#HotelRoomTales : Sri Langit Hotel Kuala Lumpur

On my most recent layover in Kuala Lumpur, I decided to try Sri Langit Hotel. It is an aviation themed hotel in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi, which was within the 5km radius of Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The hotel is reachable in 15-20 minutes ride by taxi, as no public transport alternatives seems to be available around the hotel.

Hotel Entrance

Hotel Lobby, with all the plane model collections, from various airlines that currently or used to fly to KLIA.

We had the Premier Room which features a 18 meters square room with twin beds, but without a window.

The absence of a window does make the room feels slightly stuffy when we first entered, but thankfully the air conditioning works well, making all these stuffy feelings dissipate in the next hours.

Basic amenities, Mineral water and a hot water kettle are also available on your room.

Inside the ensuite bathroom.

The hotel also offers hourly shuttle services to the airport, at the cost of RM11 per person. As the shuttle gets fully booked at times, it is recommended to pre-book your seats before your departure from the hotel. The shuttle van can also pick you up at the airport, but it has to be arranged with the hotel prior to your arrival at Kuala Lumpur.

Final Thoughts

Perfectly situated within the range of KLIA, this hotel is the choice for a night's layover between flights, especially if you would like to save your budget from pricey transport to the city centre.

The rooms were at a good condition, while cleanliness seems to be maintained well. The lack of windows on the rooms, unfortunately created the stuffy feeling on the room. This might not be for you that's claustrophobic, but otherwise you should consider this hotel on your next layover to Kuala Lumpur!

Garuda Indonesia Domestic Lounge - Jakarta T3

As Garuda moves its entire domestic operation into Jakarta Soekarno Hatta Airport's Terminal 3, premium passengers of the airline finds a new lounge to wait in between flights. The brand-new Garuda Business Class lounge in the middle of the departure concourse, promises a refreshing experience, with additional features compared to the older facility in Terminal 2. Does it lives up to its offerings, let's see?

Upon entering the lounge, you'll find an abundance of leather sofas, each fitted with an electricity plug for everyone's comfort. At a glance the number of seats may be overwhelming, but again this is the heart of Garuda's domestic operation.

Proper dining tables and chairs to enjoy some food.

Special Christmas corner featuring Beef Galantine

Dedicated pasta corner.

Traditional snacks and beverage counter

Now it's time for some special features of the lounge: Mini theatre, or "Rest & Relax" corner?

Inside the lounge, features a mini cinema with ten, leather recliner seats capacity. Certainly a comfortable way to catch up with some blockbuster movie in-between your flights.

Outside, there's a timetable of blockbuster movies being screened at this mini-cinema.

If you felt tired running around the terminal, why not catch a break using one of the foot-massage machines on the "Rest & Relax" corner.

Traveling with kids? No need to worry as this activity corner will keep your children happily occupied while waiting for your next flight!

If you're feeling like catching up with some work, sit in this quiet Business corner, complete with free-internet access desktops and printing equipments.

Conclusion

The new Garuda Indonesia Business Class lounge certainly is an oasis in the middle of the ongoing construction work at Terminal 3. It is conveniently located at the middle of the departure concourse, within reachable distance of most gates.

Food options were of an enhanced variety, catering from local to international tastes well, which was appreciated. But the cool part was the "mini-cinema" which feels like an exclusive movie club, certainly will be a feature I'd use if I'm waiting in between a long transit. What do you think about Indonesia's flag carrier new lounge? Let me know through a reply or comment.

Thanks for reading!

Wonderful ride back in time aboard the Garuda B747!

Hi everyone!

A sudden change of plans calls for a quick trip to Surabaya during the Christmas period. From a few friends, words have been spreading that Garuda has been operating its jumbo jets (now only two remaining) between Jakarta and Surabaya every Sunday. I did a search on Garuda's website and true it was, the flight on Christmas day was operated by the B747-400 jumbo.

The Garuda B747 used to be integral part of its fleet, back in the 1980-1990s where Garuda had an extensive worldwide network. Unfortunately, as Garuda cuts down its network due to financial crisis in 1997, the number of jumbos on its fleet also shrunk to just two today, making it difficult to catch on a regular scheduled flight.

Based on the fact above, I did not waste any second to book the flight.

It was a chance too good to be missed!

FLIGHT DETAILS:

Garuda Indonesia, GA 328

Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta (CGK) - Surabaya Juanda (SUB)

Boeing 747-4U3, PK-GSG

Delivered 19/12/1993, msn 25704

ETD 2020 (Actual around 2040)

ETD 2150 (Actual around 2154)

Seat Number 10G

Skip to the d-day, I headed straight to Garuda's new home in Jakarta, namely T3 Ultimate. The terminal was grand and certainly more capable of handling the amount of passengers CGK have to deal with everyday. However, there are still signs of construction works around the terminal, as some argued the terminal was opened for business way too prematurely.

My journey began at Garuda's Premium Check-in area in T3, where Business Class and GFF platinum members check-in for their flight. The courteous and professional ground staff managed to secure the two center seats in Business Class, seats 10D&10G for us. We were thrilled!!

Garuda Indonesia Terminal 3 Business Class Lounge

Following check-in and security screening process, we still had approximately 80 minutes before our boarding time, so we checked out the new Garuda Indonesia Business Class lounge in T3 airside.

It was a huge facility and certainly an improvement over the previous lounge in T2. The colour selection of the lounge provides a good combination Indonesian heritage and the modern architecture of the terminal. The food & beverage selection was impressive for a domestic lounge, while some new cool features are appreciated. More to be discussed on next post about the lounge, stay tuned!

In-flight: Jakarta to Surabaya

Upon boarding time, we were able to be one of the first few to board. The two FAs standing in door L1 warmly welcomed us on to the flight and showed us our seats. Hot towel packs and welcome drinks of apple and orange juice follows, a very efficient service!

About 15-20 minutes have passed and I asked the crew in charge of our cabin if there's any more passengers boarding in the Business cabin, and she answered no more. Wow! That means we'll be having a private cabin on the nose of our jumbo!!

As every passenger is all accounted for, the doors were closed and we were taxing towards the runway. The safety videos were played on a projector screen which have to be rolled down by the FA every time a video was played. Really back like it was the 90s.

22 business class seats on the B747-400 nose, with only 2 seats occupied!

Finally, after waiting for about another 15 minutes for our turn to take-off, the four engines of our aircraft spooled up to full power. The double-decker aircraft lifted off CGK approximately 2155 local time, for a 1 hour 20 minutes trip to Surabaya.

As soon as seat-belt signs were switched off, the crew took no time to prepare dinner services. The two cabin crew dedicated for Business Class cabin started with setting up the white cloth on our tables.

My brother had siomay as his dinner

Meanwhile, I opted for a rice and spicy fish. It was delicious!

Rear economy class configured 3-4-3. The load on our aircraft was quite full tonight, with approximately 70-80% of the 428 economy class seats were occupied.

Stairway to upper deck.

The upper deck consists of around 60 economy class seats.

I took the opportunity to drop by and meet my friend Hafid, who were seated in the upper deck. He is a fellow enthusiast who was flying solely for the jumbo jet experience!

Section between door L1 and L2 was configured in a 3-2 Economy Class seats.

And those seats are configured 3-2 because... the other half of the cabin is a galley. Such a huge galley but you sure need one to cater for 450+ passengers on a long haul flight.

Arrival into Surabaya

Enjoying the rest of the flight in our "private" Boeing 747. It does feel like a ride back in time, reminding me of those 1980 movie scenes where Pan Am etc was still leading the industry with their legendary jumbo jets!

About 15 minutes later, the Captain announced through the aging PA system that we were on descent to Surabaya's Juanda Airport. Seated in the nose section of this gigantic aircraft, we can hear clearly the sound of the nose gear being deployed and locked for landing. Kind of an eerie but exciting sound, probably because of my first time sitting on the nose!

Our aircraft touched down safely in Surabaya at around 2155 local time, and was docked at Terminal 2 in Surabaya. Apparently, only one aerobridge is connected to our aircraft, which means everyone have to disembark through door L2.

As I was about to leave the aircraft, Hafid called me from the stairs asking me if I'd like to join a cockpit visit. Sure I was in. Earlier queries about post-landing cockpit visit was turned down by the main deck crew, but seems like the Captain changed his mind at last minute.

There was queue forming to visit the cockpit of this aging beauty, but all was well coordinated by the friendly upper deck crew. Seems like there was a number of enthusiasts were on board to experience the jumbo. Thank you to the Captain/FO and the upper deck crew for the opportunity to have a cockpit visit!

Thank you to Ms Bina and the entire team aboard GA328 for the warm hospitality, making it a memorable ride on the rare Garuda jumbo jet!

Final thoughts of the flight

Mission accomplished: Flying on both of GA remaining 747s

The product may be outdated, but personally it was a priceless experience to be flying on a legendary aircraft type that was once Garuda's backbone. The comfortable recliner seats with almost unlimited legroom was more than one can ask for a 90 minutes flight. Dinner served was tasty and well executed. The experienced crew serving our cabin was attentive to our needs, and every service was done with a smile. The opportunity to visit the cockpit was also appreciated and certainly tops off the experience.

Certainly, I had fun and it was an experience that time could not turn back. Thank you to Hafid, and also to the entire team of GA328 for going all out on making our jumbo ride one that will stay in our memories for years to come!

Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave a message to let us know what you think!