Early this year I accepted an offer from Cardiff University to study the MBA. On 21 September 2011, I left Malaysia, heading to the UK on Etihad. My journey started with a pleasant surprise when I was given a free upgrade to Business Class. It’s true what they say about UAE based airlines, they definitely know how to offer the best hospitality up in the air.
Note: click on images to enlarge and click on links for further info.
Image above: The interior of Etihad’s business class
Apart from being able to recline the chair to become a full bed, it also provides a full back massage (similar to Osim‘s concept). Actually if I really think about it, it might just be an Osim chair built into the seat.
My flight had a 2 hour transit in Abu Dhabi. I was really amazed with the airport. It’s massive, modern, and they have all sorts of shops for shopping and dining. Very impressive.
I arrived in Heathrow around 7AM. There was a massive queue at Immigration, and they had a dedicated queue for first time students coming to the UK. I was stuck in the queue for nearly 30 minutes. Once I was out, the Cardiff International Office was there to greet me and other international students that arrived that morning.
The bus ride from Heathrow to Cardiff took around 2 hours 30 minutes. They took us straight to a hall next to the business school where our accommodation is being sorted out. Since I took private accommodation, I got to skip the whole thing entirely.
I had chosen Victoria Hall, which is a private college hall. The hall is a mere 5 minutes walk from the Business School. Since I had done all the payments and paperwork online, all I did when the university took us there was sign some papers and collected my keys.
It took me a few days to settle in. Shopping for groceries, bedding and other miscellaneous items took a few trips to the city. Adjusting to student life after working for 4 years turns out not to be that easy after all.
In my flat, there are 5 rooms. My other flatmates are 1 Thai and 3 Chinese (mainland). The Thai guy is also doing MBA, so it feels nice to have a coursemate living nearby. The other 3 Chinese guys are undergrads.
I’ll try to post as frequent possible throughout my MBA.
Related MBA posts:
Imran Jaafar 