So, where to start... Took some time to sort the wifi out so there is a bit to cover.. Might break it down into a couple of posts to make it seem less arduous to read... Or write... Or something. We will see how long I am awake for. Mildly distracted cause there is new Family Guy on.
It's now Friday, apparently. On Tuesday morning we boarded a Malaysia Airlines flight.. That has not ended well for everyone, but I am still writing this so it can't have been THAT bad... Granted I haven't flow Malaysian before but I had expected it to be pretty reasonable. We started off well enough by putting on the schmooze with the girl at check-in... That got us 'Frequent Flyer' status on our ticketing and exit row seats for the first leg. Solid start, and a big bonus for me who does not fit into plane seats well at the best if times. Our bags came in at smack on the weight limit which was also nice. Then things went kind of downhill for a bit...
As we got on the plane we consoled ourselves by deciding to pretend it was the special 'retro' aircraft that we must have accidentally booked a special flight on... The 'character' worn fittings... The classic style aged seating... Couldn't complain about the leg room though. Did complain about the fold out entertainment screen which was considerably worse than watching a movie on a smartphone. And the super average food. And the supposed wine, which was so bad that we wouldn't even drink it for free. And various other things. But hey, get what you pay for. And given out pilot introduced himself over the speakers as Abu Osama, we were just happy to be flying.
By the time we got to Malaysia after a good bunch of hours (10?) we realised the staff were pretty much phoning it in... Perhaps not a time of high morale given they have recently laid of 6000 staff. The layover in KL was a bit over three hours and we spent much time being confused by the airport in general, which was full of expensive designer stores and bad food, and very little else. I was mostly disappointed the 'jungle area' was apparently closed for some reason. We questioned our chances of another exit row with the lady at the transfer desk but she waved us off with a "Plane full", which seemed odd given we were boarding an a380, the world's largest passenger plane, and the last flight on Malaysia Vintage had been about one third full.. But lo and behold, she was right, the onward flight to London was packed.
My first flight on a 380 was not all that bad though, all things considered (although I do wish I had never seen First Class to compare it with). At least it was fairly new, the entertainment unit was not based on a Sega Master System, the seats worked and were as comfy as cattle class probably can be. I did unfortunately have another grown male sitting next to me so obviously neither of us quite had enough space, and we were also less than delighted to find the same terrible movies and entertainment options from the shoddy entertainment system on flight one were carried over to the good entertainment system on flight two... Not so much a big deal until your are stuck sitting there for over 24 hours. We once again lamented paying less for tickets, but the flight is only what you have to endure to enjoy the rest of trip, and to me the money is always better spent when you get there. Given it was the 'night' half of our journey we hoped to sleep through, but sleep was fitful for me, only mildly better for my companion.
After a very long time we landed in London, and I was, as always, eyes wide open arriving at a new airport. Despite the horror stories Heathrow was quick and easy and efficient (apparently this Never happens) and we were out with our particularly squished looking bags in record time. My guide had us on the express train to the city in no time at all, and suddenly we were standing under real English sunshine and I had one of those moments where you realise you are completely unnaturally on the other side of the planet from where you started, having sat in an aluminium tube that hurtled through the sky at 900km an hour, 12km above the Earth for an entire day. I am not sure if you ever thought about that, but... Wow. Really.
You may assume that we were ready for a good sleep by then but no, we got in to London at about 7am local time, and there was a full day to make the most of from there. I am not, however, going to go any further tonight as I am flagging and not making this sound remotely interesting.... So much more to come shortly. Bless yous, and back later...
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