And so begins, the journey…

So begins the year with a mind-blowing 19-day European winter escapade; an epic journey of 26,968km with the following routing:

KUL-BKK: Thai Airways (B777-200)
BKK-CPH: Thai Airways (B747-400)
CPH-TXL: Scandinavian Airlines (B737-800)
TXL-FRA: Lufthansa (A321)
FRA-RIX: Lufthansa (B737-300)
RIX-CPH: AirBaltic (B737-300)
CPH-ARN: Scandinavian Airlines (B737-800)
ARN-HEL: Blue1 (Avro RJ85 Jumbolino 😀 – YAY!)
HEL-LHR: Blue1 (B717 – 1st time)
LHR-BKK: Thai Airways (B747-400)
BKK-KUL: Thai Airways (A330-300)

Hotels:
TXL: 3-room apartment at Brandenburg Gate
RIX: Monika Centrum (on the super cheap €58 a night)
CPH: Hotel Guldsmelden
ARN: The all time favourite Sheraton
HEL: Hotel Kamp
LHR: Undecided still… Knightsbridge, Bayswater or Sloane Square?

Cost of flights and accommodation – circa €3,500

Let’s see how this pans out.

back and forth…

Back and forth between airports and train stations – that’s accurately describes my life in the last 80 days or so.

I’ve since returned from my Europe trip but will be flying soon again, this time to the mystical island of Borneo.

How exciting (pfft).  Updates soon.

what this year has brought…

Okay so here’s a recap of this year’s travels so far. I’ve done a total of 55 flights, and a little over 95 nights in hotel rooms, wasted almost 2 weeks of my year on board aircraft’s developing DVT (deep vein thrombosis – economy class syndrome hehe); and a little over 5 days in airports transiting. Travelled across 3 continents and a thousand time zones, stretched my mental sanity and physical fitness to the limit with the legendary whole month of March spent in frigid wintery Europe. The passport is now left with a few pages – which is due for renewal only in 2010.

Also flew Scandinavian Airlines (SK) for the first time. I think that the aircraft livery of SK is quintessentially Scandinavian – minimalist clean lines, almost Ikea but I like the simplicity. But the interior leaves much to be desired. Furthermore, if you’re flying intra Europe in economy (which I always do), you have to buy your snacks and drinks (big BOO BOO compared to LOT Polish or Lufthansa).

The boarding passes

On the good side, I’m a little over 1k miles shy of re-qualifying for the Krisflyer Elite Gold frequent flyer (lounge access, priority check-in, priority tags on baggage and that most important extra 20kg baggage allowance – that should be taken care off with my Bali trip), and about 7 stays shy of the SPG Platinum (which enables club floor access and automatic suite upgrades in Starwood hotels).

SPG Gold

I think that this year would be the last year that I travel to Ukraine (since I stopped going to Moscow and middle east last year). Next year will see me travelling to new destinations – Turkey, Italy, and possibly more to Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Netherlands.

How did I achieve all this? Try a year on year increase of sales about US$ 350,000 🙂

My favourites remain as follows.

Airlines:
1. Singapore Airlines
2. Lufthansa
3. LOT Polish Air

Aircraft:
1. LOT Embraer E170
2. Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER
3. Lufthansa Airbus A300-600

Hotels:
1. Le Meridien – Budapest, Hungary
2. The Ritz Carlton – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3. Hotel Monika Centrum – Riga, Latvia

Airports:
1. Kuala Lumpur International (YES! believe it!)
2. Singapore Changi International
3. Riga International

Restaurants:
1. Li Yen – The Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur
2. KaDeWe Champagne, Oyster and Caviar Bar – Berlin

going away

I am currently travelling in Copenhagen, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Cologne, Berlin and Munich for 20+ days.