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.

Out of Town

After a hectic week, and a hectic weekend. Just done with the boys concert - which I missed - and now on the ERL heading to KLIA to catch a flight to Kuching. A short overnight stay, to deliver a talk late tomorrow morning.

Had time to go through the slides but adjustments needed aplenty. Hopefully would be able to sort those out in time to board the flight. Reckon it would be full house.

Might be able to catch some sleep and some chill time at the hotel tonight. My return flight would be late afternoon, teaching KL by Maghrib.

Tiring Start

Even though I didn't have to do the driving, I still felt mighty tired when I got up this morning. Decided to fight it and still pushed on. Got to Subang early to beat the traffic, and finished my rounds well before 8 am. Too early to start my drive to Park City clinic.

So, had time to enjoy my breakfast and catch up with a bit of news on TV. I have a talk to so tomorrow. Did the slides already a few weeks back but it still needed tweaking. I'll leave them for tonight.

Planning to take it easy this morning before things start to pile up later ...

And Back Again

After the stop over at Kepala Batas, it was time to head back home to KL. Good thing I didn't have to so the driving. Anita's driver was around for that.

We planned for one quick stop for refuelling near Kuala Kangsar soon. ETA at KL would be around 9pm.

The Second Crossing

Shame as it was raining heavily when we arrives at the intersection onto the new bridge connecting the mainland to Penang. Dubbed the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Bridge, it stood nearly 25 km long, easily surpassing the first Penang Bridge some 20 minutes away along the PLUS highway.

Heavy rain, but luckily no strong crosswind to bother the driving, it was actually a pleasant drive. Although it spanned only a couple of lanes each way, it had a separate cycle lane, ample room for the hard shoulder and a much wider lane. The driving experience was completely different from the original bridge. You hardly felt that you were suspended over water at all.

Toll was marginally more expensive than the original bridge at RM8.50, but I wouldn't complain about that. It took us about 25 minutes to get from end to end, and since we landed further south on the island, there would be an extra journey time to Georgetown. As the road feeding into the bridge were not yet complete, expect heavy jam. Luckily it was Sunday afternoon, and the roads were practically empty.

Just before you reach the island, there was a rise on the bridge for water vessels to pass underneath. Here, two pairs of guilded towers were built with cables suspending the bridge, paying homage to the original bridge.

The new bridge cut my journey time and would definitely cut the congestion on the main bridge considerably but I felt that the bridge was rushed through its opening. It was a crime to open it while they were still building the feeding highways. But then again, this is Malaysia ....