Leaving Jakarta
With a 1255 flight from Jakarta to Kuching, I left my room at 0800. Today, I thought I’d try out the rideshare and train combo, despite the highway to the airport being clear and the rideshare price being low.
I took a car to the Sudirman Baru station where I would catch the train. Unlike KL Sentral, it didn’t look like an attractive base for future visits. The car took me up the ramp where the station was located.
After buying my ticket, I descended to the platform for a short wait before the 36 min ride to the airport station. The ride in the built-up area took us lots of shacks and shantytowns.
At the airport station, I changed to the inter-terminal train to take me to Terminal 2, getting there around 0930.
Security getting airside was swift and I was in the lounge in no time. Then it dawned on me that I hadn’t cleared immigration. So, I had to allow extra time for that on the way to the gate later. I could have been easily tricked by this unusual flow and be late for my flight.
As it turned out, immigration was automated and took seconds. The Indonesia AirAsia flight left on time with me in the middle seat, next to an obese man.
Despite having eaten in the lounge, I felt like more food and ordered a Nasi Padang.
Back in hometown
My sister and bro-in-law kindly picked me up at the airport.
It came up in conversation that one of our nearby malls had suffered a small fire and is now closed temporarily. It turned out to be the mall where my somewhat newfound gym with air-con was located.
That gym had been a good find last trip and I was overjoyed to eventually move away from the previous non-AC gym. Looks like my stay here will less pleasant than I had thought.
Back in my apartment, the housework started with mopping the floor and then wiping down the surfaces.
Government benefits
I went out for a simple dinner before getting some groceries. Just two days ago, the government had dished out MYR100 of MyKasih benefits for use on essential groceries.
Last round, I hadn’t been around to use up the benefit, and it expired. So, I was keen to use it up this time.
I managed to spend MYR97 of the MYR100 on eligible items, even though I was choosing based on eligibility. I had to top up MYR18 for ineligible items. MYR18 for three bags of groceries is quite a steal! [Edit: I managed to use up my remaining MYR3 next day]
The benefit balance is loaded onto one’s identity card. I present it to the cashier as if it’s a credit card. It only picks up eligible items, e.g. no cigarettes or non-essentials.
An approval code is generated and entered back into the POS system. The balance of ineligible items is paid normally by cash or card.
If only benefits in western countries worked like this. People cannot spend it on drugs, cigarettes or alcohol.