Manchester Here I Come: Chaos at KLIA

Hi peeps!

It's been quite a while since my last entry.. Wow where do i even begin hmm.. Suddenly I realised that from now on, probably my entries will revolve around my studying life.. I should probably change my blog name to something else.. Any suggestions? hehe

I'm here in the UK now. Inductions are over and classes have started. But before that, i would probably want to go a little bit back in time to the departure at the airport. JPA kasi setahun nak prepare but I had everything done at the 11th hour :P Masa tu la nak packing, unpack & re-pack. I've traveled abroad but not for this long so i've never packed for a 'long-duration' stay. I'm flying with Malaysia Airlines with a Business Class seat but it seems that the travel agent only managed to get me an economy upgrade. So even though it was a business class seat, I only had 20 kg of luggage and I had 45 kilo worth of stuff to bring! Later i found out one of the lads actually got an upgrade to First Class seat (also traveling to UK but at an earlier date). Tak aci!

At the check-in counter, the ground crew politely told me that i've way exceeded the limit and that she could help increase the limit up to 40 kg. But every extra kilo will cost me RM178 per kilo! Betul ke ni? Did i hear her correctly? And that is only until Heathrow. From Heathrow to Manchester, I shall board the British Airways and according to the her, that'll be different charges for excess baggage and they have a strict policy that I can only bring one luggage.  Adoyai.. Panic moment skejap..

 

Apa yg banyak sgt barang yek.. Despite having advised by my peers, checklists of stuff to bring from MABECS and pre-departure briefings from the British Council and the University, I cannot help but went on and bought winter jacket in KL as it was on sale. Excited ma.. Seriously tak perlu la.. buat penuh beg je.. It is better to just buy it here with the latest design ;-) Apart from that, I also packed notebooks which I got for free during my visits to technology seminars (konon nak jimat coz they said stationery is expensive here), a pot which I got from lucky draw, small rice cooker, sleeping bag, clothes hanger, rempah kari Alagappa and other unnecessary things LOL. Eventually I ended up abandoning one bag (sigh..)

 

Sepatutnya proceed je with 40 kg of baggage at KLIA with no extra charge. Takde isu extra baggage dah sebab dah lepas masuk kargo pun. Bukannya kena check out beg kat Heathrow.. Marah le ni. At Heathrow Airport, i checked in my hand luggage as it was quite heavy. Which means i could have brought all my 45 kilos of stuff. Furthermore, after getting our bags and seeing that my friend had two luggages with him rasa bagai tabur garam di luka.. AT KLIA, he checked in at a different counter and had different advice. Katanya hand luggage yg boleh bawak satu je... Tapi tengok ada je budak lain bawak sampai 3 hand luggage. Hmmpfgh.. Tu la takde pengalaman la benda2 ni...  Arrggh.. tension skejap. Sabar je la..

So next time, be more prepared than me - check that Malaysia Airlines have Enrich Miles for students where you can get extra 10 kilos if i'm not mistaken for just RM30. I knew this beforehand but didn't think I needed it at that time. Ingatkan dapat business class dah hebak leh bawak byk barang haha.. Also check whether you need to transfer your luggage in between flights. If you travel with other airlines (i'm not sure which one but i know others are travelling with Emirates or Etihad etc) they offer up to 40 kilos. Also weigh your luggage first at home :P beli la ada gejet utk tujuan ni.. Kalau nak bawak brg kering atau rempah ratus tu boleh pack dulu kat mesia and have somebody ship it to you since tak urgent sangat kan.. it's cheaper to send by ship rather than by air. Klu ada barang yg nak kena pos, guna pos biasa pun dah ok dalam less than 2 weeks leh sampai. Klu guna Pos Laju mahal jugak.

That's all for now.. This is me with my friend Lin who witnessed my chaotic moment at the airport haha..

Till next time.. Cheers ;-)