15th March 2017 Travel Insurance and Medicine (Malaysia)

This was really a last minute arrangement that should have been done right from the start.  I didn’t know that NOT all insurer insures medical/travel/personal liability if you are driving your own private vehicle! It wasn’t clear when I got a quote from the website as this type of travel would be an exception not the norm. Luckily I called them up (SIME AXA) as it quoted ridiculous low on the internet. AIG was the few and the cheapest that suited our trip purpose.

The insurance , and this is the basic level cover, costed the 5 of us a total of RM6,300! This was hefty as we could not opt for the annual insurance. In the annual insurance, each journey in a year shoud not exceed > 100 days. Our journey is 180days…

The cover mainly includes :-

a) Medical : RM300,000

b) Evacuation/repatriation : Unlimited

c) Accidental Death and Permanent Disablement : RM300,000

d) Personal Liability : RM1,000,000

e) I guess travel delays, trip interruption and baggage will not be covered as we would be claiming it from Day 1!

I have always used AIG for our parents when they are travelling to Australia to visit us (medical in Australia can cost a lot for a non resident). By going to the branch (we went to JayaOne), you get a 25% discount on the premium.

Thanking Joanne and Hiz from AIG JayaOne, Petaling Jaya who was shocked with our journey, but did their very best to confirm on coverages etc..

Now, on the medication, I am one of those who like to be prepared. I purchased the below from an independent pharmacy (AA Pharmacy in Subang Jaya have very competitive prices on generic drugs) :-

a) flu

b) cough (didnt know they have pills instead of cough syrup!)

c) diarrhea

d) paracetamol

e) neurofen (non inflammatory and for severe headaches)

f) oral rehydration salts (a-f costs me only RM31 and I purchased all generic brands)

g) vitamin C slow release. I was advised by a friend to buy this version and not the standard Vitamin C.. I cannot believe even Vitamin C has many types! Udhaya and I have never taken  supplements as I believe we eat a well balanced meal. But in this trip, it will be a luxury to have your 5 fruits and vegetables a day.

On another note, I checked the vaccinations that we required for the countries that we are visiting. We only needed Hepatitis A and Typhoid. We already had our Hepatitis A when we did our 2013 trip to Nepal and this lasts 10 years. We were running out of time (yes, we left this till the very last!) to get the Typhoid vaccination in Australia, so we did it in Malaysia. When we went to a local clinic to get the vaccination,  they asked if we work in the hospitality industry as they will need to give a certificate to show that we have got the vaccination. I guess, you don’t get many Malaysians getting this jab for purposes of travelling… It costed RM60 vs AUD60 in Australia… Go figure! (RM3.40 = AUD1)

15th March 2016 Thank you CONTINENTAL (Malaysia)

Continental, one of our very few sponsors, wanted to flag us off on this date. They arranged for  the media and press to attend. The crew (the 5 of us) …. I just realised that I have not introduced our fellow crew and the names of the car/bus (For those who are new to VW, never call a Kombi a van..Its not a van, its a BUS….)

Myself and my other half Udhaya Kumar in Nana the beetle

Terence Moses in Puch the bus

Cliften Nathaniel in Rusty the bus

Stephen Pang in Flying Ace the bus

The crew got up in time to arrive at Continental Bangi at 10.30am. Nana arrived there at 10am and we were the first to be seen. Of all the days, there were few technical issues with Puch and Flying Ace along the way.. Cliften who was close by decided to turn back and help Puch who was closest to him.

To kill time as the media/press have arrived, Cameron Wilson (he is pretty up there in Continental and he is Australian!) from Continental drove Nana around the block and this kept them entertained for a bit.

Long story short, Continental waited till 11am and decided to go ahead without the other 3 busses. Udhaya and I had to give a speech on behalf of the crew and also answer the media’s questions.. We were never prepared for this and I am hoping that it all went well. Towards the end of the Q&A session, we see a red bus approaching and everyone’s attention focused to Flying Ace. 15 minutes later, Rusty makes it way with Terence in the bus too. Puch was unable to attend this event.

Well, this is going to be normal for the trip and I am expecting at least 1 breakdown every other day.. Well, lets look at it this way.. Breakdowns are nothing compared to accidents… Even in Australia, my workmates are amused when I do not complain about getting a speeding fine.. This is so unlike me who tries to save a penny when I can.. To me, speeding fine is a small price to pay compared to an accident… I do look at the bigger picture sometime…

The event finished appx 2pm and we are very fortunate to have Continental supporting us for this adventure.

A special thank you to Jeanne Heng and David Suppramaniam-Annamalai from Continental for organising this event and creating some publicity for this trip and the charity drive.