Looking at a map of the world, our flights make no sense.
We’re headed to Kuala Lumpur, but we’re routed via Tokyo. That largely has to do with when and through which hubs Star Alliance airlines fly Business Class eligible flights.
No matter. We have access to the Star Alliance lounges pre-flight in Sydney, and during our Tokyo layover. Son #2 suggested that a bonus might be getting good sushi in the Tokyo lounge; sadly, that’s only for First Class passengers eligible to enter ANA’s Suite Lounge.
This is our first time flying with ANA – All Nippon Airways. We were the first people in line at check-in, so were greeted by the entire check-in desk staff lined up in front of of their desks, and bowing to us in unison as they started their day. The ticket agent was the most thorough we’ve ever had, even giving us explicit directions to the appropriate lounge in which to wait for our flight.
The 9-1/2 hour leg from Sydney to Tokyo was on a Boeing 787-9, with lie-flat seats.
We were welcomed on board by our flight attendant Taneka with a glass of champagne, plus cozy slippers.
A nice touch in the green Ettinger amenity bag was a folding nylon shopping bag. We’d packed a couple of those, but extras are always welcome for groceries, wet clothing, and even protecting Ted’s camera in sudden rain showers.
The safety video featured Pokémon characters.
Our Captain welcomed us with a warning about turbulence expected at about the 3 hour mark; that turbulence never materialized. Among the new movie releases available to watch, while wearing the really nice Sony noise-cancelling headphones provided, was Nuremberg.
As we left Sydney, it was all blue skies and fluffy sunlit clouds.
Not long after takeoff it was time to get culinarily pampered .
To accompany our amuse bouche of a tiny delicate Caprese salad and a perfect single bite of chicken and pistachio terrine, Ted had a Noguchi Naohiko Sake, and I had a Kawagoe Sweet Potato Shochu. Although the latter was recommended on the rocks, I much preferred it diluted with Perrier. At a 25% ABV, it was too strong for me the other way.
For our lunch, I chose the Japanese menu and Ted, avoiding seafood, chose the beef fillet steak option from the International menu, but skipped the appetizer since it involved both scallops and, surprisingly, a large succulent prawn.
All those little dishes made for a really filling meal, so I opted for fruit as dessert, but Ted enjoyed the hazelnut mousse.
Before landing, there was an option for more food. I suppose that makes sense on a 9+ hour flight, but it’s not like we were doing anything to burn calories, and there was a lounge layover plus another flight with meals before we’d reach Malaysia.
Instead of that second meal option (on the right hand page), about 6 hours into the flight I had a bowl of the Tonkotsu style ramen from the “order anytime” menu, and it was delicious.
Ted made use of the fact that the lie-flat seats were 198cm (6’6”) long, and slept for a couple of hours. I intentionally stayed awake and enjoyed a lovely cup of matcha green tea. My cunning plan was to sleep on the second flight so that my internal clock would be on “morning” when we arrived in KL at 06:50 a.m, local time tomorrow.
We landed in Tokyo around 20:00 (8 p.m.) and much to our surprise were the only 2 passengers transferring from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 for another international flight. Not only were we the only people on a full-sized inter-terminal shuttle bus, but on arrival at T3 instead of directions we got a personal escort to the security checkpoint, where we were again the only people.
That made it a shock to find the ANA Business Class Lounge absolutely packed. Neither of us were particularly hungry. The food selection was mostly from the live-cooking noodle bar where a variety of udon and soba noodle dishes were being prepared to order, supplemented by a small selection of dim sum style dishes, but we both had a snack from the latter, and I had a dish pf cool, fresh bean curd with fruit. Ted was very impressed with the draught beer dispenser that tilted the tall beer glass so that the liquid was decanted down the side and then, when the glass was about 7/8 full, straightened the glass and dispensed a foamy head. We also enjoyed the fact that the lounge is a space where talking on cellphones is restricted to specific areas to allow everyone else to enjoy quiet conversation – or napping.
Boarding for our flight opened at 11:30 p.m.
On this second long flight, on a Boeing 787-8, instead of lie-flat seats the Business Class cabin configuration was side-by-side “cradles”.
Given that the flight was scheduled to take off at five minutes past midnight, we were curious as to whether an initial meal would be served, or we’d just be encouraged to sleep until breakfast. I have to admit to being glad it was the latter. I put on the cozy slippers, put in the complimentary earplugs and sleep mask, snuggled into the ultra soft blanket, and drifted off, despite the cradle configuration actually being pretty uncomfortable, with the bend in the seat at an awkward spot and my feet left dangling. Still, it was a vast improvement over non-reclining economy seats.
About 2 hours before landing we were served breakfast, although ANA’s menu called it “After Nap Comfort”. Ted and I both chose the international option: a frittata, potatoes, vegetables, and sausage over red pepper sauce, plus pastries and fresh fruit (pink grapefruit, kiwi, pineapple, and apple) instead of the Japanese morning meal. I really enjoy Japanese food, but the multi-dish offering of dressed land seaweed & yuba with sesame, squid sushi, grilled conger eel and fish paste, tilefish with vegetables & yuba, steamed rice, and miso soup didn’t appeal to me as first tastes after waking.
We landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport right on time, retrieved our luggage, cleared immigration (having done our MDAC – Malaysia Digital Arrival Card – the required 24-72 hours ahead, and not needing visitor visas) relatively quickly, and got ready to head to our hotel.
At 07:00 a.m. it was already 28°C/82°F and humid. No surprises there; we were expecting a couple of hot weeks in Malaysia before heading to a much cooler Greece in April.
Malaysia uses the Grab ride-share platform instead of Uber. Ted is the on-the-ground logistics guy in our partnership for any transit that is less than a regional train, so he installed the Grab app before we left Sydney. My job once we landed was to send a WhatsApp message to Kenny, our Kuala Lumpur accommodation contact who would get us settled into our apartment for the week.
In Kuala Lumpur we’ve again booked an apartment-hotel, this time at Soho Suites KLCC LX. We’re here for just a week, but in a 2-bedroom apartment. It’s far more space than we need, but the large number of tourists and expats coming through Kuala Lumpur for long stays means that this is the most popular – and most prevalent – configuration.
Our actual apartment looks like this:
It’s fine. Meh. Our grandsons would say “mid”. Everything is worn (“well used”), and very basic: exactly 4 towels, 2 for each bedroom. Cheap refilled shampoo and soap in generic plastic pumps. Only a couple of pots, but tons of cutlery. Not one single decorative item on the long stretches of builder’s white walls. It’s obviously more of an Airbnb marketed through Expedia than a true apartment hotel (now that we know what those look like). Of course, we’ve been pretty spoiled so far, especially coming off a high end stay in Sydney, but putting it in perspective the nightly rate here is 25% of what we paid in Sydney, and the location is great. Despite the fact that we can’t actually see them from our side of the building, the Petronas Towers are virtually right behind us, although we have to walk 10 minutes to reach them using proper sidewalks.
Plus, it has the most important feature for a March stay in KL: strong air conditioning!
Today we just caught up on sleep after our long flights, and then walked to a lovely upscale Indian restaurant for lunch (which was still only $34CAD for the two of us) before going to the nearest small grocer for breakfast food, instant coffee (more about that at some later time), light beer, and bottled water – since the tap water, as is the case in many countries, is not drinkable.
We have a couple of Get-Your-Guide tours, booked as Expedia experiences, during our time here. Other than those, we’ll simply explore on our own, expanding on the very short visit we had here last year on our world cruise (Episode 633).
The forecast during our days in KL
Rose and Ted’s Excellent Adventure 