After 2 days and 1 night in Alor Setar, it was the time for us to fly back to our hometown, KL.
And for those who interested, here is the flight report of the outbound flight:
Kuala Lumpur-Alor Setar with Malaysia Airlines B737-800
In the Airport
We arrived at the airport around 2 hours before our flight time.
Alor Setar's airport (AOR) is named after the current Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah. At present, all scheduled flights in AOR are flying to and from Kuala Lumpur (both KLIA & Subang). The terminal is quite small and basic with limited number of facilities.
First, my parents and I decided to have our dinner in 1 cafe which located towards the end of the airport terminal. Then, we went to the check-in counter to drop our luggage and collected the boarding passes.
After we completed the check-in process, we found out that our flight to KL would be delayed for more than 1 hour. Around 30 minutes later, we proceeded to Gate 1, where our aircraft would be departed. Almost an hour and a half later, there was no sign of our aircraft to arrive. The gate agents then informed all passengers that our flight would be delayed for another 1 hour. This delay was caused by the late arrival of transit passengers from a connecting flight in KLIA.
After almost 3 hours of waiting, our aircraft finally arrived and docked at the gate. The gate agents announced that our flight was ready for boarding and apologized once again about the delay. Business class passengers and those who need special assistance were invited to board first followed by all economy class passengers.
Onboard Experience
My seat, 24F.
Boarding in progress. There were 2 stewardesses in economy class while the other 2 were in business.
The views outside of the window.
Just like the previous flight, the IFE was available throughout the flight without the headset been distributed.
After the boarding process completed, the safety demo video was played on the IFE screen.
Unfortunately, the IFE system went down few minutes later and the safety demo was done manually by the cabin crew. After that, the cabin lights were dimmed and our aircraft started to move to the runway.
The view of Alor Setar at night soon after we took off.
10 minutes later, the crew started the inflight service with the usual offering of Salted Peanuts and Orange Juice.
Few minutes later, the crew walked down the aisle again to offer passengers the available balance of Salted Peanuts. I didnt miss this chance to grab few packets more. I also got 2 extras Orange Juices from my parents who refused to drink cold beverage at night.
Cabin during the flight. The 2 stewardesses collected some trash and did the final checking before landing.
Almost 50 minutes in the air, our aircraft started its decent and we were safely landed in KLIA.
Due to unknown reason, our aircraft was not able to dock at the gate and was put on hold for almost 30 minutes! All the passengers seem quite frustrated and clueless as there was no information provided by both cockpit and cabin crew regarding this situation. Eventually, our aircraft received a clearance from the control tower to park at the gate and we were all allowed to disembark. Fortunately, it didnt took a long time for our luggage to arrive. An hour later, my parents and I arrived at our home and we called it a day.
Tourism Bonus: Galeria Sri Perdana, Kuala Lumpur
Due to time constraints, I didnt managed to visit Tun Dr Mahathir's Birthplace House when I was in Alor Setar. Thus, few days after I returned back in KL, I decided to visit another memorial for Malaysia's 4th prime minister which located not far from the city center.
Galeria Sri Perdana is 1 of the 3 memorials dedicated to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was also the longest-serving prime minister (for 22 years). It is located on top of Federal Hill (Bukit Persekutuan), not too far from the KL Sentral Station. Opened on every Tuesday-Sunday, from 10am-5:30pm, the admission to this memorial is completely free of charge. If you are not driving, you can ride a cab or Uber from KL Sentral Station or the city center.
It was quite a long walk from the main gate to the galeria building.
This 80s-style bungalow house was actually the former official residence for Tun Dr Mahathir and his family from 1983-1999 before they moved into their new residence in Putrajaya. In year 2003, this house was converted into a memorial where public are invited to visit. Galeria Sri Perdana houses various personal collections and memorabilia of Tun Dr Mahathir during his tenure as Malaysian prime minister.
The main living room.
The main dining hall in the 1st floor.
1 of Tun Dr Mahathir's hidden talents is woodcarving. This was his carpentry room where he used to do some woodcarving during his free time.
Kitchen area. There were mini-elevators to bring the foods cooked in this kitchen directly to the dining area which located on the 2nd floor.
Master bedroom and wardrobe.
His office.
Some of Tun Dr Mahathir's personal memorabilia.
Some of Tun Dr Mahathir's car collection.
I spent almost 2 hours exploring this whole Galeria and enjoyed every moment of it. If you are in Kuala Lumpur, do not forget to include a visit to Galeria Sri Perdana and the other memorials in your list ;-)
