Highlights:
Saturday, September 30, Kuala Lumpur
An exhausting (well, at least for a 72yo) trip to KL via Singapore from the Gold Coast yesterday....
To start, a pre-dawn wake-up to get to Coolangatta airport in time for the "two hours before departure" requirement of the airline.
(left): No air-bridges at Coolangatta airport - Dave and Frankie walking across the tarmac to our flight.
It was a long, long day, but we're here now, safely installed in our 30th floor apartment in central Kuala Lumpur, adjacent to KL Tower.
Some moments from the flight:
Watching 4yo granddaughter Frankie make herself at home in the Scoot Airlines Dreamliner, by building a cubby house around her seat (right). The traveller in the adjoining seat was fine with this, but, I fear the passenger seated behind wasn't too impressed. But hey, anything to keep a little girl amused during a seven hour flight.
The cramped confines of the cattle-class cabin made things a little tough, not only for Frankie, but other passengers coping with inconsiderate travellers who reclined their seats from the get-go, and never brought them upright again until told to do so by a flight attendant for landing.
(left): One passenger struggled to get enough room on the pull-down tray to fill out her Singapore arrival form, because the woman in front of her had her seat reclined the whole way for the whole trip.
A four hour plus wait between flights at Singapore's Changi airport passed quickly. From a previous trip, Jenny and Ashley knew of a swimming pool accessible to transit passengers, on the top of Terminal 1. For a small fee, they all had a dip (right).
Despite our regular visits to KL, the city still surprised me last night. KL is Boom City, big time. Cranes tower over so much development here - each visit with see big new projects either completed or well under way. I hardly recognised the place until we neared the centre of town, when familiar sights reminded me where we were.
The transfer from KLIA2 to the city was interminable - the drive, which normally takes just under an hour, went for nearly two, while the driver's radio station was not music to our ears. A request to lower the volume a little seemed too much for his limited language skills. Ash had the worst of that - his head was too close to one of the speakers, but he was stoic about it (more than I would have been). Plus. there were traffic delays caused by roadworks on the motorway, and big crowds as we neared the city. It seemed the city was in party mode for this weekend's Formula 1 race at Sepang, near the airport, and the World Base Jumping titles from Menara KL. That's right, official, legal, base jumping.
We knew both these events would be on when we booked our trip, as we'd first seen the base jumping here 13 years ago when Dave was working here, and then again on a trip three years ago ago, which by chance coincided with the dare devils plunging off the communications towers on a hill in the centre of town.
I still think they're crazy.
We have several good vantage spots for watching them - not only is the hotel's swimming pool almost directly under KL Tower, but our apartment at the Oasia Suites can see the jumpers from almost every room, including the ensuite bathroom.
That bathroom, by the way, is not only big, but entirely surrounded by glass on the outside wall, although it does offer the choice of more private showering with optional blinds.
At one point we dragged plastic chairs into the shower area, and all sat watching the base jumping (left).
Frankie reckons one of the parachutists waved to her!