Budget Travel

Our flight was at 6.30 a.m. in the morning. What an awkward hour. It meant that we had to check in by 4.30 a.m. To buy some time, we checked in online. That meant we could be at the airport later, say by 5.00 a.m.

We had to be in KL latest the night before. Hence, my friends decided to put up a night a Tune Hotel at LCCT. It was my first time there as well. My friends invited me to bunk in with them. I had not planned to stay overnight at the hotel initially. My plan was just to wait out at the airport till it was time to fly in the early morning.

Because my friends were persistent, I gave in to them and decided to join them to check out Tune Hotel at LCCT. From LCCT, we waited for the shuttle bus to Tune Hotel. We paid RM1.00 each for the short ride. We could have walked the short distance. But because we had baggage, it was so much more convenient to just jump into the bus.

There was a long queue at the front desk at 10.30 p.m. at night. We lined up for a long time before it was our turn to be served. It was at least a 15-minute wait. It seemed so much longer as the small lobby was so crowded with people. There seemed to be no breathing space at all.

I paid RM15 for a towel. RM10 was deposit, and RM5 to rent the towel. The deposit would be refunded when the towel was returned. The towel came with a toiletries kit, a piece of soap, shower gel and conditioning shampoo.

A towel set

My friend booked a double room with one Queen size bed for RM98.00. Next she bought 12 hours of air-conditioning credit for RM13.49.

Designed for travellers on the go, the room was really tiny. There was hardly any place to move, as it was not meant for more than 2 persons.

My friends unpacking

Attached to it was the washing closet. I enjoyed the hot water shower a lot. It's just that it was already late, and I wanted to catch some shuteye before it was time to check out again. Hence, I did not dare linger in the shower.

The room was really cramped, so I went downstairs to the lobby as soon as I was ready to leave. There were some weary travellers sleeping on the sofa at the lobby, even though they were not supposed to. Can't blame them. They could not secure a room as the hotel was fully booked.

Travellers bunking at the sofa at the Tune Hotel lobby
Please pardon the blurred shot taken with my old phone

At 5.00 a.m. in the morning, lots of people checked out. Probably like me, they had early morning flights to catch. I found a spot at the lobby to sit and wait for my friends. I observed that the front desk officer tended to greet the ang mohs more than she did the asians. "Good morning," she piped to all but one ang moh in the short span of time I was observing her. Methinks she should not be selective about whom she greets.

As I waited for my friends, the 5.00 a.m. bus that we were supposed to catch left for the airport. We had to wait for the next bus. A while later, my friends came down to the lobby and check out was only a jiffy. We waited another 10 minutes before the bus came to transport us to LCCT. There were lots of passengers, and some had to stand at the aisle. It was another RM1.00 to get back to LCCT.

We checked the information display to locate our check-in counter. Upon finding it, we dropped in our baggage. We went towards the international departure gate, and was about to enter when we were stopped by the airport security. Apparently, we were not to depart from the international gate. Instead we had to use the Y gate, which was meant for both international and domestic departures.

We turned back but could not find the Y gate and had to ask the airport security for directions. We were about to go in when we saw the sign :

No toilet!

Hmn. That's interesting. No toilets in the departure hall. That meant we had to find toilets to use before we went in. Off we went to search for the nearest toilets. Again, we had to approach an officer for directions.

We were about to go into the departure hall when my friend enquired whether there were any food outlets in there. The officer shook his head, so we turned back to buy some food from McDonald's. While we were queuing however, came the announcement to board. There was no time to buy food after all.

One hour into the flight, meals were sold. I ordered Nasi Lemak, a cup of Old Town White Coffee, and a bottle of mineral water. The meal set me back by RM18.00.

Breakfast in the air

It was also the first time I ate in the plane. The nasi lemak sure looked good and smelt good.


But I found the sambal and the rendang a bit salty. The coffee was alright, except that I preferred it to be burning hot. It seemed a bit lukewarm.

The flight was boring after breakfast, with nothing much to do. With about 3 hours to log in, we spent time playing electronic games on the phone and the iPod. I tried to catch up on sleep, but it was not really possible for me to sleep upright. And so, I was much delighted when we touched down at our destination.

View of Macau from my window