It was a loooooong travel time. No kidding.
First leg was Manila-Singapore that took three and a half hours. I had a four and a half hours stop over in Singapore - okay my fault because I really booked the flight that way. I wanted a buffer in case the PAL flight gets delayed.
The next flight was Singapore-Helsinki which took 12 hours non-stop. I've already gotten 'proper' sleep for 8 hrs and we're still faar from our destination. Good thing the stop over was only 2 hours.
Next up was the Helsinki-Milan flight, but it still took 3 hours. It was nice though because we flew over the Alps. Not much snow but I can imagine how it looks in winter.
All the flights done, next were the trains.
The train from Milano Malpensa airport to Milano Centrale took an hour plus when it should just take 40mins normally. There were some unusual stops, plus a passenger felt sick so they had to call an ambulance to bring her to the hospital.
Then, when I reached Milano Centrale train station, I couldn't anymore get the 1245pm train because I had 5 minutes left to buy and go on the train. I opted for the 120pm one instead. This was the regional (slow and cheap) train, and they weren't kidding when they say it is. The fast train should take about an hour to reach Bologna, but the slow train took three hours!!
Finally, I reached Bologna. I knew that the train station does not have any lifts or escalators. Last year, our Madrid-Florence flight got rerouted to Bologna due to a storm so I was 'familiar' with the station. The first thing I did after I got down from the train was to grab a ciggy and prepare myself for the strenuous descent to the exit. Okay, it might not sound so bad because it's going down anyway. I just dragged my trolley all the way down on the steps. I hope its as durable as it was advertised before.
When I got to ground level, I noticed that both (!) my shoelaces were untied. Imagine me, with a backpacker's backpack, obviously on my back PLUS my small camera bag and my bulky personal bag slung across the front, trying to kneel down on one knee so I can tie my shoelaces. The first shoe went fine without a hitch. The second shoe, when I finished, I almost couldn't get up. Grrrr. Yes I know, pack light next time.
After that's done, I texted the landlord on which bus to take to get to his place. He texted back saying its a 5 minute walk from the station. Like I still have the energy to walk, I texted back saying I have a lot of stuff so it will be difficult to walk. Also, I checked googlemap before, I knew it was kinda far. Even farther than 'average' Singapore walking standards. He texted back with the bus number and how much the cab will cost. When I checked the waiting shed, I couldn't find which bus to get because I can't find the stop in the listing. Also, I was too damn tired to take the bus. There's still a bit of a walk from the bus stop, not to mention carrying my luggage up the steps again.
I then took the 'cowards' way of cabbing. So sue me, I just went through a 33 hour trip and I am dead tired.
