Thursday, July 06, 2006

To the East

We flew to Bintulu by Air Asia yesterday, having made flight reservations about three weeks ago for the discounted tickets. The flight was delayed by about 45 minutes. I was made to understand that they had pre-flight documentations mix up, whatever that means, requiring the Captain to leave the aircraft to sort them out!! When he returned, he came on the pa system and apologised for the delay and he sounded as though he was panting, perhaps after running back to the aircraft?? Our flight was pushed back seventh in the queue for take off, delaying us further. Anyway this incident tells on the efficiency of the guys responsible for the execution and management of the flight control system and procedures. My immediate neighbour commented to me recently that Air Asia is well known for delays. I guess when he reads this he will probably say "There... I told you so!!". Ah well, a delay of 45 minutes against an airfare less than a quarter of the normal fare should not be cause for grouses. But that is no excuse for accepting ineffeciencies though. Air Asia should not just rest on the laurels of being the cheapest air fare flight provider but also pay equal, if not more, attention to improving their procedural systems and increase efficiencies. Their tagline "Now everyone can fly" can be supported by sub tags like "we are not only cheap, we are also efficient".

Son Shaffik was in a meeting and could not fetch us from Bintulu airport (he came home after sundown) and he had requested a very close friend of mine, who was free then, to fetch us. The kids were all waiting for us at home. They were excited as usual. Babang even asked, "Why Tok Bah took a long time to come to our house again?".
"Tok Bah was very busy", was all I could reply. "Oh yeahhhh!" he said. I guess he has heard that reply once too often from other elders!!

Babang was very composed and behaved himself when we arrived. He chatted with us and replied our questions in proper decorum. I noticed though that he kept eyeing our bags every so often but not saying anything about it. He even chided Dedek for playing with our bags.

Dedek on the other hand was impatient but try not to show it. He played with our bags and asked, "Why is Tok Bah's bags so heavy?". I replied that I have my clothes inside. He asked, "Tok Bah got only clothes inside? Tok Bah's clothes are heavy? Nothing else inside the bag?" Ha ha ha, the waiting was getting on him!! When I finally opened the bag he peered inside and exclaimed, "Haaaa, I can see so many toys inside".

The children kept us busy throughout the evening, including baby Haadieya who insisted in getting our attention everytime. At the same time she annoys her brothers by playing with their toys instead of her own.... I guess she found the bigger boys' toys more interesting than the musical toy she got......

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Bintulu

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