Jakarta back and forth flight No 2

After arriving on the Monday, I was kept busy until Wednesday evening. Once done with judging at 4.30pm, rushed back to the room to change and at 5.30pm left for the airport. The last flight to KUL was a Lionair flight that departs at 9pm. Lionair is not an airline that I would want to travel with but I was afraid Jakarta traffic would make it too tight to catch the MAS or KLM flights that depart around an hour earlier. Luck will have that it only took about 30 minutes to reach the airport.

The only counter for Lionair flight JT286 had a long and I mean long line that snaked across the check-in hall. Luckily, I had arranged assistance and I got to jump the queue and most importantly get a window seat at row 31 on the Lionair 737-900. Immigration was also a breeze as I was whisked pass through the diplomatic counter.

 Boarding was called 15 minutes to departure time and everyone was on board the rather warm B737-900 that looked very worn out. Dirty carpet and seats, plus broken armrests greeted the passengers besides the lovely and friendly FA's

Seat 31A is the best seat on the plane as it is located at the exit. The huge leg room is worth fighting for!

The FA was kind enough to take my photo but note the armrest

Fantastic legroom for 31A

Armrest coming apart

While we waited in the hot cabin, departure time came and went, as the FA and ground crew kept walking up and down the aisle doing headcount after headcount.

About 20 minutes behind schedule we finally push back and a live safety demo is done. After take off the crew zoom pass with the buy-on-board cart so fast that I didn't get to stop them. Once again no menu available. Finally after about 20 minutes the reach my row only to say they have sold out all the drinks! I was dying for a drink!

The full cabin on this flight to KUL

After a bumpy flight we landed in KUL 35 minutes behind schedule but out flight was not going to end yet. Once at our gate, the captain comes over the PA saying that a Ground Power Unit is needed before the engine could be shut down and so we were to remain seated. So the APU or Auxiliary Power Unit on board wasn't working which explained why the cabin were so hot while on ground in Jakarta.

So we sat for another 30 minutes before we were finally allowed to disembark. I don't home till 2.30am. Lionair.........once again I learnt to avoid at all cost!

Jakarta Back and forth

As mentioned in the previous post, I was in Jakarta for the 2104 Asian English Olympics and I really didn't have the time to do any sight seeing. My days would be between the Binus University campus to the hotel and to Taman Angrek Mall where I go for my workout.

The reason for my Jakarta trip

The participants for this AEO came from around Asia and competed in Public Speaking, Debate, Scrabble, Storytelling, Short Movie Making and Newscasting which I was judging. Here are some shots to share.

A contestant getting the news that she made it to the next round

Sharing the stage with Dalton Tanonaka and Rex Remitio

Giving our comments to the contestants

The closing dinner

With the participants from Universiti Teknologi Petronas

The organising committee of the newscasting competition

But of course I have to share a few pictures of food porn.........

Noodles with everything!

Nasi Langgi

I just love the Lontong in Jakarta!

Jakarta back and forth...flight No 1

I received an invite to be a judge at the 2014 Asian English Olympics in Jakarta which would involve me staying there for 6 days. However on the morning of my departure I was asked to attend an event on in the middle of that 6 days and I could not turn it down. To kill two birds with one stone I decided to fly back to Kuala Lumpur for a few hours before returning back to Jakarta. I quickly went on line to find flights that had suitable timings and once done I headed to the airport for flight no 1 on Malindo Air OD316.

 
I arrived to a very empty check-in area, which was a huge difference from my last Malindo Air experience. Check-in was quick but I would have just preferred to check-in online but international flights are not entitled to on-line check-in with Malindo.

Boarding was quick for the almost full flight, with crew in the cabin to welcome and assist. I got the exit seat that I requested and settled in. Once boarding completed, the usual announcement, safety demo on video and we were on our way.

Taxing pass the Thai AirAsiaX A330 waiting for the turmoil in Bangkok to end before taking to the skies

Nice reflection of the winglet

Soon after the seat-belt sign was switched off the crew distributed the complimentary water and biscuit. Nothing to shout about. They also offered headsets for sale as while the AVOD was "free" the headphone were not. The selection of movies was limited and a bit dated but better than nothing. I just kept myself entertained by watching a bit of an Indonesian movie and the route map.

Cream crackers and water.......prison food?

 Next round was the buy-on-board option. As my client had not pre-booked my meal and the manage booking option does not allow me to do it myself, I was hoping that there would be enough for me! It was lunch time after all! Once again Malindo does not provide a menu, so one had absolutely no idea what is available. After a Q&A session with the crew manning the cart I decided it will be Nasi Briyani again and once again it was delish!

Chicken Briyani

The pleasant flight arrived on time but the wait for baggage took a good 30 minutes.

Caticlan Airport

Back in June 2009 I made a trip to Boracay Island. Most visitors who travel to Boracay do so via the airport in Kalibo which can handle jet aircraft. I instead decided to fly via the airport closes to Boracay, The Godofredo P. Ramos Airport MPH, also known as Caticlan Airport and recently, Boracay Airport located in the town of Malay.

While it is the 7th busiest airport in the Philippines, it has a very short runway of only 3,116ft in length which makes for very dramatic landings and take-off's. The edge of runway 6 is barely a few feet from a road that requires it to be closed to traffic for every take-off and landing.

The piano keys just feet from the fence

The boom gate that stops traffic when needed

 

Soon I was rewarded with my first plane, a L-410 operated by SEAair. I had never been this close to a plane taking-off before.

SEAair L-410 heading for MNL

I was not prepared with the right lens!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most flights arrive and depart in the morning for Manila and Cebu and soon 2 Dash 8-300 from PAL express arrived and you can see them coming in low over the beach and road.

Minutes later a second Dash 8 came in for landing

Later on the boat, I got another view of the landing this time of the SEAair Dornier 328.

A St. Maarten like experience if you are on the beach

As I said earlier I had planned to fly into Caticlan but my flight was diverted to Kalibo because of an incident. Zest Airways Flight 863, a Xian MA60 with 54 passengers and five crew aboard, overshot the runway when it landed and totally lost its braking capability causing it to overshoot Runway 24. There were no injuries.

The aircraft came to a stop here as seen by the marks on the ground

 The plane lost it's nose gear. While waiting for repair it ended up resting on a baggage trolley.

The terminal building is small and can get congested during peak times.

Security checks takes place at the tent

Some airlines use buildings across the street as waiting lounges

Small and busy check-in

Busy apron with flights to Manila and Cebu

Hope to return soon to Boracay and get to experience this small airport again!

 

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas everyone. Have a wonderful time and happy travels!