Day 1 : Kul - Can

It was my first time taking China Southern Airlines, so it was a new experience for me. I was flying CZ350 from Kuala Lumpur to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and thereafter to Changsha Huanghua International Airport.

Baiyun means "white cloud" in Mandarin, and while, Huanghua means "yellow flower". Really, these airports have got very beautiful names. I was really anticipating the trip already!

Checking in took about 20 minutes at KLIA as the queue was rather long. We were checked in straight to Changsha, but were informed that we needed to claim our luggages at Guangzhou before our transfer to the domestic terminal.

Once checked in, we cleared the Malaysian immigration and took an Aerotrain to the C Terminal where our flight would be departing from.

The plane on berth at C21

We were allowed into the airplane as soon as it was ready. I was elated to find out that we were seated on the first row of the economy coach. There was more leg space there, and it would certainly make the four-hour journey to Guangzhou Baiyun more bearable.

The stewardesses were all young and pretty, dressed in dark fuschia suits and slim pencil skirts in diagonal stripes of grey, fuschia and pink. The purser had the same uniform but in blue. The only steward on board was in an off-white shirt with a striped tie. I found their uniform to be rather pleasant to look at for a change.

Announcements were bi-lingual in Mandarin and English ... though it was difficult to comprehend their spoken English. The crew also spoke to passengers mainly in Mandarin. I overheard one Caucasian lady asking the steward in English, "What time we arrive?" She asked a few times and really slowly ... but he could not comprehend what she wanted. Unfortunately. So, some of the passengers helped by providing the information to the lady.

One hour into the flight, the main meal was served. It was the only meal throughout the entire flight. First came the drinks cart .... and guests could help themselves to red and white wine, Coca-cola and Sprite, a selection of fruit juices, milk, water, or coffee and tea.

 Apple Juice

Soon after, the meal cart came by .... and they were serving on board  Fish with noodles or Chicken with rice on that day. I chose to have chicken.

My meal tray

There was a bread roll ... which I liked to eat with butter. The butter cube was hidden under the Danish pastry. Now, the Danish pastry was airy, but lacked of substance. It was not buttery at all, and it also had a rancid smell ... hmn ....

Potato Salad

Well, I loved the potato salad ... which was slightly chilled. On a bed of mixed salad leaves sat a mound of potato cubes, coated with mayonnaise. Yums ..... the grilled chicken with paprika was a bit dry ... but the large wet of ripe, juicy and sweet tomato made up for it. :)

The main course 

Hmn .... the chicken thigh chunks were rather succulent and were coated in a brown sauce, which could be a concoction of soy sauce and spices. The chicken was on the sweet side. It was good that the meal was served hot, cause the rice was more fragrant that way. The vegetables were alright, except that they looked yellow and unappetising. 

Another round of drinks were served an hour before landing.

Though the flight was merely 4-hours long, I was glad when it finally landed. It then took a long time to clear the immigrations. We stood in queue for near 40 minutes. Really, the line seemed to be so slow-moving.

Waiting for my turn .... 

After which we were to collect our checked in luggages .... 

Heading for baggage claim ... 

We went past the exit to where we transferred to the domestic terminal. We checked in our bags once more and reconfirmed our flights. After that, we had to go through another round of stringent security check. The queue was long and as one by one, passengers had to present their travel documents and then pass their hand-held items through the scan.

I passed the document check and proceeded to the scan. I was told to remove my digital equipment from my bag in order to be scanned separately. Finally, I passed my handbag through the scan.

To my surprise, I was stopped.

"Do you have a comb this long?" the lady officer asked me in Mandarin. She indicated the length with her fingers.

"Yes," I said. Immediately, my mind brought me back to the time when I was stopped at Tullamarine, Melbourne because of the SAME comb. The comb was made of solid plastic, so I suppose that was why it looked like a dangerous weapon on screen. Lol.

She then took the comb out from my bag, and placed it in a basin and through the scan. My bag sans the comb was placed through the scan, following the basin. Happy, I was let through.

Geez, what a comb. I had better not bring it on my future trips!!

Once cleared, we jumped on board a buggy and were driven to the domestic boarding gates. There. we searched for our designated gate and settled down to wait for our next flight ....