Don Mueang Airport ท่าอากาศยานดอนเมือง to Mochit BTS via A1 Express

One and a half hours later, we were in Don Mueang Airport. 

Flying Thai Air Asia from Hatyai airport

Hatyai Airport was a pleasant surprise.

Busy, bustling and vibrant, they even have a kopitiam and a full post office downstairs.

Fiumicino aka Leonardo da Vinci Airport

My first time at Fiumicino Airport . Last time I came in via land from the direction of Monaco. 

Gate 302 - Atatürk Havalimani airport

When we first arrived here from KL , we had a shuttle waiting for us. The driver made me giggle because it seems at a certain point along the highway, they now have to keep to a 70 speed limit or risk a 500 lira fine. Such a funny guy. Maybe the Turkish highway patrol read my fast & furious blog post lol. 

Whatever.....

Qatar Airways - KL / Doha / Istanbul

This time , we flew with Qatar because the fare was so incredible.

 Thing is, when the fare is low or when you get a sponsored ticket, most times, it involves a transit. And now it seems, there's a new colour coded system in Doha , hence you should receive the transit ticket with a coloured jacket

Penang Airport 2013 - domestic departures

While the facade is now eyecatching and elegant, and the main hall outside, has new F&B outlets such as KFC, the toilets still remain a horror story which I don't wanna talk about. 

Once past passport control however, things are much more pleasant on the inside. Large glass panels for great photo ops of the runway.

 

Spacious too with nice shops to cater to the last minute shopper. 

Heathrow

It's around 6.30 am or so. Dreary,chilly...cold weather upon arrival.

Don't let this alarm you. 

Baggage claims surely cannot be THAT far off.

Maybe they're exhausted.

Wonder how many missed the welcome posters.

Quite positive EVERYONE saw this one though

Focus .....what was I doing here again ? Oh yea. My bags !

Now which country would send an entire classroom of schoolkids to the Olympics ?

Tried to use the Fast Track to bypass them.

Don't. It's reserved for flight crew and etc.

Had to make an embarassing U turn out again to join the main line.

More Pink reminders as to what season this is

Immigration was so efficient and lightning fast we found ourselves out here looking for signs to the tube in less than 8 minutes

Only to be stopped in our tracks by these two very hardworking and friendly volunteers whose job was to arm all new arrivals with a map and guidebook

Everywhere one turned, one was bound to bump into an athlete or other.

 Finally after a long,long walk we reach the entrance of the underground .

3 Hours at Dubai International Airport - Part 2

We've covered what we thought was the end of the east wing and the end of the west wing. Exhausted we headed towards Mc Donald's

We shouldn't have. Not only was the price murderous.

The salad tasted as if it had just been tossed with plain tasting liquid detergent .

Worse still , the coffee was weak.

Only the fries and nuggets tasted like the Mc Donald's we all know and expect.

The orange juice was sour and bitter. Not in the least sweet at all. Yuck.

A quick dash to the loo yielded another surprise .

Only when I sat down did I discover that the inside consists of 100% hot boiling water ! Enough to cook one's goose !

Sad to say, lack of seating space is a serious issue in this airport. There's simply not enough to go around .

Thus we had to wander around aimlessly once again from the east wing to the west wing, like a band of crazy eyed vagabonds fighting to stay awake.

The scenario is the complete opposite once inside the boarding gate itself . Plenty of space as you can see. Pretty pointless, seeing that we spend more time outside the boarding lounge than inside.



Think I shed a tear of joy ,when the bald guy finally announced that we could board the plane at last !

Conclusion : It's not funny to be stuck in transit inside the world's largest airport with the world's least seats.

3 Hours at Dubai International Airport - Part 1

If you trawl the internet for reviews, you'll find lots of horrible feedback from disgruntled visitors . Thus, we were already prepared for the worst upon arrival.

True. Directions weren't very clear.
Maybe it was the sight of these very attractive stroller pit stops, that distracted us.

But there was no sign of the horrendous queues one had to endure.

Which resulted in us having to make enquiries about our flight from this counter eventually.

On the contrary, no one was rude to us. They even helped identify our gate as well as time of departure.

Being here almost seems as if one has just entered the Phillipines because of the near total domination by a Filipino workforce.

Frankly they lag behind in terms of merchandise display especially when it comes to luxury items. Most times things are not attractively displayed and look quite sad with a pasar feel to it.

However all that was more than made up for by sheer presence of this Vertu shop (with no security in sight gosh) in the middle of the walkway.

I wanted to get these salt and pepper shakers but the thought of ending up with broken porcelain stopped me in my tracks.

...looked wishfully at the iconic towers....

....donkeys and camels....

Also Aladdin lamps ! Eeek !

Another reminder of just how massive, huge this airport really is popped up

Certainly didn't deter me from walking towards the end and making a U turn back at this strange pink bird house (in the middle of an airport ?)

Arrivals- Penang Airport

Touchdown. Quick dash to the toilet first.

Then, it's off to baggage claims or so we thought

Departure Terminal

Once inside the airport, we converge at this screen. Cross reference to check where we should be headed

Woah....so many self check in terminals.

Chek Lap Kok Airport 2012

Terrible service and indignant crew aside, we land in one piece.

View from my window.

I mean I'm still kinda glum over the service metted out by the couldn't care less staff . Even though I should be excited, there's a sort of grey cloud hanging over my head.

Doesn't help that it looks hazy today.

Heading towards the immigration is a breeze. The signs are clear and easy to follow.

Just in case you find walking there impossible, you might want to consider taking an indoor vehicle in return for a fixed fee.

The personnel manning such vehicles are located next to the walking escalators.

We clear the immigration no time. So efficient even though there is a massive crowd.

Upon exiting, most Malaysian affiliated tour companies will require you to come to this waiting point. Very easy to spot.

Just look out for numbered pillars such as these.

We follow the tour guide towards our airport transfer.

In case, you're on your own, you might want to take note of this. Trains to the city are in this direction.

This exit is for bus transfers

So stylish eh ?

Everyone seems to walk with a purpose here, especially men in suits

Finally....

Heading out of the airport, I wonder what purpose these pillars serve .

Penang Airport

In case there was a horrible jam, we decided to leave at 5.30 am. Apparently lots of people thought the same too and I was amazed to see it crowded at that hour thronging the Penang airport.

Our tickets from Cathay Pacific. Thank goodness did not have to wait too long as most were jammed up at the Air Asia counters.

Our destination ? Hong Kong !

Hungry but ended up with the shittiest breakfast at Mc Donalds. The muffin top was hard,chewy and so tough and we just gave up and left it aside .

The restaurant is located just next to the most disgusting toilet in Penang airport that looks like a bus station's washroom . Try not to use if possible or you'll end up loosing your appetite.

So we lined up, went through the immigration and then stumbled upon this.

Segregation of the sexes . Such a no brainer unless they really like to indulge in frisking.

There is a delay . Thus ended up with this pic . Notice that I am not using a filter, the effect comes from the spots on the never cleaned window. Gross.

Not long before I come face to face with this screen.

Look at the time. Ok not too bad. 3 over hours is better than 24 hours with a row of crying babies.