travel arrangements

paperwork:

my trip is on its way to being finalised - paperwork-wise that is. you see, i get some funding from the department, but only when *all* the paperwork is in. there's a lot of stuff to be given in on paper - flight itinerary, costings, my travel schedule, proof that the conference actually exists, etc. so that's pretty much all done.

i have learnt that the web isn't all that reliable when it comes to booking things and all. looking for accomodation in Cyprus was a pain on the net. the hotel websites aren't particularly useful. even google returned all these 3rd party agent websites that were quite exp. :(

however, email is quite good. i fired an email to the hotel where the conference is held and got back a straight answer with all the information i needed. this was it:


----
We can offer accommodation for participants of the above mentioned conference with special rates as follows ;- One single room inland view:
Bed & breakfast rate (cyp.45.00 per room per day)
+ Side sea view supplment cyp. 4.00/day
+ Sea view supplement cyp. 8.00/day

Please reply/confirm, advising type of room required. Regards, Res. Grecian Bay Hotel
----


i must say i was quite impressed. btw, the *special* rates are ok... only a 3 CYP difference from the normal price. now the tough choices of inland, side sea or sea views... hmm is an extra 4 CYP (12 AUD) per night justifiable? hmm... prolly not :P

gadgets:

no trip halfway around the world is complete without something to record it right? yes yes, a plain ol' writing pad would work, but something more visual and audible is better right? hence my new toy:



ta-da! the very very nice Canon A510 bought from some dodgy chinaman camera shop on elizabeth st. camera - great. the chinaman boss at the shop - very bad (read stingy and unhelpful). got it just yesterday and noticed a slight defect - the lcd screen was tilted about 2 degrees to the right. which will obviously affect picture taking. like every photo will get tilted! i thought it was just me being picky - but at least 3 other ppl (2 aussie shop assistants and ldh) can confirm this! but noooo... not the chinaman boss guy.


boss: you not holding it straight ... its ok. camera made like that. go ask duncan he tell you
[duncan's the other shop assistant]

me: don't you think there's a tilt in the lcd screen?
duncan: yeah its about a 2mm difference
me: but your boss says its not
d: yeah, i dunno what he's on about... look i'll write a warranty claim for ya

me: =D
[and just as he was about to write the claim...]

b: don't worry abt it duncan, nothing wrong... *nod nod*
d: oh, so should i just give a swap?
b: *still nodding*
d: ok...
[d grabs a new camera and hands it to me]

me: =D


i'm not sure, but i think the boss didn't hear duncan very well. being consistent with his stingy nature, i'm guessing that a swap was the last thing the boss wanted. oh wells, i quickly confirmed the swap with duncan and double that it was ok. i can't say i hung around long enough to know what happened afterwards. i hope duncan din get in trouble...

seems like its quite rare that things with me are smooth sailing. always have had issues with my purchases... but at least i'm satisfied for now. the camera takes photos with briliant colors. hopefully more eye candy will appear here from now on :D

so looks like my trip is all set. will be flying with emirates to mel->dubai->larnaca->dubai->singapore->mel. ooh, gotta register for emirates to get points. oh so exciting :D

edit: canon announced the new A610's and A620's noo... cruel fate