Weekend breaks to Kuching and Penang (MH, 3K, AK)

[flying.monkeyz]

It's known as Paku. A type of wild fern found in Sarawak.

[calvinoeh]

It's known as Paku. A type of wild fern found in Sarawak.

Sorry... That's midin.. another type of wild fern. Both are equally yummt..

[flying.monkeyz]

My bad. I always get the two mixed up.

[ycp81]

As promised, another short trip over the last weekend, this time to Penang with my partner for an even more gastronomical experience! The flight up on Jetstar was partially paid for using my Qantas miles while the return flight on AirAsia was a mere RM99 one-way!

I checked-in online earlier for both of us and selected seats for free. Kudos for Jetstar for allowing free online seat selection during check-in, unlike AirAsia where we were allocated seats a row apart during online check-in and had to pay RM6 per person to be seated together. Boo, AirAsia! I suspect this is a conspiracy of AirAsia to force you to pay and pre-select seats. Next time, maybe I would just check-in at the AirAsia manual counters and request to be seated together.

My Jetstar boarding pass.




Courtesy of our Priority Pass and Maybank Horizon Platinum credit cards, we went to The Green Market at T2 to grab a light dinner. The cards allowed us a set-dinner each. For information, Maybank would be discontinuing complimentary set meals at The Green Market effective from 01 July 2013. The set meal consists of the following:


Soups and appetizers from the appetizer buffet, hot green tea and a cold drink.




Chawanmushi and salmon sashimi




Cod fish and garlic rice. Fresh fruits are also available to end the meal.




After the quick dinner, we back to T1 gate D38 for the flight. The gate was a bit of a trek and boarding has just started when we reached the gate. The flight appeared to be rather full this evening.





06 June 2013
Jetstar Asia
3K 677
Singapore (SIN) - Penang (PEN)
A320
9V-JSE
Economy Class


Boarding the plane immediately but there was still a queue in the aerobridge. No photos of the plane as there were no decent views of the aircraft.




Welcomed aboard by the friendly crew-in-charge and proceeded down the aisle. The cabin of this 8 years old airbus looked yellowish and old, but was kept clean. Rest of the crew along the aisle were proactively guiding passengers to seats and assisting in storing of cabin bags (much more proactive than SQ I would say). Everyone seemed to be utilizing the 10kg cabin baggage limit on this flight! I was extremely impressed with the Jetstar crew managing to find space in the overhead bins for everyone! Guess they must already be experts in doing this.




Crew assisting with storing of cabin bags during boarding.




Wing view.




Seat pitch at row 25 was, in one word, pathetic! However, I heard that Jetstar's newer A320s have better seat pitch as the seats are slimmer.




All the magazines in the seat pocket.




Doors were closed on time and flight time was announced to be about 1hr. Pushback and safety demonstration was performed by the crew.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0mq0ZrqkE8


We had a rather long taxi to Rwy02C, but it was cut short as we turned onto the runway at around the 3/4 mark and took off immediately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPY35YK40fQ


After seatbelt signs were switched off, crew first came down and deliver pre-ordered sandwiches and drinks, followed by the buy-on-board snack service. Not too many takers for this though. Crew were all smiles and remained professional throughout the flight.

[ycp81]

After the snacks cart as rolled down, it was followed by the duty-free sales cart. Again, not many takers.




View of the cabin.




Very soon, we started our descend into Penang and landed on Rwy04 10min ahead of schedule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8IXqL1wZbY


Penang International Airport has undergone a massive upgrading project, and the exterior of the terminal as well as the transit area was totally different from what I had seen last year. Parked at the gate.




Disembarking. Look at the very cramped seats.




Only a short queue at immigration and we were soon across. At the arrival baggage claims area.




Overall, other than the cramped seating (luckily we had an empty seat in between us), it was a pleasant short flight on Jetstar.


Took a taxi to our hotel, Sunway Georgetown, which was newly renovated. Rooms are still pretty new from the recent refurbishment.






Best of all, Lorong Bahru (New Lane) hawker stalls are just below!




Some supper before calling it a night!

[ycp81]

During the stay, we made a trip up to Penang hill. It was a rather pricey RM30 per person for foreigners.










Visited the Monkey Cup garden on the hill where there were various species of carnivorous monkey cup plants.








But the main highlight of the trip is still the gastronomic Penang cuisine! Some of the stuff we had included:

Penang Laksa




Ice Kachang




Penang Road Teochew Chendol




Wonderful Kuay Chup along Kimberley St




Braised duck

[ycp81]

Loh Bak




Grassjelly with milk




Ngor Hiang




White curry mee




Steamed chicken




Taiwanese style dessert




Wonton mee




Shrimp dumpling soup




Satay!




Hawker stalls






And a final view of Georgetown before departure.

[UMD]

Thanks for the TR, ycp81! Great reminder of the excellent food in Kuching.

My favourite: (don't even know the name of this veg, but it's absolutely delicious!)

In Medan and most part of Indonesia, it is called Pakis or Paku Pakis. It is indeed delicious. Food pictures on this thread are so yummy that I am drooling just by looking at them.

[ycp81]

For the return, we took a public bus back to the airport. The bus ride was rather cheap and convenient, costing only RM2.70 for the 45min ride to the airport. Penang International Airport has recently finished its upgrading works and the facade looked rather impressive!




However, the check-in area still remained the same before. I had done online check-in earlier prior to the trip almost a week before the flight and as mentioned before, we had to pay RM6 each to be seated next to each other! The computer system had automatically allocated us a middle and aisle seat a row apart even though we were on the same booking and there were plenty of empty seats to choose from. Simply ridiculous! On future AirAsia flights, I guess I would just check-in at the counters and request to be seated together. The online check-in system really put me off using it in the future!

Off to the document check counter to have my self-printed boarding pass stamped and gate marked.




Through immigration and security with negligible queues and we were in the gates area. This area is where most of the renovations took place, and it was now much more airy and spacious and with more shops, though there were not many departures at this time of the day and shops not too interesting.




There is even a Victoria's Secret store! Though I do not know how long it can survive.




With nothing much else to do, we proceeded to the gate, which was already gradually being filled up.




Our flight and the later flight to Medan.




Soon, our plane arrived, which is a 6-mth old A320. Turnaround was rather fast and boarding started soon after the last passenger got off the plane.





08 June 2013
AirAsia
AK 1725
Penang (PEN) - Singapore (SIN)
A320
9M-AQS
Budget Class

Being a "as low cost as possible" carrier, even though the aircraft was parked at a gate with aerobridge, we were still required walk down the stairs to board the aircraft via stairways.




A long queue was forming at the front stairs when a ground staff started to divert pax to the rear stairways which was empty. As we were seated at the aft section, of course we proceeded to the rear. However, other passengers followed us as well and I was quite sure they might not be seated at the aft as the ground staff did not check their boarding passes before allowing them to proceed to the rear.

Walking under the wings.




Boarding now.




The fuselage still looked sparkling clean!




Tailfin as well!

[ycp81]

Was welcomed aboard by a very chirpy crew and realized that her uniform looked different than usual. After Googling, it seemed that AirAsia has introduced "weekend" uniforms for its crew, consisting of a red top with blue jeans. A much more casual look than the "weekdays" red coats and skirts and very much welcomed indeed!

Seats near the rear.




We settled at our seats at 25A/B. As expected, boarding was chaotic as passengers seated in front boarded from the rear while those seated at the rear boarded from the front, and both getting stuck at mid-cabin. AirAsia needed to have better boarding procedures.




Seat pitch was slightly better than on Jetstar. At least my knees had a couple of inches to spare from the seat in front.




Inflight mags, menus, safety card and shopping guide.




Silkair had also arrived and would be flying back to Singapore shortly after us as well.




Soon, 25C was taken up as well. Flight ended up rather full, and only the "hot seats" which require additional charges were left mostly empty. Flight time was again about 1hr and we pushed back.




Safety demo by the crew during taxi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDzlI2BM7E0


Had short taxi and we lined up for takeoff at the 3/4 mark of Rwy04, taking off for the short hop to Singapore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7rz-2Mp2Bo


Across the sea and flying over Butterworth.








It was rather turbulent for the first 15min of the flight and service only started after that. However seatbelt signs remained on for the entire flight due to light turbulence throughout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVqg4uebJww


AirAsia branded leather seats.




Now for the inflight service, and this is where I preferred AirAsia. Among the major budget airlines in the region, AirAsia must be the one which offers the lowest prices for inflight meals, and with a very wide variety as well! Pre-booked meals were only RM9-12 (S$4-5), compared with Tiger or Jetstar which charges more than double. As such, we pre-booked 3 meals to be shared among both of us. The meals were Nasi Lemak, Bukhara Chicken Briyani and Chicken Satay, which were promptly delivered piping hot as soon as the crew were released for service. Each meal also came with a 100ml cup of water.




Bukhara Chicken Briyani, which was spicy and tasty. As good as when I had it the previous time.

[ycp81]

Pak Nasser's Nasi Lemak and Chicken Satay. The Nasi Lemak was great as well and certainly very appetizing.




Who needs to fly SQ or MH Business Class for chicken satays. And it tasted as good as the SQ ones as well, though the presentation is still "budget".




The delicious meals were quickly wiped out while the crew performed the buy-on-board service. Quite a number of takers for drinks as the prices are not too high.




Trash cleared and we settled for the rest of the flight, and soon the plane was already descending into Singapore. The lights of Singapore can be seen in the distance.




We were in a holding pattern for a while before approaching Changi from the south. Nice views of the city skyline could be seen.










Landed on Rwy02L about 5min ahead of schedule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8WzYEZEVXY


Parked at Gate C18, which entails a long trek to immigration.




Waiting to disembark.




Seat pitch at normal rows.




"Hot" seats at emex rows.




Apart from the online check-in fiasco and disorderly boarding, it was still a pleasant flight on AirAsia, with friendly crew and cheap and tasty inflight meals!

This ends my report on trips to Kuching and Penang. Your comments are sincerely welcomed!!

Upcoming trips would be to Bangkok (again!) in late June, KL (again as well!) in late July and Osaka in early August, on a mixture of 3K, FD, AK, FY and MH. Watch out!

[CarbonMan]

Your Penang food pics are absolutely scrumptious! Really tempted to go up for a weekend; but my in-house dietician is giving me the "don't you dare" look.

[yflyer]

What wonderful food you had on this trip! Apart from the local delights, the Air Asia food looks delicious as well...

[9V-JKL]

Following in ycp81's footsteps and booked a trip to KCH with family & friends.

Flights even cheaper. S$180 adults, S$150 kiddos all in on MH. AK wanted 250 no add-ons, MI?
Deluxe rooms at the Pullman for S$100.

[flying.monkeyz]

Following in ycp81's footsteps and booked a trip to KCH with family & friends.

Flights even cheaper. S$180 adults, S$150 kiddos all in on MH. AK wanted 250 no add-ons, MI?
Deluxe rooms at the Pullman for S$100.

Possibly the cheapest Pullman in the world.