Perth International Airport Evacuation

I was caught up in the Perth Airport evacuation on Thursday 15th January. I had just boarded my flight to Kuala Lumpur when around 8 fire fighting appliances took up residence between my plane and a Qantas 747. With my flight only half boarded the door was closed and the air bridge removed. For the next 3 hours we sat on the plane able to watch every move of the fire fighters wondering how safe we were sitting, locked in an aircraft full of fuel. The captain was able to keep us as up to date as he could and the flight crew (of the Air Asia X) flight were great and supplied us with refreshments to help make the
time go by.
After 3 hours the remaining passengers were boarded and we were finally on our way to KL.
Later from KL I was to find out some one had thrown a cigarette into a drain and set fire to dry rubbish that had send smoke into the customs hall. This writer calls for the total band on smoking!!

Clothing, Toiletries and Hygiene by guest writer Skye

Travelling overseas from Australia to destinations like the USA and Europe can be a very lengthy journey and may include long layovers or unexpected delays. More than likely when you arrive in your destination you will feel jetlagged and unrefreshed. Nowadays it is getting harder and harder to pack toiletries to help combat body odours, but below is a few tricks to help you stay comfortable and smelling great!

Clothing

It doesn’t matter how hot it is outside, the aeroplane cabin is always going to be cool. If you are travelling from one hot climate to another (e.g. Perth to Bali) wear a t-shirt but pack a cardigan or light jumper in your carry on. This is also helpful if you are landing late at night or in the early hours of the morning when it is still cool.
Wear comfy shoes that can easily slip on and off. If you are travelling through the USA you will need to take your shoes off at security check points. If you are not wearing socks, best to pack some in your carry on as it does get cold in the cabin especially if you are relaxing without shoes on.
If you are travelling from a cold climate to a hot one (cold Sydney winter to a Hawaiian summer), dress in layers. Wear 2 shirts, jumper and pants to the airport and on the plane. Slip a pair of light weight shorts and a pair of thongs (flip flops/sandals) into your cabin luggage and change your pants, shoes and maybe take one of the shirts off just before landing and that way you won’t over heat upon your arrival, especially whilst struggling with your bags and customs.
Always carry a change of underwear in a plastic resealable lunch bag (like the one for all of your Liquids, Aerosols and Gels) in you carryon luggage. If you have a half way stop over or a long flight, before landing, freshen up. Even on shorter trips, you never know when you are going to be delayed or lose your luggage. Also being in a resealable bag, means the “first” pair will not impact on the rest of your carryon luggage....

Toiletries and Hygiene

Number one rule for carryon luggage and complying with the L.A.G.S rule, if you don’t need it for the flight, don’t carry it! However this is not a green light to stink up the cabin. Deodorant is a must to carry, especially on these long flights. I find Rexona solid sticks are the best and give 24hour protection and they are small.
To maximise space in your L.A.G bag don’t take your whole perfume bottle. Some perfume shops sell tiny spritser bottles the size of a lipstick that you can fill with your favourite perfume. All so, if you have an EBay account you can purchase designer “sample” perfumes/colognes which are perfect travel size.

Do some research before you travel about the airports you will be stoping over at. What you want to be looking for are showers. If you are travelling from Europe back to Australia, by the time you have reached Singapore or Bangkok chances are you have been in the air for at least 12 hours, not to mention the 3 hours at the airport before you boarded and however long it took you to get to the airport. You’re going to need a shower, and you will feel great afterwards! Refreshed and revived and with only 7 hours till Sydney you will be saying “bring it on!” This is also a good time to do that underwear swap and if you are wearing layered shirts, have a spare top and change the one closest to your skin. Keep in mind though that you may need to exchange some money to pay for the showers.
But if there are no showers, or you are travelling by train or bus but still would like to freshen up the wet towel is your shower in a packet! A recommendation is for wet wipes by Femfresh. It is a female product but with the right PH balance to be used in discrete areas as well as general areas like underarms.
During the flight when your skin is feeling dry, try L'Oreal's Hydrating wipes. This moisturises and makes your skin feel soft again.

Traveling to the USA from 12th January 2009

International travelers who are seeking to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program are now subject to enhanced security requirements. All eligible travelers who wish to travel under the Visa Waiver Program must apply for authorization using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization Web Site.

The countries that are currently part of the visa waiver program are:

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

APEC Business Travel Card

The most useful card in my wallet is the APEC Business Travel card. This card allows me to go through the “fast lane" at immigration in 18 countries and gives me short term business visitor entry with a once only application. The card is renewable every 3 years.

About the scheme

The APEC Business Travel Card Scheme is an APEC initiative.

The Scheme was developed in response to the need of business people to gain streamlined business visitor entry to the economies of the Asia-Pacific region to:

· explore business opportunities

· attend meetings

· conduct trade and investment activities.

Benefits for cardholders

The APEC Business Travel Card cuts through the red tape of business travel. Through a single application form, the card allows accredited business people to obtain multiple short-term business visitor entry to participating economies.

This saves cardholders time and effort involved in applying for individual visas or entry permits.

Participating economies

There are 18 APEC economies currently participating in the APEC Business Travel Card scheme:

Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, People's Republic of China, The Philippines, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam

Please Note: There is no economy code required for the United States as the card only allows for access to the fast-track air-crew lanes. Cardholders will still need to present valid passports and visas if required by existing United States law.

2007 Holiday at Breakas Resort in Vanuatu

Power Problems in Hotel Rooms

Power problems in Hotel rooms?
Are you sick and tired of trying to find enough accessible power outlets in your hotel room? On multi country trips do you have to carry a number of power adapters? Here is the answer to making life easier.
Just purchase and carry one universal power adapter,

available on eBay at the Airport or any good electrical

store.

Now purchase an inexpensive and light “power board”

from your home country and carry this with you. Now once you are in your hotel room you only need to find one well placed and accessible power outlet and you can then plug in all of your “gear” (lap top, mobile phone charger, camera charger, iPod etc) into the power board.

Recognising your bag easily on the carousal

To save time and confusion by picking up the wrong bag on a packed flight purchase a name strap from eezy2c. The company is owned by a mother and daughter team in Queensland Australia and one of their custom made straps will make your bag very easy to spot on a crowed carousal. Order online at http://www.eezy2c.com.au/