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Final Installation:
Holding an international passport, I unfortunately, did not have the speed through Singapore immigration as most locals have reported in their reviews. However, the entire process was still efficient and thorough. Upon reaching the baggage claim carousel, we were astounded to find that some economy PAX had already collected their belongings and our bags had yet to arrive. I expected the bags with the hideously coloured ‘First Class’ stickers to have been delivered first. Please don’t get me wrong, I have no issues with baggage handlers delivering luggage efficiently (irrespective of the class), my gripe extends to the fact that as a premium passenger, I do pay more for my airfare hence expect a little more in return.
Anyway, the bags did finally arrive and we headed out to organise a taxi to the Orchard Hotel. Prices were considerably dearer than Malaysia, but still lower than what we would have to fork out in Australia. Not having to wait long, a Mercedes pulled up alongside us and asked for our ticket stub.
“Take us to the Orchard Hotel, Alfred.” Always wanted to say that. It got lost on the driver…rightly so, I suppose. Drivers in Singapore were notably more ‘civilised’ than those in Malaysia. Road rules were adhered to precisely and were even more ordered than back home.
We were dropped off at our hotel with a, “I hope you have a good stay in Singapore. I am sure you will.” haha, gotta love that Singaporean pride.
When checking in, we discovered that our travel agent had failed to inform the hotel that breakfast was to be included as part of our package. To quickly resolve the issue, I asked to be upgraded to a business executive room. She did so promptly and explined the extra services/amenities available to us. We were definitely going to be taking advantage of the nightly servings of cocktails and canapés at the executive lounge.
Our room was on the small side, but lavishly decorated – if not a little Hyacinth Bucketesque. “It’ll do, Richard.”
Due to having just crossed the border from Malaysia, we found it difficult to pay the Singapore price tags. We didn’t really want to buy too many things anyway as our single suit case was already bursting at the seams.
According to Getaway, a visit to Singapore is not complete without visiting the famous Tangs department store. Being early July, the great Singapore Sales were on. Ohh, my mother and sister would have been in heaven had they come suit. Better for the credit cards that they remained in Malaysia. I was in electronic heaven and would have bought a heck more if I wasn’t restricted by the Australian duty free threshold.
Being aviculturists, Mark and I had to visit aviculture-mecca – Jurong Bird Park. Lets just say we nearly almost creamed ourselves (excuse the French
). Some of the most spectacular bird exhibits and collections we had ever laid our eyes on. Macaws, conures, cockatoos, lories, etc. Stunning, positively stunning. My collection paled in comparison. If only I had even a fraction of the bloodlines they had at Jurong, I’d be a very happy man.
Alas, 6 hours was just enough to visit every enclosure and participate in all shows. If you ever visit the bird park, I highly recommend you not miss the bird show spectacular in the main atrium. Awesome fun.
With fond memories of Jurong Bird Park and over 150 photos safely tucked into the compact flash card, we caught a taxi to Jurong East MRT station. As we were given two current MRT link cards by a friend in Malaysia, we didn’t have to pay a cent to use the system. The Melbourne rail transport system could learn a thing or two from Singapore.
Got off at Orchard Road station and crawled our way back out of the subway into the blistering Singapore heat. A little disorientated, we walked for over half an hour in the wrong direction, hoping to get back to our hotel.
Checking out of the hotel early the next morning, we made our way back to Changi Airport. It was odd seeing Singapore streets empty, considering we could hardly move the day prior. Oddly, we weren’t sad leaving Singapore. Mark and I both agreed that Malaysia was for us. We loved its juxtaposition between the old and the new, the shadowy colonial past mingling with plasma screens and broadband communications. Singapore was just too…sterile.
Check in was quick and seamless, receiving our boarding passes and lounge access invitations in less than 5 minutes. Compared to their home base lounges, the Singapore variant was pitiful. I would really hate to imagine the place if it had more than 30 people. Luckily for us, there were only 15 others using facilities. We were able to gain access to a computer, where we spent the majority of our time. Catching up on correspondences with our friends and families back in Oz. It appeared that most of our mates were unaware that we had gone overseas. In no time at all, it was time to catch our flight. Our stroll to the departure gate was augmented by quick visits to duty free shops and chocolatiers.
The Singapore attendants checking our tickets proved equally as appalling as their Malaysian counterparts. Uncommonly bad attitudes considering Changi Airport staff are known for their courtesy. Guess it was just ‘one of those days’.
The flight was delayed as the baby boeing had a late departure from KL. Like most short domestic routes, boarding was an all-in brawl. PAX were allowed to board at their own leisure and proved quite cumbersome as we found it difficult to stow our carryon luggage while economy passengers pushed past us. We were handed our pre-departure drinks (anyone guess what I chose?) and asked if we were interested in hot savouries. Of course! The hot towels handed out were excruciatingly hot. So hot, in fact, that I had to pass it from one hand to the other so as not to cause second-degree burns.
Push back, taxi and take off all stock standard (wouldn’t expect anything else from MAS). Like all Once we reached cruising altitude, were served our coffee, new serving of pink guava juice and handed our hot savouries. The fruit salad was just the perfect ending to our buffalo wings (WITHOUT bones), special fish balls and mini quiche.
Just as a point of reference, a first class return ticket with the following routing KL – SIN – PEN worked out cheaper than QF fully flexible return economy between MEL – SYD.
15 minutes before the landing, I quietly asked the flight attendant whether I’d be able to film our landing. She whispered back, “Ordinarily we do not allow people to have any electronic devices on, but for you, go ahead. But don’t tell anyone.”
I was seriously not expecting that response. I was speechless and don’t think I hid my excitement very well as I just grabbed my video camera and started filming before she walked away. Well, how could I not seize upon the opportunity? No other European or Asian airlines (MH included) had allowed me to film the landings before, so this was a real privilege. It was brilliant as I caught the landscape first come to view, as the first whisper of a jungle cut through the bay, quickly followed by kampongs and then factories, tarmac and bang, touch down.
It would have been good to share the video with everyone here. Maybe I can reduce the quality and audio so that it’s small enough for internet sharing?
We arrived at the City Bayview in Georgetown 25 minutes later, meeting up with the rest of my family. At the front desk, we picked up our card and headed up to our room. Even before our elevator reached the designated floor, we smelt a scent not unlike urine. When the doors opened, the stench hit us in the face. It was repulsive. Our room was right opposite the lifts, which instantly received a cross. Hoping that by entering the room we’d be able to segregate ourselves from the smell. No. It became evident that the smell was actually emanating from OUR room. It was so strong that I was close to throwing up. I called the front desk and requested that we be moved to another room.
“We are fully booked, sir. Leave it with me and I will see what I can do.”
Feeling satisfied, I had a long cold shower. One hour later, we had not yet received any advice from the front desk as to what was happening. Couldn’t stand the smell any longer, we both got our things and made our way to my mother’s room. From there, I called the front desk and demanded to know what was going on.
“I am sorry. We will send a maintenance crew up in 10 minutes.”
The maintenance crew actually turned up on time and sprayed the room with a room freshener. Even after half a, the smell was still definable. This ‘cover up’ was not suitable by me. I was extremely annoyed, so called the manager. He was already aware of the situation and was in the process of allocating us another room. “We will send a porter to you in 20 minutes with a new room.”
Sure enough, the porter turned up and moved us two floors up. The room had seen better days, but it was far better as it was smell-free. We tipped the porter and then unpacked our things. For dinner that night, we all walked to a little local food court near our hotel. It had sea-facing views and the light breeze was just what we needed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my pink guava juice. It didn’t bother me as I was enjoying the selection of fruit juices; watermelon, sour sop, mango, etc.
Affordable and darn drinkable. Only cost RM2 per glass. For dinner, we all shared (please forgive my spelling) char keoy teaw, assam laksa, ikan bakar and satay. Loved it all. Had to be rolled back to the hotel.
We called a taxi van the next morning for a drop off at the ferry terminal (to Langkawi Island). Within five minutes, the van arrived and had us all piled in. We were met at the pier by the travel agent who organised our ferry tickets and accommodation in Langkawi. He handed our tickets, passes and tour stickers. The ferry ride was reportedly going to take 2 hours, not too bad so I convinced by brother to not take his travel sickness medicine. Opps, my bad.
We boarded a very small ferry (by comparison to the catamaran which used to run this sector), with a full load. It was not too uncomfortable. An ominous sign was the hanging of black ‘sick’ bags off the roof every 2 metres.
The engines started and we were off. It was a pretty smooth ride till we broke open water. It became very choppy, the entire ferry swayed from left to right, up and down. The engines’ speed was reduced, thereby increasing the original 2 hour pass to 4.5 hours. At times the waves reached higher than the ferry. Mark was seated next to me and was throwing up. My brother started not long after. They were followed suit by literally every second person in the ferry. As there was a showing of a bootleg copy of Hellboy on the TV, I focused on the screen and refused to take my eyes of it. This rouse worked for a while, but the film ended and I had nothing else to focus on. As a result, I saw my breakfast for a second time. It was positively the most horrendous boat ride I had been on. It didn’t help that the sick bags ran out ¾ into the journey and many people were throwing up onto the floor. The smell was just lovely.
It wasn’t too long before we saw Langkawi island. When we docked, everyone was off, no one even thought of collecting their luggage.
“There is NO way we are going back on that ferry. If I have to, I will pay for everyone to fly back.” We all echoed Kit’s sentiments.
Poor guy, his legs swelled up, he lost mobility and started hyperventilating. He was not cut out for the boat ride. He was sick more often on this holiday than he was well. We all agreed that he should stay home the next time we have a family holiday.
I just realised that my trip report has just turned into a travel journal. As we are all only interested in the aviation side of my holiday, I will summarise everything in-between and focus on the flights.
Langkawi Island:
- Spoke to a local travel agent and had us all booked on a return flight to Penang. Thank GOD!! Unfortunately, Mark had to sit by himself in business class as they had run out of seats and the rest of us were pushed back to economy. He wasn’t complaining.
- Stayed at the Bayview: HORRIBLE hotel. Will never stay at this chain again.
- Had a tour of Langkawi Island which included the cable car. Didn’t realise how scared I was of heights. Knew that I had issues with it, but these cable cars really brought it out ten fold.
Before long, it was time for our return. We got a van to the Langkawi International Airport. Everything went smoothly at check-in. We reached the departure lounge with 25 minutes before boarding. Looking out the windows, we noted an Airbus 330 waiting. Awesome.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t our plane. It started pushing back and was gone before we knew it. Our plane was delayed and wasn’t going to arrive for another hour. * sigh * We played the waiting game again. Mark and I went through another half dozen smokes and bought a couple bottles of water to keep hydrated.
A 737 arrived and two bridges were pushed up to the front and read doors. How wonderful, we all walked onto the tarmac and climbed onto the plane. I wish I took photos, but was awestruck by being able to touch the aircraft in the flesh.
Mark entered from the front while the rest of us used the back door. It was a full load today (as many PAX were probably on a similar ferry ride as ours). As it was raining outside, I noted that the FAs had laid the floor of the aircraft with newspaper. As more people started boarding, this really turned ugly as there were torn pieces of paper everywhere. As there were only a limited number of flights in and out of Langkawi, the flight crew didn’t appear to be in any hurry.
We finally made our way to the runway and powered down towards Penang. Being a very short flight, we were not offered any refreshments. If we were, it eludes me now. According to Mark, he got his pink guava juice along with a warm snack. As per usual, the landing in Penang was text book and yet another incredibly long taxi back to the terminal. We were off the plane and landside within 15 minutes.
Penang – Cameron Highlands Summary:
- Caught a bus from Komtar in Penang to Cameron Highlands. Bus was a disaster as there was only one toilet stop (4-5 hour bus ride up the hills).
- Cameron Highlands was wonderfully cool. Had great fun trekking.
- Did a half day tour which included: rose garden, cactus garden, honey bee farm, strawberry farm, tea plantation – bought awesome Boh Tea).
- Bus ride back to Penang was better as the driver wasn’t using his breaks as much. Haha.
- Back in Penang, we stayed at the Vistana in Suburban Sri Nibong, near Bukit Jambul. Bought lots of ‘back up’ copies of new and old DVD titles, plus MP3 cds. Here, I bought a new Samsung mobile phone for a fraction of the cost back home.
Our holiday was nearing the end. It was Kit, Mark and my last breakfast in Penang. Mum and Leanne were staying an extra week as we had to return to work. Our taxi ride to the airport was a sombre one. No one spoke and were dreading leaving these warm plains.
We checked in at the Golden Club counter and got our boarding passes and lounge invites. We decided not to use the lounge (and kept them for prosperity) and just walked around the airport, lapping up the last of Penang. Boarding commenced early and was onboard with a guava juice in hand.
Hot towels were handed out while we taxied to the rwy. Surprisingly, the FAs forgot to collect them as she remembered only once she started lining our tables. She was very apologetic but I told her that she had nothing to be apologetic for. I do love MAS girls. They are ever so sweet.
After landing in KLIA, we took our 6 full bags (we arrived in Malaysia with 1 and had to buy 5 new expandable bags as we went a little nuts with the shopping) to ‘Left Luggage’ and checked them overnight. Costed RM90 for all bags. Not a bad little service.
We then caught a taxi into the Dorsett Regency in KL for our final night in Malaysia. As Kit wasn’t feeling too well, he stayed in the hotel while Mark and I popped out for our final shopping session. We walked all the way down Jalan Bukit Bintang and tried to make our way to Central market.
However, we got terribly lost after Petaling Street. We asked for directions at least 4 times. Took us 45 minutes to get there.
Central market is a haven for tourists. Really a trinket-shoppers paradise. After an hour, we had bags teeming with tapioca chips, handcrafted wooden drums, marble boxes, kites, bracelets, china tea sets, etc. We were on a mission!!
For dinner that night, we concluded our wonderful Malaysian holiday with Maccas for tea. Haha! We slept early as we had an early flight back to Melbourne the following day. We were up at 5am and ready for checkout by 5:40.
The concierge called a taxi and were on our way to Sentral Train Station. Definitely quicker and more direct than a taxi. Where a taxi normally takes an hour to get into the airport from the city, this 160km/hr train ride took us 28 minutes.
At KLIA, we made our way to the arrivals hall and collected our left luggage.
At the MAS counters, economy check-in agents were battling with two full flight loads worth of PAX. I pity the workers who had to work those shifts. For us, we strolled upto the Golden Club counters hassle and crowd free. I handed over all our passports, tickets and my MAS Enrich card. Everything went through smoothly and was wished a fond farewell.
Nice touch.
We used the Premier Lane to get through immigration quicker. Or so we thought, the normal International Passport queues were advancing faster than the lanes we were in!! Anyway, we did finally get through. We jumped onto the terminal monorail and went over to international departures hall. There, we went to the Golden Club lounge for a spot of breakfast. I had to finish my Malaysian holiday with my now favourite, Nasi Lemak. Alas, business club lounge did not have the pink guava juice.
After a couple of smokes, I started filming the MAS fleet from our comfortable lounges. I prepped my camera to follow the path of an Airbus 330, when I heard over the PA system, “Attention ladies and gentleman. Can Mr tiern1338 please make his way to the front desk, please?”
I headed to the front desk.
“Is everything OK?”
“Oh, yes, sir. No problem at all. In fact, you, Mark and Kit have all been upgraded to first class. Can I have your boarding passes, please?”
Fabulous, a free upgrade with no loss of enrich points. That’s bloody brilliant. Not having flown international first class before, Mark was most excited.
When we heard the first boarding call for our flight, we got our things and made haste to the gate. We headed down Gate A without any hesitation and was welcomed onboard by the head purser. He took our carryon luggage and stowed them overhead for us. Unlike our flight from Melbourne (744), we were returning on a 772.
“Would you like to be called ‘tiernan’ or Mr tiernan1338?”
“tiernan will be fine!”
The seats were the old fashioned first class seats. Once seated, we were offered a selection of pre-take off drinks. A pity as they didn’t have my pink guava juice.
Guess an OJ would suffice. There were 5 in the first class cabin, which was capable of handling 12.
Push back was on time and take off was executed effortlessly. We steadily reached cruising altitude over the course of 15 minutes. Once the seat belt signs pinged off, the FA went round with drink orders. Had another OJ.
Seated in row 1, I could see into the galley and observed the FAs stock the trolley. They started with the coffee and tea run.
“tiernan, how many sugar cubes would you like in your coffee?”
After the coffee/tea cycle had run its course, they were back in the galley and prepping the trolley for the next course. Each course was server individually from the trolley, in the following sequence: Fruits – Yogurt – Bakery items – Main – Dessert. After the yogurt was served, a female FA singled me out (for no apparent reason) and whispered in my ear, “Would you like me to get you a glass of champagne?”
As I was well aware of the quality of French bubbly served on MAS, I asked, “It’s wouldn’t happen to be Dom Perignon?”
She smiled and walked back into the galley. Ten minutes later, she returned with a heavy set crystal champagne glass (similar to mum’s Noritake fire cut series) and a freshly popped bottle of Vintage ’95. Oh, I was in heaven. Before the bubbly sensation even touched my touch, a shiver had already run down my spine.
I looked around to see who else was savouring the champagne. Much to my horror, I was the only!! My brother was fast asleep as he took his travel sickness medication an hour before departure, so was zonked out (was later individually served when he woke up). And Mark was not comfortable drinking alcohol – effects of hypoxia and all.
The main meal I chose was the meal of the week, scallops with asian vegetables and noddles. It was ok, with a minimalist presentation. The scallops were a little overdone, but still palatable. Mark, against my suggestion, had the seafood omelette. Bad move!! If I’ve told him once, I’ve told him a hundred times, MAS don’t make good eggs. He only took 4 small bites and left the rest. The FAs were a little concerned and asked if everything was OK. He made up that he wasn’t very hungry (which was partially true) as he didn’t want to admit that it was atrocious.
Dessert was a marble cheesecake divided infront of us. It looked and tasted heavenly.
All the while, my champagne was continually being topped up. Excellent service without prompting, however, I really should have stopped drinking as it went straight to my head. Finally, during the fourth pass, I stopped her mid action and explained that I had enough. She giggled and said that she wanted to see if I could finish the bottle off myself. Back on the ground I could have very easily, but at 39,000ft, no way.
Lights were then lowered after the meal service. The head purser knelt next to my brother (who was still sleeping) and laid his seat out flat and then tucked him in. The female FA handed me a second blanket without promoting.
As my body clock was still screwed, I didn’t sleep the entire flight. Pretty much watched Everybody Loves Raymond, Hellboy, Scooby Doo 2 and a few lifestyle programs. Being able to pause, rewind, fast-forward through the programs definitely made the viewing experience that much more
pleasant.
Two hours out of Melbourne, the lights were turned on and a snack service commenced. Hot savouries were firstly offered, which most of us passed on as I, for one, was still full from lunch. However, when the desserts came by, I couldn’t resist. I had a serving of black-forest cake, bread pudding and a fruit tart. I washed that down with another cup of coffee. Definitely hit the spot.
My on-flight purchases were also delivered to me at this stage. I bought a dual time watch and models of the A332, 744 and 777.
Half an hour before landing an announcement was made re: Australian regulation requiring the spraying of an insecticide throughout the aircraft.
We were met by a little turbulence as we came into Tullamarine so had to buckle up for the last part of the flight. Landing was very smooth. Taxi took 15 minutes, and we were in the terminal in an additional 5 minutes.
We were Home.
As we approached the baggage reclaim, we were staggered to find the entire floor filled to the rafters with passengers. Three flights had landed roughly within 10 minutes of each other and everyone had to filter through Melbourne’s tough quarantine/customs procedures.
We were asked to place all hand luggage onto the floor as the sniffer dogs came round. An adorable beagle weaved her way through every bag expertly. As I’ve always wanted a beagle, I just wanted to reach out and give her a pat. Alas, that’s one thing you never do with sniffer dogs.
When our turn came to go through customs, being three men in their early to mid 20s, and also having declared everything on our declaration form, were subjected to an indepth search of our belongings. Two officers were detailed to go through our bags. We had several items confiscated; some dried fruits, a wooden drum (the others we bought we fine) and another souvenir which I can’t recall.
Here we are today. Just over a month on and still not wanting to be back. Luckily for me, I am already planning my next trip. Mid March, 2005, I will be visiting my old high school mate in Bristol flying Qantas First class. That should be a nice flight review to post. However, till then, all my work related flights will be predominantly centred from Melbourne to Sydney, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Perth, Wellington, Auckland and Singapore. Nothing too exciting.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed my report and didn’t get excessively bored. Till my next instalment, keep on flying.
Holding an international passport, I unfortunately, did not have the speed through Singapore immigration as most locals have reported in their reviews. However, the entire process was still efficient and thorough. Upon reaching the baggage claim carousel, we were astounded to find that some economy PAX had already collected their belongings and our bags had yet to arrive. I expected the bags with the hideously coloured ‘First Class’ stickers to have been delivered first. Please don’t get me wrong, I have no issues with baggage handlers delivering luggage efficiently (irrespective of the class), my gripe extends to the fact that as a premium passenger, I do pay more for my airfare hence expect a little more in return.
Anyway, the bags did finally arrive and we headed out to organise a taxi to the Orchard Hotel. Prices were considerably dearer than Malaysia, but still lower than what we would have to fork out in Australia. Not having to wait long, a Mercedes pulled up alongside us and asked for our ticket stub.
“Take us to the Orchard Hotel, Alfred.” Always wanted to say that. It got lost on the driver…rightly so, I suppose. Drivers in Singapore were notably more ‘civilised’ than those in Malaysia. Road rules were adhered to precisely and were even more ordered than back home.
We were dropped off at our hotel with a, “I hope you have a good stay in Singapore. I am sure you will.” haha, gotta love that Singaporean pride.
When checking in, we discovered that our travel agent had failed to inform the hotel that breakfast was to be included as part of our package. To quickly resolve the issue, I asked to be upgraded to a business executive room. She did so promptly and explined the extra services/amenities available to us. We were definitely going to be taking advantage of the nightly servings of cocktails and canapés at the executive lounge.
Our room was on the small side, but lavishly decorated – if not a little Hyacinth Bucketesque. “It’ll do, Richard.”
Due to having just crossed the border from Malaysia, we found it difficult to pay the Singapore price tags. We didn’t really want to buy too many things anyway as our single suit case was already bursting at the seams.
According to Getaway, a visit to Singapore is not complete without visiting the famous Tangs department store. Being early July, the great Singapore Sales were on. Ohh, my mother and sister would have been in heaven had they come suit. Better for the credit cards that they remained in Malaysia. I was in electronic heaven and would have bought a heck more if I wasn’t restricted by the Australian duty free threshold.
Being aviculturists, Mark and I had to visit aviculture-mecca – Jurong Bird Park. Lets just say we nearly almost creamed ourselves (excuse the French
). Some of the most spectacular bird exhibits and collections we had ever laid our eyes on. Macaws, conures, cockatoos, lories, etc. Stunning, positively stunning. My collection paled in comparison. If only I had even a fraction of the bloodlines they had at Jurong, I’d be a very happy man. Alas, 6 hours was just enough to visit every enclosure and participate in all shows. If you ever visit the bird park, I highly recommend you not miss the bird show spectacular in the main atrium. Awesome fun.
With fond memories of Jurong Bird Park and over 150 photos safely tucked into the compact flash card, we caught a taxi to Jurong East MRT station. As we were given two current MRT link cards by a friend in Malaysia, we didn’t have to pay a cent to use the system. The Melbourne rail transport system could learn a thing or two from Singapore.
Got off at Orchard Road station and crawled our way back out of the subway into the blistering Singapore heat. A little disorientated, we walked for over half an hour in the wrong direction, hoping to get back to our hotel.
Checking out of the hotel early the next morning, we made our way back to Changi Airport. It was odd seeing Singapore streets empty, considering we could hardly move the day prior. Oddly, we weren’t sad leaving Singapore. Mark and I both agreed that Malaysia was for us. We loved its juxtaposition between the old and the new, the shadowy colonial past mingling with plasma screens and broadband communications. Singapore was just too…sterile.
Check in was quick and seamless, receiving our boarding passes and lounge access invitations in less than 5 minutes. Compared to their home base lounges, the Singapore variant was pitiful. I would really hate to imagine the place if it had more than 30 people. Luckily for us, there were only 15 others using facilities. We were able to gain access to a computer, where we spent the majority of our time. Catching up on correspondences with our friends and families back in Oz. It appeared that most of our mates were unaware that we had gone overseas. In no time at all, it was time to catch our flight. Our stroll to the departure gate was augmented by quick visits to duty free shops and chocolatiers.
The Singapore attendants checking our tickets proved equally as appalling as their Malaysian counterparts. Uncommonly bad attitudes considering Changi Airport staff are known for their courtesy. Guess it was just ‘one of those days’.
The flight was delayed as the baby boeing had a late departure from KL. Like most short domestic routes, boarding was an all-in brawl. PAX were allowed to board at their own leisure and proved quite cumbersome as we found it difficult to stow our carryon luggage while economy passengers pushed past us. We were handed our pre-departure drinks (anyone guess what I chose?) and asked if we were interested in hot savouries. Of course! The hot towels handed out were excruciatingly hot. So hot, in fact, that I had to pass it from one hand to the other so as not to cause second-degree burns.
Push back, taxi and take off all stock standard (wouldn’t expect anything else from MAS). Like all Once we reached cruising altitude, were served our coffee, new serving of pink guava juice and handed our hot savouries. The fruit salad was just the perfect ending to our buffalo wings (WITHOUT bones), special fish balls and mini quiche.
Just as a point of reference, a first class return ticket with the following routing KL – SIN – PEN worked out cheaper than QF fully flexible return economy between MEL – SYD.
15 minutes before the landing, I quietly asked the flight attendant whether I’d be able to film our landing. She whispered back, “Ordinarily we do not allow people to have any electronic devices on, but for you, go ahead. But don’t tell anyone.”
I was seriously not expecting that response. I was speechless and don’t think I hid my excitement very well as I just grabbed my video camera and started filming before she walked away. Well, how could I not seize upon the opportunity? No other European or Asian airlines (MH included) had allowed me to film the landings before, so this was a real privilege. It was brilliant as I caught the landscape first come to view, as the first whisper of a jungle cut through the bay, quickly followed by kampongs and then factories, tarmac and bang, touch down.
It would have been good to share the video with everyone here. Maybe I can reduce the quality and audio so that it’s small enough for internet sharing?
We arrived at the City Bayview in Georgetown 25 minutes later, meeting up with the rest of my family. At the front desk, we picked up our card and headed up to our room. Even before our elevator reached the designated floor, we smelt a scent not unlike urine. When the doors opened, the stench hit us in the face. It was repulsive. Our room was right opposite the lifts, which instantly received a cross. Hoping that by entering the room we’d be able to segregate ourselves from the smell. No. It became evident that the smell was actually emanating from OUR room. It was so strong that I was close to throwing up. I called the front desk and requested that we be moved to another room.
“We are fully booked, sir. Leave it with me and I will see what I can do.”
Feeling satisfied, I had a long cold shower. One hour later, we had not yet received any advice from the front desk as to what was happening. Couldn’t stand the smell any longer, we both got our things and made our way to my mother’s room. From there, I called the front desk and demanded to know what was going on.
“I am sorry. We will send a maintenance crew up in 10 minutes.”
The maintenance crew actually turned up on time and sprayed the room with a room freshener. Even after half a, the smell was still definable. This ‘cover up’ was not suitable by me. I was extremely annoyed, so called the manager. He was already aware of the situation and was in the process of allocating us another room. “We will send a porter to you in 20 minutes with a new room.”
Sure enough, the porter turned up and moved us two floors up. The room had seen better days, but it was far better as it was smell-free. We tipped the porter and then unpacked our things. For dinner that night, we all walked to a little local food court near our hotel. It had sea-facing views and the light breeze was just what we needed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my pink guava juice. It didn’t bother me as I was enjoying the selection of fruit juices; watermelon, sour sop, mango, etc.
Affordable and darn drinkable. Only cost RM2 per glass. For dinner, we all shared (please forgive my spelling) char keoy teaw, assam laksa, ikan bakar and satay. Loved it all. Had to be rolled back to the hotel.
We called a taxi van the next morning for a drop off at the ferry terminal (to Langkawi Island). Within five minutes, the van arrived and had us all piled in. We were met at the pier by the travel agent who organised our ferry tickets and accommodation in Langkawi. He handed our tickets, passes and tour stickers. The ferry ride was reportedly going to take 2 hours, not too bad so I convinced by brother to not take his travel sickness medicine. Opps, my bad.
We boarded a very small ferry (by comparison to the catamaran which used to run this sector), with a full load. It was not too uncomfortable. An ominous sign was the hanging of black ‘sick’ bags off the roof every 2 metres.
The engines started and we were off. It was a pretty smooth ride till we broke open water. It became very choppy, the entire ferry swayed from left to right, up and down. The engines’ speed was reduced, thereby increasing the original 2 hour pass to 4.5 hours. At times the waves reached higher than the ferry. Mark was seated next to me and was throwing up. My brother started not long after. They were followed suit by literally every second person in the ferry. As there was a showing of a bootleg copy of Hellboy on the TV, I focused on the screen and refused to take my eyes of it. This rouse worked for a while, but the film ended and I had nothing else to focus on. As a result, I saw my breakfast for a second time. It was positively the most horrendous boat ride I had been on. It didn’t help that the sick bags ran out ¾ into the journey and many people were throwing up onto the floor. The smell was just lovely.
It wasn’t too long before we saw Langkawi island. When we docked, everyone was off, no one even thought of collecting their luggage.
“There is NO way we are going back on that ferry. If I have to, I will pay for everyone to fly back.” We all echoed Kit’s sentiments.
Poor guy, his legs swelled up, he lost mobility and started hyperventilating. He was not cut out for the boat ride. He was sick more often on this holiday than he was well. We all agreed that he should stay home the next time we have a family holiday.
I just realised that my trip report has just turned into a travel journal. As we are all only interested in the aviation side of my holiday, I will summarise everything in-between and focus on the flights.
Langkawi Island:
- Spoke to a local travel agent and had us all booked on a return flight to Penang. Thank GOD!! Unfortunately, Mark had to sit by himself in business class as they had run out of seats and the rest of us were pushed back to economy. He wasn’t complaining.
- Stayed at the Bayview: HORRIBLE hotel. Will never stay at this chain again.
- Had a tour of Langkawi Island which included the cable car. Didn’t realise how scared I was of heights. Knew that I had issues with it, but these cable cars really brought it out ten fold.
Before long, it was time for our return. We got a van to the Langkawi International Airport. Everything went smoothly at check-in. We reached the departure lounge with 25 minutes before boarding. Looking out the windows, we noted an Airbus 330 waiting. Awesome.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t our plane. It started pushing back and was gone before we knew it. Our plane was delayed and wasn’t going to arrive for another hour. * sigh * We played the waiting game again. Mark and I went through another half dozen smokes and bought a couple bottles of water to keep hydrated.
A 737 arrived and two bridges were pushed up to the front and read doors. How wonderful, we all walked onto the tarmac and climbed onto the plane. I wish I took photos, but was awestruck by being able to touch the aircraft in the flesh.
Mark entered from the front while the rest of us used the back door. It was a full load today (as many PAX were probably on a similar ferry ride as ours). As it was raining outside, I noted that the FAs had laid the floor of the aircraft with newspaper. As more people started boarding, this really turned ugly as there were torn pieces of paper everywhere. As there were only a limited number of flights in and out of Langkawi, the flight crew didn’t appear to be in any hurry.
We finally made our way to the runway and powered down towards Penang. Being a very short flight, we were not offered any refreshments. If we were, it eludes me now. According to Mark, he got his pink guava juice along with a warm snack. As per usual, the landing in Penang was text book and yet another incredibly long taxi back to the terminal. We were off the plane and landside within 15 minutes.
Penang – Cameron Highlands Summary:
- Caught a bus from Komtar in Penang to Cameron Highlands. Bus was a disaster as there was only one toilet stop (4-5 hour bus ride up the hills).
- Cameron Highlands was wonderfully cool. Had great fun trekking.
- Did a half day tour which included: rose garden, cactus garden, honey bee farm, strawberry farm, tea plantation – bought awesome Boh Tea).
- Bus ride back to Penang was better as the driver wasn’t using his breaks as much. Haha.
- Back in Penang, we stayed at the Vistana in Suburban Sri Nibong, near Bukit Jambul. Bought lots of ‘back up’ copies of new and old DVD titles, plus MP3 cds. Here, I bought a new Samsung mobile phone for a fraction of the cost back home.
Our holiday was nearing the end. It was Kit, Mark and my last breakfast in Penang. Mum and Leanne were staying an extra week as we had to return to work. Our taxi ride to the airport was a sombre one. No one spoke and were dreading leaving these warm plains.
We checked in at the Golden Club counter and got our boarding passes and lounge invites. We decided not to use the lounge (and kept them for prosperity) and just walked around the airport, lapping up the last of Penang. Boarding commenced early and was onboard with a guava juice in hand.
Hot towels were handed out while we taxied to the rwy. Surprisingly, the FAs forgot to collect them as she remembered only once she started lining our tables. She was very apologetic but I told her that she had nothing to be apologetic for. I do love MAS girls. They are ever so sweet.
After landing in KLIA, we took our 6 full bags (we arrived in Malaysia with 1 and had to buy 5 new expandable bags as we went a little nuts with the shopping) to ‘Left Luggage’ and checked them overnight. Costed RM90 for all bags. Not a bad little service.
We then caught a taxi into the Dorsett Regency in KL for our final night in Malaysia. As Kit wasn’t feeling too well, he stayed in the hotel while Mark and I popped out for our final shopping session. We walked all the way down Jalan Bukit Bintang and tried to make our way to Central market.
However, we got terribly lost after Petaling Street. We asked for directions at least 4 times. Took us 45 minutes to get there.
Central market is a haven for tourists. Really a trinket-shoppers paradise. After an hour, we had bags teeming with tapioca chips, handcrafted wooden drums, marble boxes, kites, bracelets, china tea sets, etc. We were on a mission!!
For dinner that night, we concluded our wonderful Malaysian holiday with Maccas for tea. Haha! We slept early as we had an early flight back to Melbourne the following day. We were up at 5am and ready for checkout by 5:40.
The concierge called a taxi and were on our way to Sentral Train Station. Definitely quicker and more direct than a taxi. Where a taxi normally takes an hour to get into the airport from the city, this 160km/hr train ride took us 28 minutes.
At KLIA, we made our way to the arrivals hall and collected our left luggage.
At the MAS counters, economy check-in agents were battling with two full flight loads worth of PAX. I pity the workers who had to work those shifts. For us, we strolled upto the Golden Club counters hassle and crowd free. I handed over all our passports, tickets and my MAS Enrich card. Everything went through smoothly and was wished a fond farewell.
Nice touch.
We used the Premier Lane to get through immigration quicker. Or so we thought, the normal International Passport queues were advancing faster than the lanes we were in!! Anyway, we did finally get through. We jumped onto the terminal monorail and went over to international departures hall. There, we went to the Golden Club lounge for a spot of breakfast. I had to finish my Malaysian holiday with my now favourite, Nasi Lemak. Alas, business club lounge did not have the pink guava juice.
After a couple of smokes, I started filming the MAS fleet from our comfortable lounges. I prepped my camera to follow the path of an Airbus 330, when I heard over the PA system, “Attention ladies and gentleman. Can Mr tiern1338 please make his way to the front desk, please?”
I headed to the front desk.
“Is everything OK?”
“Oh, yes, sir. No problem at all. In fact, you, Mark and Kit have all been upgraded to first class. Can I have your boarding passes, please?”
Fabulous, a free upgrade with no loss of enrich points. That’s bloody brilliant. Not having flown international first class before, Mark was most excited.
When we heard the first boarding call for our flight, we got our things and made haste to the gate. We headed down Gate A without any hesitation and was welcomed onboard by the head purser. He took our carryon luggage and stowed them overhead for us. Unlike our flight from Melbourne (744), we were returning on a 772.
“Would you like to be called ‘tiernan’ or Mr tiernan1338?”
“tiernan will be fine!”
The seats were the old fashioned first class seats. Once seated, we were offered a selection of pre-take off drinks. A pity as they didn’t have my pink guava juice.
Guess an OJ would suffice. There were 5 in the first class cabin, which was capable of handling 12. Push back was on time and take off was executed effortlessly. We steadily reached cruising altitude over the course of 15 minutes. Once the seat belt signs pinged off, the FA went round with drink orders. Had another OJ.
Seated in row 1, I could see into the galley and observed the FAs stock the trolley. They started with the coffee and tea run.
“tiernan, how many sugar cubes would you like in your coffee?”
After the coffee/tea cycle had run its course, they were back in the galley and prepping the trolley for the next course. Each course was server individually from the trolley, in the following sequence: Fruits – Yogurt – Bakery items – Main – Dessert. After the yogurt was served, a female FA singled me out (for no apparent reason) and whispered in my ear, “Would you like me to get you a glass of champagne?”
As I was well aware of the quality of French bubbly served on MAS, I asked, “It’s wouldn’t happen to be Dom Perignon?”
She smiled and walked back into the galley. Ten minutes later, she returned with a heavy set crystal champagne glass (similar to mum’s Noritake fire cut series) and a freshly popped bottle of Vintage ’95. Oh, I was in heaven. Before the bubbly sensation even touched my touch, a shiver had already run down my spine.
I looked around to see who else was savouring the champagne. Much to my horror, I was the only!! My brother was fast asleep as he took his travel sickness medication an hour before departure, so was zonked out (was later individually served when he woke up). And Mark was not comfortable drinking alcohol – effects of hypoxia and all.
The main meal I chose was the meal of the week, scallops with asian vegetables and noddles. It was ok, with a minimalist presentation. The scallops were a little overdone, but still palatable. Mark, against my suggestion, had the seafood omelette. Bad move!! If I’ve told him once, I’ve told him a hundred times, MAS don’t make good eggs. He only took 4 small bites and left the rest. The FAs were a little concerned and asked if everything was OK. He made up that he wasn’t very hungry (which was partially true) as he didn’t want to admit that it was atrocious.
Dessert was a marble cheesecake divided infront of us. It looked and tasted heavenly.
All the while, my champagne was continually being topped up. Excellent service without prompting, however, I really should have stopped drinking as it went straight to my head. Finally, during the fourth pass, I stopped her mid action and explained that I had enough. She giggled and said that she wanted to see if I could finish the bottle off myself. Back on the ground I could have very easily, but at 39,000ft, no way.
Lights were then lowered after the meal service. The head purser knelt next to my brother (who was still sleeping) and laid his seat out flat and then tucked him in. The female FA handed me a second blanket without promoting.
As my body clock was still screwed, I didn’t sleep the entire flight. Pretty much watched Everybody Loves Raymond, Hellboy, Scooby Doo 2 and a few lifestyle programs. Being able to pause, rewind, fast-forward through the programs definitely made the viewing experience that much more
pleasant.
Two hours out of Melbourne, the lights were turned on and a snack service commenced. Hot savouries were firstly offered, which most of us passed on as I, for one, was still full from lunch. However, when the desserts came by, I couldn’t resist. I had a serving of black-forest cake, bread pudding and a fruit tart. I washed that down with another cup of coffee. Definitely hit the spot.
My on-flight purchases were also delivered to me at this stage. I bought a dual time watch and models of the A332, 744 and 777.
Half an hour before landing an announcement was made re: Australian regulation requiring the spraying of an insecticide throughout the aircraft.
We were met by a little turbulence as we came into Tullamarine so had to buckle up for the last part of the flight. Landing was very smooth. Taxi took 15 minutes, and we were in the terminal in an additional 5 minutes.
We were Home.
As we approached the baggage reclaim, we were staggered to find the entire floor filled to the rafters with passengers. Three flights had landed roughly within 10 minutes of each other and everyone had to filter through Melbourne’s tough quarantine/customs procedures.
We were asked to place all hand luggage onto the floor as the sniffer dogs came round. An adorable beagle weaved her way through every bag expertly. As I’ve always wanted a beagle, I just wanted to reach out and give her a pat. Alas, that’s one thing you never do with sniffer dogs.
When our turn came to go through customs, being three men in their early to mid 20s, and also having declared everything on our declaration form, were subjected to an indepth search of our belongings. Two officers were detailed to go through our bags. We had several items confiscated; some dried fruits, a wooden drum (the others we bought we fine) and another souvenir which I can’t recall.
Here we are today. Just over a month on and still not wanting to be back. Luckily for me, I am already planning my next trip. Mid March, 2005, I will be visiting my old high school mate in Bristol flying Qantas First class. That should be a nice flight review to post. However, till then, all my work related flights will be predominantly centred from Melbourne to Sydney, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Perth, Wellington, Auckland and Singapore. Nothing too exciting.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed my report and didn’t get excessively bored. Till my next instalment, keep on flying.
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