Penang To Langkawi Flight

Still in Malaysia, let us say goodbye to Penang Island and head to Langkawi Island, even if briefly!

There are many ways to cross between these two islands, but I opted to fly in the interest of time!

The distance (I'm estimating) is roughly similar to flying from Cebu to Bacolod, and of course it is also a domestic flight, since both islands belong to northern Malaysia, over the historic Straits of Malacca!

For those not familiar, just FYI, these areas I'm talking about are already near the border with Thailand, i.e., the islands north of Langkawi are already part of Satun, Thailand. And mind you, if you look to the map's left edge , that is the northern-most part of Indonesia, Banda Aceh. Tsunami 2004, remember?

Anyway, I did check all transport options from Penang to Langkawi: 1) By boat (fastcraft actually), this takes about 3 hours at almost a thousand pesos; 2) Ferry/Bus/Ferry Combination takes some 7 hours (adventure!) for a cost of 600 to 700 pesoses; and 3) Fly - it takes just 35 minutes for about 1,700PHP.

I really wanted that second option for the "things to see and experience". MJ also wanted that for the cost! But no can do! My meeting at Langkawi was in the afternoon. So, the only viable option was, fly!

How did it go? Here we go...

We took a cab from Holiday Inn to the airport. It took a bit more than an hour (30+ kms). Why taxi? Ah, we woke up late! The original plan was even to ride the Rapid Penang Bus 102 which takes 2~3 hours!

Traffic wasn't that heavy (as far as I'm concerned hehe), the airport is just far. Or is it? Ahm, I shot that pic when we were (probably) about a third of the way - that's Jalan Scotland, near the children's library.

We arrived just in time, meaning we had to quickly move, to catch our flight's check-in procedures!

But, even if anxious about being late for check-in, my brain still quickly processed little things my eyes saw! Like that 'bon voyage' sign, the top portion says "Berhati-hati Semasa Memandu" hehehe. When I laughed, MJ asked "ano nanaman ang nakita mo". I said it means "ingat sa pagmamaneho"! Piloto?!

I still had the 'presence of mind' to take photos even if running late. 'Instinct' of a story teller? Maybe!

What caught my attention here was the seemingly unusually so many things to read for someone who is driving.., and some of them come in unusual font colors and/or backgrounds that affect readability!

Departure curbside. Arrow points to where driver let us off, so we can immediately run to check-in.

This is a small airport (cute in fact), but like the newer Malaysian airports of today, what confronts you immediately after the entrance doors are a maze of shops before you can find your check-in counters!

The next time I remembered to take pictures, we were already at the holding lounge of our Gate B4..,

We were not late, after all. It was not yet boarding! I still had time to look around, like how come Gates B2 and B4 share the same entrance? And I got curious about what is that picture/mural on that wall?!

Well, I went near it.., eto pala yun! A "3D trick-art" installation for the selfie-loving "now generation"!

Hmm, if we arrived at this airport earlier, we could have gone to see the other interesting 'artsy' things!

Oh well, beside the above trick-art thing, we saw that there's this 'Internet Lounge' but we didn't try it.

Not sure if it's for a fee or free, since we didn't check it out as it was full of kids. Then, maybe it's free!

I instead went further right, to visit the 'comfort rooms', and look what I unintentionally found!

'Bilik Merokok' - a Smoking Room! Well, ah, I went forth to check it out for the sake of this blog heheh!

It's a big enough airconditioned room with good exhaust and 2 'trash-bin-cum-ashtrays' in the middle.

Oh, I took a pic of the door handle to capture the signage. That's "tulak" in Tagalog, right? Same-same!

To the end of the concourse, near Gate B7, there is also a little airplane-themed play area for kids!

Good enough - even if you say "masabi lang na meron sila". Bakit sa airport nyo, ano ang meron, aber?

Alright, boarding for our flight was called, and we entered through the 'gate' (B2,B4) pictured above..,

The system here (as of now) is: you go down a rampway to ground level (parang "Bus Gates" sa atin).

The interesting difference is, there are also arriving passengers who pass by the same rampway. Just like in Singapore, where arriving and departing passengers pass by the same concourse. They see the same line of shops and services - what's wrong with that anyway, right? But here, no walkalators (yet)!

Ah, good that this airport keeps a changing with the times, but we are not sure if that is going to be a permanent setup, since the size of the hallways do not seem to have been 'layouted' for that purpose.

We'll see in the future. Or more precisely... "they'll see" how it goes!

Eto na.., when we reached ground level, we saw that there are also 'real' gates with waiting lounges!

But there are no people sitting around here (other than airport staff) since it is boarding time! Imagine Mactan Cebu's Gates 25A and 25B.., or Manila Terminal 3's Gates 131 to 134, this area here is similar. But it's not jampacked with people since they let passengers wait upstairs. That's good management!

And we walked to board our aircraft, an ATR72-500 (parang yung maliliit na plane ng Cebu Pacific).

No need to ride a bus, since planes on this portion of the airport are really just right across the gates.

It turns out that these gates (B2, B4 and B6) are/were really made just for smaller planes that can't be serviced by aerobridges like at their Gates B1, B3 and so on. We can't even call these 'bus gates' since they don't need buses! So ano, "walk gates" na lang. Cute! Samantalang sa bandang atin... hay ambot!

Anyway.., okay, let's go.., fly na!

I was seated 1F, this was my view of Penang International Airport as we taxied out for takeoff..,

Sayang, we canot clearly see the name Penang International Airport on this photo. I don't know if it is just the color of the building, the sun's harsh light, the ability of my phone's camera, or all of the above!

We took off anyway, and it was nice looking at those industrial buildings.., a clear sign of progress!

For my history-loving friends, did you know, the runway I just took off from was the first civilian airfield built by the British in their colonized Malaya in 1935? Yep, and consequently therefore, also one of the first airfields bombed by the Japanese Imperial Army when they started conquest on this part of Asia!

Anyway, did I say "industrial buildings"? They surround the runway, especially the northeastern parts!

Those are the many locators of Bayan Lepas Industrial Park they like to call 'Silicon Valley of the East'.

These areas around the runway (and getting wider, I think) has boomed, that I now hear many names like 'industrial zone', 'technoplex' and so on. Basta, para syang malaking Mactan Export Zone (MEPZ).

Mind you, I've read in a magazine sometime ago.., the companies in that industrial zone are not so-so! Yes, big names sila, at hindi 'just-just', such as HP, Dell, Intel, AMD, Motorola, Hitachi, Sony, Bosch, etc.!

Oh, before I forget, I also got a glimpse of their second bridge - linking Penang island with mainland!

Can you see the bridge? The start until the middle can be seen on the photo (at least)! But if you really strain your eyes, you can see it snaking over water, until it ends over at mainland in a haze. Malayo ha!

That is 24 kilometers long, although only 17 kilometers of it is directly above the sea. For comparison purposes, yung pinakamahaba natin (San Juanico Bridge) is only 2.1 kilometers long. Ang haba ano?

Most of the locals call it Penang Second Bridge, because the official name is very long - Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge. It is a new bridge, I remember it was opened the summer after Yolanda.

Now, if that is the second bridge, where is the first one? Ah, it's to the left, but the takeoff angle of this flight didn't give me a good vantage for a photo. The 2 bridges are only about 9 or 10 kilometers apart. Anyway, that older bridge is more than 13 kms long but only 8 kms are above the sea. It is Malaysia's second-longest bridge now, because it has been overshadowed by the above hehe! Mahaba pa rin ah!

Trivia: you only pay toll on this bridge when coming from mainlad to the island. The reverse is free!
Trivia pa more: the first bridge was made by Koreans, the second by China. Now, what do you think?!

Oh one last thing about this flight takeoff from Penang's Runway 04.., if I were on the left side of the plane, my view would have been a fantastic "bird's eye view" of the high-rise buildings, residences and other structures of the fast urbanizing Penang - almost all of the eastern part of the island - city view!

Let's talk about the 'experience on board'..,

As you will already know, this was a flight on Firefly - the "bukatkat" or "alitaptap" as translated by MJ!

Just look at the seats, leather! And this is just the same turboprop airplane (ATR72) as those used by Cebu Pacific on short inter-island flights. Same number of seats too. Yet, cheaper and even "comfier"!

Cheaper? Well, for the distance (parang Cebu-Bacolod or Cebu-Tacloban), we got our seats Row 1 at P1,700 each. Premium Economy na yan. Regular Economy seats were just at about 900 pesosesoses!

Eto, "Welcome Drink". Natawa si stewardess when she saw we were taking photos of the paper cups!

She said "our cups very small? ah you are very big men! don't worry, I'll give you more if you want". Da!

We just smiled with a slight bow. Di nagpa-halata na nakyukyutan lang kami sa color ng airline nila!

That is orange juice 'on the rocks', and if you ask for more, they do not refill cups, they bring a new set! Naalala ko tuloy ang namayapang ina ko, kung siya yun, i-uuwi lahat ang brightly-colored cups na yan!

Anyway, if you want souvenirs, Firefly has a lot, for sale syempre (if you're not as charming like me)!

Those are printed on cards found inside your seat pockets, and also at the back pages of their inflight magazine. A crew gave me one of those T-Shirts (worth 35RM). Yes, bigay lang! Ke MJ, ballpen (3RM)!

Oi, speaking of inserts inside your seat pocket, the most common (required, of course) are these:

The "Safety Instruction Cards" printed in both Bahasa Melayu (black) and English (red). But those are only the first two pics in the collage above. So what is that third (yellow) pic all about? Advertisement!

Advertisement, as in, nagbebenta ng bahay (BDB Land - a realty company). Meron pang pa-contest na nalalaman ang card na yan. Meron pang Q&A yan sa likod. And everything is in English! Ala ehh, bakit gah, ay hindi naman bawal ang yaon, di ba gah? Ah, kesa naman tadtarin ng stick-on ads ang dingding ng plane, di ba? That, for me, is better than what Air Asia and Cebu Pacific are doing to their airplanes!

Anyway again..,

After 30 minutes of flight, here we were about to land, passing by the many islets south of Langkawi..,

Some learned people call this area the "Langkawi Archipelago", but I do not know yet what qualifies as "archipelago" or what doesn't. I know though, that many of the islets are now great tourist hideaways!

That island at left-foreground of the photo is Pulau Tepor. While nearest to mainland Langkawi, Pulau Tepor is still uninhabited, but a common day trip destination as there are stretches of fine white sand.

Behind Pulau Tepor is actually already part of mainland Langkawi. In fact, just not clear on the picture, but at its tip is the Star Cruises Pier. A few meters nearby (behind that hill) is Resorts World Langkawi.

But I was not going there this time hehe. Still on that peninsula, at the left edge of the picture, there's a snippet of white sand. That's the start of a very long white sandy beach. And that, was our destination on this visit! You'll see more of it in my succeeding stories. Or on the short video I shot during landing!

Meanwhile, let's look at that island on the right edge of the photo. That is 'Pulau Beras Basah'. Sounds funny? Yes, that means "Wet Rice" Island. 'Beras' is 'Rice' as in 'Bigas', and, 'Basah' is 'Wet' as in 'Basa'!

I may not anymore be updated as the last time I was there was years ago. During that time, I marveled at the fine white sands of the beach na meron live big pine trees at maraming unggoy! Somebody told me just days ago, that the island is now part of every island-hopping-tour. So, it may have resorts now!

Ah, okay-okay.., here's what I think is even funnier for Pinoys - the two islands in front of Beras Basah - named Pulau Kentut Besar and Pulau Kentut Kecil. Teka sandali lang ano ba! Mamaya ka na tumawa!!

You already know that 'Pulau' means 'Island', or, kumbaga sa atin pa eh 'Pulo', as in 'Isla', di ba? 'Besar' means 'Big' and 'Kecil' means 'Small'. Malayo sa 'Laki' at 'Liit' natin ano? Pero okay lang! However, that word 'Kentut' actually means 'Fart' as in 'Utot'. Yes, as in utot mo, utot nila, at utot nyong lahat hahaha!

Meaning, kahit hindi ka pala malibog o bastos, hilarious pa rin the name of those two islands. Kentut!

Here here, I placed the names and descriptions on that picture above, just for clarity saan ang Kentut!

Mind you.., years ago, I saw in some island-hopping-tour flyers of travel agencies that described those 2 islands as "Big Fart Island" and "Small Fart Island". I'm sure they still use that translation these days!

Walanghiyang Kentut yan, tumagal ang kwento ko! Tara tara, let's land na! Here's a video clip:

Okay landed. While taxiing-in, I saw that thing over at that hedge, it says Langkawi. I said "really"?

Don't passengers or crew know that this is Langkawi? Hehe, it would probably be more meaningful if it said just "Hello", "Welcome", "Howdy" or "Hi"! Yes, I know, right? Putting something in Bahasa Melayu would be too long hehe! It will either be too small to read or too long for that DCA Quarters' perimeter!

Oops, reminder to self: nakialam nanaman... 'walang basagan ng trip", di ba?

Anyway, since nakialam na nga.., I would rather see something like "SYOK", "CHUN", or even "FFK LA"! Hehe, those are short expressions, but catchy, because intriguingly fun(ny), therefore memorable. La!

So we arrived! And this was our plane.., with only 2 or 3 pieces of passenger checked-in luggage!

There were few of us passengers on this flight. Probably less than half of the airplane's capacity (72).

And walk to the terminal we had to! Look, there are no aerobridges (yet) on this little airport..,

But I am used to this.., many of our provincial airports in the Philippines are like so, right? No air tubes yet. But they do have umbrellas when it rains or when the sun is excruciatingly hot. I consider that fun!

Varied big welcome signs outside the building greet you as you walk towards the terminal..,

Unfortunately, our plane parked at the opposite end. Arrival area is way to the left. So walk! Vacay feel!

Eto na.., entering their arrival area, you will know, this is better than any Philippine provincial airport!

For the unfamiliar, international arrivals is just to the left of the plants. If you look closely, you will even see the last-3-letters of "antarabangsa" (international). The only difference between them is that, there has to be immigration counters for international arrivals, which is not needed by domestic operations.

Otherwise, they share the same well-provided spaces such as lobbies, car service counters and exits.

For a domestic arrival, this place tops many such facilities in Asia. Magaling. Pinag-isipan. Mahusay! I will even dare say, this is better than Penang's arrival area. Sino ba kasi ang pasaherong matutuwa sa akyat-baba na malayong lakarin, makalabas lang ng airport arrival area, di ba?! The simpler, the better!

But hold your horses! This is just probably because the Langkawi Airport is an old building and it now needs more space to accommodate the growing traffic. Who knows.., when this terminal is upgraded, we passengers may then have to do those long walks, climbing up and down the various floors of the building, before finally reaching the arrival area! That's how they do it in Penang and KL, right? Merde!

Anyway, as of now, Langkawi arrival procedure is straightforward, despite many stores along the way!

Hey look at those folks at left! They could even do fun games during arrival into Langkawi! Some are blindfolded, can you see? Probably a surprise thing, or maybe an 'amazing race' whatever. Aliw! Shok!

Let's get out of the airport and enter into the realm of this paradise called Langkawi, shall we?

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