My journey begins and I arrived at Tullamarine (colloquially called "Tulla" by us locals) in time, saw my baggage through, showed my boarding pass and received my ticket. Airports are busy places even though it was around 10.30pm it was alive with the hustle and bustle of a busy shopping centre with people milling about pushing luggage trolleys, saying farewells and buying last minute items.
As I waited in the lounge near the boarding gate, I met the cabin crew, who kindly posed with me for photos. They were a lovely, friendly group and the chap in the left hand side of the photo was a real trooper - his name is Achilles and he wrote down some Malay phrases with the English equivalent. Words/phrases like
Terima kasih - Thank you
Selamat pagi - Good morning
Selamat malam - Good night
Sama sama - You're welcome
He explained if someone says "Terima kasih", you reply "Sama sama"
I was seated in the "economy" section - there were three seats on the left, three in the middle and three on the right. I was in an aisle seat in the middle on the right side and could see ahead into the "pointy end" - where the toffs and well to do folk sit. They have wider seats - two on the left, three in the middle and two on the right. But for all that they get treated the same as us "poor plebs" behind!
After everybody had been fed and watered (read meals and drinks) it was time to sleep. The seats don't recline (although Air Asia are going to change this some time in 2010) but they were not uncomfortable. I noticed the chap in the seat on the right had moved and his girlfriend was lying down across three seats. Asking a crew member if I could do this and being told "Yes" I walked down the plane only to find I had left it too late. There were many bodies lying across three seats. (Obviously there were many empty seats).
I bought one of these on the plane. It costs MYR 35.00 (approx AUD$11.60) which is far cheaper than purchasing a similar item in Australia. I didn't use the eye mask, but the cushion and blanket came in very handy. Weighing a mere 510 grams the three items roll up and fit into the red bag which has two drawstings "handles"
On the back of each seat is a screen - you can pay MYR30 to be entertained...movies, television shows, play games, listen to music, go shopping etc. I didn't see anyone use this service. Just the normal screen which shows announcements and also where on the globe the plane is. It was actually exciting to see how close we were to our destination and made the trip seem more "real"
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