As it was cold outside, the A330 aircraft to Kuala Lumpur appeared to be heated. Perhaps a little too much. We were ready to go but had to wait for connecting passengers who had perhaps been delayed by the rain a couple of hours ago. We left about 15 mins later than the scheduled time of 0135 even though the delay had been indicated at 20 mins.
The crew were efficient and were out within 30 mins of take-off with hot meals. With the aid of a sleeping pill, I slept from 0330 to 0530. Not the longest sleep I’ve had on board, but OK for an upright position. I wasn’t perfectly deep sleep as I heard an announcement calling for a doctor to assist with an onboard illness; luckily we didn’t get diverted.
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur on time. I had a slightly risky self-connect to Kuching with 1h35 connecting time. It took me 20 minutes to walk from one of the furthest gates, clear immigration and security and then one of the further domestic gates. How good is that!
The gate for Malindo Air’s flight to Kuching wasn’t open yet. I had checked in on mobile/web and had a mobile and home-printed boarding pass (just in case) so I didn’t have to report to a counter. This self-connection would probably be impossible if I had had luggage.
Malindo’s flight left on time at 1850 bringing me to hometown Kuching at 2040; it wasn’t very full despite having sold some very cheap fares. This time in Kuching I have a week with family and also a friend Michelle visiting from New Zealand. I took a Grab car from the airport to find the price to have been inflated to MYR27 instead of around MYR20 previously. There had been changes to the regulatory environment, making them stricter, making some drivers drop out of the game.