First impressions of Kuala Lumpur

I am currently in Malaysia and just making this quick post of first impressions based on one of its gateways - Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Here are photos when we arrived in KLIA last weekend.

A view of KLIA Terminal 2 as our plane approached to land

Two towers - air traffic control towers, that is. The closer one is Terminal 2's while the one at the distance is Terminal 1.

A view of Terminal 2 as our plane taxied to the terminal

Terminal 2 is designated for low cost carriers, and is the hub of AirAsia. This terminal replaced the low cost carrier terminal at KLIA, similar to what also happened in Changi.

Our plane berthed at the satellite building. This meant we had to walk to the bridge to cross to the main Terminal 2 building. The two buildings are not served by a transit system like KLIA Terminal 1 (or HKIA or Changi, for example).

The view of our plane as we crossed on the bridge to the main terminal building.

AirAsia planes lined up along one of wings of the satellite building. Each wing is essentially a long pier.

I was impressed by how large and spacious Terminal 2 is. It is designed, after all, to serve the millions of travelers going through this gateway in what is Southeast Asia's most visited country for tourists. I just thought though that the moving walkways seemed to be an afterthought and that it was a long walk (healthy though) for many people between the main and satellite buildings. Terminal 2 though is located far from Terminal 1 so transport is required in case you need to transfer from one terminal to the other. It is not as seamless as Changi, for example. Still KLIA is much better than many capital city airports that I've been to though there is room for improvements.

-

Back to badminton?

I have not played serious badminton in over a decade. My daughter took badminton lessons during the school break and now enthusiastically plays street badminton with her friends. We got her an inexpensive racket from the Yonex store at SM Megamall and another one from Decathlon. Inspired by this development and also playing street badminton with her some afternoons, I decided to bring out the old rackets from storage so I can use them. The grips were already deteriorated and it was a bit difficult to remove them from the rackets.

The deteriorating grip on one of my rackets

I also removed the grip from another racket though it was not as bad the other

My two rackets are in great condition despite being almost 20 years old

One is a Yonex racket I bought in Fukuoka in 2003. The Wilson racket I got in Bangkok before I got the Yonex racket.

Muscle Power is an old series from Yonex. Hyper Carbon is also an old model from Wilson.

Both rackets are in great condition including the strings. After changing the grip on the Wilson racket, I could use it again to play (at least on the street). We're scouting for badminton courts near our place so we can play there and our daughter can probably take more lessons to improve her skills and play.

-

Rainy day musings

I sympathize with a lot of people whose activities today were disrupted by the inclement weather. The rains from last night resulted in floods around Metro Manila and Rizal (where I live). The forecast of more rains during the day made government suspend classes at all levels for both public and private schools. However, many and particularly students have already traveled to their schools as some announcements came late or not early enough for those who usually leave home early to avoid the usual traffic congestion around schools.

I myself used to leave our home early to go to school. As I took public transportation to the university, I had to leave before 6:00 AM (even earlier if it was raining) to be able to get a jeepney ride and have a comfortable trip (shorter travel time than when I leave later in the morning). I had one transfer at what used to be the K-Mart terminal. Both legs of the trip were via jeepneys. I recall silently cursing the guards at Ateneo for prioritizing what seemed to be an infinite number of cars entering and exiting that university via their Gates 2 and 3. At the time, Ateneo still operated the blue school buses and you can see few students on those buses. I observed already then that most of their students probably had their own vehicles to take them to school. Once past the gauntlet of Ateneo and Miriam (which was Maryknoll before), traffic was smoother. And to think that there was no C.P. Garcia yet and Katipunan at the UP Diliman and MWSS areas was not as wide as it is now. The old Katipunan section was basically a two lane road with UP on one side and MWSS on the other. What is now a center island with large acacia trees used to be the frontage of MWSS. UP's walls were lined with eateries and small stores catering to students and workers.

My commutes during the wet season can be quite difficult as you can't simply hang on to the jeepney (at the back) when its pouring. And when the weather's particularly bad, there were flooding along my route, not to mention where I resided. I also remember wading in floodwaters along Katipunan (yes, there were floods along Katipunan before) because the road was impassable to vehicles and the only way to get home was to walk from UP to Aurora Boulevard. Our home in Cainta was often flooded during typhoons, and I also waded in floodwaters along portions of Felix/Imelda Avenue an in our village. The flood experiences probably deserve separate articles here and I will share some stories as soon as I can organize my thoughts and memories of these.

-