Firstly, as usual, sorry for my bad English and also bad photo quality as I took all shots by my cellphone.
Please also not to be surprised if you find similar reports on other sites, I wrote all by myself.
Before to the main story, let me recap all of my reports in Airliners.net:
First Time & Last Time by Air France, Singapore-Jakarta
Short Trip to Malaysia with KLM 810 (777-300ER)
An Indonesian Domestic Flight with Garuda Indonesia, from Jakarta to Pekanbaru (Riau Province)
Jakarta-Medan, Banda Aceh-Kuala Lumpur, and Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta
A Short Jakarta-Singapore Flight with JETSTAR ASIA
From KL to Jakarta with KLM, Boeing 777-300ER
First Time with Malaysia Airlines after 15 years
Another Indonesian Domestic Flight: Sriwijaya Air (Boeing 737-300)
Once again with KLM's 5th freedom route (CGK-KUL)
First time with Tigerair & photo session in Changi Airport
An Indonesian domestic flight with 777 (Garuda)
Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur & return in one day, with AirAsia & KLM
A journey with KLM to watch 2017 ASEAN Para Games
IMPORTANT NOTE
The abbreviation of KL here always refers to Kuala Lumpur, not KLM's IATA code. Please not to be confused.
BRIEF BACKGROUND
This report is continuing my previous story from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur with KLM.
Some days before departure from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur, I had arranged a plan to visit Medan, largest city of Sumatra, located so close from Malaysia (closer to Kuala Lumpur than its own national capital, Jakarta). I have been very familiar with the city, as my father was born there, and my grandma had been living there for more than 20 years before moving to Jakarta to be closer with my family and her other descendants.
I was surprised that Malindo Air as a "hybrid" airline offered cheapest price for about IDR 330,000 (around USD 24.00) with 20kg baggage allowance included, so I quickly bought the ticket. This was my 1st time experience with it. The other carriers operating on this short route are AirAsia, Batik Air, and Malaysia Airlines.
Now the main story begins.
After watching the 2017 ASEAN Para Games, where Indonesia got some gold medals, I left the Bukit Jalil Stadium to the airport. As there was no direct transport between the stadium and the airport, firstly I had to take the LRT train to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS), the main intercity bus terminal, where I would take an express bus to the airport.
TBS, Malaysia's largest bus terminal. Other than buses to the airport, here you can hop intercity buses to all states in Peninsular Malaysia and also international buses to Singapore and Hat Yai, Thailand.
The bus.
The journey from TBS to KLIA took about 45 minutes without any traffic jam. From the airport's bus station I proceed to the check-in counter. Here I just needed to print the boarding pass, as I had done the online check-in before.
The boarding pass. Compared to other Lion Group carriers, this is the best boarding pass design.
From the check-in counter I proceed to the airside after the immigration & custom checks. The checking process was quick without long queues.
Then we were welcomed by these miniatures.
Taking the aerotrain to satellite terminal.
The satellite terminal.
A short plane-spotting session.
As the sun set, I stopped the plane-spotting session, but we were still not allowed to enter the boarding gate. I chose to wait outside the gate and recharge my phone. The airport did not provide power stations, so I connected my cellphone to a PC which could be used publicly.
Finally about 30 minutes before boarding we could enter the waiting room.
At 7.40 p.m. (10 minutes behind the schedule) we were called for boarding.
Entering the cabin, firstly we passed the business class area. The seat seems comfortable.
The economy class. The seats reminded me to Batik Air, as the Malindo Air is currently re-branding as "Batik Air Malaysia". But I was surprised that there were no IFEs provided.
Parked at our left side was a Boeing 777-300ER of Turkish Airlines, waiting for departure back to Istanbul.
At about 8.15 p.m. (UTC+8), the boarding process was completed and the plane was pushed back before flying. I guess around 75-80% of the seats were occupied. Seating beside me was an old couple from Kisaran, North Sumatra, returning from KL.
Way to the runway. An A380 of Malaysia Airlines could be seen.
The take-off process was very smooth.
Then the seat-belt sign was switched off, and I started to check anything inside the seat pocket.
"Malindo Mag" magazine.
The cabin crews started to serve our drink. The choices were soft drinks and lychee water. As this was the short flight, we did not get any meal set.
Unfortunately I did not check the lavatory, as it was really difficult for me seating on the window side to move.
The flight was very short. It took about 50 minutes after departure from KL to reach Kuala Namu International Airport, Medan. At 8.00 p.m. (UTC+7) we were prepared for landing.
Way to the terminal building.
Here is the final shot of the cabin before leaving.
Final shots of the plane exterior.
Immigration check.
Passengers filling the customs forms.
Baggage belt.
The arrival area.
From the airport you can take the express train to Medan city center, but the fare was too expensive for me (IDR 90,000).
The cheaper mode to the city center was express buses. The fare was IDR 15,000-20,000, depending on your destination. And this was my choice.
I spent a night in Medan before taking an overnight bus to Pekanbaru on the next day.
Comments about MALINDO
This was my 1st experience with Malindo Air. I was surprised that compared to other people's experience written on many blogs & websites, I did not get similar facilities. No IFEs and foods provided. But it was probably due to the short flight (less than 1 hour). I hope that for the longer flights (e.g: Kuala Lumpur - Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur - Bangkok) they serve us better. The cabin condition was clean and well-maintained, and the crews were nice and good-looking.
To end the story, let me show you some pictures of Medan city.
Medan's central post office, built by Dutch during the colonial time.
Medan's central railway station. The express train from Kuala Namu Airport terminates here. The station also serves intercity trains and commuter trains to Binjai and Tebing Tinggi.
Masjid Raya, Medan's largest mosque, with the blending of Malay, Moorish, and European architecture.
Istana Maimun, the palace of Deli Sultanate, one of Malay sultanates and kingdoms existed before the independence of Indonesia in 1945. The royal family are still existed until today, but they don't hold governmental authorities.
The most unforgettable things of Medan are exactly its foods.
Soto Medan, a mixture of Javanese soto and Malay/Indian curry taste. The "Soto Medan Sinar Pagi" is my family's favorite.
Ola Kisat, a restaurant serving traditional Karonese "Babi Panggang" (roasted pork).
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy my stories.
