Getting up for our getaway day was not a problem as our bodies still had no idea what time zone they were in. We zipped up our suitcases and headed to the lobby for our 6:00am departure. Check out went smoothly and we able to grab a croissant from the buffet for our trip to the airport. Traffic was light and our hotel driver made the trip in about 20 minutes. Our luggage was liberated and we we set off to find our check in counter.
REP Statue Fight
REP isn't that large so it was an easy journey to the.........
Air Asia counters! Hear me out: I am an avowed LCC "hater" , or "avoider" for those of you who are less confrontational. Siem Reap isn't the easiest destination to reach. A flight from Siem Reap to Bali on a major, allianced airline is less a tall order. Price points and durations/layovers had me constantly coming back to Air Asia. Extremely concerned about getting nickel and dimed every step of the way I did what any reasonable person would do at a car lot: I bought the cheapest model and fully loaded it up with options. I went with a "Premium Flex Fare". I had a hard time remembering what exactly what I was buying so I screenshotted it and kept it on my desktop to remind myself it wasn't going to be so bad.
First perk to be taken advantage of was seat selection. I chose a bulkhead window, 1F, and 2F for my wife. Bam! Already felt like I beat the system. When we arrived to check in we able to take advantage of the Premium Flex check in counter. Our bags were tagged with the normal luggage tracker tag, a Premium Flex tag, and a Transfer tag. Our bags felt special, I'm sure. I had been worried about my roller but the agent put a tag on it that said "cabin approved" and I was set. We were through security and immigration quickly and into the fairly subdued international concourse.
Even the dreaded Duty Free march of shame wasn't so bad because Cambodia is just too cool to be mad at. We actually bought a few things.
We then moved onto the gate area to get a look at the apron, grab some coffee, and shop a little more. What I liked about REP was that the shops all seemed to be local/national. No Swarovski, no Mont Blanc, no Sephora. These stores made more actually me want to go into them.
Anyways, we boarded when Xpress boarding was called and off to our plane we walked.
AirAsia 543 REP-KUL (A-320)
Our Plane
Other Planes
I still enjoy walking up the stairs to board a big plane. We don't seem to get to do it often anymore but it's still a thrill.
I settled into my 1F and was relieved that my gamble to take a bulkhead paid off. I usually avoid them as I can never get my legs extended past 90°. Plenty of room on this gal, though.
Plenty Of Room For The Legs
More Cartoons
Goodbye Cambodia
Our flight took off on time and went quite smoothly. Too smoothly for some.....
Service was fine and we both passed on the food (surprise). Approach into Kuala Lumpur was highlighted by endless groves of palm oil trees. I've never seen so many fronds in one place in my life. Very impressive to see trees not being chopped down but actually planted and used sustainably.
We landed into the Main Terminal 2 of KUL, specifically branded as "klia2". This is the LCC terminal dominated by Air Asia. Although other airlines are listed as being based there I didn't see anything other than red and white birds.
(Sorry For The) klia2 Wide Shot
klia2 is massive. Huge. As mentioned, we landed in the Main Terminal but the lounge was located in the Satellite Terminal. Probably a quarter+ mile walk over a very impressive bridge. The bridge had moving walkways as well as some shops and kiosks. My goal was to drop my wife off at the lounge and try to train into town to get a shot of the Petronas Towers. With a four hour layover that was pushing it but doable under the right circumstances. We passed the transfer desk, headed through a security screening and up a level or two to where the bridge is.
The Bridge
At the end of the bridge we came upon a large eating hall and spotted the Red Lounge (perk alert) in the corner. Some airlines would defer heavy maintenance projects for their lounges to the late night hours. LCCs do things a little differently.
Red Carpet Treatment
We were greeted by a kind and overworked hostess and our passes were scanned in. She told us that the lounge has a three hour limit and it is up to us to police ourselves. Okay. The same hostess was running back and forth from the kitchen to grab food trays to restock the buffet. Air Asia was getting their money's worth out of this rock star. The lounge was smallish but not occupied by a lot of people. It had two levels with the upstairs being a beanbag-type lounge with sweeping views of the apron.
I kissed my wife and made a dash back across the bridge. I was then stopped in my tracks by not knowing how to get landside. The floor below, where you exit the planes, is where you make a dash for the border. The floor I was on was a sterile zone for transiting only. I could see the immigration counters for LEAVING Malaysia (they were packed) but I was nowhere near the area to ENTER Malaysia. I asked around, got the same questions about why I want to exit and was blown off until I reached a security captain who asked me why and then showed me the way. Finally reaching immigration I could see the dream to shoot the Towers was going to have to wait. The arrivals hall was packed to the gills. Coupled with what I saw in the departures hall I made the decision to turn around. I went through security (again) and was asked by my Captain friend what happened. Told him it was a zoo down there. He chuckled and sent me on my way.
Back across the bridge I went to met up with my wife. We stayed in the lounge for another 45 minutes and then began the hunt for her Cafe Americano (easy nab one floor below). I had high hopes for klia2 as the Satellite Terminal had the promising food hall. Further review lead to rows of boarded up walls giving off the impression that a lot was in the works. Wasn't much going on. The Main Terminal was the epitome of spartan airport design. We headed there to align ourselves with our departure gate. Passed through security again (I was glow in the dark by now) and realized you can't buy a bottle of water anywhere. No bottles in any of the stores and the food stands all had cups of water. I wasn't thrilled. My wife WAS thrilled by the segregated prayer stations. Not sure why that tickled her so much.
His/Hers Prayers
We waited at what we thought was our gate, under third world conditions (no water, no CNN, no Sephora). We somehow struggled through and they announced, what we thought, was our boarding. Being newly minted Premium Flex elites, we got up as soon as the first blowing sounds were amplified by the microphone. We headed down the ramp to.....a locked jetway to the right and a holding room to the left. We stumbled into the holding room not knowing what was going on. The were no gate agents to be found. We then watched everyone of our plane mates do the same thing, some testing the door to the jetway. It became funny. Funnier still when an FA came up the jet way and tried to get where we were. She gave up and headed back towards the plane. I assumed we were on Malaysian Candid Camera at this point. Fifteen minutes went by and a few GAs came down to restore order. They then made the priority boarding announcement and we busted our move.
Seated in 1A and 2A this time offered a different perspective. As with the previous flight, I was seated alone and my wife had an aisle partner. Red seats are dedicated to Premium Flex passengers.
Air Asia 378 KUL-DPS (A-320)
View From 1A
Interesting happenings during boarding. There were quite a few pax entering and exiting the plane repeatedly. This is something we're not accustomed to in the USA (there was a thread about this a few weeks back). FAs and pax just getting off and running up the jet way and then returning. Turns out the were waiting on various groups of connecting passengers and people clearing immigration. All in all, we were delayed for about half an hour which we did not make up in the air.
Our Neighbors To The Left
We were treated to a nice view of the Palm Tree Resort shortly after takeoff.
Palm Tree Resort, Malaysia
After arriving in Denpasar, Indonesia, we were greeted with a jam-packed arrivals hall. The struggle was, indeed, real.
DPS
We cleared immigration after an hour, or so and we were off to our next hotel. More on that next time.
I suppose I should sum up my Air Asia experience. I entered the whole process from booking to boarding with trepidation. I have to say that it was the right tool for the right job here. The baggage allowance (20kg), picking seats, express check in,
meals, lounge, all worked out and made the experience, well, uneventful. The crews were efficient and the hard product were in great shape. klia2 could use a few more amenities, especially for it's size and volume of traffic. I would not hesitate to use their services again if the right situation arose.
Next Episode: The Road To Ubud