24hours / 3countries

some people says that you are lucky if you get to travel for work... well, yeah, it's true.... but if you really travel for work and/or meetings, you don't actually get to discover the place where you are travelling.... most of the time, you would have meetings back to back, and as most companies are particular about business trip expenses, they would schedule the meetings immediately after you arrive, and your return flight will be immediately after you finish the last meeting... kalau dah jadik senior staff, boley ler kaotim with whoever (secretary, admin officer... financial controller etc etc...) so that you will have more time to breath during the business trip, but kalau masih baru lagi in the company, they will make arrangements for your trip and you just keep your mouth shut and follow the itinerary that they have prepared.... jangan banyak songel... kang tak semena2 kena boikot/banned dek fellow colleagues...

Terminal 3, Dubai airport, terminal dedicated for Emirates Airlines only. Baru bukak tak sampai sebulan... canggih...! airport baru katakan... tapi.... tak ada Diners Lounge.... hiks, hiks...!! Diners Lounge kat Terminal 1 jer.... no more lounge access for me, unless I take "non-Emirates flight" :(

sempena menjadik jurujual kacang goreng rangup2 nih, I do get to travel a fair bit.... Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, France... and now to some of the countries in Middle East... dulu2 best gak, sebab I was alrdy a senior staff in the previous company, so I would find my way in gttng a "proper" itinerary, to work and rest.... (and sometimes holiday... hehe..). but now, with this new company, alahai.... ikut jer laaaa...

terminal 3 depa nih ada iras2 cam Changi airport... got tempat resting2 in the middle of the airport, ala2 "koi garden : kolam ikan , garden, pangkin etc"... aper ker hal nyer depa kat Dubai nih...? asyik meniru Singapore jerrrr....? tak ada idea sendiri ker...? kalau tiru Mesia ok gak.... tapi tak... Singapore jugak dia tengok.... hahaha.... abis la aku kena tibai dek sedara mara kat Kota Singa lepas nih.... hehe...

this is my 3rd month in Sagem Orga Dubai... first month was "initiation month", 2nd month was bulan posa & raya, so keje tak gerak amende... now that everything is over, it's time to "rock and roll"... went to Syria recently, went to Yemen last week, and next week, going to France for 3 days...

awai2 pagi dah kat airport, matahari baru nak naik....

kapal terobang Emirates nak ke Sana'a.... Airbus A330 jer flight nyer... (entry level for widebody aircraft)

pegi Syria was fine... I went to Damascus alone, so I could make my own itinerary/arrangement... pegi Sana'a (Yemen) dgn boss... perghhh....!! siksa kome...!!Boss is the type who doesn't like to stay in unfamiliar places... lagi cepat dia balik ke Dubai, lagi dia suka... (amende ler yg dia suka sgt kat Dubai nih...? dgn traffic jam nya yg mega dahsat tu...). as a result, whenever you travel with him, the itinerary will be dense and trip will be short....last week, masa pegi Sana'a... dia mati2 tak nak stay overnite in Sana'a... flight arrangement is not good... so pegi naik Emirates awal pagi (only 1 flight per day), bila abis mtng late afternoon, balik naik Qatar Airways....

here's the itinerary :

4.00am : wake up

4h30am : go airport

5.00am : check in at terminal 3, new terminal, no Diners lounge here :(

7.00am : flight departure Dubai - Sana'a

10.00am : arrival Sana'a

12.00pm : 1st meeting

4.00pm : 2nd meeting

6.30pm : check in

8.00pm : flight departure Sana'a - Doha (Qatar)

11.00pm : arrival Doha (and transit)

1.00am : flight departure Doha - Dubai

2.30am : arrival Dubai, and immigration queue

4.00am : baru lepas immigration Dubai

5.00am : baru sampai rumah (dan jam loceng berbunyi, as it was time for my daily wake up to get prepared and go to work...)

12.00pm : the very same day, ada conf call with colleagues in UK... (jgn nak mimpi having the day off... gotta go to opis...!!)

Sana'a from the sky.... bergunung ganang bandarnya... cam Muscat, Oman

Emirates in the sky

Sana'a is actually quite high above sea level, 2,200meter atas paras laut... so it is a city in the mountains... pleasant temperature... in general, southern part of Arab Peninsular bergunung ganang disebabkan pertemuan antara Asia continental plate & Africa continental plate - Asian plate has been pushed upward

perrrrgggghhhhh....!!! nak termuntah2 aku dgn schedule giler camni... boss is OK with this kinna schedule coz he will have access to various facilities... to lounges at the airport, late check-in, priority immigration clearance (as part of frequent flyer privileges) etc etc... yang aku nih termangu2 berkeliaran kat airport & immigration queue.... check-in kena dtg 2 jam awal lak tuh....!!so, dalam masa 24 jam, aku telah berada di 3 negara berlainan... UAE, Yemen, Qatar (and back to UAE).... siksa kome...!! so, sapa nak ikut boss aku pegi business trip abroad, angkat tangan...!!

Doha airport Duty free.... Doha airport tak ler beso sangat cam Dubai.

tapi depa nak lawan gak dgn airport Dubai... got lucky draw, and can win a Lexus car one hoorrrr....

next week, trip to Paris (meeting + exhibition). Departure Mon afternoon, and by Wed evening dah ambik flight balik ke Dubai (sampai awal pagi kat Dubai on Thu morning....). flight time is 7 hours each way... kang, sampai ke Paris kang, tak sempat adjust jetlag, dah nak balik Dubai balik dah....!! perrghhh...!hope that all these trips will get me to at least "silver skywards" frequent flyer card... boley la gua enjoy all these frequent flyer privileges.... kalau tak, koyak la badan...

badan nih, rasanya "nak pakai lama...", tapi kalau selalu kena lanyak baguih2 camni, alamat cepat expire ler nanti....