Antalya! Here We Are (Day 1)

The Contingent experience a slight hiccup when boarding the domestic sector due to our boarding passes that were issued at Changi Airport carried different e-ticket serial numbers compare to the Istanbul computer system. Few other passengers also experienced the same problem. Nevertheless, all affected passengers went on board after 10 minutes delay.

We reached Antalya airport at 10am, followed by 1 hour wait for our bus transfer. Our 1st impression on Antalya scenery is like we are back in Malaysia and the weather akin to Genting Highlands. So, we actually flew 5,691 miles to a place just comparable to our country , cool isn't it?

The journey to Limra Hotel is exactly another 1 hour. At 12 noon, we arrived at the hotel. there was a long queue in the player's registration counter. After queeing from 30 minutes, I were told by the organiser, Mr. Koral, that the Malaysian has been re-assigned to Alinda Beach Hotel, another 5 star hotel 500m away from the current hotel even though he is the man who has assigned Limra hotel to us when we registered ourself 3 months ago. Another unfortunate incident since the playing venue is at Limra hotel.

Without much protest, I accepted his final arrangement and waited for another 20 minutes before we were transferred to the new hotel. Upon arrival, the registration process took almost 90 minutes because our masterfile is still at Limra Hotel. Meanwhile, we have our photo taken for ID tag and we have lunch. The good point about this hotel is that there is less attraction activities which means our players will not be easily distracted througout the tournament.

As I was typing this article from the lobby of the hotel, I have received a message that the 2nd batch of Malaysian lead by Azman Hisham has arrived safely at Istanbul.