Peter Tan – The Digital Awakening
Living One Day At A Time
Images of my Kuala Lumpur trip in January have been uploaded to the Gallery.
1335: At around 1245, I called William to tell him that we have not finished packing and to come pick Wuan and me up half an hour later instead of at 1300. When he arrived with Cynthia at the set time, we were still not ready yet, not until 1330. On the way to Sentral Station, we got stuck in a crawling traffic at Jalan Lapangan Terbang.
1339: What did we do when we knew we were already late for our flight? We indicated and William took the cue. He stopped at Istana Negara for us to snap pictures of the palace gate guards. He must have figured a few minutes would not make much of a difference. Wuan and I thought so too. We snapped away merrily, obviously oblivious to the fact that we were running late.
1341: It was a relief seeing the twin towers of the Meridien and Hilton at the Sentral Station looming before us. We were not going to be that late after all. We had another hour till check-in time. I calculated mentally that we needed 28 minutes for the KLIA Express ride to the airport. That left us with another 30 minutes to hang around at Sentral Station.
1358: I tried to check-in my luggage there but was told by the MAS counter there that I can only accept check-in two hours before departure. Feeling a little hungry, we decided to eat there first. William and Cynthia decided to join us for a fast meal at Strudels. I had Vanilla Frost which was nice but very expensive at RM10.80. The Apple Strudel that Wuan and I shared was delicious too. We suddenly realised that we had spent more time there than we had expected and made a rush for the KLIA Express ticket counter.
1418: We then made a mad rush for the train. We got there, breathless, and waited and waited for the train to move. It did not. We were in trouble. When the train finally left the station, it was announced that we would reach KLIA at ten to three. We were going to be late, just a tad.
1520: Finally, the train pulled into KLIA. We hurried all the way to the check-in counter and showed our ticket. No go. Check-in had closed. We were to endorse our ticket at the MAS office for another flight back to Penang. The office was located at Level 3, the departure at level 5. We had a to pay a penalty of RM50 for missing our flight and got tickets for the next flight at 1700.
1559: Now we really had a lot of time to while away. We checked in my duffle bag and were told to look for counter E21 for assistance when we wanted to board the plane. I needed to use the toilet. It had been improved from the last time I used it but the door latch was difficult to lock and unlock.
1629: Disabled passengers are the first to board and last to disembark. I was helped into the plane by the ground crew. I transferred onto the seat by myself under the watchful eyes of the ground and cabin crew who wanted to do more to help. However, I did not want too much assistance since I could do it by myself.
1729: The captain announced that we were 26,000 feet above sea level. There was nothing much to see except haze and clouds in the distance. It was disappointing to see the muddled landscape below and the lack of heavenly clouds where we were.
1746: It was a smooth touchdown. Home at last. The sight of the Penang Airport is always a very welcome picture. At the same time, I thought how long it would be when I would be on a plane going to Kuala Lumpur again. Penang may be home but there are not many things waiting for me here anymore. I already left my heart somewhere else.
1320: I almost always travel with a heavy luggage although that is not a sensible way for a disabled man to travel. I have one backpack for all the essential items that I needed to use frequently along the way and one big duffel bag for everything else.
“Seorang kah?” the lady security officer at the luggage-scanning machine asked as she helped me put the duffel bag on the conveyor belt.
I smiled and told her that I was. She helped carry the bag and put it on my lap after it came out from the other end of the machine.
1323: I had pre-booked my seat and the relevant information regarding my needs was noted when I collected my ticket last week. Checking-in was a breeze. The duffel bad was tagged and sent on its way. A boarding pass was issued. I was to change wheelchairs at the boarding gate.
1332: At the security checkpoint to the Departure Hall where all hand-carried luggages were put through another scanning machine, something suspicious in my luggage turned up on the screen. The officer pointed to what appeared to look like an artillery shell and asked me what that was. I was not sure and asked her to unzip the backpack and check. It turned out to be the packet of preserved ginger that Wuan brought for me from KL that indeed looked like a shell from its side profile.
1338: Gate 7 was at the far end of the terminal. I had a difficult time pushing the wheelchair because of the carpet. I was later to discover that that friction of pushing had scraped a piece of skin off my little finger. I did not realise it at that time because I have no sensation in that part of my hand.
1342: After checking with the boarding counter the time for boarding and found that I had a bit of time left, I went looking for a toilet. The toilet was at the farthest end of the terminal. Again I pushed all the way there. This is the part of going out that I do not like. Looking for a toilet adapted for the disabled in a large complex is already a problem. Finding one that is clean and dry is another. Some are wet and dirty. The airport toilet for disabled was dry but not very clean and not well adapted for the disabled to use.
1352: An aisle chair was waiting at the boarding counter when I got back there. We are usually allowed to board the plane first and the last to leave as a matter of convenience for other passengers and ourselves. I changed chairs just before boarding the plane. The aisle chair is a tiny contraption on small wheels just large enough to fit into the aisles of the aircraft. It was also very uncomfortable to be on, even for that short distance into the aircraft.
1358: The economy class seating of the plane is alphabetized A to F from left to right. My pre-booked seat was 5A, which was a window seat at the front row. Unfortunately, the armrest for the entire front row is fixed. The stewards said it was all right and I could switch seats. I had wanted the window seat to take some aerial shots. Next time I will remember to pre-book seats in Row 6 which had foldable armrests.
1508: It was drizzling when the plane touched down at KLIA. While waiting for the aisle chair to arrive I took a few shots out the window from where I was sitting. A MAS ground crew helped me transfer from the plane seat to the aisle chair and from the aisle chair to my wheelchair just outside the plane. He then escorted me from the plane to collect my luggage and then all the way to the KLIA Express Terminal for me to catch the ERL to Sentral Station.
1347: I got a little nauseous in the train from all the swaying and rocking. We passed some interesting landmarks along the way but the photos did not come out nicely because of the speed the train was travelling at.
1620: When the train doors opened at Sentral Station, a staff of the KLIA Express helped me with the duffel bag and direction to the Arrival Hall. I went to Starbucks to get rehydrated while waiting for Wuan. I usually drink less when travelling to prevent from having to look for a toilet often.
So I made it to Kuala Lumpur unscathed. This was only possible with the tremendous help from the MAS and the KLIA Express crew who went out of their way to make my journey trouble-free. Terima kasih you guys for the exemplary service accorded to me. Syabas.