October 19, 2017
Traveling to the west made itself felt. I woke up too early, but I wanted to make this to my advantage. At first, breakfast at the hotel. I then grabbed my camera and was on my way to my destination. A random shot in the area around my hotel:
I walked to the
Yau Ma Tei MRT station. As it was rush hour, the train was completely packed. I traveled on the
Tsuen Wan Line towards Central where I alighted and followed the signs towards the Peak Tram.
I was there before 9 am and bought a ticket for the tram and the view. The agent told me that the Sky Terrace 428 would only open at 10 am, but I regardless bought the combined ticket, the Sky Pass. Tip for early birds and smart spenders: the tram ticket is sufficient.
The tram entering the station. Take notice of the nearly non-existent traffic.
Arriving at the top, I could strike one item from my bucket list, the view from the peak.
The previous picture was taken from the street that you don't have to pay for. For comparison, the view from the Sky Terrace.
The view on the driving tram is better from the Terrace 428. To the right you can see the freely accessible lookout.
Since I had a return ticket, I took the tram back to the lower station. At the peak station was a colorful installation on the wall.
When I arrived at the lower station, it was completely packed. I then walked to the Hard Rock Cafe to buy another shirt. Unfortunately, they had discontinued the Flag Logo Tee, so I bought two different ones. Afterwards I took the MRT back to the Hotel, took a shower, packed my belongings and checked out at noon. I also had my boarding passes for my next two tickets printed.
Near the hotel on the way to the Airport Express I got into contact with other highlights of Hong Kong:
backyard mills and food market with fresh fish one block down. With all my luggage with me, I hadn't taken any pictures. It also didn't put me off, but rather reinforced the wish to return to Hong Kong. The few hours I had spend there didn't do it justice at all.
At the airport, I alighted the Airport Express towards Terminal 2, since my flight was checking in from there. This time I checked my small trolley and was rewarded with an invitation to the Plaza Premium Lounge. My next flights would be operated on Malindo Air in business class. Online check-in was also possible and I did so the day before. I also had boarding passes printed in the lounge in the Hilton Guam hotel. OLCI didn't mention anything of a lounge, so a visit at the check-in counter was a good idea.
Security and immigration were quickly passed and I was on my way to the lounge. When I arrived there, I found something to eat. As noticed before, I like it spicy and the hot peppers were spicy---so take less if you don't like spicy.
The lounge was in a different concourse at the airport, so I left the lounge with sufficient buffer to get to my gate. When I arrived there, the inbound aircraft also arrived at the same time. This 737-800, 9M-LNZ, had taken me to Kuala Lumpur.
Boarding was delayed a bit, but didn't cause any delays of the flight. Boarding of the aircraft, I found my seat 2A.
Plenty of legroom.
At the seat was a pillow and a blanket. Pre-departure drinks were served and an amenity-kit was distributed. I should have taken it with me, there was non on the second flight.
On-time departure from the gate but then there was some ground traffic, which caused minor delays. Take-off was towards the east. Unfortunately, the turn to the south was much too early, so I couldn't see much of the city.
After take-off, menu options were presented orally. With no printed menus and my hearing a little muted from the engine next to me, I opted for main
#2 . Asking for meal selections was started from the rear end. At first, there were 4 options available, and only 3 for first row. As said, I don't know what option
#2 was. Meats was chicken, rice is obvious. To me it was tasty.
My pre-departure drink was apple juice, which I liked pretty much. So I stayed with that. The roll was warm but soft. Cheesecake for desert was tasty as well.
The seat did offer some adjustment options, but the foot rest was too short for my 6'3. In the middle arm rest, a fold-out screen was stored. Headphones were distributed before take-off, but those were non noise-canceling. I hadn't found the advertised music channels in the IFE, there only were movies, TV series, and the moving map. I also didn't find any Wifi, although being advertised on the website.
So I spend the time to either enjoying the outside views or catching up some sleep. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur at sun set. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to spot the Petronas Towers during our approach. Before arrival, the cabin was also sprayed, but they didn't mentioned what it was for. At least it wasn't any air refresher.
Arriving at the airport, I checked with the transfer desk for lounge options. I was given a voucher for some restaurants and cafes (e.g. Starbucks) or the Sama Sama Express Lounge. The easiest way to find it is to follow the signs to the identically named hotel.
The lounge itself was very dark due to dimmed lighting. A selection of food and a rather limited selection of drinks was available. It took me some time until I figured out what the water dispenser was. By that time, I was pretty tired already. Because of me still being stuffed from the previous flight, I limited my consume to water and internet. So it was minimizing instead of maximizing.
With an ample buffer, I walked to the gate. In Kuala Lumpur, security was directly at the gate and not in a centralized location. At the gate, 9M-LNY, another 737-800, was already waiting for its flight to Colombo. Pre-depature beverage was offered, but no amenity kit and a blanket only on request. Headphones were distributed, though.
On this segment, service started from the front of the cabin. This time I also was able to understand the offered options. I opted for chicken satay with rice and just water with it. Carlsberg beer would have been available as well.
Food was delicious, but I only finished the salad, satay and a large portion of the rice. As mentioned before, I had plenty of food already, plus I was very tired. Too bad I couldn't fit in the delicious cake.
On this flight, spraying of the cabin was not required. My assumption is that this is only required for Kuala Lumpur arrivals. Gate arrival was approx. half an hour early. I then passed immigration within minutes (thanks to the ETA I acquired a month earlier) and when I arrived at the baggage claim, my rolling suitcase was already on the belt (I wasn't in a rush exactly).
I did enjoy flying Malindo Air. Both of my flights were on time or even arrived early. The seat was comfortable and sufficient for the duration of the flights. Getting a good night's sleep during three hours flight is impossible, so no need for a flat-bed. Food was yummy and portion sizes were adequate. On the down side are the poor head phones (non noise canceling) and the inconsistent amenity kit handling. I would have preferred one on the later flight, especially with the eye shades. Lounge options were available both in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. Depending on your references, the Plaza Premium Lounge is not that bad after all (you are not flying First Class with Cathay). So in summary, I can recommend Malindo and would book it again if I was in the area. 10 out of 12 business class seats on both flights were occupied and I was lucky enough to have a free seat next to me on both of them.