Today we fly, or are supposed to fly, from Heathrow terminal 4 to Kuala Lumpur. It will be our first taste of Malaysia Airlines. I say “supposed to” because, though the threat of snow may have receded, storm Isha is threatening havoc across most of the country. There are times when attempting to travel in winter in our climate seems a little like a gamble.
I’d agonized about how to get to the airport. Normally I’d drive and park but leaving the car out in an English winter for a month may flatten the battery,
The train option was quite appealing except for the struggling with baggage on the underground.
Our favourite local, and erstwhile reliable taxi company had been taken over but eventually I bit the bullet and booked with them. They did, at least, send a confirmation of the booking.
Our taxi driver did turn up right on the button at 16:00. He did not have a card machine, as was intended, but fortunately we scraped together the £95 fare. They’ll need a machine on the return trip – I’ve been cleaned out.
We arrived at T4 before 17:30, four hours ahead of our flight. Time to go and enjoy one of the posh lounges. Our check-in agent advised that the QATAR lounge might be better than the other option, Gulf Air.
We drank and nibbled the time away and eventually boarded. Fortunately the London area seemed less severely Isha’d than everywhere else and, after a 30 minute taxi and hold operation waiting for gusts to drop, we lifted off.
We settled into our seats: row 5. Curiously the seats in front of us were row 3. There was no row 4. Odd. I asked a steward about the missing row 4 but no explanation was forthcoming. Our streets often do not have house number 13 for superstitious twaddle and we wondered if something similar applied to 4 in the Malaysian culture. Curious; I must investigate. [Yep, just checked: the number 4 is not liked in Malaysia.]
After an Asian meal, we hit the lie-flat beds which are a boon – we both managed to sleep, though I had to remove the blanket ‘cos I was too hot. Oddly, on this Airbus A350, the centre aisle seats have no bins above them, which means that there is no air nozzle to open up above you either. I wonder why?
I came round with three hours to run and had some of an Asian breakfast but, in honesty, there’s a bit too much food when you’re inactive.
It’s now Monday evening (22nd) and we’re relaxing in the Malaysia Golden Lounge. I even had a wonderfully reviving shower in between G&Ts. How civilized.
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