Have Perut Will Travel...: KL to KUCHING: KL Sentral • KLIA • KIA

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Wednesday, 1 May 2024

KL to KUCHING: KL Sentral • KLIA • KIA

KUCHING Day 1!

Barely six months had passed since our last trip to Kuching to attend Brendan's graduation ceremony.

In the frenzy of the previous trip we could not find the time to take a family photo with Brendan in his graduation robes. Thankfully, The Attic Studio in Kuching offered a package that included the UNIMAS robes, hence our trip today.

We left our condo at ten last eleven in the morning and hailed a six-seater Grab car for a fare of RM16.00 (approximately USD/EUR3) to the KL Sentral Air Terminal.

Here we checked in our luggage at the check-in counter (that catered to only Malaysia Airlines and Batik Air passengers for now).

We then walked across and past the KLIA Express turnstile where we caught the train bound for KLIA Terminal 1.

We had the presence of mind to purchase our trains tickets online to enjoy a discounted price. While it would normally cost RM300.00 (approximately USD62/EUR59) for return tickets for the three of us, with the "Family Package" only available online it came to only RM240.00 (approximately USD50/EUR47).

We arrived at KLIA Terminal 1 thirty-five minutes later at approximately 12:10pm. We then headed up to the Departure Hall on Level 5 and made our way to Taco Bell for lunch.

We used the self-serve terminal and ordered sets of:

Chicken Quesadilla for me;
Grilled Stuffed Burrito for Cat; and
Crunch wrap Supreme Meal for Brendan.

Our flight to Kuching (MH2544) was due to leave at 3:25pm which meant that we had a solid three hours of leisure.

Our Mexican fast-food lunch came to RM63.90 (approximately USD14/EUR13). After lunch we made our way past the security checkpoint at half past one without incident, then headed to Gate A9.

Midway through our walk along the long corridors I happened to glance over at a FIDS board to discover that MH2544 was now departing from Gate B4.

Thankfully, we had two hours to spare so we doubled back and ambled toward Gate B4.

We arrived at the newly appointed gate and after double checking with the digital display that it was indeed for flight MH2544 we took a seat in the area opposite the gate.

At 2:25pm Gate B4 was open for boarding, and half an hour later we were allowed to board. In that time it began to rain heavily which caused some concern for a while, but it soon subsided.

The rain however wreaked havoc on the scheduled loading of luggage and cargo onto the aircraft, which ultimately delayed the push back to 4:10pm.

After taxiing and waiting for another twenty minutes MH2544 finally took off at precisely 4:35pm. But for a few air pockets that the pilot Captain Johan expertly navigated the flight was largely uneventful and we eventually landed at 6:10pm.

Kudos to Captain Johan and Chief Steward Hamizi for a very pleasant flight.

After making it past the Immigration checkpoint we walked out of Kuching International Airport.

Welcome to Kuching!