Penang International Airport in February 2011

Captured from inside an aircraft

Currently under major construction . Noisy, messy.. name it. 

There's lotsa food outlet:

• Kenny Rogers Roaster at Arrival Hall (with free wifi - a fast one, nice and cozy setting)
• Pinang Kopi tiam - just outside the airport. Menu like mamak shop menu when je
• McDonald at Departure Hall - also has free wifi
• Coffee Bean, opposite of McDonald, just beside departure gate
• Dairy Farm(?) -- the one that sells sweet corn in cup, ice kimo and assorted waffle
• Famous Amos - also at Departure Hall
• I think there's something like food court at Arrival Hall (actually they've quite a number of food outlet at Arrival hall as well - I can't recall, there's nothing significant, I think)
• there's a lot more 

All these outlets are outside at the hall - which is quite congested. Once you go inside, there's not much

Free wifi available all around the airport by CAMYD. I tried to get in via my mobile, not so friendly from mobile I guess. I didn't try to get in using laptop coz I decided to use the one at Kenny Rogers. The departure hall was pretty busy this evening (23 Feb 2011). 

Inside the domestic departure where all the gates are located seems pretty narrow. Unfortunately I couldn't capture the moment - it was too crowded. They've many stalls left and right.

Surau - it was at Arrival hall, behind Kenny Rogers. There's telekung available inside the surau with ablution facilities. The washroom would be kind of on the way to the surau. Another small surau would be inside the departure hall/gates? All the way at the end, near Gate 12&13.

MAS

I've been traveling lots in the month of October. Planned travel was only for Labuan and Tawau but due to urgent issues, I have to add in Kuantan and Penang in the schedule.

During flight to Labuan, Tawau, and Kota Kinabalu (transit KK since there is no direct flight to Tawau from Labuan or vice versa), MAS has been playing Rabbani's tune "pergi tak kembali". Week after that, on return flight from Kuantan, the same tune was played. I thought "wow, was MAS commemorating almarhum Ustaz Asri by playing his famous song?".

Today (actually 2oth Oct), on return flight from Penang, it was classical Indian tune. Now I got it. The Rabbani's tune must be in connection with Raya but the choice of that song "pergi tak kembali" was probably coincidental with Ustaz Asri's demise. Since it was still Deepavali celebration, they played indian's tune now. I'll have to remember to check out the tunes when I fly to Bintulu & Miri next month... what festival would it be..

The Airport Mess

There were 2 theories I heard - about the problems with flight delays at KLIA, or for that matters, International airport.

One was - due to typhoon. Because of that, the connecting flight needs to be rescheduled, and thus cause the delay. Another theory was because MAS wants to save some costs by maximizing on the plane usage. Don't know which is true or if neither was true.

Ever since I took on this new job a little over a year ago, I've been traveling around Malaysia, on MAS at least once, every month. Almost all of the international airports in Malaysia - Johor, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and finally, Penang - I've gone through, on a domestic flight.

Last week was the first time that I had flight delay on both ways. Destination was Penang. The budget airport taxi driver told me that there was once he had work inside the airport to ward off the "ulat" attack and most of the time, he saw that flight to and from Penang was frequently delayed. Of course, I wasn't paying much attention then. But true enough, I was scheduled to fly off at 0910am and without warning or announcement, I found out at the boarding gate that it has been delayed to 1040am and the gate has changed. No reason given. There is another flight to Penang at 1045am - imagine that! I met an acquaintance in front of the new gate - that's how I know.

I booked my return flight on the next day at 08:40pm but with the intention of catching the earlier flight if we (my colleague and I) can finish our work early. We made it, got onto the 5:25pm flight which was a little bit late, probably due to some high level Indonesian guests - there were special welcoming committee it seems at the departure/arrival gate. We only get to board the plane at 5:25pm. I was happy to be able to get home early, the flight was full and I was lucky to be fast enough to get in - there were only 5 seats left according to officer at the check-in counter. My friend, whose ticket was class W due to the mistake made by the incompetent girl at the travel agent had to pay a fee of RM100 to change to earlier flight. So we board the plane, the plane reverse and getting ready to move on and then, nothing happen. Then, we heard the announcement from the pilot that the plane could not take off and right now is being pulled back to the base due to one engine could not start up. Alhamdulillah, it happen while we're still on the ground. After spending about 10 minutes inside the aircond-less airplane, the pilot asked us to leave the plance and take our valuable belongings.

I got down, wait at the rows of chairs in front of the departure gate. There were no instruction whatsoever given to me on what's next. No announcement - I was watching for it. So, I just sat and wait. Then I saw people started to swarm the counter at the gate - thinking that these are people who wants to get on transfer, I just ignore. After about half an hour and no further news, I join the crowd and the line and found out that one of the line is the queue for a meal coupon. That's bad news, that means its gonna be longer before we can get on the plane. I asked the counter lady on what plane are we supposed to take. She just told me to come back by 8pm. I think they must want to put us on the 8:40pm flight. Back to the original plan but with my colleague wasting RM100 of company's money - technical error is not covered, no refund!

We were given a meal coupon to be used at Coffee Bean outside the departure gate. Found out later at Coffee Bean that its only worth RM23. RM23 at Coffee Bean - not much of a meal that you can get. Enough to cover one coffee and a muffin, a cake would make it more than RM23. They don't have the set meal deal. Anyway, coming back to the real issue - I went back to the counter before 8pm and was re-assigned to the 8:40pm flight. The seat number was just scribbled onto my boarding pass. Went to the new counter and waited. Again, I didn't hear any announcement about boarding in the plane, but there were huge commotion at the gate. You couldn't really determine which line you're supposed to take to board the plane. There were these 2 guys from the same flight I was in just now, scolding the staffs about how they were not told anything at the previous counter and were just asked to go to this gate that we're at and then, only to be told that they could not get on that flight because it was already full. And he goes on and on while I just second guess on the realy line that I had to follow to get on the plane.

Once I get through the line and into the plane, I heard another not so nice thing. Somebody had her seat taken. Double seating. And one of the boarding pass is holding a seat number scribbled in pen. I was getting worried for a moment. Oh no, please don't let that happen to me too - I want to go home. Alhamdulillah, it didn't happen to me but to another guy who were on the same row with me - tough luck! So, there's 2 cases of double seating that I heard off. The plane then, could not take off on time - another 20 minutes delay because of this "unforeseen" circumstances. Oh wow, what a fiasco going in and coming out from Penang. This is the first in the one year that I had started traveling with MAS on domestic flight. I had experienced similar delay with international flight, thought that domestic is much more organized from this one year experience.

Anyway, I finally got home about 11pm. The budget airport taxi driver whom I had booked to pick me up at home (rather he booked himself and I let him be) had to reschedule his trip to KLIA twice because of the delay but he still have to wait for me because he has already registered in the system that he'll pick me up and has already been charged RM6 because of that booking. Its an automatic thing according to him. Well, it was a loong long day for me and I was dead tired when I reach home. I heard from my other colleague that it seems MAS has been having this flight delay thing for the last 2 weeks. And I learn that the daily 6:40pm flight Penang-KLIA that was published had never happened - it was probably gimmick and the passenger had to re-arrange either go into the 5:25p flight or the 7:30pm flight. Why bother putting it on schedule? Things people do for business....
You guys know how to conclude the story ...:)

Sunset at Sandakan ... from Sabah Hotel

1st trip to Sandakan... nothing much to see from just from a one day one night working trip but the chances to snap few breathtaking sceneries from the hotel's window is not something to be missed...

I tried to capture the bird from my telephoto ... the distance makes it look like a blotted thing in the sky...

Behind the tree ... as the sun set, different type of panorama can be seen.... maybe because it was closer...

A little bit deviation from the topic... the village set up near the work area...

Deoksugung Palace

After a long walk from Namdaemun Market, we finally reached Deok Su Gung Palace. It is near City Hall in Seoul. There is an admission fee of 1000KRW for adult between 19-64.



The main gate of Deoksugung Palace is called Dae-han-mun. We took group picture over here, in front of the gate where we bought the ticket. Then, we took a walk towards the main hall of the palace, called Jung-hwa-jeon
We can only see from the outside door the inside of the palace. Not allowed to go inside. The woodwork inside and outside was beautiful - totally different from what we have in Malaysia, definitely.

All we did in this area was walk and take pictures...and we were lucky enough on the way out as we got to see the hand over ceremony. It was really interesting...

Food In Korea

Winter is cold, really cold, well maybe not as cold as Wisconsin when I lived there once upon a time, but it is still cold that "smoke" comes out from your mouth as you slowly blow soft breezes in the wind:-)


My impression on Korean food was dumbfounded after all! The taste was not just acceptable, but there were good. Of course cabbage Kimchi is still a little too much soury and hot for me.

Here's Rice"Bi-Bim Bak" - it's all vegetables+egg

Once we've mixed all the vege with rice - taste quite good. Rice is definitely glutinous-ly like

I need to go back to sleep -- will update more. We had very good dinner at Korean restaurant today. - signing out from SIVAT Dormitory, Incheon Korea - trying to decipher all the Korean characters on my screen ....

Going to Korea

OMG ... getting a little bit more disorganized. Excited to go and learn but sad that I had to leave the family behind. With sooo many things to get ready and not much being done, I am getting more worried - what if I leave something important behind? Do I really need to go out and shop them gloves? Windbreaker - should I bring or the old winter coat (Azlin's) is good enough? How many packs of instant noodle should I bring? Maybe I could stomach down the food served..

I'm going to Korea! Inchon to be exact. In deep winter.... pray that I will achieve my goals there and bring back a success program and group to the country ... a more competent/experienced Industrial Hygienists? One thing for sure I'm richer with thousands of Korean Won:-) good if its thousands of ringgit of course!

1st Trip to Kota Kinabalu

ps: the picture arrangement didn't turn out the way I want it to be...haven't master this blog's layout yet...

My new work in another company has gotten on the move, almost every month. I guess I will be seeing more Malaysia now than I ever was. Probably this'll give me more ideas on where to bring the family for next vacation

KK is the 3rd site on my schedule that I had to visit and do the health risk assessment. I do not know what to expect but I do look forward to the trip , more because I will be meeting my long-time-never-see friend, Patricia G. Plus, Sapangar Bay (the site I was supposed to go to) was made known to me as a beautiful place to see. Of course, there's another goal that I have to achieve this year to be counted in my deliverables for this year.

The plane ride to KK from KLIA took about 2hrs and 40 mins. I get my preference seat on the front wing at window - that allows me to start snapping. I love watching the clouds. They're soo white and pure. And with polarizing filter, the shots captured looks so much better.

When we reached KK, the scenery gets much better and the sky are bluer than you'd ever seen on the city of Kuala Lumpur. The town is actually build along the sea side. I managed to capture few shots before the stewardess came and stop me "No electronic should be turned on". This is something that I dont really understand - camera do not have any transmitting device, why the restriction on camera?

I stayed at Le Meridien, KK. It is right in the heart of the city, with fruits and craft markets across the street. We can see the harbor from the hotel. They put me in the room at city view but from the window, I could actually see the see. The hotel wasn't that great but the room is definitely nice. Food - so-so. I had to dine in the hotel mainly because I was too tired to be advanterous and eat out but also more for convenient. Since I'm traveling on actual, what the heck, bantai je la kat hotel. Internet connection is complimentary but, a big BUT here... it surely can discourage you from using it. VERY SLOW.

Took another picture from the room - looking further in the sea .. it's actually near the fisherman's pier. But behind the restaurant, the view are breathtaking. Unfortunately, I only discover this on the last day of my stay there, well, I only stayed there for 2 nights only.




The Phillipines Market
I took the first trip to the market on my first night there. Heard that it closed at 6pm but when we (a colleague and I) reached the hotel from Sapangar about 6:30pm, some shops are still opened. So, we went there just to look around first and survey the bargains and prices. On the second night, I went there with a goal in mind - need to get some cheap pearl bracelets and brooches for the children - price, less than RM30 for the bracelet. I did accomplished that. Actually bought 4 pieces for RM90. They're all fresh water pearl. The girl in the shop demonstrated to me on how if you try to scratch the pearl with scissors, no colors will come out but with plastic, many things will come out. Ok, that's indication enough. After that - we went to the local produce next door and bought ikan bilis (anchovies). Those are pretty cheap - 1kg of ikan bilis, good one, for about RM15. The dried prawn is also quite cheap.


Phillipino or Craft Market next to local produced market

I also got myself some terubuk masin sarawak. Apparently, there are Terubuk Sabah and also Terubuk Sarawak. Terubuk Sarawak supposed to be nicer, less salty, all the stuffs inside the fish had already been removed. But Terubuk Sabah did not removed anything and the stuffs inside the fish now becomes salt and makes the fish more salty than Sarawak ones. The picture on the left is Terubuk Sarawak and the right one is Sabah's

To Sapangar Bay
The ride to Sapangar Bay was quite long, about 35-45 minutes from KK, depending on the traffic. We left early, at about 7:30am so, it was ok. We got there in a little bit over half an hour. The scenery going there was calm and soothing to the eyes. I would not say breathtaking but it did make you feel a little bit "wow" with Allah's creation.
From now on... I would make short pictorial description of what I see on the road to Sapangar Bay. I managed to actually take pictures while the taxi was moving on my last morning there.

Menara Tun Mustapha from far

Here it is once we arrived - about 10 minutes later

Another view is the mosque. From far it looked like the mosque is on the left side of the road, really next the beach, but it was really quite a distance and on the right side of the road, a distance away from the beach. Amazing. It must have been curvy road

One thing that really amazed me was a flat that we passed by, closer to Sapangar Bay. The water tank is blue and all are outside the house. My best bet is that they're at the back. I had never seen such sight in Semenanjung yet. I dont know if this is the new way of putting in water tank. My good old DBKL flat has small water tank inside the house. I know some apartment's water tank is on the roof somewhere, but never have I seen anything so visible as this.

The days had been really wet in the evening, I didn't get a chance to get a glimpse of the summit of Mount Kinabalu. There was a place near Sapangar Bay that we can really see a nice view of the summit, however, when I was there, it was all clouds. So, no luck. But finally, when we reached the airport at 5:30pm, we can see the summit from there. Not a clear one, but still ..better than nothing. Here's pictures of the summit from the new airport. Overall, this is one good trip. I would definitely want to come back with the troops someday...




Oh! I forgot to mention, I met my long-time-never-seen friend in KK - Patricia and her 9 yrs old daughter. The last we met was while I was still studying Chemistry in Madison 16 or 17 years ago. How time flies. But she didn't really changed much. Still the same look, same smiles, maybe her face has a little bit more flesh than before but still as beautiful as ever.