After first attempt of writing a report, I failed. After almost 30 minutes of whining, I am starting to write everything from the scratch again. Not the best feeling in the world.
My boyfriend whom I have been with for a year now goes on flight-report every single day. So I thought to myself that this will a good way to surprise him for our first year anniversary gift. Although, I probably killed the surprise when I was whining and crying after the connection went wrong when I tried to publish my report. It was difficult enough to take photos of the airport and plane without him realizing that I was planning on writing a flight report. He caught me after a while but I guess he didn't know that I will type one for real.
So here goes my first flight report for our first SEA flight in 2016.
I missed out a couple of shots from the check in counter. However, there wasn't a queue at the check in counter and things moved quickly.
The International Departure gates entrance. There was a slight queue and I guess KLIA2 is busy even at this hour of the day considering they have many odd hours flight scheduled.
There is a buggy pick up point with seats for the disabled and people with special needs to hop in the airport buggy.
Signage on the ceiling and to the relevant gates. You will not be able to miss that out. Well, unless you are on your phone/tablet the whole time as free wi-fi is provided in the airport.
Duty free shops are opened on the way to the gates. Great for last minute shopping to pick up a few items or souvenirs especially alcohol and tobacco.
A wide selection of chocolates as well in the duty free shop. I never understood the idea of chocolate in duty free shops in the airport as they are usually priced higher than in the retailers out of the airport. But in any case, if you have a sudden craving for chocolates and forgot to pick up something for friends and family, you can grab it here. Or just be sweet sometimes :p
The crowd gets lesser as we got nearer to our departure gate.
A bar found on the way to the departure gate. Closed, which makes sense at this hour of the day (06:00). I apologize on behalf of the airport if you have a drinking problem.
Some minimal Chinese New Year decorations as the festival is nearing soon. Can you hear that music playing? "Dong Dong Chiang!!" (You'll get me if you're Chinese ;))
The food court looks quite occupied from the outside. The restaurants were all opened and of course, there is a McDonald's, something which is known to all of us
The waiting/sleeping areas are quite empty
Malaysia Airports has also organized a competition; the grand prize of Panda Volunteer Programme in China - I am not too sure which part of China. All you need to do is just spend as little as RM200 and scan the receipts at the kiosk to enrol. Not too hard to do - Just get a bottle or two of liquor and you're on your way to possibly be the lucky one to win. Not only that, you will can be the talk of the town for throwing an awesome party with good booze which you purchased from the airport for a cheaper price.
If you are suddenly hit hard by the cupid and have the need to propose to your girlfriend to marry you and you need to find a ring immediately, worry not, even at 6am, the jeweler is opened for you to pick the perfect ring. Only worry that you may have is what her answer will be.
Or even to get something for your loved one before you take off
However, if you are having the need to satisfy your sweet tooth, the chocolate shop is closed at this hour and don't open until later of the morning. And worse, looking at the photos of chocolate, being tempted and think "Why, oh why?!". But of course, you can look and not touch/eat as they're still closed.
You will need to wait a little longer if you're hungry. You can do so after security check and grab something for the road, or in this case, for the air :p
If you are running low and cash would would like a reload in your wallet, ATM machines are quite hard to find or I have personally never found one. We have tried almost everywhere ATM sign tells us to go but we never found any physical ATM machines after immigration or security check. Sign says the ATM is here but no physical machine is actually there. The sign has been here forever and have no clue when the physical machines will be installed. Not sure if the machines are playing peek-a-boo or if there is a special button somewhere to be pressed for the machine to come out from where ever it is hiding. But do withdraw some cash before immigration to fuel your wallet or at the waiting/sleeping area.
Place for to get some cookies or you can just keep your hands off the cookie jar.
Water is sold by the cup through a water dispenser and not by the bottle. The standard price is RM2 for a cup of water. Not too sure why they do not sell water by the bottle anymore like they used to.
We were told at the check in counter that the plane is not full and the crowd in the waiting room in our departure gate supports it. Although, we expected a smaller crowd.
And that's our call to board the plane
Waiting for passengers to get on board
Passengers waiting to take off
Sticker on the shutter of the window next to my seat
The WC is well maintained and clean
I have been told that the pointy thing at the edge of the wings of the plane shows that the plane is approximately 2 years old. Having a partner who is a fan of aircrafts, especially commercial aircrafts, I try to learn as much as I can or remember information which I have been told to be able to understand what he is talking about when it comes to airplanes.
Being a little over 5'1, I have never had legroom issues in airplanes.
three60 magazine in the airplane and that is where we are heading to for the weekend.
A wide selection of food items can be purchased on board. Meals which are pre-booked online are slightly cheaper than when buying it on board.
AirAsia offers a wide variety of food items in the menu; from Malaysian to Asian to Western. From a full meal to lighter options to snacks
Selection of hot beverages
I was told that the Nasi Lemak,Malaysian favorite is a good choice. It's a little too heavy for breakfast but I decided to go with the recommendation. No regrets - the coconut steamed rice was fragrant and the spicy sauce was not too spicy and the chicken was tender.
The view of Siem Reap airport from the plane. The airport looked resort like from the outside. First impression when we walked on the runaway is that the airport surrounding gave us a very relaxed atmosphere.
Our safely landed AK542
Immigration check in the airport was very fast
Luggages arrived very fast at the luggage collection area
Welcome! Your motivation to write your first report is really cool! Hope you bf likes it yeah.
Anyway, thanks for a nice report on AK and KLIA2; haven't been on an AirAsia flight myself before as it has always been 3K, TZ, JQ etc..
If I ever get the chance to travel on AirAsia one day, I will definitely try out the BoB meals. They always look so good!
Have fun writing reports on Flight-Report - great website. I visit every day too. HAHA, just that I am way behind time for my own reports.
Oh wow, I sympathize with your plight of preparing a FR to please your loved one, only to lose your first draft in a crash.
I definitely won't bash you, remembering how Mrs Marathon once took pictures on her flights back home for the same purpose of pleasing me. (She did.)
And I more than once lost drafts, but now I always write drafts as a word document, and then copy paste the text on the website and inserting the pictures where they belong. I also use the Save as draft key a lot.
Another hint : use landscape (horizontal) format when you can, rather than portrait. They fit better on the website. Also, select 1024 pixels for the long side to take full advantage of the screen width.
My best guess is that these overpriced chocolate shops airside are for parents who want to bring back a gift to the kids and did not have time during a busy business trip. I'm not sure that explanation applies for the jewellery :)
The ghost ATM story is interesting !
That pointy thing is called a winglet, they first appeared roughly in the early 2000's. (Mrs Marathon says she too would have written that this is the telltale for a recent plane^^)
Being short is definitely an advantage when flying low cost ! :)
This is very good first try at a flight report. I like your way of looking and commenting upon details; thanks for the effort and welcome among the contributors !