and lots of people. It felt as if the aircon system has broken down. Anyways, suddenly, a few of my friends appeared, namely CEO Seng, Panjang Liang, Prof. Vince, Wu Zun Metis, Fakhriah, Ridz. I appreciate the fact you ppl come over and say those few words. Thank you. Thank you to those who sent me text messages as well.. I really really do appreciate em. =)

Tick tock tick tock.. Then time was up. I decided to enter the gate when it was around 7pm. I felt this fearless confidence suddenly come and kick into me at that time. There was no sadness at all! My mind was "Scotland here I come! A new adventure awaits me!".. Final handshakes, hugs, waves.. n I was in.

source

I was slightly surprised that the departure area has already been extended. It aint the same like it was before(yeah.. sakai.. lama tak terbang la). Another surprise was that you have to do a second hand-luggage check inside! I don't remember this was the case before..

A slight plane delay was followed afterwards. The gate was full and thus very panas. Then gates open and into the plane, where it'll be my home for the next 18 hrs or so!

1st leg-- Destination: DUBAI

I was expecting a very large plane to be honest. A 3 - 3 - 3 seat formation. But it turned out to be a 2 -3 - 2 one only. It seemed very small. I had the window seat for this flight, which meant less toilet but more comfort for sleeping haha..

Results of pre-departure googling "what to do on long flights"

Bye bye Brunei.. See you next year!`

First part of the trip was to Dubai. Flight duration is about 7 hrs 45 mins if Im not wrong.

First meal of flight: Sweet and Spicy Fish Rice Meal verdict: It didnt taste good. The fish tasted weird. Plus the portion so damn little..

I rewatched "The Forbidden Kingdom" during this flight. The entertainment system has lots of choices to entertain you in the form of movies, music, games, tv shows.

I tried to get some sleep during this flight. But I remember getting into the 15-mins-doze -> Awoken -> 15-mins-doze again cycle.. I found it ain't easy to sleep in economy class, amidst the fact that I have a lean frame hahaha..

The flight attendants would once in a while, serve you with drinks, so don't worry whether you'll have things to drink or not during the flight. Ohh.. I think this only applies to RBA. I think other flights would charge you for these.

Before landing in Dubai, there was another meal served. I think it was Noodles..

Second meal: Noodles with Roast Chicken Slices. Meal verdict: The mee was cold already.. Eww..

Anyways.. after surviving 7 hrs 45 mins , 1st leg completed! Hello Dubai!!
Time in Dubai: 1++ am

Ohh by the way, we had to be back on the plane in around 30 mins time if I ain't wrong.. WALAO! You need to go pass custom checks too, where you take out all metal accessories including ur belt. Troublesome process, which including queing which do nothing but waste ur time!

Sights of Dubai Airport

Palm trees!! Spot James if you can! LOL

SC says, "Eh KW, spot for the fruits.. I wanna take out my portable parang first"
KW turns on 'fruit-spotting mode'
SC bends down to cari his portable parang

KW gets sick of waiting. "Damn slow la u.. I go first"

2nd leg -- Destination: LONDON

We got back up onto the plane. Everyone are supposed to return to their same seats! Yay! I have company for the next 7 hrs 15 mins. Muahahha..

Taken before take-off

As usual, yay! meal served not long after lift-off..

Third meal: Beef Kebab
Meal Verdict: Tons of meat given. Taste err ok.. Mind you, I mentally pictured the beef as char siew. It would have certainly tasted better if they provided me with Maggi Chilli Sauce

Ohh it was on this flight, that I put my Sudoku book to use. Hahhaha.. Reeled in my 18-hr neighbour for help..

The sia-soi result on our 1st attempt

Anyways, I had more sleep during this flight. Maybe longer sleeping bouts. But damn sure its freaking hard to sleep!!

It was also partly a "wow" experience on this flight. There was this real-time animated map on where our flight was, plus the fact that you could see city lights below. My heart screamed "I've entered Europe!". Our plane flew over those European countries, Germany, Bulgaria, Netherlands blabla.. I find it a lil hard to believe I was entering Europe! LOL

Then at last, we entered UK. We were planned to arrive at around 6 am. Thus the view out the window was complemented by the rising sun. It was beautiful. London seemed to be super huge from above. Just like in the movies, the many structures, street lights, etc etc.. LOL.. Once more, it was a really beautiful sight.

By the way,
Fourth meal: A different form of kebab also beef
Meal Verdict: This was yummy

Given before landing I think.. I think I missed out one more meal if I ain't wrong. Anyways back to arriving in London..

Taken right after we got out of the plane
Good Morning LondoN!

Look at the people -- Customs area

Lady at back was slightly mad coz she wanted to take this pic with me .. sorry yah..
LOL yeah lame...

My first meal in Europe/UK/London.. Hahaha..
Pret Manger's sandwich + hot chocolate
(Btw, its a norm here for ready-to-be-eaten sandwiches to be placed in the fridges)