heretosay

Air Asia – loathing increases

Air Asia…get organised!!! As a consumer I have a love Hate (little l, big H) relationship with you that continues to slither toward hate.

Travel within South East Asia definitely took a leap into the era of accessibility with the advent of Air Asia. One of the first Air Asia flights I remember taking was from Hat Yai in Thailand to Kuala Lumpur almost five years ago in early January 2005. The plane was two hours late arriving into Hat Yai and 3 hours late departing. There were leather seats, I remember, but they were a mixture of shapes and colors that gave one the impression the plane had been purchased at a used plane dealer and then ‘souped up’ to fit the demands of it’s new owner which, I suppose, it probably had!

Several months back I had, a long time in advance of the travel date, booked a trip back to the UK. It was via a Singapore Airlines night flight departing from Singapore at around midnight. I thought I would try to ease my travel burden from Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia to Singapore by flying Kuala Lumpur to Singapore on Air Asia’s evening flight. The flight would arrive in Singapore at around 21.30hrs if my memory serves me correctly. It gave me a full two and half hours to collect my luggage, transit from terminal to terminal if necessary and check in for the long haul flight to London. Forever positive, I was convinced it could work.
The last piece of the jigsaw for the passage from Ipoh to London was finally pressed into place with the purchase of a YoYo Travel bus ticket for the Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur leg. Everything was fitting together nicely and I was hoping for a pleasant, restful nights sleep before the Ipoh departure.
Air Asia had a different idea! Clearly realising they had a reputation to uphold they chose to press their relationship with me a few more degrees toward hate along that travellers line of emotional imbalance. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. In the middle of the night (past midnight) prior to my departure Air Asia informed me of the re timing of the Kuala Lumpur to Singapore flight. It was pushed out over an hour and I was informed of it by a post midnight sms!! Fuzz!!! It meant my time for that luggage collection/transit/check in process at Singapore would be reduced to one and a half hours if everything went smoothly. I couldn’t risk it! Between waves of frustration, disappointment and anger that evoked room pacing in a black mood and underpants, I slept very little.
By 08.00hrs in the morning I had embarked on an all or nothing plan B. A different Ipoh bus company made a daily trip to Singapore departing early morning. At 08.15 in their booking office I was able to purchase a ticket. However I had to pay a taxi surcharge to have him race to the second pick up point as I was just too late to make the bus departure from the booking office… the buses start point. I made it. The bus trip was very pleasant. I had to forego my Yo Yo bus fare, my Air Asia Kuala Lumpur – Singapore flight fare but at least I made it comfortable time to catch the long haul.

Karma spurned compensation created an otherwise smooth journey and my time in the UK was fantastic; no thanks to Air Asia.
The image at the top of this article is from Bath… a city of history and architecture not far from my home town in the UK.

Ketsana!

I have a friend in Manila whom I have never met. T.S. are her initials. Cajole is her middle name. Then Ketsana arrived. 36 hrs of the heaviest storm to hit the Philippines in four decades, 80 people already reported dead and an estimated 250,000 displaced from their devastated homes I chatted to her on facebook chat and her sister was out of reach in the most submerged region.. Rizal province!!! The following day her work organised their own search and rescue activities. Today I have had this yahoo IM chat with her…

Me
got the message about your sis….great news ugh?! 10:37
are you busy celebrating? 10:45

TS
@ work now. Just relieved dat she’s safe although not totally okay. Her place was flooded. We brought rescue & relief teams yesterday & today to our affe 11:04
cted officemates & their families. Of course, family comes first! We’ve seen worst along da way. It’s really heartbreaking. Indescribable. Never seen qui 11:04
te like it before. The damage, was enormous. Aaaarrrhh! ;-( 11:04

Me
mmmm it’s grim isn’t it and sad too 11:08
I see the death toll is now reported as being toward 100 11:09
is it still raining? 11:09

TS
Really sad. I’m happy my sis is safe but sad 4 others who arent so lucky. No more raining here. Its sunny actuali. Storm was a great equaliser i shud say 11:17
. It didnt matter whether ur rich or poor or whether u drive a millions worth of suv or just a plain jeepney. They were all floating in da same muddy h2o 11:17
. And da houses too. It can be replaced alryt. Still is good to be alive. 11:17

Me
your sis may experience some trauma affect… Not my business but I would have her stay with you or other family member for a week 11:20
just my thought 11:21
anyway I guess you have some catching up to do at work 11:21
I will let you attend to all that stuff and catch up with ya again soon 11:21

TS
Ok thanks. Good day. 11:30

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I feel happy yet sad toooooo!! Now the death toll is at 240.

Night Mission

Long Haul jet lag was a bitch until I had to rise sharply and alertly from a light sleep at 2.40am on the morning of the 8th August 09. I was whisked off through the fresh dark empty night in a black 3 Series BMW like a spy on a covert mission of inter-planetary importance. My darling daughter, as mission controller, skilfully navigated the undercover route and penetrated the perimeter security of the closet low cost carrier airport – Bristol. Bristol airport at 4.15am had an air of reluctance about it. Apparently, only forlorn persons with half open eyes and tousled hair were being admitted. Generally we fitted the bill well. Little was being said. Propulsion was derived from the prospect of sunny days, golden beaches, tapas, and the fun of a foreign language.

My party were a trio. On two seperate flights to the same destination. Alicante in Spain. Rach and Stu’s Thompson flight departed around the 6am mark and my Ryan Air flight departed at 6.40am. The two hour flight plus hour time difference brought me bouncing to the tarmac just before 10am on a warm sunny Spanish morning. I haven’t witnessed applause at a successful landing of a modern jet aircraft for years and I wondered if the pilot had been bet by the co pilot that he couldn’t get applause for his landing. That was surely the reason he bounced the machine far too late onto the runway then in a frenzy of hold those horses activity had the reverse thrust roaring like a lion as the michelins were stretched to the limit between tarmac and tons of de accelerating bones,flesh and metal. The Ryan Air pilot must have been Spanish but got his pay, his on time delivery bonus, some applause from the cabin and, I suspect, an extra tenner from the co-pilot.

In a Latino fling of carefree dismissiveness Alicante airport was without immigration or customs officers, AND my (undamaged!) bag was in the first truck from the apron so, within minutes of departing the aircraft, I was wandering through the Alicante Airport wondering where the other two of my traveller trio had taken up hiding. To my surprise they weren’t playing that ‘lets watch to see what he does when he can’t find us’ game and I found them draped raggedly across the end of a row of chairs amongst stand up cases with extended handles and discarded fleeces in an arrival hall at the normal landing end of the airport buildings. We’d wandered back through half of the airport and out into the arrivals pick up area before someone remembered about mobile phones. A brief exchange over the airwaves with a ‘Spanish’ member of the Fegredo family assured us that we would not be subject to that age old game of ‘lets see what they do when they aren’t picked up’ and within minutes a fit, tanned, younger version of Omar Shariff climbed out of a Toyota Prius that had glided quietly into a parking space within feet of us. Stu’s Dad’s welcome was warmer than the Spanish morning and spread a smile on our presence more smoothly than warm butter on toast.

Twenty minutes of Toyota Prius gliding over a mix of intercity highway ‘quality’ roads and more Spanish style, bumpier rural access routes ultimately brought us to the Fegredo residence at an urbanisation around a village called La Marina. Jeff left us in no doubt about how proud he was of his palace and proud I would have been too! On a 400square meter plot Jeff and his wife Yo had created a Spanish bungalow style habitat that mixed easy living with functionality and comfort. Complemented by an 8 meter long pool at the rear the gardens were shrub driven and eco friendly providing a mix of colour, scents for warding off mozzy’s, scents for deep breaths at dusk and dawn, and security…bloody sharp spiky affairs along the inside of the front wall!

Hi, Bye Had Yai

Rm75 return fare for the coach to Had Yai from Ipoh tethered my travel plans. I departed from the New Hoover coach office in Jalan Yang Kalsem at 1.45am on Thursday the 23rd July 09. I would meet my friend in Had Yai, mid morning at Had Yai Junction. Not a pub, a railway station! And so it unfolded. A pleasant two night, three day visit to Had Yai in southern Thailand. We ate, drank, sang, danced, walked, shopped, spat rice, perused hotels and generally had a great time. The weather was kind to us with fine days and temperatures a little lower than the Malaysian scorchers.

Had Yai hotels ranged from the perfectly acceptable Num Huat in Thanon Inpatuthit 3 at 300 baht per night for a room with twin or double bed, aircon, tv, and fridge and own bathroom; 350 baht per night for a similar room but with no fridge at the Tong Num in Trok Sukonthahong near to the Seven Eleven; unattractive options at the Metro Hotel and the Park Hotel for 360 and 400 baht a night respectively; then on up through a selection of mid range options with the Cholatern at 450 baht per night, the Indra at 500 baht per night, the Yong Dee at 580 baht per night, the Sakol at 680 baht per night and the Grand Tower with it’s own swimming pool at around 900 baht per night. Every hotel had rooms available on this Thursday morning.

Seemingly run by football team of brothers, we ate superb food at a ‘Thai name only’ restaurant behind the Grand Tower hotel. Hauling our full tummies to the livelier of the two central live music venues, Deep Wonder, situated (steeply but not particularly deeply) below the now defunct Odean Shopping Centre was a small matter well worth the effort. Deep Wonder’s happy atmosphere and moderately priced beer kept us smiling through a medley of numbers from it’s talented resident band that included, Dire Straights’ Money for Nothing, Rolling Stones’ Honky Tonk Woman, Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, Boy George’s Carma Carmelion, U2’s With or Without You and many many more.

Full marks to Had Yai for a creating a scene that far exceeds anything that similar sized towns in Malaysia have to offer. Malaysia still has a lot to learn (from Thailand) if they wish to increase tourist revenue!!! The photo shows hawkers on the Had Yai Junction railway platform.

Malaysian ‘news’

In an attempt to spur the local economy the Malaysian Consumers Association organised a “Buy Nothing Day”.
Visitors to the capital, Kuala Lumpur, will pay approximately double the current fare from August 1st 2009 for the pleasure of being ripped off by the ignominious taxi driver community.
A 5.36 meter long whale shark was towed to Kuala Muda jetty by self deluding fisherman who made the ‘dead’ catch 50 nautical miles out in Penang waters.
Building site safety practises were being revisited after an Indonesian plasterer slashed a supervisors throat in Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.
Politicians aide found dead as Malaysian anti corruption commission continue enquiries into alleged abuse of state allocations by ‘role model’ politicians.
Middle aged Bahasa Melayu word creators not redundant after all. Maths and Science teaching medium reverts BM. Of course it makes sense.
At a Manchester United v Malaysian football match in Kualar Lumpur more Malaysian supporters were expected to be wearing Man U. colours than Malaysian colours!

More Metro Manila fact

I just got some info from a friend on air quality in Metro Manila. The world health organisation suggests that to prevent ill health air pollution should be at less than 20 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter. Long term exposure to a pollutant level of 70 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter or greater significantly increases the risk of contracting a respiratory related illness. Metro Manila has an average of 138, the dirtiest is the stretch of Edsa with 282, over 3 times the w h o target. It’s probably not a good idea to live around Edsa.
Interesting data at http://www.portfolio.mvm.ed.ac.uk/studentwebs/session4/27/citydiff.htm

I don’t know Brough.

His taller than average height, burly build and dark coarse unkempt hair was his camouflage for a sincere and sensitive heart. The slightly overlength blue jeans and very short sleeved body huggin tee added the gravel that peaked out that tough man image. He was clearly western. In Asia he turned heads. Mostly female. All young and on bodies jangling with hormones that jangled still further with Brough in their vision. Brough belied his image. He wasn’t a steel erector or a mountaineer. He was a clever and sensitive writer.
I last read his work in a short story submitted to a writers periodical dedicated to award consideration.
In the style of introversion.
The principal character, Brough’s brother, Barrge, had submitted his heart to a Philippina. She was young and attractive; a generation lesser than Barrge. Brough adeptly relayed Barrge’s emotional dilemmas as the relationship, aggravated by distance and teased by culture, convulsed through a storm of dramas each with their own circumstantial twist and intrigue. Barrge was focused on creating a business for their combined future in a neighbouring country. Brilliantly, the character signatures were scribed by Brough’s deft hand. Barrge’s difficulty in interpreting his Philippina’s behavioural characteristics including anomolies such as indesire or inability to communicate in times of difficulty, a desire to literally run from conflict and confrontation, and an insatiable appetite for material gratification were delightfully relayed to beguiled readers. Brough’s tale simmered toward an awesome conclusion as Barrge’s Philippina announced, on what was to be Barrge’s last visit to her home town, her intention to marry an internet suitor. Her underhand deceit and wideangle immorality were cleverly used by Brough to illustrate Barrge’s sincerity and honesty. In the penultimate twist she declares herself pregnant to the remote Barrge with Barrge’s child. An early term miscarriage (?) brings Barrge to the edge of emotional free fall as Brough’s pen cascades toward the punishing finali. No less than three weeks after the miscarriage the still remote and emotionally bedraggled Barrge is informed of his Philippina’s new live in lover, by her sms. Barrge’s pain becomes his strength and Brough’s talent with the written word paints a colourful and indelible image of Barrge mixing realisation with release to close the darkroom door and turn to face a new, bright, exciting future.

Then I realised that Brough was an only child and up until recently he’d had a girlfriend abroad. So… that’s the style of introversion. Please read the title again.

Manilan, Philippines observations.

A Philippine shop worker/sales assistant in Manila earns around 50 peso and hour and works 8-10hrs a day, 6 days a week making a gross income of around 12000 peso a month or 150 UK pounds.

A four station trip on the Manila MRT will cost around 10peso. A taxi ride for a foreigner for a similar length trip is likely to cost around 200 peso.

Taxi’s use a meter system that appear to be operational most of the time, however be prepared for the taxi driver to ask for the meter plus 50 peso in heavy traffic which is most of the time in Manila.

San Miguel Pale Pilsen beer costs less than 30 peso for a 320ml bottle in the supermarket. The same size bottle will sell for double that price in an average bar/restaurant. Still good value and a third to half of the cost of a similar amount in Malaysia.

Air pollution in Manila is high. There are no vehicle exhaust regulations applied that I know of. Grey sticky bogies testify.

Manila weather in June is variable with frequent high winds and heavy rain. June is the middle of the three or four month typhoon season. I recall visiting via a flight from Malaysia at this time of the year a few years back and feeling increasingly nervous as the pilot saw fit to abort not one landing attempt but two due to high winds and torrential rain at the airport.

The people are vibrant, energetic and happy. There is a clear live for today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow mentality.

There is a strong Latino element in their inherited character producing much musical talent and dance desire and ability.

There are over 7100 islands. If the question of precisely how many islands make up the Philippines is asked of locals one will often receive the reply of.. ‘when the tide is in or out?’

The food grows on you and deposits itself within you being wrought with saturated fats due to pork and pork skin and fat content. Pinakbet, sizzling sisig and adobo dishes are musts.

Rice is the backbone of the Philippinos basic diet.

Alcohol consumption is unlimited.

Philippine Shopping Mall mentality leads Asian Shopping Mall mentality. Operations like the SM Megamall in Ortigas and the Roxas Boulevard Mall of Asia are pristinely presented and attract huge numbers of people.

Walled and guarded communities are a way of life. Poverty and city ‘street people’ are also a way of life hence the walled and guarded communities.

The many beautiful locations away from Manila are not easy to get to requiring many hours of overland and ferry travel even after internal flights of which there is a wide selection. A natural deterrent for the foreign short break tourist and a natural aid in maintaining the final frontier feeling of many of the locations.

The US occupation of the country has helped to create the most ‘English’ speaking nation in the region.

Manila R&R

Gloria Jeans Coffees in Makati Avenue, central Manila offers fine brewed coffee plus the de riguer range of pastries for a late 20th century style coffee shop. It earnt my patronage as the second stop of the morning behind a vegetable laden breakfast roll a few doors along the avenue at Subway. The internet connection at the Australian franchised coffee house was reliable and fast allowing me to collect email, chat, blog and continue experimenting with the google web tools. GJ Coffees hovers at the Gloriettas outer edge and offers a pleasant outlook across the minipark towards the ignominous Shangri La Hotel. If inspiration waned a glance toward the park re ignited thought processes. A constant stream of shoppers and shop workers along the GJ Coffees frontage make those quiet moments a people watchers haven. Manila’s Hard Rock Cafe and Friday’s restaurant reside in the same block and indelibly mark this stretch as a pinnacle of F&B oriented R&R in the heart of Manila’s business district.

Low cost travel or trickery?

Yo Yo provide a bus link from Bercham in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia direct to KLIA main and LCC terminals. At RM43 for the one way ride it’s an ok deal. The buses are clean, spacious, well maintained and cool. The trip takes about 2.5hrs and Yo Yo recommend allowing 3 hrs to make the trip. So I did and it meant leaving Ipoh on the 1am bus to arrive in KLIA LCCT at around 4am in the morning in readiness for a 7.20am Air Asia flight to Manila in the Philippines. I slept lightly on the bus and ate (Mc D!?!?) to relieve boredom at the airport. Check in opened at 5.30am. With my bag despatched to the dungeonous mysteries of the KLIA conveyors and a boarding pass tucked into my passport I left the main concourse for the departure lounge and a singular duty free task. Terry’s gin aka Gordon’s Gin upon purchase at the duty free shop is sealed into a specimen bag large enough to contain a gaggle of such bottles.
Air Asia have finally ditched the free seating approach to loading the plane. Their reason I guess they would argue is that it’s more orderly to have seats allocated at check in although I don’t think you can request a particular seat or even location such as window or aisle at the check in process. I have however noticed that there is now an opportunity to add Rm10 to your fare for the priveledge of selecting a preference seat at the internet booking process. Low cost travel or trickery, I occasionally ask myself.
I was fortunate enough to have been allocated an aisle seat, allowing me to thrust the parts of my European form not easily located into the pen between seats, out into the aisle. This irritates the stewards endlessly who counter attack by kicking and wheeling trolleys into me at every opportunity. The seats recline one inch in the interests of economy. As if in compensation they are leather and much is made of this in the amateur banter attempted by the leading stewardess in attempts at lifting the moods of passengers depressed by the overpriced, undersized, taste free food portions and the hand dry towels in the toilets that regress to multiple white tacky globules once moist and in contact with skin. Dry your unshaven face with the hand towels in Air Asia in flight toilets and you will appear to have contracted an in flight mucus that if managed properly could do more for the amusement of other passengers than any banter over leather seats.
The eventful three and half hour flight to Clarke Air Base (a hangover from the American occupation of the area) in Pampangas Philippines was concluded with a smoothe landing on a wet runway. As usual people are out of their seats before the plane has come to a halt, hauling heavy and fragile bags out of the overhead lockers and then stumbling with them as the pilot finally hits the brake pedal. One industrious Philippino was fighting his way up the aisle from a point beyond the wing exits to acheive pole position on the start grid for the door openings. Smile I did when it was announced that we would be departing from the rear of the plane to facilitate a bus service laid on to keep us dry in our passage to the immigration and customs area.
The Philtranco coach to the SM Megamall in Ortigas, apparently the closest stop to Makati cost me 300peso. Alighting from the coach was comparable to being submitted to a bear pit. I fended of the frenzy off taxi drivers who are intent on not only capturing my fare but partaking in conversation about where I’m going before I even make eye contact, My God! I recovered my rucksack from the hold of the bus and walked away from the drop point in the opposite direction to that of the taxi rank.
I sweated a little as I walked away but fell on my feet when in conversation with a street vendor discovered that there was an MRT station on the other side of the Meagamall building. I think it was Shaw Boulevard or Shaw Station and the fare to Ayala was 11peso. A bargain compared to the 250-300 that I would have been paying in a taxi.