Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Thursday, April 05, 2012
38 years
We had this picture taken on the first Sunday we came back. It was quite tough to make sure all 15 of us posed well, especially the babies. But alhamdulillah I love the outcome, minus the background! Haha, so the pening! Anyway, what matters most is that we really had fun that day.
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
LHR-BWN-KUL
This post was stuck in draft-land for far too long.
We flew by Royal Brunei. Since we were paying for our own tickets, we looked for the cheapest around. At the time, the Royal Brunei offering was cheaper by as much as £300 compared to the next cheapest by Singapore Airlines. The catch was we would have to fly first to Bandar Seri Begawan (with a refueling stop at Dubai) before taking a separate flight to Kuala Lumpur. However, flying with Omar we preferred a non-direct flight anyway so we could stretch our legs.
Before we fly, there were a few things we needed to clarify with the airline. We were taking Omar’s stroller and car seat with us so wanted to know how both items would be considered against our baggage allowances. We had to check them both in as baggage. As full ticket paying passengers, Afi and I both received 20kg each while Omar was allocated 10kg, for a combine total of 50kg.
I read that some airlines allow either or both items to be checked in for free. However, Royal Brunei was not one of those airlines. So with the stroller and car seat we were left with only about 25kg for the rest of our stuff. 25kg was definitely not enough, especially when we had planned to dedicate one suitcase just for Omar’s stuff. Thankfully though, I happened to mention to the Royal Brunei staff on the phone that Afi was a fulltime student and that we were returning home for good, and for that she was given an extra 15kg.
So that basically settled our packing arrangement: 15kg for the stroller, 10kg for the car seat, a 20kg suitcase for Omar, and another 20kg suitcase for Afi and I to check in. For the rest of our stuff, I also carried my notebook backpack and a cabin suitcase (and Omar) and Afi her notebook handbag and baby changing bag. Yes, we had really had our hands full! Again, we couldn’t imagine how we would have managed without Zul coming along to the airport and helping us with the baggage. Things were definitely more manageable once we had our baggage checked in.
Omar behaved well during the whole journey, though he was understandably a bit cranky on the last leg from Bandar Seri Begawan to Kuala Lumpur. Between London and Dubai, he spent most of the time trying to take off his shoes. Sitting on my lap, he would rip open the Velcro fasteners and I would fasten them on again.
We were the very last people to reboard the plane at Dubai. It was a 1.5-hour stop, but we underestimated the time we needed to grab some dinner and gave Omar a nappy change, and were slightly confused about the time zone. Thankfully, we were then given a bassinet seat for Omar, so we could all catch some sleep.
However, you would not want to spend four hours in transit at the Brunei International Airport. After travelling for almost 18 hours we were tired so stayed inside the departure hall. There was absolutely nothing to do. We were starving but here was no food at the cafeteria and the Coffee Bean outlet ran out of ice! It was so unfortunate, as otherwise we really enjoyed flying with Royal Brunei.
We finally landed at KLIA at about 1710 on 9 February, after almost one full day of travelling.
It is good to be home.
We flew by Royal Brunei. Since we were paying for our own tickets, we looked for the cheapest around. At the time, the Royal Brunei offering was cheaper by as much as £300 compared to the next cheapest by Singapore Airlines. The catch was we would have to fly first to Bandar Seri Begawan (with a refueling stop at Dubai) before taking a separate flight to Kuala Lumpur. However, flying with Omar we preferred a non-direct flight anyway so we could stretch our legs.
Before we fly, there were a few things we needed to clarify with the airline. We were taking Omar’s stroller and car seat with us so wanted to know how both items would be considered against our baggage allowances. We had to check them both in as baggage. As full ticket paying passengers, Afi and I both received 20kg each while Omar was allocated 10kg, for a combine total of 50kg.
I read that some airlines allow either or both items to be checked in for free. However, Royal Brunei was not one of those airlines. So with the stroller and car seat we were left with only about 25kg for the rest of our stuff. 25kg was definitely not enough, especially when we had planned to dedicate one suitcase just for Omar’s stuff. Thankfully though, I happened to mention to the Royal Brunei staff on the phone that Afi was a fulltime student and that we were returning home for good, and for that she was given an extra 15kg.
So that basically settled our packing arrangement: 15kg for the stroller, 10kg for the car seat, a 20kg suitcase for Omar, and another 20kg suitcase for Afi and I to check in. For the rest of our stuff, I also carried my notebook backpack and a cabin suitcase (and Omar) and Afi her notebook handbag and baby changing bag. Yes, we had really had our hands full! Again, we couldn’t imagine how we would have managed without Zul coming along to the airport and helping us with the baggage. Things were definitely more manageable once we had our baggage checked in.
Omar behaved well during the whole journey, though he was understandably a bit cranky on the last leg from Bandar Seri Begawan to Kuala Lumpur. Between London and Dubai, he spent most of the time trying to take off his shoes. Sitting on my lap, he would rip open the Velcro fasteners and I would fasten them on again.
We were the very last people to reboard the plane at Dubai. It was a 1.5-hour stop, but we underestimated the time we needed to grab some dinner and gave Omar a nappy change, and were slightly confused about the time zone. Thankfully, we were then given a bassinet seat for Omar, so we could all catch some sleep.
However, you would not want to spend four hours in transit at the Brunei International Airport. After travelling for almost 18 hours we were tired so stayed inside the departure hall. There was absolutely nothing to do. We were starving but here was no food at the cafeteria and the Coffee Bean outlet ran out of ice! It was so unfortunate, as otherwise we really enjoyed flying with Royal Brunei.
We finally landed at KLIA at about 1710 on 9 February, after almost one full day of travelling.
It is good to be home.
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