Singapore now, and this time it wasn't all smooth sailing.
Flight went fine, it was nice having a row of 3 to ourselves, and we managed to get some kip. Got through customs no worries, and didn't have long to wait until check-in. For some reason the lady checking us onto our Tiger Airways flight seemed to want some sort of evidence of our intent to depart Thailand. We informed her that we were heading to Laos after a few days in Thailand, but that we didn't have any tickets yet as we weren't sure what day we would leave. She told us we had to go and find an internet connection and book a ticket out of Thailand! She was also concerned that we didn't have a visa, even though it is fairly common knowledge that Thai visas are issued free-of-charge at the border. With the help of some other travellers at the counter next to us we managed to convince her that we didn't need an out-bound ticket, and she let us check-in. Why it should even concern the Tiger check-in staff is a bit beyond us, as you'd expect that to be an issue for the Thai border authorities, if it were an issue at all.
Anyway, if that is the biggest hiccup of our trip I'll be pretty stoked!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Departure Lounge
Well, here we are in the Perth International Airport Departure Lounge. Check-in was something of a nightmare, and not through any fault of our own. It still astonishes me how many people can't grasp the concept that the onus is on them to ensure that their check-in goes as smoothly as possible. Needless to say we waited in queue for quite a while, the upshot being that because we were pretty organised by comparison, the guy checking us in gave us two seats with an empty seat in between, and ignored the fact that we were a wee bit over our weight limits. So pretty happy with that effort, and thinking that maybe the travel warnings for Thailand will mean that the Singapore to Bangkok leg might be quite an empty flight too... Fingers crossed!
Time for the mandatory magazine reading, iPod listening, and of course people watching.
See you in Singapore!
Time for the mandatory magazine reading, iPod listening, and of course people watching.
See you in Singapore!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
2 pre-travel thoughts
1. Bangkok seems pretty fierce right now. We only have about 12 hours there before heading north, but apparently some of the protests are happening that way now too. Will be monitoring the situation pretty closely!
2. British money is RIDICULOUSLY big.
2. British money is RIDICULOUSLY big.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Visas
I have found it interesting the variability of visa prices for SE Asia...
Cambodia: $20 (US), 1 month visa on entry
Laos: $30 (US), 30 day visa on entry
Vietnam: $75 (Australian), 1 month visa, had to send an application to the Embassy in Canberra for approval
Go figure...
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Great (Britain) Expectations
So we leave Perth in less than 4 weeks, and I'm becoming pretty excited about both our trip to SE Asia and the prospect of living in the UK for a couple of years. I have my reasons for wanting to leave Perth, and I have my reasons for wanting to head for the UK, but I guess I also have some idea of what I can expect once I get there.
So my first big step once I'm in the UK is to find a job. I have worked in agriculture for the past year, but I am keen to get back on the environmental sciences track. I gather from other friends that have made their way to London from New Zealand that they struggled to find a job at first, but once they had some UK job experience they found it much easier to find work they enjoyed. I have also heard that Kiwis are considered to be pretty solid workers, so hopefully I can ride on that wave when I get there.
Finding somewhere to live is going to be the second biggie. It will probably depend on where we can secure work, and we aren't tied to London, although it is where most of our friends are so would be a good place to start. There are other obvious reasons for wanting to experience London life too, so I am pretty sure we'll end up there (at least for a while). We'll almost certainly flatshare, and while I've heard much of the great north/south of the river divide, I doubt it will have any sway on where we end up living. I expect we will look for something near our mates.
So what else is there? Once we have jobs and somewhere to live, I hope that we will not find ourselves as homebound as we ended up here in Perth. And you know what, I expect not to end up that way. I feel that there will be so much more to see and do than in Perth that the motivation and opportunities will combine to get me out of the house. Here's hoping!
While every country is supposed to be creeping slowly out of recession, Great Britain included, I have heard much of the enormous debt currently burdening that government, and the impending need for something to be done about it. While I do not know who to expect to be in power once we are over there, I am not expecting tax cuts, and I won't be surprised if not long after we arrive there are tax rises of some kind.
And finally, I am pretty happy with the exchange rate at the moment. The Australian dollar is strengthening as the pound stirling weakens, so things are looking good for us exchanging our money. I expect that in the 2 years that I have to save money over there the pound will recover and I will do pretty well out of my currency conversion. Again, here's hoping...
So my first big step once I'm in the UK is to find a job. I have worked in agriculture for the past year, but I am keen to get back on the environmental sciences track. I gather from other friends that have made their way to London from New Zealand that they struggled to find a job at first, but once they had some UK job experience they found it much easier to find work they enjoyed. I have also heard that Kiwis are considered to be pretty solid workers, so hopefully I can ride on that wave when I get there.
Finding somewhere to live is going to be the second biggie. It will probably depend on where we can secure work, and we aren't tied to London, although it is where most of our friends are so would be a good place to start. There are other obvious reasons for wanting to experience London life too, so I am pretty sure we'll end up there (at least for a while). We'll almost certainly flatshare, and while I've heard much of the great north/south of the river divide, I doubt it will have any sway on where we end up living. I expect we will look for something near our mates.
So what else is there? Once we have jobs and somewhere to live, I hope that we will not find ourselves as homebound as we ended up here in Perth. And you know what, I expect not to end up that way. I feel that there will be so much more to see and do than in Perth that the motivation and opportunities will combine to get me out of the house. Here's hoping!
While every country is supposed to be creeping slowly out of recession, Great Britain included, I have heard much of the enormous debt currently burdening that government, and the impending need for something to be done about it. While I do not know who to expect to be in power once we are over there, I am not expecting tax cuts, and I won't be surprised if not long after we arrive there are tax rises of some kind.
And finally, I am pretty happy with the exchange rate at the moment. The Australian dollar is strengthening as the pound stirling weakens, so things are looking good for us exchanging our money. I expect that in the 2 years that I have to save money over there the pound will recover and I will do pretty well out of my currency conversion. Again, here's hoping...
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