Germany Trip, Day One: Torturous Day Flight

My mom, again, volunteered to drive me to airport. I am grateful with this, she even bought breakfast for both of us, but we arrived 4 hours before the departure time. I hope the airport link will be fully operate by the time I went to Australia.

I use AirBerlin this time. The flight was delayed by one hour. This, as it turns out, was not a problem for me, much. Because I was due for two hours transit with my connecting flight to Munich. The plane, however, was Airbus A330. I could not dissuade you guys enough to change flight or airline to avoid this plane. In my opinion, it was too small for any flight longer than 5 hours. There were only 4 bathrooms for us poor people (read riding coach) to use. The left and right aisel are connected only at the back of the plane. So there will times when people queued up for bathroom on one side while the other were empty. I have to trod all the way to the back of the plane to get to the other side to use the bathroom...

Also There was no entertainment system at the back of the seat, naturally, but then the charge 3 Euro to buy the headphone... They also seems to use the same kitchen as KLM. Since the food menu and package looks the same.
I must say I miss flying Middle Eastern airlines already...

As I stated in the title, the day flight was torturous. It would have been fine if they turn off the lights and indicate the passengers to close the windows but no... As a results I only slept a little bit. They also did not stocked blindfold for day flight (I asked). There were several, not a few, Several, turbulence during the flight. It was really bad but one time it happen when the flight attendances bring out food, so they have to wheel their cart back and wait it out.
The flight could not end fast enough I tell ya.

The only good thing was that it was not as cold as my flight Prague and back to Amsterdam last year. We eventually landed in Dussendolf. The Thai girl seated with me asked if she could tag along during the transit procedure as this is her first international flight. She was slightly nervous because she has a connecting flight to Paris which could have left already without people from our flight. I assured her that the airline will provide any necessities should she been stranded here. As it turns out, about 15% of the passengers in our flight seems to be going to Paris as well so that flight was waiting. When we finally arrived at the immigration, an AirBerlin staff called out to passengers to Paris to go with him. So she as well as the other French people were rushed through the security by the AirBerlin staff to get to the connecting flight. I myself bolted into the terminal after I pass my security check to find my gate as well. I ran all the way to the gate and finally got in to the plane. This one has got leather seats! But it seems that the plane was poorly cleaned before we boarded.

The flight was not full so after the door closed I move to an empty row for the window seat. They only serve light snack on the plane, meaning we only have the choice between a bag of chips or biscuits. Thankfully it was not a long flight, nor eventful like the first one. Finally arrived in quiet airport in Munich, waiting for my luggage and then I went looking for the subway station.

The rather cute guy at the ticket counter consulted me with options on which ticket I should buy for my 4 days stints in the city. It should have been 3 days but then I arrived on Monday around 21:40 local time. So I ended up paying around 28 Euro for 4 days tickets including the extension to go to and from the airport which is in the outer rim of the system. It's a good thing that I did get the card because a ticket master came into the train about 4 stations later to card check passengers. After 45 minutes, I arrived at Haufbanhof , the city central station, and I began to search for my hotel. After a few asking around I found it. It was a mere 5 minutes walk from the station, perfect location really,
especially after I later found the station entrance about 10 steps away from the building.

I quickly check-in, asked if I wants to pay right away (to which I said tomorrow), and quickly went to my room. I took me a while to figured out the system here. The doorknob was a deadknob that did not turn, I fooled around with the key for quite a while, wondering if I have to schelp back to the lobby for help or not. Until I eventually figured out that I have to turn the key all the way to the right to also turn the bolt and open the door. The room was small. Small as in it has single bed, no fridge, small TV hanging above the foot of the bed small. But it's ok since I was not going to spend much time in it. Then I went into the bathroom for much needed shower, I tore open the soap package, tried the soap and found that it is of poor quality that will make my skin dry out like salted dry fish. But I used it a bit anyway, I packed some lotion as well (in case of dry skin, thank you very much).

I did not slept well that night despite the cold weather. I guess it's part jet-lagged and sleeping in new place. I came around like every 2-3 hours. Until finally my alarm goes off and it's time to get ready to see the city

I am Back From My Germany Trip

I am back from my trip now. Will blog about it over the weekend. Photos will uploaded later... Not sure where now... My Flickr account is full, my picasa account is not full yet but it might be this time.

I am still a bit tired from the trip... I called in sick today to recuperate but I am back to work tomorrow. So later for now.

The eve of my Germany Trip

I am going through list of things in my mind of things to do and what I should buy for my trip that will begins tomorrow.

I have got a couple of cool t-shirts and a cool fake diesel watch (with chain attached). The funny thing is the watch is cheaper than the t-shirt :P I am thinking about buying a couple of snacks to put in my backpack. Thinking back I don't think I was a snack person... Lucky me I suppose...

My mom will take me to the airport again. Hopefully the next times I am on a trip, to Australin in early Dec if things goes as planned, I will be able to use the BTS, MRT, and the Airport Link system. I will time our ride to the airport this times to see how long it will take. The Airport Link system will definitely be faster and cheaper than the other methods.

I am a little nervous.. Since this trip was kind of a rush compare to other trips that I have made before. But I intend to enjoy it nontheless. It's a shame though that I will be seeing Munich less... But then I think it would be enough for now to see the Merianplatz, the same one that I have seen from "Gabriel Knights: The Beast Within" game.

So expect lots of pictures. I will be away for a week with may or may not have a chance of blogging along the way.

Public Trial of Bangkok Airport Link System

I have been waiting for this Airport Link to open for quite sometime now. It's finally been open for public trial at the beginning of this month and I just tried it out today.

It is free during this public trial period. From June to August, Monday to Friday, from 7:00-10:00 and 16:00-19:00, the train will run from Phayathai station to the airport station. It is free to use which it great :) Although the announcement said that they don't accept luggage, you can still bring your luggage in to and from the airport.

It was hassle free to get it and out. Although I find that the train seems rather narrow compare to the other trains car like the BTS and the MRT lines here. The Phayathai station also have an extension that goes toward the BTS Phayathai station. So it is highly likely that the station will be connected in the near future. It would be really troubling if the station did not have adequate escalator or lifts to help travelers with big luggage.

To avoid any complication, I think I will forgo using it on my way to Germany but I will try to make it on my return trip. I am not sure if I will be able to make it to the last train or not... But I will certainly try.