-42: Sunday Travel Planning

Sunday morning - I am awake at 7:30am, I have no idea why, because I went to bed around 2am. Technically I can go to dragonboat training, but I suppose it is too late now, plus the time for commuting. So I suppose I shall stick around at home today, and continue my travel planning and sending CS requests, and perhaps even read a bit. It's Sunday man. Although there is still pressure building up I suppose I can afford some rest once in a while. I am trying not to freak out at -42. Tonight I am going for a poetry reading thing with Laura, my CSer from Italy. It is going to be in NTU and is held by a bunch of academics, whose "poetry writing is lesser known" than their academic prowess. It doesn't get nerdier than this.

//11:44am
So I'm doing the planning for Europe. It is rather confusing with all the choices and permutations. I am currently working on the transport connections - on one hand I feel like just getting a rail pass and that would lead us down to figuring out the routes that don't require booking ('coz booking fees apply and I'd like my Eurail pass to cost a nett price instead of all the add-ons), and to figure out what countries I really need to be part of my Select Pass.

I had pretty much decided on getting a rail pass a few weeks back, but today I have been thinking that I actually don't need one. True I would have to figure out every single point to point connection and book it way in advance, which means that I will have less flexibility to deviate from my pre-established route, but then again I don't have so much flexibility anyway because I already have people to meet along the way and it's not like I can just fly off to some random country and spend a few days there. Laura recommended that, but perhaps I will do it the next time I get to Europe when I have less plans. It sounds so fun! Yay for impulse tickets!

But back to the connections. If I don't take a rail pass, the options are blown wide open and I'm then looking at rail, coaches, flights and ferries. If I can I'd like to take a ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm, just for the heck of it. And there are so many different websites to check out, to compare prices, and I have no idea which ones are legit... I mean, can you trust an airline that calls itself Wizz Air? (Insert juvenile joke) I did check if it was trustworthy and the reviews are apparently quite shitty. So should I spend double on another airline that's imaginatively named Smart Wings?

//12:15pm
I just checked Smart Wings' reviews and they seem to be equally crap. Then it led me to check this other airline called Sky Europe, which name I am fine with, just that it filed for bankruptcy last year. A few wiki searches later I ended up looking at Wizz Air's wiki page - and apparently it's rated the "European airline most likely to next go bust". Also it has its own hate site: WizzAirSucks.com (tagline: Miserable Customer Service + Screwed Customers = Wizz Air) I guess they're out. But they were bloody cheap though. The flight that I'm trying to score is Prague to Rome. It seems that Smart Wings is the only way to go, not even Eurolines provides that connection.

//1:22pm
I am contemplating taking off Rome (the sacrilege!) and putting in Vienna instead. For one, I'd probably save on transportation because Rome is kinda out of the way - my original plan was Prague - Rome - Verona/Venice - Zurich. Now if I take away Rome and put in Vienna instead, the connections make more sense: Praha - Vienna - Verona/Venice - Zurich. There's no one in particular that I have to meet in Rome, and Vienna is actually the 6th biggest CS city in the world (the 4th in Europe, after Paris, London and Berlin - all of which I am visiting), which is good for my research... decisions decisions!

//1:36pm
OK recap. The route so far:
Berlin
Prague
Vienna
Verona/Venice/north Italy (Laura - and the Dolomites!)
St Gallen (CS Paella Weekend woot!)
Zurich (possible detour to Strasbourg to find Linda)
Tallinn (Silver + Viljandi Folk Music Festival!)
Stockholm (Because the ferry from Tallinn goes here)
Gothenburg (Marten!)
Hamburg (Val in spirit!)
Paris (Vanessa!)
Ireland - not sure which part yet (Robert + cycling trip!)
London
Berlin

//2:18pm
Am considering taking out Hamburg. Val won't be there anyway, so there's no real point... it might be better to just skip to Paris and meet Vanessa straight away. The more detours I make the more it will cost me.

//3pm
Dates are firmed up, I am starting the connection bookings. So far I have got the flight from Zurich to Tallinn, yes! Next down is ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm, and train from Stockholm to Gothenburg; and flight from Gothenburg to Paris!

//4:28pm
Booked =) There are still many connections to be made but I have to rest for a while. Wouldn't want to book flights when I'm feeling sleepy. Let's see - within an hour I went on a spending spree that made me SGD625.99 poorer, and managed to get:

Zurich - Tallinn (Air Baltic); Tallinn - Stockholm (Tallink Silja ferry); Stockholm - Gothenburg (Swedish railway); Gothenburg - Paris (Air Berlin).

I reckon it's not too bad.

//5:58pm
So before I could take a nap Laura came back and we made an unanimous decision to skip the poetry reading, so we did travel planning instead, for her trip in Malaysia and for my trip in Europe. Quid pro quo ^^ And we found that there's actually a Couchsurfer hosting on Perhentian!!

She's on Skype now with her mum so I am continuing this blog post.

//next morning 10am
I totally forgot to post this blog post. Laura got the Perhentian CSer, she's so lucky =D She set off this morning for her week-long adventure and I'm really glad I'm going to see her again in Italy, because she's such a sweet person and is undergoing a rather similar PhD experience as I am. We had eggplant lasagna and Italian wine yesterday for dinner, and mangosteens, durian and rambutans for dessert.

I have to work really really hard now!! *penuh bersemangat*