Japan 0: Getting There was Half the Fun

Arielle Nadel, on Flickr

My maiden voyage to Osaka was 100% orchestrated by SK in November 2013. She contacted her travel agent, PluBoy to settle all the flight tickets and hotel bookings. Not an easy task, as the trip involved KH, my mum and The Tribe. Just a short trip, so we were able to fit it into the Aidilfitri long weekend. Although I had gotten the flight itinerary months in advance, I only noticed a spelling error on my mother's ticket two days before we flew. Why two days you may ask? That's when MAS allows you to perform web check-in (cute right?). I only noticed after I checked-in for my mum. In my panic, I gave PluBoy a call. He told me that I had to settle it the MAS ticketing office at that juncture. I called their customer service. I was on hold for approximately twenty minutes. The CSO told me that he was not authorized to correct the name on the ticket because there was more than 24 hours before flight time. He could only do it closer to the flight time, e.g. 5 hours. Not wanting to take any chances, I discussed with PluBoy again. He advised me to go to the MAS ticketing office.

Liyin Yeo, on Flickr

I woke up bright and early on Friday morning to get to KL Sentral. Lucky for me, there wasn't a crowd at 8:00 am. Talked to the CSO and they advised me to offload the ticket. That means a reversal of the check-in. Walked over to the XKL check-in counters outside and the guy at the gate asked me whether I had purchased my ERL ticket. I told I wasn't there to check-in, but to check-out! He let me pass through the side door. After completing that, I called PluBoy again (he greeted me with a sleepy voice). He told me he still couldn't change the name. Aiks! Off I went into the MAS ticketing office again. They told me that they can't change the name too! The reason being it was a ticket issued by a travel agent. Another cute thing. They insisted that the travel agent could change the name and my travel agent insisted that he couldn't. Such a predicament. In the end, I let the two parties talk to each other. The solution was for PluBoy to void my mother's ticket and put in a dummy booking because the flight was full. Then he had to contact his MAS sales representative to secure the seat. So roundabout right? It's a weird policy. By noon, PluBoy had settled everything (God bless his soul) and he sent me the new e-Ticket. Quickly checked-in for her and printed the "This is not a boarding pass". LOL.



Two cabs took us to KLIA. Although we had performed the web check-in, we had to line up for quite a bit for the baggage drop. The kids occupied themselves by fighting over the luggage trolley and queue line control barriers. Little Monster treated them like Jungle Jims! We had two hours to kill because the flight was delayed from 11:45 pm to 12:45 pm. Sat down at Old Town White Coffee to experience their horrible service. The operations at LCCT were definitely better. Over at the land beyond the Aerotrain, KH, SK and I entered the Plaza Premium Lounge. SK got a large beer in the hopes of soothing her acute sore throat. She didn't eat anything there as it was Thai night. Boarded MH52 and said a little prayer before trying to get some shut eye. Kept waking up with a sore neck. Blegh. For breakfast, KH went for the Nasi Lemak while I opted for the omelette. Tried a bit of the rice and I wasn't impressed. The coconut cream rice tasted a bit rancid. Yuck. Just a little turbulence here and there. Even managed to watch "300: Rise of an Empire". A bloody affair. Arrived at Kansai International Airport in good spirits. But the Japan that greeted me was a sweltering hot Japan (where guys walk around with towels around their necks)! Hahaha. To be continued...