Here we are at the Club Aspire Lounge Gatwick awaiting our flight at 1405 on the first stage of our journey to Malaysia. I have to say the lounge is pretty busy but we've got comfortable seats, had a snack and a drink and are just waiting for the call to board which should be in approx 45 minutes.
I've published this post from Gatwick and the photos on this page aren't my own ... they're taken from the Qatar Airways website as I don't want to be photographing inside the plane and possibly invading privacy of other passengers. My next 'real-time' post will be made from Penang.
The first leg of our flight will take approximately 7 hours. We land at Doha, Qatar at 2359 local time, have a 2 hour stopover and depart 0155. (we'll still be working on UK timings so our bodies will think its 11pm). Our flight, Doha to Penang takes approx 7½ hours and we land at Penang at 1420 tomorrow (Thursday).
Doha, Qatar = GMT + 3 Hours
Malaysia/Singapore = GMT + 8 hours
Qatar Airways Business Class Lounge Doha (Qatar)
This is the interior of the Business Class section of the Qatar Airways 787 dreamliner There is a Bar at the back of the cabin set with fresh flowers.
Different view of cabin with bar in the foreground.
The seats are roomy, reclining to a bed length of 80 inches, and width of 30 inches. The touch screen is 17" so a good size. Lots of cupboards and shelves to put shoes, bags, phones and magazines etc during the flight. We've got seats in the centre aisle section as they're angled towards each other, making it easier to talk but if you travel alone there is a privacy screen you can raise to shut the other person up (hmmmm could come in handy when travelling as a couple I guess)!!
We have hired a car for the Malaysian part of our trip. David will chauffeur me and stop on command for photo opportunities! That's the plan anyway.
I used to drive in Singapore when I lived there but have never driven in Malaysia. Apart from the winding hilly roads in the Cameron Highlands I understand that most of the roads we'll travel are good expressway toll roads.
Starting from George Town on Penang Island which is a state in the N. West of the island we'll drive to Ringlet (southernmost town of the Cameron Highlands, Pahang) which is famous for growing strawberries, tea and flowers. I doubt we'll bother with the strawberry farms as we grow the bestest strawberries here in Kent of course!
From Ringlet we'll travel to Kuala Lumpur to spend a few days sightseeing, then on to Malacca (Melaka) for a couple of days before dropping our car off at Johor Bahru - the border with a causeway across the straits to Singapore.
We'll spend 5 nights in Singapore using public transport which is excellent then we'll fly back to Penang for 1 night before our return to the UK on Friday 8 March.
This is the route we'll be taking ... the map has a few 'enhancements' courtesy of David (who still can't get over the fact that we'll be flying Business and First Class this year thanks to the wonderful website he found!
David has produced this image to illustrate the comparative size/distances Malaysia -v- UK ... thank you David!
You can see how very tiny Singapore is compared to Malaysia .... anyway, the journey we'll take in Malaysia is a little like driving from Edinburgh to Brighton ... give or take a few wiggles in the roads.
BUT fuel is cheap here .... less than 45p per litre.
I've published this post from Gatwick and the photos on this page aren't my own ... they're taken from the Qatar Airways website as I don't want to be photographing inside the plane and possibly invading privacy of other passengers. My next 'real-time' post will be made from Penang.
The first leg of our flight will take approximately 7 hours. We land at Doha, Qatar at 2359 local time, have a 2 hour stopover and depart 0155. (we'll still be working on UK timings so our bodies will think its 11pm). Our flight, Doha to Penang takes approx 7½ hours and we land at Penang at 1420 tomorrow (Thursday).
Doha, Qatar = GMT + 3 Hours
Malaysia/Singapore = GMT + 8 hours
Qatar Airways Business Class Lounge Doha (Qatar)
This is the interior of the Business Class section of the Qatar Airways 787 dreamliner There is a Bar at the back of the cabin set with fresh flowers.
The seats are roomy, reclining to a bed length of 80 inches, and width of 30 inches. The touch screen is 17" so a good size. Lots of cupboards and shelves to put shoes, bags, phones and magazines etc during the flight. We've got seats in the centre aisle section as they're angled towards each other, making it easier to talk but if you travel alone there is a privacy screen you can raise to shut the other person up (hmmmm could come in handy when travelling as a couple I guess)!!
We have hired a car for the Malaysian part of our trip. David will chauffeur me and stop on command for photo opportunities! That's the plan anyway.
I used to drive in Singapore when I lived there but have never driven in Malaysia. Apart from the winding hilly roads in the Cameron Highlands I understand that most of the roads we'll travel are good expressway toll roads.
Starting from George Town on Penang Island which is a state in the N. West of the island we'll drive to Ringlet (southernmost town of the Cameron Highlands, Pahang) which is famous for growing strawberries, tea and flowers. I doubt we'll bother with the strawberry farms as we grow the bestest strawberries here in Kent of course!
From Ringlet we'll travel to Kuala Lumpur to spend a few days sightseeing, then on to Malacca (Melaka) for a couple of days before dropping our car off at Johor Bahru - the border with a causeway across the straits to Singapore.
We'll spend 5 nights in Singapore using public transport which is excellent then we'll fly back to Penang for 1 night before our return to the UK on Friday 8 March.
This is the route we'll be taking ... the map has a few 'enhancements' courtesy of David (who still can't get over the fact that we'll be flying Business and First Class this year thanks to the wonderful website he found!
You can see how very tiny Singapore is compared to Malaysia .... anyway, the journey we'll take in Malaysia is a little like driving from Edinburgh to Brighton ... give or take a few wiggles in the roads.
BUT fuel is cheap here .... less than 45p per litre.
