Above: Malaysian sports mascot (tiger) on display at a mall.
Even though I slept very soundly for about 6h (about my normal), I woke up feeling disgusting at 0830. The joys of flying eastwards! It was 0330 back in Stockholm. It took me about 30 minutes to come right.
I found out that my flight south to Kuala Lumpur would be 20 minutes delayed. I wasn’t advised by the airline directly; they tend not to do that for small delays in the hope that they can make up the time somewhere during the day.
Both of us did our morning routines in slow motion over more than 2 hours before checking out around 1115.
We had trouble getting a taxi that would take us to Don Mueang airport on meter. First one tried a ridiculously high price but all the others bottomed out at THB400 which we reluctantly accepted. Bangkok taxis are very obliging with the meter but not when it comes to Don Mueang, it seems. They say that they can’t pick up on the way back.
We got to the airport around 1215 after a 45 min ride which included a toll road which cost THB75. The driver dropped us at arrivals as there was a queue leading up to departures. Coincidentally or otherwise, he managed to pick someone up for the city without joining the rank.
Bagdrop, passport and security were all swift and I was airside in no time. Kim had a Nok Air flight domestically to Phuket from Terminal 2 whereas I had AirAsia from Terminal 1. We messaged each other from the lounge and I had some food. Unfortunately my Sicily Belly was still a little unhappy after last night’s dinner even though I ate lightly and simply.
My flight to Kuala Lumpur left on the revised time. It appears Malaysia AirAsia had a bad day. All their flights were delayed; the earlier ones were more badly affected so perhaps there was bad weather in the morning at their base. We landed into KL around 1900.
I had decided to treat myself on the fast train into the city, saving about 35 mins each way (25 mins instead of 1 hour). I was pleased to see a promo for RM10 off a return fare but was shocked to find the price had risen from RM38 (I think) to RM50 per one way. Since I had set my mind on it, I did it anyway and used the comfortable surroundings to do some work.
Walking to the NU Sentral Hotel was a new experience through a mall. For years, it was a construction site which meant a long detour for what should be just straight across the road. With the mall, it is a comfy air-conditioned detour up and down escalators and also around.
The hotel was clean, simple and comfortable. It was nearly 2100 so I went to the mall and grabbed a quick dinner of yong taufu just before they packed up. A late wake-up, Bangkok traffic, check-in, a short flight and a 1 hour time difference made the day disappear very quickly.