Biz trip to UK

One week after my KK trip, I was off to UK for business trip. I will be meeting my boss for the 3^rd time. Most people see their bosses’ everyday, for me meeting my boss and team is like an annual affair. The first week was rather packed with meetings and dinners at night. The second week was vacation – on personal expense of course. Met up with an ex-colleague, Jo and her dearest 3 years son Zac on my first day. We spent some time around Thames River, near Windsor Castle.

First of all I would like to share an interesting story about gaps in expectations and cultural differences. Before departure I was very excited - first time staying in a four star hotel in UK. As I arrived I was rather disappointed with the hotel service – no one bothered to greet as I entered the hotel, the reception area was rather small, the baggage storage was not very organized, there are many fire doors in the hotel and the sound proof was bad. My boss reminded me that I am not in a service-oriented country and must lower my standards, and I did. In addition the hotel is an old building – poor sound proof, plenty of fire doors and staircases are rather common. After staying in multiple hostels during my own travel I must say that the hotel is quite good – points added.

During my first week in the UK sandwich or pasta (normally less than GBP 3) was a norm for lunch. At first I was rather excited. After some time I can start memorizing the menu or types of sandwich or pasta available in Tesco. As a Malaysian I started to miss our food variety - sweet, sour, spicy, fried, soup, steam etc. Good thing they have a variety of fresh juices and smoothies. I really miss those healthy drinks.

Travelling around UK is very convenient via bus, train or flight. Booking in advance saves a lot of money and can be done online. It's better to book long intercity trains in advance for several reasons:

- it can be much cheaper but must travel on the schedule booked

- to reserve a seat. You can choose a front facing, back facing, aisle, window, table etc. Normally intercity has a lot of coaches. As long as A to M - you can imagine how long it takes to walk from one end to the other. The trains arrive and depart on-time. They don't stop for a long time. Not booking in advance means you may not get a seat before the train leaves the station.

Airport check-in in UK may take a long time due to strict checking. Sometimes travelling between airports and cities may take a long time and inconvenient. Depending on the route, taking a bus or train maybe a better choice.