I'm a Song From The 60's ([info]quantesque) wrote,
@ 2004-08-31 23:26:00
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Current mood: tired
Current music:Torsten Rasch et al | Ich Will Orchesterlied

all in a long, productive day


A couple of changes, if you're interested, in my flight plans to Germany:

I'm now flying Malaysia Airlines, so I hope I don't die. It's ended up costing a helluva lot less than the Qantas ones, mainly because Qantas under Australian carrier standards charge fuel tax per passenger, whereas most international ones don't. So it's basically the same flight, different carrier; but like I'm not paying any flight taxes at all. Nice.



Depart Brisbane International Airport
Monday, October 4th 2004 @ 11:50pm

Arrive Kuala Lumpur Airport
Tuesday, October 5th 2004 @ 06:05am

(I get a hotel room for eight to twelve hours, to nap and shower etc. before I guess I'm pushed out into the airport to wait. They better have internet access *fist shake*)

Depart Kuala Lumpur Airport
Tuesday, October 5th 2004 @ 11:50pm

Arrive Frankfurt Airport
Wednesday, October 6th 2004 @ 06:30am



Yes, I am leaving at ten minutes to midnight. That can be the title of my travel memoirs.

YOU CAN SHOP ON MALAYSIAN AIRLINES?! How odd. Do they walk up and down hawking the products? I wonder if that's a bit intrusive, but we are living in a consumer society...ooh I can get Mum Chanel No. 5 for 10 to 15% less than the high street prices in Malaysia!

"Your personal TV also becomes a video game console if you need just that extra excitement on board. Choose from any of the many popular video games to spice up your flight." O_O

Okay, I'm going to be honest. I'm worried about travelling with Malaysia Airlines. The STA Travel guy told me the reason you don't often see them in the computer is because they sell out so quickly with business men and what-not, and I was lucky to get such a good fare, but Qantas has never had a crash and...I assume MalAir have. (Yes, I'm a paranoid flyer. Even being able to shop on board won't stop that.)

I have only ever flown with Qantas and Ansett, so I haven't had much experience with wacky overseas carriers, bar horrible acts of terrorism and Final Ascent, that telemovie Liz and I watched the other day. So if any of you have flown with them, please tell me how good they are and not how they're going to crash in the middle of the ocean with me singing 'Ironic' by Alanis.



FIRST CLASS
Seat Features
Sit in luxury when you fly First Class on Malaysia Airlines. Our wide and comfortable seats offer a selection of adjustments tailored to your comfort. Feel free to recline if you need to take a short snooze or stretch your legs out into the cavernous leg space in front of you.

Your seat also features the controls to your in-flight entertainment system. Your remote unit on your armrest will allow you to choose your movies, music or video games. Your controller also doubles as an air-to-ground phone allowing you to make calls anywhere in the world using your credit card. You can also call other passengers seated on the same aircraft if you know their seat number. In-flight laptop adaptors are available for use for First and Golden Club Class passengers on our B747-400 and B777-200. Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy your flight.


Cavernous space. Let's compare that with what Plebby Amanda will be getting for twenty-four hours.


ECONOMY CLASS
Seat Features
Malaysia Airlines offers a comfortable seating arrangement tailored to your travel needs. On most long haul flights, our seats feature foot rests and lumbar support.


Ooh. Foot rests. Swanky.




So I'm almost there with the passport-identification stuff. Got my license, birth certificate, Cara's mum's guarantoring my passport application tomorrow, get that done by Friday, put my UK VISA in on Saturday and voila, we'll be cooking with gas. Just five weeks of work, work, work to go. But it shall all be worth it!



Today I got a pair of $220 jeans for fifty bucks and Australia socks. I'm so patriotic.




"...herzeleid..."

(24 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]natatree
2004-08-31 01:34 pm UTC (link)
"You can also call other passengers seated on the same aircraft if you know their seat number" I find that rather amusing.

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[info]diagon
2004-08-31 01:44 pm UTC (link)
The best airline I ever took from NZ to the UK was Air Koreo (incredibly cheap, but the weirdest inflight food) - so don't worry about Malaysia - they will be awesome. I've also flown Singapore and Cathay Pacific on my *many* trips back and forth.
I stick to Qantas now, but only because it gives me frequent flier points on both Qantas and BA, so now I've got enough points to fly Auckland-Singapore in business class!

All the airlines sell duty free stuff on board - it's in the back of the inflight mag but it's a smaller selection than you get at the airport shops - but it can be a little more cheaper. Depends if you want a bottle of JD to present to Bela.

And the thing about Qantas being crash-free is that they are due for a big one so you are probabaly much safer on someone else.

The thing is just to sit back, relax and don't panic! It's fun and you should take ear plugs.

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[info]quantesque
2004-09-01 05:53 am UTC (link)
I think I'm just stressing out because, well, I can. I've checked out everything I can on Malaysia Airlines and they're the best in Asia, etc etc, so I think it's just being out of my comfort zone with normally flying Qantas that has me a bit worried.

I have never, ever heard of on-board shopping, Then again, I really only fly from Brisbane to Adelaide :) I think I will have to sit on my hands so I don't end up buying gifts for Bela, Farin, Rod, Cara, you, Sian, the hamsters, the Queen, the entire German population...

I think I'm more concerned with entertaining myself for twenty-four hours!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]spiderwhite
2004-08-31 06:37 pm UTC (link)
i love how their first class description if all overboard with the words and then the next one is like ten words. hah. i've never flown first class before. i've never heard of the airline you're talking about either. (i hardly ever fly anywhere, and i've never flow overseas, though. and, of course, maybe i've never heard of it because i'm from the USA. i live a sheltered life here, lol.)


how did you manage to score jeans for that cheap?! damn. i want to go there and shop. i'm becoming addicted to shopping on certain days. hah. :)

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[info]quantesque
2004-09-01 05:55 am UTC (link)
I get a foot rest, I was pretty darn impressed with that!! I don't think Malaysia Airlines flies to North America, so that's probably why you haven't heard of them...I think I'm going to trip myself deliberately so they feel sorry and put me in first class :D

I don't know why those jeans were so bloody cheap - if you give me your size I can grab you a pair, they're very awesome Australian brands like One Teaspoon so you can strut around in them, heh heh.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]dienacht
2004-08-31 08:12 pm UTC (link)
I am jealous that you get to fly Malaysia Airlines because I don't really care for Qantas at all (they've never been that nice and all that crap before I left, plus the random expenses...). Though my TV was also a video game console...FOR TETRIS! Kind of lame bnut I was excited anyway.

*tries not to shake from excitement*

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[info]quantesque
2004-09-01 05:57 am UTC (link)
I just want to shop! (yes I know, I'm not allowed blah blah I'll be good :P) The video games are Nintendo ones so I hope I at least get Dr. Mario!

*dances an irish jig with excitement*

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]baggers
2004-08-31 10:21 pm UTC (link)
My Aunt worked for Malaysian Airlines. They are pretty good, really, and not generally considered one of the dodgy asian airlines.

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[info]weaverandom
2004-09-01 12:03 am UTC (link)
You will be fine, but FAR AWAY! woe.

What are you doing this Sunday? You $ entire House of Squid of course. I have no plans for once and I MISS YOU.

(Reply to this)


[info]dizzay
2004-09-01 12:17 am UTC (link)
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

I got the day off work to come and see you off! *Shakes fist*

(Reply to this)

(Deleted post)
get a life!!
[info]okazaki_fragmnt
2004-09-01 10:43 am UTC (link)
my sister doesnt require that shit from you!!!

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(Deleted post)
Re: Sit and rotate.
[info]okazaki_fragmnt
2004-09-01 11:15 am UTC (link)
Legal prescription medicines, you psycho.
Prescriptions my sister does not have.
Prescriptions only pshyco's who should NEVER have left the mental hospital should have.

I promise you, Tamara. If you so much as look @ my sister again..

Oh that is a threat

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(Deleted post)
Re: funny.
[info]okazaki_fragmnt
2004-09-02 07:52 am UTC (link)
honestly, i love the way you write and how you have no idea about what is going on in the world other than whats in your psychotic little mind.

have you even asked yourself why you would need three types of sleeping pills and one type of tranquiliser? sorry, but noone i know is that fucked up. you must be special.

oh and let me guess..would one of those little pills be called 'xanax'. it doesnt matter anyway.

what makes ME laugh is that you have fucked over all the people in your life yet they tip toe around you just so not to 'disturb' you into doing something 'unhealthy'.

it seems your have selective memory low - you tried to hurt MY sister and HER friends.

it doesnt matter what you know of me or my family because frankly you have NO ONE and i know that.

hahahaha

it just makes me laugh at how ironic it all is.

however, i'm not going to bother with replying to you anymore because its not about you and i.

you must be having trouble understanding, so ill say it again...dont go near my sister...

no threat...

just a pinky promise.

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(Deleted post)

[info]okazaki_fragmnt
2004-09-02 12:56 pm UTC (link)
you did lay down you life - AND YOU TRIED TO TAKE MY SISTERS LIFE WITH YOU.

HAVE YOU FUKING FORGOTTEN THAT? HAVE YOU FUKING NO IDEA HOW MUCH SHIT YOU'VE CAUSED HER, MY FAMILY AND HER FRIENDS?

you honestly cant remember what you did, do you?? you have no idea at all.

you could have taken my sisters life.

and nobody whats to say anything is front of you just incase it 'triggers' something because your 'recovering'.

maybe you need to discuss that 'minor' point with your therapist, tamara.

you can ban me now, panda.

.j.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]posqito
2004-09-03 12:46 am UTC (link)
I apologise, I should not have been drawn into an internet arguement. This is not the forum.
Im not going to respond to anything you have just said. Feel free to believe whatever makes you happy.
Have a good day.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]lizbee
2004-09-01 02:01 am UTC (link)
According to nice Mr Google, Malaysia Airlines are one of the safest in the region. There's Qantas, which actually cheated to get their 0.00 accident record -- they have had a crash, but they chose to repair the hull instead of replacin it, so they can say they've never lost a hull. O_O

Then there's All Nippon Airways, Air NZ, Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airways, and they're all roughly equal in terms of safety.

Overall, the statistics say that unless you find yourself flying Air Cuba, or Air Zimbabwe, there's nothing to stress about.

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[info]autiotalo
2004-09-01 06:48 am UTC (link)
I have been on many, many weird airlines and haven't crashed yet. Mario's best ever flight from New York was on Air Pakistan or something similar, he was literally seated beside live chickens in cages because the freight was jumbled in with the passengers. He said despite the surreality, it was the best flight he'd ever been on - plus the in-flight meal was bloody brilliant LMAO.

All international flights have shopping, even the short hops between London and Paris (er, 30 minutes' flying time LOL). Most of the stuff on there is pricey and duff - although as you're a transatlantic flyer then you will get the big fuck-off discounts that the Euro travellers don't get anymore (they killed our duty-free!).

I'm scared by the 'cavernous leg space'. Hey, maybe Farin would fit down there? Then he'd be on his knees for the whole flight and that's your 24 hours' entertainment taken care of ;)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]quantesque
2004-09-01 07:05 am UTC (link)
The travel agent said pretty much what you guys have all said - I think I'm just stressing because there's nothing else to stress about (passport! VISA! OMG! Plane crash!). Chicken cages?! I suppose it would make for a good story one day...poor Mario. But if that was a good flight, I can guess mine will be too.

Don't you have Duty Free shops over there? Don't worry, I'll buy you a Hermes scarf or a big bottle of perfume or something just so I can experience shopping a bazillion feet in the air.

Then he'd be on his knees for the whole flight and that's your 24 hours' entertainment taken care of ;)
HELLO!!!!! O_o if only

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]autiotalo
2004-09-01 07:41 am UTC (link)
Maybe he wouldn't be able to keep going for 24 hours... maybe his lovely legs would cramp despite the cavernous leg space. Maybe you should take Shannon Noll as your stand-by entertainer.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]diagon
2004-09-01 09:10 am UTC (link)
If they cramp while snogging Igor for 30 mins, then I think they will certainly cramp on a 24-hour flight (even with a break in a Kuala Lumpar hotel room)

*Richy knees are identical to Farin knees, just a little younger, or so I'm lead to believe - and both connect to the same lickable thigh*

(the lickable bit is a statement from experts, not a personal opinion)

On long flights I take cross stitch, books, and writing paper. The films usually have something to watch, and the vid games are fun. But if you can, take a sleeping pill, shove in some ear plugs and slap on the sleep mask and zonk your way through several time zones.

Other handy tips:

:: When you book in ask for an aisle seat on at least one, if not both of your flights. Watching out the window looses it's novelty after 5,000 of grey clouds and no land masses, and there is nothing worse than being stuck in an aisle seat and desperate for the loo with two overweight American tourists snoring between you and the aisle.

:: As soon as you get on the plane take your shoes off and stuff them in the over head locker - it's much better for your circulation and the airline should give you groovy socks to wear instead.

:: Walk around as much as you can. Even if it's just the odd circuit up to the loos and back, it makes a big difference to stiff joints and random blood clots (which is why you should also ask for aisle seat so you don't peeve people off by asking them to get up every 30 mins.

:: Everytime the cabin crew offers you a drink, take it. The alcohol will be free, but don't go crazy because a pressurised-cabin hangover is the worst to shift. The air will make you mega dehydrated anyway so when you ask for alcohol ask for a seperate glass of juice or water and they won't mind in the slightest. Also, go to the cabin crew galley as often as you want and ask for drink ... it's very important :)

If you've got any other questions, let me know. I've done the NZ-UK thing about 11 times now, so consider me a seasoned-traveller.


(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]autiotalo
2004-09-01 09:29 am UTC (link)
Yes, cramp occurs when the blood travels elsewhere I suppose *elevates eyebrow in Farinesque manner*

Can you play Neopets on long-haul flights?

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Drugs
[info]missmartinsmum
2004-09-01 10:31 am UTC (link)
You certainly dont need drugs Amanda. You are strong enough and well enough to make it clean.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]missmartinsmum
2004-09-01 10:38 am UTC (link)
I am so missing you already........

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(Anonymous)
2005-12-07 12:05 am UTC (link)
penner

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