Greece madness

So much to be updated and yet I'm still slothing around like nothing's happening. The fever is giving me reasons to sloth around though. A call to the hospital and the very nice nurse informed me that a check-up will cost me 960 SEK (almost 200 bucks !!) and so once again, I relied on self-medication because it is cheaper and 200 bucks for JUST checking is really too exorbitant, especially after what happened in Athens.

Greece was honestly the best experience ever, both good and bad.

The photos of the views and monuments will be up soon on facebook, so I guess I shouldn't disclose anything here.

What I wanted to blog about was what happened during the trip, especially to let people know about the strict rules of the United Kingdom.

Basically though I'm already a Singaporean PR, I am still an Indonesian and hence still possesses the green Indonesian passport.

Having this passport is like major troublesome because of the treaties that the Indonesian government has yet to do with so many countries. Even with my Schengen residence permit, I still cannot enter United Kingdom.

THIS IS BECAUSE UNITED KINGDOM IS NOT UNDER EUROPEAN UNION. Please take note of this. United Kingdom, along with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and 50 odd more countries are part of the COMMONWEALTH NATIONS because they were previously under the British colony.

Therefore entering United Kingdom with an Indonesian passport equipped with a Schengen residence permit still requires a VISA.

However, I was told that a transit in United Kingdom will not require a visa because I will never leave the airport. Which is the reason why I agreed to a return flight to Stockholm with a transit at London.

Then the rude Greek lady at the easyjet counter told me that I cannot travel to UK because the plane stops at UK and it is not a connecting flight to Stockholm. My flight back to Stockholm was Ryanair and not easyjet, and therefore these two different flight companies cannot assure UK that I will not travel out of the airport. THEREFORE SHE CANCELLED MY TICKET.

Thank God I found a connecting flight using airBaltic through Riga, Latvia. If not, I will be wandering around Athens ALONE with a dead iPhone.

This was a major scary experience and so to other fellow Indonesians with Schengen residence permit, remember to have a visa to United Kingdom, and if you are transiting at UK, make sure your flight is a connecting one, and DO NOT purchase 2 different tickets from 2 different companies.

FML but I came back safe and sound so 200 euros well spent. =S