Asia & Australia - Part 2...KUL-PER-ASP-SYD-BNE with pics

By: Yippekaya - 7th March 2009 at 09:52

This is a Part 2 of my Asia & Australia trip report – the first part is here http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=88780

This is my last full day in Kuala Lumpur and today I went to Kuala Lumpur Menara Tower.
This communications tower is the 5th tallest in the world at 421 m (1,381 ft) and was a 20 minute walk along the chaotic streets of KL. If you are ever in KL, take care when crossing streets as most drivers ignore traffic lights. Entry was RM38 (£7.50) which gained you access to the oberservation platform as well as entry to the Winter Gardens and a small zoo. The lift took 50 seconds to get to the platform and it was ear-popping experience.

04/03/09
Malaysia Airlines MH125
KUL (Kuala Lumpur) - PER (Perth)
B777-200ER 9M-MRP Delivered 23/11/04 Gate C32
Seat 37A
Scheduled departure 0940 GMT+8 / Actual departure 1006 GMT+8 / Take off 1011 GMT+8
Scheduled Arrival 1600 GMT+9 / Actual Arrival 1644 GMT+9

Got up at 5am, checked out of hotel, jumped in a taxi and went to KL Sentral train station. The journey took 20 mins whereas it took an hour when I arrived due to missing the rush hour. Got the KLIA Ekspres train back to the airport for RM35 (£7) – this left me with only RM3 (60p) of Malaysian money, which was a close shave in a country where not all ATMs are open 24hrs a day.
After check-in, I went to the Viewing Area which is quite a large area overlooking the apron. I took this photo here, which shows the monorail going to the satellite terminal with the cargo terminal in the background.

All the other photos I took were useless because of the reflection from the glass. After security, I got a couple more pics

9M-MRP just before I boarded it

There is a second baggage and security check before you can proceed to the waiting lounge at the gate and as with my previous Malaysia Airlines flight, your boarding card and passport are checked well before it’s time to board.
The aircraft was in 2-5-2 config with load factor about 60%. The leg room was even more than my previous flight with them and is the best I’ve ever had in economy and the aircraft interior was in such good condition, it could well have been brand new.

The flight was delayed due to the offloading of 3 passenger’s luggage who had not turned up. The cabin crew came round with cold towels (hot on last Malaysia Airlines flight), then served fruit juice which I went for the guava juice again – it was definitely guava as I checked with the cabin crew!
The AVOD was top class with plenty of choice, although the iXPLOR moving map was configured incorrectly, so it always said we were 0km from origin airport with no ETA.

Lunch was a choice of either “cheese omelette and chicken sausage” or “nasi lemak-chicken rendang and prawns sambal with rice”. I went for the latter as it sounded....different. It came with a croissant, fruit, orange juice, a nutty sponge and a container of what appeared to be peanuts and small twigs that tasted of fish...I’ve since discovered they are deep fried anchovies called ikan bilis. The meal was ok, but probably wouldn’t be my first choice next time.

The flight never managed to make up the lost time and landed 45 mins late. Australian immigration went smoothly, although the immigration officer was amazed at my itinerary.

I went to get the shuttle bus to my hotel but was told it would be an hour before it would depart as they were waiting for another flight, so I went for a taxi which cost $45 as opposed to $20 on the bus.
I’m just overnighting in Perth at the Travelodge before my next flight. From what I saw of it, Perth city looked quite nice and the Travelodge was better than the UK ones, although the wireless internet cost $11.95/hour or $19.95/24 hours – I went for the latter.

05/03/09
Qantaslink (operated by National Jet Systems) QF1938
PER (Perth) – ASP (Alice Springs)
B717 VH-NXL Delivered 28/09/01 Gate 8
Seat 12A
Scheduled departure 1325 GMT+9 / Actual departure 1326 GMT+9 / Take off 1332 GMT+9
Scheduled Arrival 1635 GMT+9½ / Actual Arrival 1625 GMT+9½

Checked in online for this flight so that I could get a good seat, then at the airport went to the self-service machine to get my boarding card, which turns out to be a piece of paper like they type of paper a tesco receipt is printed on. Dropped my baggage off then went through security to the domestic gates. At no point was I asked for photo ID, which I found surprising.

There are 8 gates and you get a really good view of the apron and runway, although I did not have my telephoto zoom with me, so runway pics were out of the question.

This is my first time on a B717 and to be honest I had never heard of this type of aircraft until I booked it. The B717 was originally marketed as the MD-95 (a shortened version of the MD-80) before McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing. Qantas got their initial 717s via their buyout of Impulse Airlines with a total of 156 aircraft being produced.

The plane is in a 2-3 config and has 114 seats, with the load factor being about 60%. The flight is sold as Perth to Darwin via Alice Springs with any passengers continuing to Darwin having to disembark for 25 mins at Alice Springs.

The legroom again was really good, I am too used to Thomas Cook charters, so the extra legroom was a luxury to me.

Soft drinks were served with a packet of pretzels with alcoholic drinks available at a charge. Shortly after that lunch was served – I wasn’t aware that they served lunch on this flight, so it was a bonus. Lunch was Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad with Lemon dressing, hot roll with butter & jam, cheese & biscuits, a snack size Dairy Milk and a small bottle of water. The salad was a good combination and not too heavy, just enough for lunch.

Not very much happening outside on this flight

Alice Springs airport is quite small, looks like they can only handle one jet at a time, but it also is a large base for the Royal Flying Doctors Service. There is no taxiway along the runway, so the aircraft had to backtrack along the runway to get to the terminal. There are no air bridges so you have to walk from the aircraft to the terminal, on the way you are attacked by flies which go into your mouth, ears and nose, but luckily they do not bite or sting.
The temperature in Alice was hotter than Malaysia, but much less humid which made it more bearable.

Got the courtesy bus to the hotel, the Desert Palms Resort, with the flies still buzzing around my head on the bus. A word of warning – if anyone is coming to this area or going to Uluru, buy/bring a head fly net with you.
I went into the town then into a pub – www.bossaloon.com.au which was full of backpackers and got a takeaway Kangaroo Special pizza on the way back.
The wireless internet cost $6/hour which you have to pay at reception to get the login details, although I only paid my $6, the connection had no time limit.

Continued...