So I went to jasper fforde's website, and I found out about the Fforde Fiesta! It's like a convention for fforde fans. And then there's a teen angst poetry competition, a thursday next and nursery crime knowledge quiz, a fancy dress parade (a little like cosplay), a dance, a karaoke prose reading competition, a murder mystery gala dinner, a guided bus tour of the nextian sights of swindon, and... you get the point. *swoons* I really want to go! Just that it's from 2nd may to 5th may, and school happens to be in the way. Just for fun, I planned an itinerary! (if I happened to be able to go)

Return trip from singapore to bristol on northwest: $1500USD [$2100SGD] (arriving on 2/5 and departing on 6/5)
Return trip from singapore to heathrow on qantas: $1600SGD
Return trip from singapore to bristol on lufthansa: $2400SGD (!)

I will take= QF5 and QF3601 [singapore-frankfurt-heathrow] and QF10 [heathrow-singapore]
From heathrow to swindon, you have to take a train from Paddington Railway Station, and to get there, you can either take the 15 min heathrow express (29pounds=$80.40SGD for a return ticket) or the underground (4pounds=$11.10SGDx2=$22.20). I'll probably take the underground, though this will take an hour or so; and I have to carry my stuff up and down platforms, which is a little tiresome. But you get to hear mind the gap! XD I'm such a sucker for these references.
from paddington to swindon by rail it's $17.50 pounds=$48.50SGD for a return ticket.

=so far, I can see a lot of breaks in my journey. it's like sg-heathrow-paddington-swindon- place of accomodation, and then back the same way. I like travelling on trains though; because I don't usually do that. For a more direct route, they recommend renting a car and taking a 1 1/2 hour drive from heathrow directly to the hotel, but I can't drive): if we went in a large group, we could hire a bus, and that would make travelling a lot faster and easier. Because right now the underground trip will take an hour, and the train would take another hour, and that's not counting waiting time. =

The host hotel (De Vere Shaw Ridge) is all booked up, so I have to look for another one. The nearest available one is 2.6miles= 4.2 km from de vere, and it's the Marsh Farm hotel, a 3 star thing that costs 278pounds=$770.50SGD for 4 nights. (2/5-6/5) A full english breakfast is included, though :D Checkout time is at 10am ): which means I have some time before a flight at around 6 pm.

The ticket for the fforde fiesta costs 30 pounds=$83.10SGD

So. The total cost of my trip would be $2524.30, not including the taxi from swindon train station to Marsh Farm, and meals. Actually, I can't believe the ticket itself is so pricey! I think it includes the price of booking of the conference halls, restaurant etc. And they're booked up the entire hotel from 3/5 to 5/5, so that must cost something. If I were to stay at the hotel, it would be 320pounds for 4 nights, more expensive than Marsh Farm. But I don't know how I'm going to get myself from Marsh Farm to De Vere, when it's 4.2km. I could take a taxi, but that would add up. I wish I could drive.

And in the above estimates, I'm not considering exact travel times, because they have to synchronise, right, if I'm booking a train ticket at a specific time. What if the flight gets delayed and I miss my train? >( the complications. And then I'm the kind who gets lost very easily. I'll even forget to say, have lunch if I have to travel during that period. (I do for certain, on 6/5) I think I need someone to come and chivvy me along.