KUL vs SIN
Though I have spent a lot of time in transit through Asia, I haven't been to Kuala Lumpur for a very long time. Maybe the last time when I was five years old. There are two international airports here, KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) and LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal). We flew into KLIA on Malaysian Airlines; in a few hours we fly out of LCCT on Air Asia X (that super-budget airline that recently started flying out of Christchurch). We're just now waiting to grab a bus to get across to the next terminal.
I've really liked this experience so far, and in a way prefer it to transit through Singapore. Changi Airport in Singapore is ritzy, sprawling, has a cactus garden, children's playground (my favourite places to visit) and so many zones of things going on whether it be jazz music, or sports TV lounges (with different sports playing on different screens spotted amongst the armchairs). There are usually spectacular spectacles happening (for example, I played a game show there once), and this amps up around festival occasions. I imagine there would be some intense celebratory bonanza for Chinese New Year coming up, at Changi Airport. But looking around this airport, you wouldn't even know it was a couple of weeks away.
KLIA is more sparse, a bit more like Colombo's international airport (so perhaps I enjoy the familiarity) but it's less... dysfunctional. It has all you basically need in terms of 24-hour services: bathrooms, comfortable enough seats (including sets all in a row without armrests, crucial for sleeping in airports, of which I am a huge fan of if the need arises, instead of paying for a hotel!), a convenience store with convenient things at convenient prices, ditto cafe (Asian-style, with sweet, milky coffee in tiny cups served out of a Nescafé machine), and free Wi-Fi. People don't bother you, the place is clean, and although the announcements are sometimes a bit loud and wake you up, I guess that's the point. And I would choose that over missing my connection.
Malaysian Airlines too was pleasantly low-key. It wasn't a no frills airline in the sense of having user-pays services (they served a satisfying amount of food and drinks through the 10 hour flight, and you didn't have to pay extra for things like movies or a pillow) but it was no frills in the sense of... No Frills. No stupid over-the-top packaging of things, or branding, or high-tec useless features... The plane itself was fairly old (and therefore old-fashioned), a Boeing 777-200, and I liked it! I liked that it didn't short-change me, the people were friendly, the flight safety video was hilariously dull and poorly acted, yes. I'd rather pay less for this kind of less.
Right, time to see what LCCT is like.
I've seen so much of our world through airports and airplanes. KLIA has large, grey, rectangular toilet seats.
I've really liked this experience so far, and in a way prefer it to transit through Singapore. Changi Airport in Singapore is ritzy, sprawling, has a cactus garden, children's playground (my favourite places to visit) and so many zones of things going on whether it be jazz music, or sports TV lounges (with different sports playing on different screens spotted amongst the armchairs). There are usually spectacular spectacles happening (for example, I played a game show there once), and this amps up around festival occasions. I imagine there would be some intense celebratory bonanza for Chinese New Year coming up, at Changi Airport. But looking around this airport, you wouldn't even know it was a couple of weeks away.
KLIA is more sparse, a bit more like Colombo's international airport (so perhaps I enjoy the familiarity) but it's less... dysfunctional. It has all you basically need in terms of 24-hour services: bathrooms, comfortable enough seats (including sets all in a row without armrests, crucial for sleeping in airports, of which I am a huge fan of if the need arises, instead of paying for a hotel!), a convenience store with convenient things at convenient prices, ditto cafe (Asian-style, with sweet, milky coffee in tiny cups served out of a Nescafé machine), and free Wi-Fi. People don't bother you, the place is clean, and although the announcements are sometimes a bit loud and wake you up, I guess that's the point. And I would choose that over missing my connection.
Malaysian Airlines too was pleasantly low-key. It wasn't a no frills airline in the sense of having user-pays services (they served a satisfying amount of food and drinks through the 10 hour flight, and you didn't have to pay extra for things like movies or a pillow) but it was no frills in the sense of... No Frills. No stupid over-the-top packaging of things, or branding, or high-tec useless features... The plane itself was fairly old (and therefore old-fashioned), a Boeing 777-200, and I liked it! I liked that it didn't short-change me, the people were friendly, the flight safety video was hilariously dull and poorly acted, yes. I'd rather pay less for this kind of less.
Right, time to see what LCCT is like.
I've seen so much of our world through airports and airplanes. KLIA has large, grey, rectangular toilet seats.