Not Another One

We can all agree that 2014 in general had been a glum day year for Malaysia. The fate of MH17 this morning sealed it. It would be one of those live events where people remembered exactly where they were when they first learned of the news. I remembered exactly where I was the moment the news about 9/11 broke. I was sure the generation before me did the same with the moon landing.

This year, Malaysia had two such events. And it was only July.

I was woken up by my alarm for sahur at around 4.30 am this morning. Anita was already up, and she was upstairs. Everything was silent. Then I saw a live news conference with Prime Minister Najib doing the talking. What was going on?

Anita filled in the rest, and we sat in front of the TV from then on while finishing our meal. It was tragic, and the news was only breaking at the point and plenty of speculation was about. Also on the same evening, Israel invaded Gaza, which would have been the main bulletin otherwise. It was indeed an insane evening.

I went to bed soon after as I was post-call. I also had a busy day ahead of me.

It was only when I reached home in the late afternoon that I managed to catch up with the whole news. More news conferences. More speculations and more theories, conspiratorial or otherwise. Idlan also had a theory about what happened. A missile misfired he said ....

My thoughts went out with the victims and their families. MAS had not had a great year indeed. And so was Malaysia.

Alfatihah.

Late Boarding

I wrote this entry while I was in the air. MH 2522 to be exact, about to start dinner. The flight took off late however, boarding started late and the process of boarding was excruciating.

Many passengers carried more than they should as hand luggage. I carried one - none checked in and was struggling to find a spot to put it up. Too many plastic bags rather than proper bags!

Finally I just left my carry-on for the flight crew to sort out.

So, dinner and a bit of PlayStation. The flight should be around 90 minutes. Too short for a nap.

Bomoh VIP

One needed to laugh. And I couldn't think of a bigger laugh today than what happened at KLIA. Specifically the bomoh at the departure lounge of the airport.

It was so funny, that even we as a nation had to put our hands up and just laugh. We just admit to the rest of the World that this still happen here. Smile and move the conversation along.

It had been a major meme, trending worldwide. Malaysia would again be known throughout the world for the wrong reason. But what to do....

At least it lightened the mood on an otherwise gloomy week. Still waiting to hear the news of #MH370. If had been five days now...

Pray for #MH370

One cannot escape the story of the day. I wasn't talking about Sodomy here, but the missing MAS plane over Vietnam en route to Beijing.

Although the safety record of MAS was exemplary, one cannot escape the risk of flying. At the moment of writing, there had been no official conformation as yet to what happened to the flight. I was glued at the lounge earlier getting update on the latest development, but duty called.

I kept asking my patients for updates and clearly, they were anxious as well.

Praying for their fate now ...

The A380

So, how was the ride on the Airbus 380? I won't pretend to be a veteran. I've only ridden on it a couple of times. Both were on the London-KLIA. That meant passing through the bad air over Bay of Bengal, something which I had always dreaded when I traveled as a student on top of a DC10. We were talking about the early 90s here. It was an experience. I could even see the fear in the cabin crew's faces.

Things got better with the 747-400. A much smoother ride all around but still the occasional heavy bumps. So, I was expecting a real smooth ride on the new plane. And yes, the ride was a lot smoother.

BoardingEnough legroom?The seats were arranged in pairs, with six seats across the rowThe central controlI was lucky to have a business class seats on both flights, hence my story may not be applicable to everyone. Boarding was faster than expected as both decks had their own platform. The gate at KLIA was actually double-stories. Hence boarding was smooth. The gate at Heathrow was a bit more sluggish as there was only a single common entrance.

The lower main deck had three compartments. The front housed the First Class - for only 8 passengers. The middle and back cabins were for the economy class.

The upper deck was also divided into three smaller sections. The front two were the Business sections with another Economy compartment at the back. The meals was what you'd expect on an MAS Business Class service. But it had a small compartment by the front set of stairs where you could mingle around a small little space. There were rack of magazines and free flow of drinks here.

It was also here that I had a chat with one of the Chief Stewarts. I actually recognised him from my previous trips. According to him, the upper front compartment was originally planned for the First Class, and hence the toilets were much bigger here. At the last moment, the arrangement was changed and the First Class was moved ton the lower deck. The facilities were smaller down there.

The Business Class seats were certainly an upgrade to the 747-400. Much bigger legroom, and the seats reclined to horizontal. Completely flat. Entertainment was provided via a 15 inch touch screen, with on-demand movie. Nothing fancy. There was ample storage space, with separate compartments for shoes and personal items. There was also a charger and personal lights.

During landing and taking off, the video console would show the view from the tail finThe screen was huge, but rather far away from viewFood at the counter by the front stairwell. No bar I was afraid.Time for meals!Waiting for take-offThe layout was 6 in a row, with a pair of seats each. On both occasions, I was sat on the middle row. For privacy, there was a small blind which one could raise in between the pair of seats. I felt secluded enough when I took a nap, so no complains from me.

On both occasions, I managed at least 6 hours of good sleep on the flights. The landing and taking off was also very smooth for a big plane. There was also a gimmick where the monitors would show a view from the tail camera during taxiing, taking off and landing. More for reassurance maybe.

The A380 was definitely big and smooth. When I travelled on the 767 for my Trans-Atlantic segment, I definitely felt that the other planes were much smaller. Maybe more psychological than anything. It lived up to its billing for sure.

More on my Atlanta trip here.