I am back in London which has been my home for the past 40 years. That I am able to slip into a KL life, and accent, without any effort is a testament to how much I am still Malaysian at heart.
The hard part of living so far away is that travelling between the two countries gets more challenging as I get older. Nine years ago I gave up flying Economy and promoted myself to Economy Premium (on British Airways) or Business Class.
Each time I fly Business I feel a twinge of sadness as my parents, for all their hard work, did not fly Business until they were in their late 60s. It was a concious choice because they did not think it was worth the money for a larger seat. However they were generous to others who needed financial help.
My decision to have a better airline seat came when I had to make multiple trips to and from Kuala Lumpur to accompany my father to his hospital appointments when he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. I had to hit the ground running. It was off the plane and very often straight to a hospital appointment the next day.
My father passed away four years ago and now my mother has her own health issues. I have been through this before and know that doing six weeks straight of caring duties is not sustainable if I do not start off on the right footing. On my outbound journey Malaysia Airlines looked after me very well.
After six intense weeks, the last two in which I was the Number Two Maid (we have been short-staffed) I was ready to sink back into my seat and fly back to London.
I am not sure how this happened. Upon presenting my passport to the check-in assistant at KLIA, a long telephone conversation ensued between her and some supervisor or manager at the other end. This caused me some concern. After hanging up, she looked at me and said: Miss M, you now have a First Class seat. I said: thank you very much.
Then I walked straight to Immigration without looking back.
As part of flying in what Malaysia Airlines calls a Business Suite, a Mercedes Benz EV transfers you from one terminal to another. The sit-down dinner at the First Class lounge is catered by the Mandarin Oriental. An hour before the departure time you are accompanied to the boarding gate where, like the account of the parting of the Red Sea, the long queue is held back so you can walk through the security check unhindered. Not only that, you are also later accompanied to your seat on the plane.
Naturally I had to field questions from my family on what it is like to travel like this. The brief answer is that I could definitely get used to it. There are only four such suites, situated at the front of the aeroplane, one by each window and two in the centre. Turn left as you enter the plane to access these individual pods. No one passes you as everyone else (yes, the other few hundred passengers) is turning right.
View from the top of the what I called my travel pod
View of my seat, which converts fully into a flat bed
View from my seat, with ample storage space to the left that could fit my rucksack, handbag and a change of clothes
The control which had my seat number and more importantly the buttons to turn my seat into a flat bed
The staff were very attentive and the ratio is one member of staff to two passengers. There were only two other passengers, with the last seat taken by one of the co-pilots when they took turns to sleep.
Every fairy tale has its twists and turns. If you have read until here, let me explain that all was not perfect on the flight. There was a sudden thunderstorm which delayed our departure by nearly two hours. By the time we settled in I was too tired to eat the satay I was looking forward to. The (non-Malaysian) passenger in the suite next to mine was so disruptive, noisy, demanding and needy I did not have the words to tell him off. It was not for a lack of nerve, but out of caution because I did not want him to then engage with me ad infinitum, as he was currently doing with the kind, gentle and entirely professional air stewardess.
When said disruptive passenger moved himself to the window seat, there was a brief respite until a pilot slept in the vacated seat and snored so loudly I wondered what kind of tiredness this was.
Despite this I slept very well as I always bring a pair of earplugs with me when travelling. Well rested, I tucked into my breakfast. I am sure someone will comment that the catering could be better (lobsters, say) but our national dish of Nasi Lemak always goes down well with me.
Upon landing my luggage came out in record time, thanks to the stickers on my bags
Mr Gochugaru and I have been invited to a 60th birthday dinner in Paris this May. To ease the ‘coming back down to earth’ feeling after I left the MH pod I thought I would book us First Class return seats on the Eurostar from London to Paris. Despite being able to afford it, in the end I could not bring myself to do this. It would cost £1,100 for two First Class seats or £340 for the most basic seats. I decided the money saved would be better used towards a nicer hotel. Thus the spirit of my parents live on, at least until I find out what travelling basic on Eurostar is like. I will report on this when I have completed our trip to Paris.