I've never been to Cyprus before and I never heard of it. (Just like the people in Cyprus. You tell them you're from Malaysia, they are not sure. But if you tell them you're from Singapore, all say yes. Even the weather forecast in the news does not show Malaysia. :P No wonder.) So, this is a first trip for me to Cyprus. Anyway, my flight is on midnight and I reached the KLIA airport around 10:15 PM by taxi. After checking on the schedule board and found my way to the checking in counter, my colleague still haven't arrived yet. There was a long cue waiting at the check in counter and passengers with huge luggage bag. (There must be a lot of middle east travelers in Malaysia.) When my colleague has arrived, the cue behind me was longer than before and luckily for him, we was able to check in together.
Dubai - Transit
After finished watching couple of movies in a long hour flight, we finally reached Dubai. Flight transit is not a good experience if the transit is going to take more than 5 hours. There was a lot of people sleeping on the waiting for their flight and I was tempted to join them. Until I saw the condition of the carpet floor, I've changed my mind. The funny thing was, I have saw people sleeping on the floor with full body covered. Just like a mummy from Egypt. :D After a while sitting on the floor waiting due to all the seats are fully taken, we finally manage to squeeze in the crowd for 2 seats. There was wifi service available for internet connection but somehow my laptop does not work with it.
Taking a small nap on the "not so comfortable for sleeping" seat wasn't easy and we finally got up to get our free breakfast. Yes, it's free food provided by the airline company for passenger who transit for more than 4 hours. But you can rather skip it as the meal doesn't serve well. It was just only couple of small sandwiches, a banana cake and a coffee. Beside, breakfast will be served again while in the flight, which is better. One more thing regarding the toilet in transit there; it's always full and some are not working or maybe I was having bad luck. It was a long cue in there and by the time it was my turn, the toilet was clogged. Again, the toilet in the flight is far better. In conclusion, transit in Dubai was ok but I think they can improve more especially their services.
Cyprus - Nicosia
Another 2 more hours of flight from Dubai to Cyprus. It was noon by the time we reached there and there no sign of our pick up driver. After 30 minutes waiting, we finally found the driver and I forgive him after he was driving a Benz E class to pick us up. We got our apartment key from him and it took another hour drive from the airport to the apartment. Along the way to the our apartment in the city, we can notice there are lots of sand, rocks and no tall buildings, as no building taller than 10 stories high. Later, I found out that there are earthquake in Cyprus. My colleague even felt it in one of the night while I was sleeping.
The apartment door is a bit tricky here. After 5 minutes of twist, turn and push, we gave up. We asked for help from our neighbour and came out a housewife holding her kid in one arm. She managed to help us to open the door just in seconds. (Gee...). The first step on the apartment's floor with bare feet wasn't that comfortable. It was dusty and slightly sticky if your feet is sweaty. I was so annoyed by it and finally, I gave the whole floor a clean up and I got a bucket of mud water in the end. I came to a conclusion that previous tenant or the weekly cleaner does not like to mop the floor. After checking the apartment around, it was fully equipped. Stove (no gas but it was replaced later), washing machine, fridge, iron board, microwave and vacuum machine. Everything looked like it was well prepared for the tenant to live more than a month.
A quick tour to the office to get a our security key card, a visit to our senior and boss and finally, back to our apartment. In the evening, we went to the city Mcdonald (Most of the shop were closed as they are in summer holiday.) to get some burger because it was very cheap. 1.20 Cyprus pound for 2 chicken burgers. What a bargain if you do not convert it back to Malaysia ringgit. We went to the nearby supermarket to get some bottled water because the tap water here has slightly strange taste. We also took some water from our office for the first 2 weeks and later, I found that the tap water wasn't taste much different and we start drinking from tap water (of course, it was boiled.) from then on.
So, this is just the beginning of the trip. More to come. Stay tuned.
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