"Eye" Delight at Heathrow

Heathrow has always been a nightmare for travelers, both coming in and out. Probably worse if you are one of those like me who doesn't carry UK or EU passports. Queuing at the immigration takes up to 1hr on usual, worse is never surprising, with the few exceptions when you can pick up your bags from the conveyor belt before everybody are probably on the way into Central London.

Not anymore these days after I signed up with IRIS. The IRIS program is really one of the few change by the UK govt that impressed me. To enroll on the program, you need to sign up just before leaving for your holidays out of the country. The rooms are not obviously located so it is best to ask around before you proceed to continue with your duty free shopping. In the room, you are asked a few questions to qualify for the program and then asked to sit in front of a iris scanning machine that looks exactly like those at the optician. You position your eyes into 2 red circle, wait for a click and voila!

The next time you come back into the country, you can give your mates who are queuing up at immigration the biggest grin, before walking through the iris machine in a minute, and off to collect your luggage and out of Heathrow in 10min (Doesn't take into consideration baggage delays)...*SWEET* :)

Note: The IRIS system is only available at certain airports, check the official site before leaving.

New pictures from Havana, Toronto and first skydive!

After a slightly hectic past 4 months, with the relocation of my girlfriend to New York, move to a new and tiny studio across the street where we used to rent, as well as few overseas work trip, I think I have finally settled down. Having my internet working after almost 2 months of constant calling to the broadband companies made this look even more like a miracle (I forgot I was in UK!!!), it all seemed like I was suddenly back in civilization the moment the Virgin Media guy told me "It's done!". I heaved a great sigh of relief after 2 previous failed attempts (it was really 3rd time lucky), to a point when my colleagues were casting the suspicious look at me when I told them I have to work from home to wait for the technician again.

Anyway, I had the opportunity to visit my girlfriend again 2 weeks back, with an itinerary of visiting Havana in Cuba, and a couple of days in Toronto, Canada before spending the weekend in New York to celebrate the birthday of my beloved. The highlight of the trip had to be the skydiving experience in New Jersey, 30 minutes on a tiny propeller plane up to 10,000 feet before jumping out of the plane, free falling for less than 30 seconds, and then the nice slow ride on the parachute down. Another tick against one of those things to do in life. Adrenaline rush is an understatement until you try it yourself.

Havana, Cuba
Toronto/Niagara Falls
New Jersey Skydive Adventure
New York "Mini" Birthday Party

More pics of pending iPhone launch...

The queue snaking round the 5th Ave building behind Apple store.














A power nap before the big rush...

3 hours to iPhone...

The excitement is getting to me. I can't help but wander over to the Apple store over at 5th Ave after doing a take away from a chinese shop from the 1st. If you want to be seen holding a brand new iPhone, this is the outlet to be. Screaming with journalists and broadcasters, this landmark 24hr Apple shop is always the highlight for new product launches. The queue was amazing, snaking round the entire building (More pics to follow). I am still skeptical about how Apple can pull this off, considering that they have not launch a mobile before, and will be eagerly awaiting for the first "real" user's review in the coming days. And I can't help but wonder how many of them will end up on eBay after they get their hands on it?

Sawfish attains protection...finally!

This is really good news as the sawfish finally got the protection that it has duely deserve after all these years.

BBC Link