The Great Escapade

“Alang, I want to go to Hong Kong Disneyland for my Birthday this year!” said my 5 years old nephew as he watched a Disney commercial on TV. Well,as he is my only nephew … why not. I started looking around for deals that would not burn a hole in my pocket. I started looking through newspapers but nothing was in my budget. Then, I decided to surf the MAS website hoping that I’d get a good deal. As the website loaded, my eyes caught hold of this ad

“What’s this?” I asked myself and hastily clicked on the image. To my surprise, I was brought to a myriad of wonders MAS was offering its customers! They called it the MAS Stimulus Package. Hmm … there is no way I’d be able to save flying a 5 star airline but my hunch kept on insisting I checked out the packages. So I did and checked out this one. The GRAB-A-DEAL package.

I made a dummy booking ... and the results appeared. My response … “WHOA!!! Are they serious?“ I booked at once, and this time, for real. With the great deal that MAS offered, I was able to fulfill my nephew’s dream and got his sister to tag along as well as my sister and brother. So, off we went to Hong Kong …

The Hong Kong skyline taken as we arrived.

This picture’s for you Mom!

Nothing beats the smile on a child’s face. And my sis and bro

In the background.

This certainly was the highlight of the trip. Got to shoot a photo with

Mickey.

So there we were in Hong Kong for 5 days and thanks to Malaysia Airlines, you have made my nephew’s dream come true. Without your Grab a Deal package, my nephew and niece wouldn’t have met Mickey and his magical Disneyland.

But my story doesn’t stop here … it goes on.

So, having spent a week in Hong Kong, it was time to send the kids back home, In Terengganu. My thought that time … I’m so laaaaazzzzzzyyyyyy to drive after such great break. My sister doesn’t drive so I’ll have to do it. As the thought lingered, a little voice kept telling me to check the MAS website again for other deals.

“Yes, I will do that”

So, off I went surfing the net again. Hmm … this looks interesting:

The Kids Fly Free Package. Great! Buy 2 adult tickets and one child flies free! What do you know? I could use the money saved to bring the children to the beach! Another flying adventure for the children and all because MAS was offering too-good-to-resist deals. So, I called the MAS Call centre and enquired about the deal. The result … a weekend in Terengganu with my nephew and niece. My elder sister came along too.

Hmm … how time flies when you’re having a great time. The weekend was coming to an end and my elder sister and I had to head back to KL. So I tried booking 2 seats back to KL. To my surprise, seats in Economy were all sold out! As my sister had to attend an important meeting Monday morning, we had no choice but to fly Business Class. She sighed … “that’ll cost us a fortune.”

Not knowing her cunning brother remembered of a deal on the website

called the Business Companion Package, flying home to KL in style was not going to cost s fortune. As one passenger pays the full Business Class fare, the companion pays 50% of the actual fare. So, what we did was to add up the total and divide by 2. Voila … a trip back home at a fraction of the price and in style too.

A wet Sunday evening wasn’t going to spoil the fun!

The famous Malaysian Hospitality at its best!

Although it was a short flight, the warmth of the cabin crew has always kept me in awe. How do they do it? The answer … sincerity! So we made it back home that evening and my elder sister was relieved she’ll make it to her meeting the day after.

I was still in my holiday mood. I’m yearning to travel so more as MAS is offering these irresistible packages. So, where should I head next? I know, I’ll try Kota Bharu. So I called up my friend and said I was visiting his city. He asked me to stay with him. Well, that’ll keep cost at a minimum. I agreed. So, how much will I have to fork out this time. I tried this package …

Are they nuts???? With MAS' 80% OFF DOMESTIC package, it’s cheaper to fly to Kota Bharu than taking the train. I booked my seat without hesitation. So, off I was to the state of Cik Siti Wan Kembang. What had I planned? Since I saved up to 80% of the fare to Kota Bharu, I'll use the money for SHOPPING! So, the next day, my friend brought me to Pengkalan Kubor.

Got Mom her favorite Corelle and at a bargain too! Savings everywhere!!!

Then, I wanted to sample the beaches of Kelantan. I was taken to Tok Bali.

Pristine white sand and peaceful.

So, the few days in Kelantan was very enjoyable. The people are frienly and the food … you’ve to try it yourself. Once you start, you won’t stop! All in all, Kelantan was just awesome.

It’s almost the end of my hard earned holiday. I’ve few days left before I start work. However, my host friend will be traveling to Kuala Lumpur for a few days as he has matters to attend to. I was delighted to learn that he hasn’t booked his ticket yet. So I suggested that we go through the MAS deals and found this:

Aha … the MH FLEX 1 + 1 package! One of us buys an Economy Flex ticket and the other travels for free!!! Yippee. My host friend wanted to buy the ticket and let me fly free. And they say that there’s no such thing as a free lunch ;)

We were to leave the next few hours! Yes, it all goes fast. We packed our stuff and got to the airport, checked in and waited for the boarding call. In 10 mins, we were all asked to board according to seat numbers. Upon boarding, a familiar face welcomed me on board and we exchanged glances …

“Umm … macam kenal je.” I said to the leading stewardess that day and looked at her name. It read Rohaya.

“Ha ah … macam pernah nampak.” she answered and smiled.

So, I smiled back confusingly because I knew her from somewhere. But where? When?

Then it struck me, I remember! It’s Kak Roy! The stewardess I was traveling to Hanoi with when I was 14 years old. She was on that plane with me. I have proof.

Here is my autograph book

and here’s her kind words

So, I called one of the cabin crew and to confirm her identity. It was her. After 15 years, I meet her again. I waited till we landed to chat with her. She remembered me as a young boy traveling to Hanoi to meet my parents. She remembered the autograph book too! So, we had a good chat about everything. As I was so excited I forgot to take a photo with her and realized that after I’ve left.

I left the aircraft feeling somewhat energized and satisfied. I’ve truly made the best decision to travel with Malaysia Airlines. Its packages brought happiness to 2 children I know, happiness to my sister and friend in KB and not to forget, happiness and fond memories to me. Best of all, I've still money left from all those savings MAS offered for another trip!

I headed for the ERL platform and upon boarding, I thought to myself “Man! That was great. This truly is the time to travel!”