Australia has been on my bucket list for years. Despite my limited time, I made every effort to maximise my experience. In addition, I set a personal goal to travel with various local airlines during my trip.

One thing I really wanted to do was to take a day trip to see Uluru. However, I was concerned that any delay in my morning flight would cause me to miss a helicopter tour. I carefully reviewed the flight schedules from Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, but unfortunately, none provided a good option. Regrettably, I had to let go of the idea of visiting this iconic Australian landmark. Instead, I changed it to Tasmania.

Disclaimer: I am forgetful, easily distracted and sometimes lazy, so I may stop updating this TR. If that happens, please give me a nudge

Here's what I prepared (and will hopefully add to this TR):

• LHR T4: The Observation Deck and lounges (Gulf Air & Qatar Airways)
• MH LHR-KUL, A350, J
• Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge Satellite
• MH KUL-MEL, A330, J
• voco Melbourne Central
• Melbourne
• VA Lounge MEL
• VA MEL-CNS, J
• Cairns & The Great Barrier Reef
• JQ CNS-BNE, Y
• Holiday Inn Express Brisbane Central
• Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
• Brisbane
• ZL BNE-SYD, Y -> VA BNE-SYD, Y & Lounges vs Priority Pass
• Holiday Inn Sydney Potts Point
• QF lounge T3 and Priority Pass
• Qantaslink SYD-CBR, B717, Y
• Qantas lounge CBR
• Qantaslink CBR-SYD, Dash8-400, Y
• From Bondi Beach to Clovelly
• VA SYD-HBA-SYD, Y
• Sydney
• QF Lounge vs PP options
• QF SYD-MEL, Y
• Lounges MEL
• MH MEL-KUL, A330, J
• Lounges KUL
• MH KUL-LHR, A350, J

Let's start from the very beginning - check-in.

Welcome to T4

Malaysia Airlines operates from Terminal 4, and you can find its check-in and baggage drop-off desks in block D. The check-in counters are organised with the economy class counters first, followed by the Business class counters, which also cater to Enrich Platinum/Gold/Silver and oneworld ruby/sapphire/emerald members. After the Business class counters, you'll find the Business Suite counters reserved for Enrich Platinum members and oneworld Emerald members. Business Suite is probably their First Class.

Malaysia Airlines check-in area


Business Suite, Business and other important groups

After clearing security, I turned left and faced an important decision: should I visit the Qatar Airways lounge or the Gulf Air lounge first? Malaysia Airlines used to have a lounge here, but it's no longer operational.
should I go right or straight?

Gulf Air won. It's located near Gate 6. Although smaller, it is well-equipped with comfortable seating areas (expect a lot of gold-ish colour &#128513 and a variety of food and beverage options, including coffee(My best friend, especially early in the morning).

Entrance




Inside the lounge


Bar


And more places to sit

It offers a view of the airport apron.

Seats with the best view.

There she is! (View from the lounge)


Fancy coffee machine


Regular one - still prepares great coffee

Food and drinks are on the right side at the end.

Food area


Make your own salad


Hot breakfast


Some pastry and bread


More food


Water

And a quick look here, too

Yeah Uluru not a day trip kind of a place!

Instead of heading to the Qatar Airways Lounge, I took a leisurely stroll to the opposite end of the terminal. I was curious about the new Plaza Premium Lounge that opened in August. The old lounge next to the Qatar Airways lounges is now closed and has been relocated to the new one. The new lounge is next to the Etihad Lounge, opposite Gate 10. HfP has reviewed it, and the review can be found on their website.

Etihad and Plaza Premium Lounges


Notice that the lounge has been relocated

From the Observation Deck at the end, I had a stunning view of the BA hangars and a magnificent Concorde. Surprisingly, there were only two other people besides me. It seems like this place is not well-known or popular.

Entrance to the Observation Deck


Air France leaving (and tiny Concorde in the background)

As I stood on the top of The Observation Deck, I noticed that the planes were departing in the direction towards London. All passengers sitting by the windows had a nice view of the city below. I couldn't resist staying for a while to take in the stunning sight of the planes soaring gracefully through the sky like magnificent birds.

Tiny aircrafts parked at the gates

It's an excellent pastime for plane watching or those without lounge access. However, the glass room can get too hot on sunny days.

The lounge is divided into two sections - one specifically for business and first class passengers and the other for Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members.

business lounge

I arrived at the Qatar Airways Business Lounge after all Qatar Airways flights had departed, so the lounge was peaceful with only around 10 people, most of whom were seated in the dining area. I decided to have another cup of coffee, although it wasn't the best idea in hindsight, as it made it difficult to sleep during the flight.

White wine


Red wine

I also tried some green juice that was described as healthy. Once I finished a glass of Joseph Perrier Ros�, boarding was about to start. Thus, I slowly started moving towards gate 9.

Oh good another TR visiting some of my destinations next year. Look forward to your views.

I haven't departed LHR T4 in years, but when I did I always stopped by the observation deck. It's especially nice if you catch an A380 departure on 09R, as rotation is right outside the window.

I had never flown on Malaysia Airlines before, so it was an easy choice when booking the flights.
However, I forgot to mention that the lady at the check-in/baggage drop-off counter printed two flight tickets for me. The Gulf Air lounge dragon kept one of them.

This beauty will take me to KUL

I was informed that there was no announcement for the Malaysia Airlines flight in the Qatar Airways lounge. As the boarding time approached, I made my way to the gate. When I arrived, I saw that the area at the gate was crowded, but no one was queuing up, and the line barriers were empty.


The boarding began at 10:15. The first to board were the usual pre-boarders, followed by families with babies. Five minutes later, group 1 followed.

Business class cabin

The first row in A350 is Business Suite, followed by six business class rows (see the aerolopa map). Each row was different.

Seats 3A and 4A

I was seated in 3A with the control panel and reading light to my right. It appeared that the area hadn't been cleaned properly as there were some leftovers from the previous passenger.

Control panel and reading light


IFE and seat control panels



Safety card




Universal socket and USB port for charging


Space to store up to 7lbs

Once I was seated, a cabin crew brought pre-departure drinks: signature lychee drink, orange juice, and apple juice. I particularly enjoyed the lychee drink.

PDB

menu:




IFE was very responsive and offered a variety of movies from all over the world, TV shows, music, radio channels, and a "Best of Malaysia" menu as well.


After the boarding was completed, the captain welcomed us. There were two sets of captains and first officers on this long flight. Surprisingly, the captain was very talkative. So far, I have found that only British Airways pilots are talkative and can talk a lot (not a complaint, I quite enjoy listening to them). The captain warned us that we could expect turbulence, especially over the Bay of Bengal. At this point, nothing was mentioned about a delay, only that we would be taxiing for 20 minutes.

We still had several minutes until the scheduled departure time (11:00) when the person in charge of the cabin came to introduce herself. This was followed by another announcement from the captain - the dreaded one where he announced a 30-minute delay due to congestion in LHR and Europe.

Safety video

After a 30-minute delay, the captain announced another delay. This time, we were scheduled to depart at 12:15. I was not happy because I only had 2.5 hours for my transfer at KUL. As predicted by the captain, we departed at 12:15 and flew over London.


LHR

Wimbledon

Once the seat belt sign was turned off, the cabin crew distributed the amenity kit bags, and drinks followed shortly after. We were not given a drink menu, but they had champagne Duval-Leroy, Pinot Grigio as the white wine, and I'm not sure what the red wine was.

Amenity kit


They also turned on the wifi, free for business class passengers. I had to provide my name and seat number to access it. The wifi wasn't the fastest, but passengers could purchase a faster connection or more data.


45 min into the flight, it was time for Satay!



The food arrived shortly. I ordered the fish, and it was delicious (a bit spicy, though).

Seared chicken and Salted caramel cake


Ikan Bakar ala Portugis

As always, after finishing the food, everybody closed their window blinds, except for me. It was still daylight outside, and I wanted to watch the planes.

As we flew above the Bay of Bengal, the pilots turned on the seatbelt signs and even asked the cabin crew to stop the service and sit down despite there being hardly any turbulence. I assume it's because of the Singapore Airlines incident several months ago.

Around 2 hours before landing, another meal was served. This time, I tried the shrimp version of Nasi Lemak.

Starters

Nasi Lemak Prawn Sambal


sunrise somewhere above Malaysia

We landed only 30 minutes later than the scheduled arrival time, which meant I still had some time to explore the lounge.

I wish it was. I need to come back one day as there is still a lot I want to see

Having arrived at one of the gates C31-C37, I needed to locate the lounge. The information board was unhelpful as it didn't display any lounge information. Exhausted from not sleeping on the flight to Kuala Lumpur, I began walking in an anti-clockwise direction.

Terminal 2


It's not the best idea, as the lounge is above gates C1-C6.


Lounge entrance

Seating in the entrance hall

It was still early, and there were hardly any people around. The lounge dragon directed me to the right side, and I followed without thinking. Later, on my way out, I noticed it was for First Class, Enrich Platinum, and Oneworld Emerald members.




The First Class lounge is smaller. Its primary area consists of a lengthy room that offers an incredible view of the airport apron.





I even discovered a quiet room.



There is a small VIP room at the end of the lounge that everyone can access, but hardly anyone ventures into that part of the lounge. Out of the 4 people in the lounge, I was the only one walking around and exploring the whole place. The VIP room has its own private bathroom with a shower.





The meal options were quite underwhelming. I was disappointed to see that there were only two varieties of sandwiches, a toaster and plain bread, available.



Then, some dried fruit, nuts, biscuits, yoghurt, and two cakes.





White wine was in the fridge (forgot to take a photo). Meanwhile, two bottles of red wine were clearly visible and ready for the passengers wanting to drink some wine for early breakfast (it was 5pm somewhere in the world ).



I chose to have coffee and cakes from the limited selection available. While I was observing the planes, I overheard a fellow passenger mentioning on the phone that the business lounge had a skilled barista and superior coffee. I approached the staff immediately and asked if they could bring me a cup. 😊



As I anticipated spending just a few minutes in the lounge, I stayed for an hour. Feeling drowsy, I decided to head to the gate before the boarding announcement. On my way, I glimpsed a dining room but didn't have time to check it out. I made a mental note to visit it on my return journey.

Is it just me, or do your pictures from post #8 onwards not load?

Very interesting trip to follow nonetheless, so would not want to miss out

No idea why they disappeared. Let me fix it

The satellite building has security scanners in front of each gate. When I arrived at the gate, there were only a few people in line, which I was extremely grateful for because I made many rookie mistakes (forgot to remove electronics, forgot to remove my belt...). I had to go through the scanner three times. Fortunately, the staff was extremely patient and remained friendly yet professional despite my errors.
On the way to the gate

Our ride to Melbourne - A330
The boarding process began 25 minutes before the scheduled departure time. The pre-boards were the first to board, followed by group 1. When I was entering the aircraft, the cabin crew welcomed me onboard. While showing me to my seat, they asked how to pronounce my name, which happens often .
1A

2A, 3A

Seat control panel on A330
Once I settled into my seat, the crew member brought me a glass of champagne. This time, I took a photo of the bottle, knowing it is important here on FT, lol.
We were ready to go after the captain's announcement and the in-flight cabin manager's welcome.
View from the window: This beauty brought me to KUL from LHR
Menu

No food photos as I went to sleep immediately after the seat belt sign was off.


View from the window
Two hours before landing, it was time to enjoy a traditional Malaysian dish - satay.
Satay and guava juice

The crew gate us this form and express arrival card.


Soon, it was time to land in Melbourne.

Premium economy seats

I was a bit disappointed when they directed me towards the egates, as I wanted to get a stamp. Oh well, maybe next time.
MEL airport
After leaving the terminal, I noticed a large sign for Uber with different sections labelled A-C. The longest line was for UberX, where many people were queuing. The area was well organised, with plenty of staff available to assist tourists in finding their way around.

Was there rum involved in this sudden inability to �airport�?

I wish! Just lack of sleep combine with too much coffee