Weekend Laze in Langkawi by AK/TR

[ycp81]

This would be a mainly pictorial report on our recent long weekend trip to the nearby resort island of Langkawi, which I had never visited before. Flight up would be on AirAsia while return on Tigerair for the best timings and fares.

Boarding passes were self-printed prior and we approached one of the many AirAsia check-in counters at Terminal One for document verification an hour before departure.




Some plane-spotting, but mainly only Jetstars and AirAsias.






Rather long queue for security as flight was totally full with long weekend holiday makers.




04 October 2014
Air Asia
AK 733
Singapore (SIN) - Langkawi (LGK)
A320
9M-AJK
Budget Class


A rather new A320 with sharklets (my first ride on a sharklets-fitted Airbus) would be operating the flight.




Reached our seats near the rear at 25E/F. View out the window.




Aircraft cabin and seats were brand new but legroom tight as always.




Seat pocket contents.




Boarding was rather efficient for the totally full flight, with crew proactively assisting passengers with their bags. Rather good service by the AK crew!




Pushed back slightly late and started taxi to runway for our 1h15m flight. The weather gradually got worse while taxiing to Rwy02C. Combined with heavy traffic, it was quite a lengthy trek to the runway.

[ycp81]

Visibility was really low with the heavy downpour.




And then we go, hurtling down Rwy02C in heavy downpour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tc2...rW0dYXoZc9I2ZA


Weather smoothened out shortly after takeoff.






First up, pre-ordered meals and drinks were delivered from the front of the cabin by the crew.




Where we received the following items to be shared among both of us. Well, I had some Air Asia credits to use up, thus "splurged" all on the meals, which were actually of rather decent prices compared to our Singapore-based LCCs.




Mee Goreng Mamak was very tasty as usual, my current favourite AK onboard meal!




Uncle Chin's Chicken Rice. Also not a bad choice, especially the chilli sauce which tasted totally authentic.




Nasi Tomato with Ayam Percik. A new dish onboard AK flights. Was alright but slightly bland.




Dessert of a delicious pineapple tart and a KitKat chocolate bar. We also had 4 cups of water along with the meals.




Crew conducting sales of BOB, with rather good business from the passengers. Well, smells of our delicious meals definitely prompted fellow passengers to order similar ones as well but unfortunately these were only available for pre-orders due to the short flight time and limited stock.




Rest of the flight was spent just entertaining myself with the views outside.

[ycp81]

Descending into Langkawi, the weather did not seemed too good.






Aargh, the rain followed us to Langkawi! Landed in a very wet and gloomy Langkawi Airport Rwy03.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVXU...rW0dYXoZc9I2ZA


Parked at the stand, with Firefly beside us, Malindo and MH in the distance.




Firefly passengers being handed umbrellas during disembarking.




Waiting to disembark.




However an announcement was made that due to safety reasons (not sure why), only the rear door would be used to disembarkation. Being seated near the rear, we ended up as the first ones off the plane!

View of the brand new leather seats during disembarkation.




Umbrellas were also handed our to us at the foot of the stairs.









Short walk to the terminal in the rain.

[ycp81]

Different coloured umbrellas for the different airlines' passengers. Interesting sight!




It was certainly a short and decently comfortable flight on Air Asia, with good service and delicious pre-ordered meals.


We stayed at the Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort, which was only a 10min overpriced (for Malaysia standards) taxi ride away. Well, prices in the holiday island of Langkawi are definitely not cheap (other then cigerattes, alcohol, chocolates and cars, which are all duty-exempted). Rooms were huge and nicely furnished, and resort grounds were beautiful and well-kept.














Beach area in resort grounds, with airplanes landing into Langkawi airport in the distance.






Along Pantai Cenang beach during sunset.






Main street along Pantai Cenang. Reminds me a bit of Bali.

[ycp81]

We booked a half-day mangrove tour on the second day. However, it remained cloudy and drizzly almost the entire day.

Boarding area for our tour boat.




Down the mangrove river!




Many yachts were parked along the river, due to the low parking fees.




Visited a fish farm, with the guide hand-feeding a stingray!






Through the narrow gulleys, the "Grand Canyons" of Malaysia, joked the guide.




Eagle-feeding




Some nice scenery.




At another fish farm, where we had lunch.






Lots of monkeys rushed to the edge of the river as we passed by, anticipating to be fed.




Almost seemed like touring the Amazon jungle!

[ycp81]

Some of the food we had. Dinner on first night at a small Chinese restaurant. Prices were reasonable but definitely not the cheapest compared to other Malaysian towns or cities.




Second evening's dinner at another constantly packed seafood restaurant. Food was slightly more expensive but also slightly better tasting.






And Secret Recipe cakes for dessert, at half the price of Singapore's outlets!




On the last day, the sun was finally out. Rushed to the beach after breakfast to have a tan prior to checking out at noon.






After checking out and grabbing a foot massage in town, we left for the airport (another RM20 for a 10min taxi ride), reaching the terminal about 1h45m prior to departure. The terminal totally reminded me of Kota Kinabalu Terminal 2 which Air Asia uses. Almost similar in interior! We checked in at Tiger's desks, with surprisingly short queue even though the flight was almost full.






After grabbing some bites, we headed through immigration and security to the departure gate. The International departures area was segregated from domestic departure by a glass barrier. It reminded me of the old LCCT terminal in KL.




The sole shop/café in the departure area where I bought a bottle of water (RM2 a bottle) for the flight to avoid the absurd cost of water (S$4 = RM10 a bottle) onboard the flight. There was also a tiny Plaza Premium Lounge, but was totally empty. Guess mainly only used by Silkair's premium pax since there are hardly other international full-service carriers to LGK.




Watching Air Asia arriving from KUL.




Soon, our Tiger also landed from Singapore.

[ycp81]

06 October 2014
Tigerair
TR 2477
Langkawi (LGK) - Singapore (SIN)
A320
9V-TAE
Budget Class


Tiger's oldest A320 in old "Tiger Airways" colours, 9V-TAE, arrived on stand.




After a quick turnaround, boarding was called and with our "Board-me-first" privilege with my NTUC member card during booking, we get to board ahead of the rest. Walked out onto the tarmac towards our plane.




AK's 100th aircraft was parked beside.




Boarding the Tiger.






We were both allocated Emex aisle seats on with lots of legroom! Unfortunately no recline for the seats but not that I would complain. Also means no videos for this sector.




Across the aisle.




Seat pocket items.




Departed on time for a 1h20m flight to Singapore. BOB service was conducted and there were surprisingly quite a number of sales made, considering the high prices of the items onboard. However we did not purchase anything. Service was rather good, largely contributed by the purser whom we subsequently confirmed was an ex-SQ girl, with her undeniably SQ-ish way of interacting with passengers and making cabin announcements.




View of the cabin. Even though this is TR's oldest plane, it was still kept pretty clean.




Landed on schedule and disembarked.




It was a very hazy scene back at Changi. In fact, that day had the worst bout of haze for the year, with air quality in the Unhealthy range.




Overall, a routine short, comfortable and on-time flight on Tigerair.

Thanks for reading this short report, with any comments welcomed.