Oh no! Another bad night sleep. That is just so rare for me! The ventilation was too warm for the both of us despite turning it down to the lowest level. After a light breakfast of muesli, we headed to the airport by train.
Bag-drop was swift but immigration and security involved countless zigzags. We saw the sign for the Amex lounge and checked on our eligibility. Quite surprisingly, we were told we can be admitted with two guests.
We boarded the AirAsia X flight at a nearby gate and pushed off about 5 minutes late due to having to offload bags for a no-show passenger. We managed to get some extra seats by luck (and scheming); Kim had three to lie down in while I had one spare beside me. Just as well because the flight time was nearly 9h today with strong headwinds.
We landed in KL about 30 minutes late. Upon disembarking I noticed the AirAsia X plane was christened Xiaolongbao (a Chinese dumpling) and the name of the person (competition-winner) who gave the plane that name was also written below. How cool is that! Having your name on a big plane like that. Other aircraft have names beginning (or involving) the letter X, eg. Xeoul Mate, Xakura Blossom! Except their first plane which was christened Semangat Sir Freddie (Spirit of Sir Freddie [Laker]).
It took about 45 minutes to exit the terminal due to the long walk airside plus a wait for luggage. I must say, KLIA2 doesn’t have very good passenger flow, unlike at the original KLIA.
We checked in at the Tune Hotel next to the terminal and grabbed dinner back at the airport’s check-in area. We were meant to meet a friend here tonight to travel to Cambodia together. Unfortunately he was had to pull out due to work commitments with a couple of days notice.
It was an early night as we needed to be up at 0430 for a 0650 departure to Siem Reap.