In order to fly to Langkawi we first had to get to KLIA LCC terminal to pick up our flight on Air Asia. KLIA is about 45 minutes or so from KL, and the LCC (low cost carrier) terminal is sort of out and around the back side of the main international terminal, out in the middle of nowhere.
We were set to just take a cab or a bus, but Rita's sister Ho Li insisted that we have Isa, their driver of 18 years, fetch us there. I felt sorry for Isa, but apparently he gets double or triple time when he does things like this so he doesn't mind. Ho Li instructed him to drop us off, but to wait around to make sure our flight was on time, and to let us sit in the van with him in the AC until the flight was ready to go. This seemed over the top to us, there was bound to be AC in the terminal, so we got out at the curb, called him after a few minutes, thanked him for the ride and told him we were on our way. This would come back to bite Isa because he hadn't actually checked for himself that our flight was on time, we'd just told him he could go, there was no way for him to know our flight had been "re-timed". Apparently Isa is terrified of Ho Li, and goes out of his way to avoid her wrath, so we (or at least I) had no idea we were setting him up for a scolding when we let Ho Li know that the flight had been delayed (or "re-timed" in AA's quaint way of letting you know you weren't going to get where you were going in the time frame you assumed you would). We had borrowed Kathryn's (Ho Li's youngest daughter) phone for the trip, so there was constant SMS messages going back and forth. We let her know that the flight was delayed and that we'd be getting into Langkawi late. This apparently set off a small firestorm with Isa getting his ear chewed for not checking on the flight himself, poor guy. There was no way to apologize to him for this because we were never out of earshot for the rest of our time in KL. On our way back, we simply took a bus.
Now I don't want to paint my SIL as some sort of monster or something, she went out of her way on this occasion and many others to make sure we were comfortable, taken care of, etc. She also was instrumental in not only finding this flight for us, but our accommodations as well on Langkawi. She runs a strict household, managing four kids, two maids, a career as a stockbroker, social hosting, tutors for the kids, coaches for the kids, sports for the kids (seeing a theme here?), etc. How she keeps it all straight is a wonder. She demands a lot from her kids and staff, but they're well taken care of, and need for nothing.
While waiting for the flight an American couple sat directly behind us, actually bumping us with their arms as they tried to snuggle up to each other and smooch. Malaysians frown on overt displays of affection, and these were on their way to needing a room. Overall we weren't too impressed with them, and I feel embarrassed when I see fellow Americans making complete Americans of themselves. All of AA's flights are cattle call, you find your own seat when you get on board, similar to SouthWest Air's flights. When they call for you to queue up to get on the plane, they make a point of taking disabled, elderly, and people with kids, or pregnant onto the flight before the rest of the passengers, a policy that I have no problem with, although it irks me to see a family with a bunch of teenagers getting on a flight before me simply because technically they have kids, but the kids are perfectly able to take care of themselves. Anyway when they called for the queue, the two snoggers I mentioned earlier got into that line almost certainly because it was far shorter than the line the rest of us were in. By no means were they the only westerners who did this, but they were the only ones who managed to get through the queue, almost certainly lying by saying she was pregnant. Now, I suppose it was possible that she was three or four hours pregnant, but her belly was as flat as any models. The humorous part came when the Malay women in front of us started giggling about it, and we were behind them rolling our eyes with them. Several other western couples got on the flight, but they either had small children and strollers, or they were elderly and could use the extra time and assistance from the crew. One couple in particular caught our attention because they could be us in 20 years or so. Western guy, Asian woman, obviously very comfortable with each other, enjoying each other's company.
The plane was a new-ish 737-300, perfect for island hopping, and other than them doing a hot refuel while we were on board, everything seemed hunky-dory. They boarded the flight pretty quickly, and not surprisingly, the snoggers were up against the forward bulkhead, feet up on the bulkhead closest to the forward exit so they could get off the plane first. Once the buttoned up the plane and it started to cool down, I relaxed trying to wiggle a bit more comfort out of the not-sized-for-my-butt seat. Pretty soon we taxied out onto the runway, and it was throttles up for the takeoff. We got about half way down the runway, the nose just starting to feel light, and...throttles down, emergency reversers, smoking brakes as we came to an emergency stop. Whew! First time for me and a bit nerve wracking. They taxied back to the ramp and started fiddling with the starboard engine, running it up and down. The co-pilot explained that they'd gotten an emergency warning siren and "standard procedure called for an aborted takeoff" and "everything was under control, don't worry". Needless to say this worried me. However, an aborted takeoff is far better than the alternative, so I calmed myself down, and explained what was going on as best I could to Rita because she wanted off the plane. As it turned out, the actual flights (re-timed to three hours later) went off without a hitch, and they firewalled the engines to get us there in 45 minutes instead of the normal 60 or so. We got to Langkawi in the middle afternoon, lots of little islands & boats underneath us as we approached, so it was a very nice end to the flight.
We were set to just take a cab or a bus, but Rita's sister Ho Li insisted that we have Isa, their driver of 18 years, fetch us there. I felt sorry for Isa, but apparently he gets double or triple time when he does things like this so he doesn't mind. Ho Li instructed him to drop us off, but to wait around to make sure our flight was on time, and to let us sit in the van with him in the AC until the flight was ready to go. This seemed over the top to us, there was bound to be AC in the terminal, so we got out at the curb, called him after a few minutes, thanked him for the ride and told him we were on our way. This would come back to bite Isa because he hadn't actually checked for himself that our flight was on time, we'd just told him he could go, there was no way for him to know our flight had been "re-timed". Apparently Isa is terrified of Ho Li, and goes out of his way to avoid her wrath, so we (or at least I) had no idea we were setting him up for a scolding when we let Ho Li know that the flight had been delayed (or "re-timed" in AA's quaint way of letting you know you weren't going to get where you were going in the time frame you assumed you would). We had borrowed Kathryn's (Ho Li's youngest daughter) phone for the trip, so there was constant SMS messages going back and forth. We let her know that the flight was delayed and that we'd be getting into Langkawi late. This apparently set off a small firestorm with Isa getting his ear chewed for not checking on the flight himself, poor guy. There was no way to apologize to him for this because we were never out of earshot for the rest of our time in KL. On our way back, we simply took a bus.
Now I don't want to paint my SIL as some sort of monster or something, she went out of her way on this occasion and many others to make sure we were comfortable, taken care of, etc. She also was instrumental in not only finding this flight for us, but our accommodations as well on Langkawi. She runs a strict household, managing four kids, two maids, a career as a stockbroker, social hosting, tutors for the kids, coaches for the kids, sports for the kids (seeing a theme here?), etc. How she keeps it all straight is a wonder. She demands a lot from her kids and staff, but they're well taken care of, and need for nothing.
While waiting for the flight an American couple sat directly behind us, actually bumping us with their arms as they tried to snuggle up to each other and smooch. Malaysians frown on overt displays of affection, and these were on their way to needing a room. Overall we weren't too impressed with them, and I feel embarrassed when I see fellow Americans making complete Americans of themselves. All of AA's flights are cattle call, you find your own seat when you get on board, similar to SouthWest Air's flights. When they call for you to queue up to get on the plane, they make a point of taking disabled, elderly, and people with kids, or pregnant onto the flight before the rest of the passengers, a policy that I have no problem with, although it irks me to see a family with a bunch of teenagers getting on a flight before me simply because technically they have kids, but the kids are perfectly able to take care of themselves. Anyway when they called for the queue, the two snoggers I mentioned earlier got into that line almost certainly because it was far shorter than the line the rest of us were in. By no means were they the only westerners who did this, but they were the only ones who managed to get through the queue, almost certainly lying by saying she was pregnant. Now, I suppose it was possible that she was three or four hours pregnant, but her belly was as flat as any models. The humorous part came when the Malay women in front of us started giggling about it, and we were behind them rolling our eyes with them. Several other western couples got on the flight, but they either had small children and strollers, or they were elderly and could use the extra time and assistance from the crew. One couple in particular caught our attention because they could be us in 20 years or so. Western guy, Asian woman, obviously very comfortable with each other, enjoying each other's company.
The plane was a new-ish 737-300, perfect for island hopping, and other than them doing a hot refuel while we were on board, everything seemed hunky-dory. They boarded the flight pretty quickly, and not surprisingly, the snoggers were up against the forward bulkhead, feet up on the bulkhead closest to the forward exit so they could get off the plane first. Once the buttoned up the plane and it started to cool down, I relaxed trying to wiggle a bit more comfort out of the not-sized-for-my-butt seat. Pretty soon we taxied out onto the runway, and it was throttles up for the takeoff. We got about half way down the runway, the nose just starting to feel light, and...throttles down, emergency reversers, smoking brakes as we came to an emergency stop. Whew! First time for me and a bit nerve wracking. They taxied back to the ramp and started fiddling with the starboard engine, running it up and down. The co-pilot explained that they'd gotten an emergency warning siren and "standard procedure called for an aborted takeoff" and "everything was under control, don't worry". Needless to say this worried me. However, an aborted takeoff is far better than the alternative, so I calmed myself down, and explained what was going on as best I could to Rita because she wanted off the plane. As it turned out, the actual flights (re-timed to three hours later) went off without a hitch, and they firewalled the engines to get us there in 45 minutes instead of the normal 60 or so. We got to Langkawi in the middle afternoon, lots of little islands & boats underneath us as we approached, so it was a very nice end to the flight.
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