I’m currently in the low-cost carrier airport in Kuala Lumpur. It is different than I expected, so in the off-chance that anyone who reads my blog is traveling to or from KL on Air Asia or another low-cost carrier, I will let you know what is up!
First of all, unlike most international airports, it is TINY. I have a pretty significant layover here, and was hoping to spend some time wandering around, browsing a wide assortment of chain restaurants and souvenir shops. Since my digital camera busted about a week and a half ago, I figured the cheapest place to buy a new one would be at a duty free shop at the airport in Malaysia’s capital city, and perhaps it would be in the main airport, such ambitions cannot be realized at the the low-cost carrier airport.
There are exactly four restaurants here. One is McDonald’s. One is a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. One is just called “Asian Food.” The only restaurant past security (where I am) is called “Cafe Expresso,” but it really serves the same thing as “Asian Food” except without the rice and noodles. You can get something called a “Hot Dog Bun” there … but you probably shouldn’t.
Actually, I might have to go buy one now just so I can report back about it. It could be great.
The airport is not all bad. There is free wi-fi, which can be more precious than gold (because who wants gold these days anyway??), but there are not any places to sit besides the restaurants, which are quite crowded and full of food. There are also not any readily available electrical outlets, which can be a problem when you are stuck in the airport for five or six hours and your computer is not from the future when batteries last for weeks and energy is pulled magically from the air (or the sun!).
The only reason I am even writing this is that I have commandeered a check-in station, which I’m pretty sure is reserved For Airline Personnel Only, but it was abandoned and I did ask ask first. I was very tempted to borrow a courtesy wheelchair (possibly the only courtesy wheelchair), roll up to the desk and make myself at home, but I’ll be sitting plenty long enough on the plane. And also: stealing wheelchairs is mean.
I’m running out of interesting things to tell you about this airport. It is possible that I did not have any to begin with! It is clean, well-lit and comfortably climate-controlled. There are a lot of people, but there seems to be enough space to fit them all comfortably. No babies are crying!
The only shops past security are a couple of duty-free stores that sell exclusively alcohol, cigarettes and chocolate. I have never understood duty-free stores. They are supposed to be cheap (I think?) but only seem to sell huge containers of things which seem overpriced to me. I tried to examine the whiskey to figure out just how many colors Johnny Walker brand whiskey comes in, but I just got confused. The best kind seems to cost about 200x more than the worst kind. To me, that seems to indicate that the worst kind is either really *really* bad, or the best kind is so immeasurably good that only the sort of person who enjoys paying zillions of dollars on booze would be able to distinguish it from the mid-range whiskey.
We’re boarding soon! Hoorah!
Soon I will write an entry that won’t be about waiting at the airport or getting a haircut! The earth will tremble!