Tuesday 3rd March 2015 – Fly back to KL – start of the trek home.

Today is travelling day, start of the big trek north towards home. Alarm set for 6.45am but we both beat them. We went for breakfast then checked out, both without any issues. We went Circular Quay where the Queen Elizabeth was moored. A lady Sue had spoken to in the hotel last night was joining it this morning. We got tickets for the train to the airport and went upstairs.

Trains run thick and fast at this time of day and there was one in as we arrived in the platform. We jumped on and it wasn’t busy at all. It was a quick ride out to the airport and we found that Air Asia use check in area H, which was a bit of a trek to the other end of the concourse. We got there quick enough and joined the check in queue, as there didn’t a appear to be an area for bag drop.

After a couple of minutes a security guard asked if we had done online check in – when we said we had he asked us to follow him to a ‘quicker queue’. We went round to the other side of the desks and he showed us the bag drop area – the queue was bigger than the check in queue and for 20 minutes didn’t move as two agents were dealing with big parties and the third was taking people who went to the front of the queue with hand luggage only.

It took over 50 minutes to drop our bags off, then we had to join another massive queue for passport control, then once that was done, and even bigger one for security – all in all it took us over an hour and a half to get airside! By which time it was too late to do much but go to the gate – there is an Amex lounge but we will never know if we would have got in. The gate is 54, which was a good trek again.

At the gate there was free wi-fi. Our plane is an Air Asia Airbus A330-300 and was sat at the gate – I had upgraded our seats to ‘Hot Seats’ or extra leg room, when I ordered the meals- they called people forward to board, because they called Hot Seats and people travelling with children first but the largely Chinese passenger group seemingly all surged to the gate. Our seats are 17 A and 17 B we have none in front of us as we have a divider there before one of the doors.

It was 1135 when we boarded, we pushed back at 1156 and had a really long taxi to Runway 34L before wheels up at 1217. Our flying time will be 8 hours and 5 minutes, we got great views of Sydney under a cloudless sunny sky, as we headed north but soon all that was below was mile after mile after miles of arid red desert. As soon as we levelled out the pilot came on and told us the time in KUL is three hours earlier than Sydney, so we put our watches back.

The food we had ordered was served after an hour or so – Sue had a big chicken cob I had Chicken teriyaki and we had a drink box and chocolate pudding to follow. My task was to get the diary up to date, which I did fairly quickly I then read my book a bit and read the paper and other things on my iPad.

Later – the flight passed quickly despite the lack of IFE – we got great views of the Malaysian coast as we flew in – there are clearly some lovely beaches and resorts springing up in the area, and lot of other building going on. We landed at gate P10 on time around 5pm (8pm) and had a long trek to Immigration and baggage reclaim. Immigration was pretty much the same as last time – very quick, no questions, just a stamp and you are in.

Our bags eventually appeared, actually they were very quick it is just that we have got used to them being among the first off. Tonight we are staying in the Tune Hotel which is just outside the terminal. Tune hotels are budget hotels owned by Air Asia. The terminal shopping complex landside is huge – several convenience store and supermarkets, as well as loads of restaurants, clothes shops and the usual gift shops. We were told that the hotel exit was on level one and we found it without a problem. We had about three minute walk under a covered walkway out to the very new looking hotel. Check in was a breeze and we were soon in our room 509 on the fifth floor of six. There was a signed QPR (sponsored by Air Asia) shirt hanging in the lobby as a reminder of home. The room is a little basic, but has everything we need. It is very clean and has a bathroom with shower, hairdryer, safe, flat screen TV and a nice big, comfortable bed. We had also been given a code for free wi-fi on two devices.

After dumping our bags, we went back to the terminal in search of food. Our boarding passes to Vietnam have been issued, but have to be verified to make sure we have the necessary visa. We went up to the Air Asia area to so if that could be done tonight, but were told it would be done at bag drop tomorrow. We had a bit more of a wander and looked for a proper restaurant instead of fast food, but there don’t appear to be any.

After a while we came across a food court called Quizzin, that seemed to be used by a lot of locals and staff – we watched food being prepared in a place called Sizzling and Claypot. – we both decided to eat from here and both had Rice and black pepper chicken claypot which was served – spookily enough in a sizzling clay pot! They were lovely, if a little hot, they were 7.90 rm each – (just over a pound!!) This place didn’t serve drinks so I got a diet pepsi and Sue got a carrot juice from another stall in the food court.

A very nice meal that just hit the spot. We then called at the Jaya Grocer Supermarket for drinks and some lovely caramel cream cheese cakes. We had a wander round some of the other shops, there are some real bargains to be had, especially in sportswear but we don’t really need any more shirts etc.

Back at the hotel for showers internet and TV. The TV is very good with an English language film channel showing Captain America, Fox Sports and BBC News. Even though it was only just after 10pm, our body clocks thought it was 1am so we weren’t late settling down.