Random Ramblings - Austria & Czech Trip - Nov 2014

Currency Exchange

So, I had my currency exchanged at Sunway Pyramid's money exchange. Changed it at the one located near the concourse area (where all the ATMs are located at).

Yesterday's rate was at 4.18 for EURO. :D

I was so happy that the rate is actually this low. Luckily I did not have it changed months earlier as I used to but then again, not changing into a really huge amount, so it doesn't matter much.

However, Czech Crown is not widely available in Malaysia, so I have decided to used my Euro to have it exchanged there. Will put up a review and recommendations on where you should have it exchanged.

A little skeptical of withdrawing Czech Crown at the ATMs in Czech, but I will try this out with a small amount when I'm there. Hopefully it works out fine!

Weather

I have been monitoring the weather and it seems that it might be in the teens to about zero celcius when I'm there. I have decided to just bring over 2 jackets - Uniqlo's Fleece and also a synthetic wool sweater. It will be layered for more warmth.

I can't justify bringing my fat winter jacket as it will be too warm.

Keeping my fingers crossed for this as I don't want to freeze! Brrrrrrrr!

I have the one in purple but mine is in black. Got it at Uniqlo at a mere RM29 when they had a sale going on!

Next trip: Austria & Czech Republic with a hint of Slovakia

I took time off from work for my November 2014 trip.

This time I am heading to Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia (just a hint though).

I purchased the air ticket from Lufthansa during Matta Fair in September.

Flight: KUL-VIE/PRG-KUL bought at RM2404. What a bargain! However, when I wanted to book the seats, I am suppose to pay a fee! So... I didn't book a seat. :( There goes my window seat!

I have wanted to visit Prague for the longest time and now I am! :D

Going forward, I will try to document all my trips as accurate with where I have my meals, tours that I've bought and etc.

Accommodations for Vienna, Salzburg, Cesky Krumlov and Brno has been booked. All on www.airbnb.com.

If you want a voucher of USD25 on airbnb, do signup here.

Accommodation for Prague will be booked a little later this week!

Breakdown so far
Air Ticket - RM2404
Accomodation
Vienna €117 (3 nights)
Salzburg €152 (3 nights)
Cesky Krumlov €95 (2 nights)
Brno €82 (3 nights)
Transportation
Train (Vienna >> Salzburg) €19 (online promotion price)
Bean Shuttle (Salzburg >> Cesky Krumlov) €35

Will update again once I have more deeds!

Flight Review: Lufthansa

Date: 7 June 2014 - 13 June 2014

Took an impromptu flight to Munich - I was too stressed at work and I had to have a 1 week break.

So there I am, booking a flight to Munich on Lufthansa's website.

Seat pitch was OK for me. It was on a A340

OMG - a touch screen. Now I hate those old school monitors with remote control!

Seat pitch on a A321 flying from Frankfurt to Munich. Seat pitch was ok too! Drinks were served on this short 1 hour flight.

A view over.... err not sure where but it is from Frankfurt to Munich.

Overall flight was superb. I would fly with them again anytime. KLM update your interior or you will lose out big time!

Sorry, didn't manage to capture any of the food served during the flight - was too tired!

Flight Review: Fireflyz & Swiss

Date: 2 November 2013 - 12 November 2013

I saw a friend sharing a promotion for Swiss airline about a year before this trip. Swiss was flying again from Zurich to Singapore (from May 2013 onwards).

All I saw on Swiss's website was SGD709 for a return ticket to Zurich (from SG of course)!! In the end, I did get the ticket as it was beyond affordable. After converting to MYR, it is only MYR17xx (sorry, forgot the exchange rate back then).

Of course I had to buy a ticket from KL-SG. I flew with Firefly from Subang Airport - it's near, convenient and had a short waiting time. The return ticket cost me about MYR250.

All in all, almost MYR2000! What a bargain!

Snacks & apple juice served on Fireflyz

In Swiss's flight. Seat pitch was ok for me. :D

Dinner served on Swiss - not bad. The dessert was yummy!

Breakfast served on Swiss. Bacon!!! :0 As usual the omelette was yucky! Sorry!

Great flight with Swiss as the service was great. The flight attendant remembered that I wanted pineapple juice the whole time! 

Will definitely fly with Swiss again if they have another promotion. Their usual price is a little high for my liking! Circa MYR3500 for a return flight from SG to Europe.

Destination: Lisbon Part 2

Note: I apologize for the long delay on this trip. Was really busy with life!

Date: 16 - 19 January 2012

This will be mostly a pictorial post. I got the ticket for the hop on and hop off bus. Obviously, I've forgotten to take a picture of the ticket but if anyone wants to know, it's the Yellow Bus.

I purchsed the Lisbon Premium 4 in 1 ticket but surprisingly, I lost the ticket while eating lunch. Apparently I emptied one of the bag's pockets into the bin (tissues and what not) :(....

Anyhow, pictures galore!

Opps.... my fingers!

That's Rua Agusta (the end part anyway).

That's what beyond Rua Augusta. It's the sea way on the right of the picture.

Sorry, I've forgotten what building this is, probably a church or something!

Don't judge me for having Japanese food in Lisbon. And thank you lunch for making me ticketless.

This is my most favourite place in Lisbon! It's the MUDE. It's a furniture/fashion museum. It showcases popular clothes/furnitures from the past up till today! Too bad pictures aren't allowed inside. It's free to enter though!

Rua Augusta again, lots of shops here. :D Manage to buy some great value stuff here!

Nice or not?

I walked from Rua Augusta to here. It's just about 5 mins away. Lovely buildings.

My favourite shot of the day!

Look at the topping! It's really good though. I totally recommend it. Bistro: Samadi, House of Cool. I only had 2 slices coz it was THAT filling. I told the waiter to get the rest to go, so I can have it for breakfast the next day :P I don't remember how much it was but I think it was about €10 for the pizza.

And that concludes my Lisbon trip! Next, Madrid....

Destination: Lisbon Part 1

Date: 16 - 19 January 2012

Sorry for the lack of posts people. I was really busy when I got back to work after CNY (Chinese New Year) and also being lazy after a 2 week trip to Europe.

This is Terminal C of BCN (Barcelona). I flew via Qatar Airways KUL-DOH-BCN as that's the nearest I can get to Portugal. The terminal was really small and simple, like LCCT, just not as busy as you can see. It's about 3pm by the time this picture was taken. I was having my late lunch of sandwiches & tea.

My flight from BCN to LIS costs about €42.99. Not a bad price though. Flight was about 2 hours. Flight was on time as well. 

This was my room and it's situated at Rua Augusta, the central of the most central location. Amazing isn't it? It costs me only USD36 per night. The room was spacious and incredible. I loved it!

This is the bathroom where I was staying. It's also really clean!

Now, this is Rua Augusta, that's what I see when I get to the front door of the flat. :D

That's my breakfast. €4.50. Hot chocolate at €2.50 and the pastry is €2. Pastry is with a slice of ham with melted cheese. So yummy, the cheese just melts in your mouth!

I had to stand to eat my breakfast but that's how they do it in Lisbon & Rome.

This is the Rossio or Praça de D. Pedro IV or Pedro IV Square. I was sitting right opposite the square, surfing the internet on my tablet. At that time, I just bought a prepaid sim card for about €15 whereby €10 goes to 300mb of data plan and the balance would go to calls & sms. A little expensive but I am addicted to the internet, and the place that I was staying, requires me to pay €15 for wifi for my whole stay and I'd rather have it on the go so I can use my GPS incase I get lost, ya know. And also checking in on Facebook (obviously). Oh yea, it's Vodafone by the way.

To be continued..

Destination2: Tokyo - 2011

Date: 01 - 09 September 2011

My 2nd time to Tokyo, Japan. I was quite excited about this trip as I purchased the ticket right after I came back from Italy in January this year.

My first time on Air Asia X! Seat pitch looks good! Seat were comfy enough. The flight was fully booked!

That's Harajuku at night. I think it's probably much more crowded in the afternoon but it's dinner time when I walked by with my friends. I met L from Germany. He's studying the Japanese language for the summer.

He brought us to an authentic okonomiyaki restaurant right in the corner somwhere. This is how it looks like before we put everything on the pan to be fried.

Looks good doesn't it? It's delicious!

More! Yums......

That's our karaoke session right after dinner. Amazing how every karaokes there are fully booked. I guess maybe singing's everyone's past time! It was a fun one!

So this is the famous Shibuya crosswalk which I didn't get to visit too the last time I was here! I was at the 'wrong side' of the station then. It's not actually that big though, comparable to KL's crosswalk right smack between Lot 10 & Sungei Wang Plaza.

My try on a Panaromic view of the crosswalk. I think next time round, I need to be here when night falls, it would've looked so much better with all the lights.

Saw this 'standing only' sushi bar. OMG, the salmon sushi was to die for! It's delicious! But I wasn't that hungry then, only had about 8 salmon sushis because that's my favourite.

It's all handmade, unlike here!

Also, I went to Ginza again. Apple store.... they're everywhere!

And I have no idea why I didn't take a photo of Abercrombie & Fitch's store. OMG, girls, you have got to go there. All the sales people in A&F are gorgeous. It's like they just walked out of the poster! Seriously! I was too shy to ask for photographs with them, so yea. I am so going to take photos of them A&F boys in Madrid this year! Yay - 2 more weeks to go!

My 2nd time round to Sensoji Temple. I was meeting up with a new Korean American friend E. It's always nice to know new people! I thought he was a Korean Korean (if you know what I mean) until he spoke with perfect American English! Sorry E!

Looks totally different in Autumn! Less people too. Maybe they don't like the heat and humidity much to want to go out?

I guess that was about it for now. I hope to go back to Tokyo again in 2012 or 2013. I miss that place and also the shopping. Things are really cheap at the Gotemba Premium Outlet!

Sorry for the boring post!