So there I was at the Sibu Airport waiting for my flight to Kuching…
After having had a bite to eat at the Sugar Bun outlet there, I proceeded to the departure lounge and sat there prior to the call to board the aircraft.
If you may recall, I mentioned in this post sometime ago how I was put off by how the national carrier, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) handled the boarding procedure when it was time to do so…and how the so-called cheap airline, Air Asia, would do it differently and everything would run so smoothly without any hassle nor any hitch.
Let me show how they would go about it! As soon as the aircraft had landed, we were asked to proceed outside and made to stand and queue in groups accordingly…
Because I had booked my ticket at the last minute, all the cheap ordinary seats were occupied so I had no choice but to grab a hot seat and that was why there I was – right in front!
The others were divided into two other groups – the ones seated in the rows at the back and those in the rows in the front half of the aircraft…
As soon as the plane was ready, we were instructed to proceed accordingly to take our seats in the aircraft…and in no time at all, we were taking off…
…and on our way!
I’m afraid I cannot say the same about the airline ground staff at the Kuching so-called international airport though. To put it mildly, let’s just say that boarding was somewhat messy. It certainly would be Β a good idea to emulate what the ground staff in Sibu does and make it the standard practice at all airports. There was no delay and in fact, we arrived EARLY, some 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Wasn’t that great?
My cousin met me upon arrival and she wanted to take me for dinner but I had already eaten so we went for drinks to chat and we also ordered this plate of tomato kway teow (RM8.00)…
…to share. I wanted the Kuching-style noodles, fried till crispy, with the tomato gravy poured over them but this stall that we went to did not serve that.
After that, she dropped me off at the hotel…
…where I would be staying the night prior to making my way to Serian the next morning.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
How was your stay at Four Points ? i thought you were like saying you were not happy with your previous stay?
I chose it because of its location in the outskirts of the city, near the airport and on the way to Serian…and I was glad I did that. Kuching is as bad now as Penang or KL – you will read about the horrendous jam on our way back in a couple of posts from this one.
This time around, there was some toilet paper in the toilet bowl when I checked into the room which, of course, is rather unbecoming for a hotel of this class – thankfully, it was clean…or at least, it looked so and I just flushed it away, didn’t make a fuss about it. I mentioned that in the feedback they requested for via email to me. Other than that, everything was fine.
Again, the food was sub-standard – the coffee was so very weak it was quite tasteless, almost like plain water. π¦ I also posted a comment on this on their Facebook page when they proudly showed off their colourful mugs – what is the point if they look nice and pretty when the coffee sucks big time?
Tomato kuey teow? First time I hear wor.. So the sauce is like the sweet & sour sauce (like “koo lou yok” sauce)? You didn’t say nice or not, so guess it was not that nice, hehe..
It was nice – they do it very well in Kuching. We also have this here in Sibu but so far, I’ve yet to find one that I like…same as Kuching kolo mee, none here that I think is good enough and like the best ones in Kuching. Expensive though – RM8, serving for two but more like for one. Here, you order fried noodles for two – RM6.00 and enough for 3 or 4.
I missed tomato kuew tiaw and crispy noodle. Where to find in Sibu?
Don’t know of any place serving crispy noodles in tomato gravy – kway teow…everywhere got, but I’ve yet to find one that is as nice as the good ones in Kuching. You can try Red Carrot for one, but don’t get your hopes up too high.
I tried it before in Red Carrot. Alright lah but cant beat Kuching. π¦
Yup, tastes ok…but not the same, no fight.
oh how nice you have that covered and air-conditioned walkway connected to your plane.. we here at KLIA LCCT, have to walk all the way under the sun or rain outdoor to board our plane.. π¦
When it’s AA, we have to walk down from the 1st floor of the airport…out into the open to the aircraft and board the plane using the staircases, front or back depending on our seats…but of course, our airport is small, not so many aircrafts…so we do not have to walk so far. Sometimes, they use the aerobridge – like my flight that day. Dunno why, not all the time. But whatever it is, I can’t stand LCCT! I wonder when they will start using KLIA2. Hope that will be better.
oh you were lucky that day huh?? else you would be dripping sweat when you boarded the plane, haha!! and yes, i really do not understand why LCCT then KLIA2, and how many years the project has delayed, i lost count!! π
No, wouldn’t be sweating – aircraft is always parked near the terminal…and Sibu is not so hot, not city…lots of greenery plus our airport is far from the town, in the jungle. π September last year, I think…and then, they said March – next week…or is it May? Dunno.
May 2.. but then looks like it will be delayed again.. read this:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/cracks-in-klia2s-taxiway-apron-aircraft-bay-raise-safety-opening-delay-fear
Yes, I saw that – can’t remember where, maybe via yahoo.com.my or somewhere else when I was browsing for reports on the cheap airline’s controversial advertisement that offended nurses…
It’s all about enforcement. Look at the traffic jam beside Sibu central market, the enforcement officers are around but do nothing…I don’t understand.
Enforcement? Or discipline? Self-discipline? It is easy to point your finger at others – as the old Chinese saying puts it, there are four others pointing back at you. No doubt there is something grossly lacking in the enforcement but it would help a great deal if everyone cooperates and toes the line – obviously, they don’t bother!
Like just the other day, I had just got into my car when someone parked his car right behind mine to go and tapao something at the coffee shop – he saw me but he did not care…and left his car there in the middle of the road to go and get what he wanted…and I had to wait for him…and the traffic came to a crawl. Yes, where were the enforcement officers, you may ask? If he had been more considerate and co-operative, there would not be any need for enforcement. Therein the root of the problem lies.
And back to the airline – I have seen the ground crew shouting themselves hoarse, threatening not to allow passengers to board…and nobody gave a damn…and they kept pushing and shoving and jumping queue and that caused further delay…all because people were not cooperative nor disciplined enough to do as they were told.
P.S.: I do not wish to touch on “certain issues” in my blog. Please do take note and hope you will cooperate. Feel free to go and rant elsewhere – lots of venues for you to do that. Thank you.
Will you be writing a post about Four Points?
Not really – will just mention in passing. I’ve written about it before – TWICE, at least! Why?
Tomato kway teow looks good. Four Points Hotel, good choice to stay in the sense easy access to eat at the surrounding area. Good business at night.
But far from the city centre – food across the road so-so only, some ok…nice but not the best. Will need a car to get to those in Kuching.
Pricey leh the keoy teow. Looks like our “wat tan hor” noodles. .only with ketchup.
Something like that with tomato sauce. I would prefer it a little bit lighter though but this was good enough – better than any that I’ve tried in Sibu.
Wah….tomato kuey teow sounds so appetizing. I’m sure my kids would enjoy it since both love tomatoes sauce.
You can try, cooking Cantonese wat tan hor-style and adding a dash of tomato ketchup. Should be the same, I’m sure.
They’re pretty messy all the time, that’s one time they keep on send my brother to the wrong boarding gate end up it makes my brother missed the flight
Who? I know at KLIA, they always change gates. Did not notice that at LCCT but the place is horrible, so crowded, so hot and the toilets are so so so dirty.
It’s LCCT!!!
Oh? Never noticed that there. Not there often enough, I guess, and for domestic – the gates would be one whole stretch along the same block. Maybe you mean their international – I wouldn’t know. Never been there.
Four points..not bad.. heard that it is quite expensive in Penang…anyway, it is really nice of you to go all the way from Sibu to Kuching and to Serian to attend your friend’s funeral…
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing and since he was such a close friend, I simply had to go, no second thoughts about it. It’s ok here, not cheap…but can’t stay at any hotel of this class in KL at this price. A bit cheaper in Sibu though for this kind of hotel, maybe by RM30-40 like that.
I flew by Firefly to and from Kuala Terengganu recently and they were also orderly. On way back to Subang we were 10 minutes early. I have never seen tomato kuay teow before. Don’t know if available here. Look nice though.
It is a popular Kuching dish. Love it heaps! But when I was in college in the 70’s, the die-hard Sibu Foochows did not like it one bit and they would craved for our own Sibu Foochow-style ones…not me. Firefly’s stint here was so short-lived that I never had the chance to try it.
No doubt the low cost carrier is having a systematic arrangement for the passengers who waiting to board as soon as the aircraft stop for landing, but I was not happy when they have no time to do housekeeping for the seats. I hate when my seat got chips leavings and I have to brush it off myself..
Ummmm…I’m talking about their boarding procedure at Sibu airport here, that’s all. Anyway, it’s a cheap airline, low cost – what do you expect? They do not have cleaners coming on board to clean up the mess that passengers made. That is why they always ask for everybody’s cooperation to clean up the mess and throw the rubbish and whatever into the big black plastic bag (Shudders!) that they will carry round at the end of every flight. The cabin crew even have to clean the toilets – and like my flight that day, as soon as the last passenger had disembarked, we were asked to board already. They really would not have time to do much. How else would we have been able to arrive 10 minutes earlier?
Anyway, you can always email them if it upsets you so much – state flight number, seat number and send photos if you have taken any – I do know that action will be taken like it will affect the crew’s bonus and prospect for promotion. Or you could have complained at their office upon arrival.
Hmmm…so you simply brushed the chips off your seat? So they were all be scattered on the floor then? Oh me oh my!!!
That’s a very systematic arrangement indeed. I flew AA numerous times and yes. love their arrangements.
Not as great at LCCT but anyway, MAS at KLIA is more or less the same or even worse. They only depend on announcements and how many would actually listen and follow? Very often, I would board to go to my seat at the back and I would see all the passengers all settled in the front seats already – they were not supposed to board yet! And when I had a seat in front, more often than not, by the time they asked those in front to board, I would be one of the few or the only one left. π¦
I have to agree. Overall, I think AA does a better job at crowd control than MAS. Did Tony pay you to write this?
I wouldn’t mind if he sends me a free return air ticket to any destination of my choice… π
Oh..that kway teow looks very good. Have not try the authentic one in Kuching, but do have tried the one in Sibu, i can said i quite like it.
If you’ve tried the ones in Kuching, those in Sibu will not be good enough anymore – I’ve yet to find one that is.
STP..are u still in kch?
Nope, flew back the very next day.
I heard Four Points is quite good eh?
Was very good the first time we stayed there. Now, so-so…and food’s not as nice anymore. π¦
Sila tunggu. Ahaha. Normally I saw the screen was written in English.
Not sure if there was any in English.
Being able to board a flight systematically is a must for me. Had my share of horrible boarding experiences. Strangely they were not in Malaysia π
I thought it was bad in Manila a long long time ago in the 80’s…but that was around Christmas, terribly crowded, and the airport was very small then, dunno now.
Haven’t tried tomato kueh teow before. Looks nice and something like the Cantonese wat tan hor over here. π
Just cooked my own this morning – will blog about it.
Roughly how many flights do you fly a year? Just curious!? It seems it’s cheaper to fly in most other countries outside of the US anymore. I have an English friend who flies nearly every weekend and always gets great prices on flights!
Just a couple. More convenient and comfortable to fly here – the state of Sarawak in Malaysia is very big and our trans-Sarawak highway isn’t great. There is a budget airline – can be quite cheap if one’s lucky.