It was 31st Oct 2006…8:05am to be precise! The South Indian guy sitting opposite to me had been picking his nose for the past 10 mins now and boy was he cleaning the interiors well! “Gosh where the hell is Vishnu?”, I thought to myself. No I am not talking about The Vishnu, it’s my idiotic friend who was supposed to be there 15 mins ago. To make the situation harder, my Malaysian Airlines flight from Delhi landed 20 mins early and the baggage claim was done in a flash. I withdrew plenty of Malaysian Ringgit from the cash machine to last me a week, had a large cappuccino and explored every inch of the arrivals hall – twice! Still it struggled to get past 8am and the only entertainment left now was to watch a bald guy exploring the depths of his nose! Better give Vish a 2nd call before I kill myself! “Hello, can I speak to Vishnu plz?”. “Hi, it’s his dad speaking. He has gone out for breakfast, will tell him to call you once he’s back”. “WTF?”…few seconds silence…“Urghhhh…Is that Vik? Bastard stop messing around and give the phone to Vish”. After few seconds and giggles in the background, Vish comes on the phone - “Jammu bhaiiiiii!! We’re waiting for the Airport express at Central station, will be there in 40 mins dude”. “Find me outside the café when you reach and better hurry up, it’s pure torture here bro”, I replied back, not mentioning about my neighbour in the arrivals hall. It was only few mins later that I realised that the KL International Airport provided a free wireless Internet facility – phew!! I promptly took the PDA out and tried my level best to run the clock down. 65 mins and 12 websites later, finally I saw three dark bodies walking towards me with 10-inch wide smiles on their faces. Please welcome the trio of Vikram Ramanujam, Vishnu Nagadevan and Nivas Laksh - takashakalakakeiweipei…on and on and on…- simhan!!
PS: For the sake of this blog space and my precious time, the above people would be called Vik, Vish and KT from now on…otherwise I threaten to write no further!
“Thank Almighty, you are here!”, I exclaimed in relief. After the initial greetings and swear words, the cab driver literally flew us in his old Proton to the LCC terminal where the Air Asia flight to Langkawi was waiting for us. In KL, there are three separate terminals for the International, Domestic and VIP flights, with top notch facilities and ample space around for the passengers…not to forget fully equipped but unused check-in counters, something which you probably won’t find at other airports in the world and certainly not at Heathrow. The government spent $3.2 billion on the KLIA alone and in this quest, they oversized every facility in the airport, sufficient enough for the increasing passengers for the next 15-20 years. “The screen says that our flight to Langkawi has been cancelled, could you please confirm this?”, we roared at Air Asia’s ground crew who were all dressed in ugly red suits. After being assured that we would be put on the next possible flight, we spent the next one and a half hours discussing the good old days and millions of KT’s unsuccessful crushes. “Not running full today, is it?”, Vishnu tried to get an explanation as to why exactly the last flight was cancelled as we made our way to the check-in counter. “Oh we do apologise for any inconvenience, actually the plane had developed engine problems. The matter has been dealt with now and it will be here shortly”, the lady in red informed us with a very unconvincing smile. We looked at each other in disbelief! Haha, engine problems? Not exactly the thing a customer would like to hear just before boarding that plane! Hell whatever it was, she definitely scared the daylights out of us. Poor Vik had the “shitting in his pants” look on his face whereas for the first time in his life, KT looked pale rather than black.
We waited and waited at the terminal for our beloved and malfunctioning plane to arrive and it was getting a wee-bit uncomfortable, till somebody discovered beer cans at the airport shop. After few Tigers each, 30 mins to Langkawi felt like 10 and soon we were on the paradise Island, surrounded by nothing else but beautiful sea…the kind of sea you watch in movies… driving a hired car on the empty long roads…white sand…tall green trees…it was just delightful!
PS: For the sake of this blog space and my precious time, the above people would be called Vik, Vish and KT from now on…otherwise I threaten to write no further!
“Thank Almighty, you are here!”, I exclaimed in relief. After the initial greetings and swear words, the cab driver literally flew us in his old Proton to the LCC terminal where the Air Asia flight to Langkawi was waiting for us. In KL, there are three separate terminals for the International, Domestic and VIP flights, with top notch facilities and ample space around for the passengers…not to forget fully equipped but unused check-in counters, something which you probably won’t find at other airports in the world and certainly not at Heathrow. The government spent $3.2 billion on the KLIA alone and in this quest, they oversized every facility in the airport, sufficient enough for the increasing passengers for the next 15-20 years. “The screen says that our flight to Langkawi has been cancelled, could you please confirm this?”, we roared at Air Asia’s ground crew who were all dressed in ugly red suits. After being assured that we would be put on the next possible flight, we spent the next one and a half hours discussing the good old days and millions of KT’s unsuccessful crushes. “Not running full today, is it?”, Vishnu tried to get an explanation as to why exactly the last flight was cancelled as we made our way to the check-in counter. “Oh we do apologise for any inconvenience, actually the plane had developed engine problems. The matter has been dealt with now and it will be here shortly”, the lady in red informed us with a very unconvincing smile. We looked at each other in disbelief! Haha, engine problems? Not exactly the thing a customer would like to hear just before boarding that plane! Hell whatever it was, she definitely scared the daylights out of us. Poor Vik had the “shitting in his pants” look on his face whereas for the first time in his life, KT looked pale rather than black.
We waited and waited at the terminal for our beloved and malfunctioning plane to arrive and it was getting a wee-bit uncomfortable, till somebody discovered beer cans at the airport shop. After few Tigers each, 30 mins to Langkawi felt like 10 and soon we were on the paradise Island, surrounded by nothing else but beautiful sea…the kind of sea you watch in movies… driving a hired car on the empty long roads…white sand…tall green trees…it was just delightful!
With Vik: Smashing start to the holiday!
Holiday Jai Ganesham - IV ◄ ► Selamat Datang - II
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