I need a vacation!!

I've been so busy this whole week. My wards gave me a ton of problems when I wasn't around. When the cat is away, the mice came out to play. Will post all those problems for you all soon. :)

The travel bug is biting. I need a relaxing holiday to get away from the madness. But not before I attend to my overseas projects first.

As my hubby is unable to abandon his patients (even for a few days), and my friends have other commitments, I would be travelling alone. I detest package tours and travelling with a group of complete strangers. I prefer to be a FIT (Free & Independant Traveller). I usually book my air tickets and hotels online.

Queuing seems to be Singaporeans' favourite past-time, ...... actually we are a disciplined lot. :) We queue for food at hawker centres and restaurants; queue for tickets, queue for school places, queue to shake hands with VVIPs ...... etc. But it's really absurd to queue for a holiday!

In the past, I've been to a few Travel Fairs, they were not good venues to book for a holiday. There were such huge crowds. People turned up hours before opening time to queue for freebies and limited special low fare items. And at NATAS, I have to pay an entry fee!

Although the organisers staged some interesting performances from overseas, the long queues to book for special promotional priced airtickets was just not worth the time spent. And you could never seem to get that specified date you want. grrrr.....

That's why I use my favourite travel booking website ZUJI a lot. I'm sure you have heard of ZUJI? It was voted 'Asia Pacific's Best Online Travel Agent' in 2005 and 2006. I love it because I have access to a choice of over 77,000 hotels, 400 airlines as well as thousands of cruises, car hire, attraction bookings, package tours ..... etc. There is instant Confirmation of flight and hotels. Free ticket delivery and no credit card charges. :)

I can create my own package online by selecting both my airline and hotel. As the hotels are by star ratings and room types, the total package price is determined by my choices. I enjoy total savings on my package compared to buying flights and hotels separately.

When booking hotels on ZUJI, I would do a 'neighborhood search' or indicate preferred hotel chain and desired amenities to help narrow down search. I can even compare the prices of 4 selected hotels of my choice. One interesting feature here is the interactive destinations maps to zoom in on specific locales and uncover points of interest around my choice hotel neighborhood. I love this!

There is a Travel Sale now on ZUJI till 23 Sept. Airtickets from its huge choice of 400 airlines are selling from $79 (by the way, it's going to Penang via Malaysia Airlines). Pick from its list of 77,000 hotels, the lowest hotel room rate starts from $30 (the last I saw Bangkok was at $31 per night, and Hanoi too!). I'm not interested in Tour Packages, but the low starting price from $78 is tempting - why not? Even if it's a short getaway to Bintan.

I would probably be using my VISA card as I can get up to $20 off all airlines, $60 off all Great Buy hotels, and $100 off any packages I create. Gotto go make my booking now!