Letters from the Equator

KLM-PH-BUK
Originally uploaded by WalB.

I’m booking a flight out to the UK for my wife and I for next month. It’s a company trip and I get to bring her along, which is really nice. My team is due to present a few prototypes of ours at a one-day BT event held at the prestigious Tate Modern museum. Unfortunately, only BT employees are allowed to attend. My wife will need to find things to do around London, which shouldn’t be a problem.

Another nice thing about this trip is that her flight ticket only cost me RM1k. I’ve accumulated a lot of frequent flyer miles on my Northwest Airlines Worldperks account, which entitles me for a full roundtrip to the US and back. I had to buy more credits for me to do Europe roundtrips, otherwise I would’ve gotten the ticket for free.

I’m actually looking forward to flying with NWA again, except that it’s not NWA but KLM. They’re all part of the Skyteam alliance and have affiliations between the frequent flyer programs, and this will be the first time flying with Royal Dutch. I’ve heard good things about it.

I do enjoy long haul flights, but I consume the experience by sleeping through the entire flight with the exception of meals. Transitting can be exciting the first few times, especially in a new airport. But after that it becomes drudgery. I equate that to purgatory, though I’ve never been there.

This trip should be fun. My colleagues are a jovial bunch, and my wife and them get along. My boss is a fantastic host, who promised us the sights and lots of merriment/alcohol. LL and I will be extending our stay past the 1 week business duration, which we’ll use to do the London thing.

Hopefully my friends who’re working there will be around to come out for a drink or something. I’ll need to contact those guys soon.