DAMRI Soetta

The Middle East Aroma in Terminal 3 Ultimate Soekarno Hatta International Airport

14 July 202216 July 2022travelingpersecond

DAMRI Bus Terminal Kampung Rambutan – Soekarno Hatta International Airport.

Saturday afternoon was very sunny. The impatience that had enveloped my heart since morning had already collapsed. A faint smile continued to hang in the corners of my lips after I got off city transportation and stepped onto DAMRI shelter, which was part of JA Connexion’s mode of transportation.

On 15:30 hours, after confirming that the fleet in front me was the fastest bus which would depart to Soekarno Hatta International Airport, I jumped into it through its front door and sat behind the driver in left seat coloumn.

After all the passengers entered, an officer of Kampung Rambutan Terminal entered and withdrew a retribution of a thousand Rupiah to all passengers. “How come the retribution isn’t just included in the ticket price,” I asked myself.

Shortly after, the bus departed….Slowly speeding out of terminal, briefly passing through a side of toll road and then entering the toll gate a few meters ahead.

At the beginning of journey in toll road, the congestion began to be felt, but I wasn’t really worried about that situation because I was on 4 hours 20 minutes before my flight. I also enjoyed the 50 km journey very comfortably.

An hour and a few minutes, I arrived at the drop off zone of Terminal 3 Ultimate Soekarno Hatta International Airport. Through Departure Hall Gate 3, I started looking for Malaysia Airline MH 724 flight status.

The flight number which had not been listed in the Flight Information Display System (FIDS), made me dare to ask a female officer at the information center desk and finally I got information that check-in desk C would be used to process administration of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 724.

Waiting seats at Departure Hall Terminal 3 Ultimate

Knowing this information, I decided to wait in the nearest seat with check-in desk C. While waiting for the check-in desk to open, I was stunned by the busyness of a pair of tour guides who were busy organizing their group, which I didn’t know where would they go? The two of them gathered the group and loudly conducted a briefing so that their voices could be heard by anyone around the corner waiting for Terminal 3 Ultimate.

An hour of waiting, finally the check-in desk opened and I immediately queued at C24 queue column to get my boarding pass to Kuala Lumpur. That time Kuala Lumpur would only be a stopover, because I would explore Kuala Terengganu, a city located 450 km north of Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Terengganu would be the fifth city in Malaysia which I would enjoy after Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Ipoh and Penang….. Ahhhh, that afternoon I couldn’t wait to arrive in Kuala Terengganu.

A visit to Kuala Terengganu was the intention which emerged after I met Mariya, a solo-traveler from Malaysia in Seoul. The charm of Kuala Terengganu told by Mariya had hypnotized my subconscious to visit it. It took three years to realize that dream.

But again, Kuala Terengganu was also not the only destination in my trip that time, because my target points were certainly in places which were further away, i.e countries in the Middle East region.

Back to Terminal 3 Ultimate…..

Now I was heading to the immigration counter to hunt for a departure stamp. In front of immigration area, I tried to complete immigration check process through immigration autogate but there was an officer who held me back and forbade me to pass through that route. I was directed to the immigration counter with an officer ready to check. Facing an immigration officer, I handed over my passport and boarding pass.

Immigration staff: “Return ticket, Sir?”

Me: “Here, Sir”, I handed over a print out of Philippine Airlines flight ticket with Doha-Jakarta route and transit in Manila.

Immigration staff: “Alone, Sir?. On what occasion?”

Me: “Solo-Backpacking, Sir”

The immigration staff was finally busy researching page by page details on my passport.

Immigration staff: “Where will you go, Sir?”

Me: “Kuala Terengganu-Kochi-Dubai-Oman-Bahrain-Qatar, Sir”

Immigration staff: “May I see the visas, Sir?”, his face was still cold and serious.

Me: “Just a minute, Sir”, I opened my zipper bag and took out India Visa, United Arab Emirates Visa, Oman Visa and Bahrain Visa, “Here, Sir”

The immigration staff checked that visas I was given one by one.

Immigration staff: “Ok. Be careful, Sir.”

I came out of the immigration counter with a sigh of relief and immediately put all my documents back in zipper bag. Now I would head to Terminal 3 Existing to prepare to fly with Malaysia Airlines.

Next Story—->

Air Asia AK 382 from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta

11 July 202211 July 2022travelingpersecond

<—-Previous Story

Flight Information Display System (FIDS) in front of sleep place.

Entering Friday, around half past five, when the dawn of Malaysia arrived, I sat down to awake from sleep in one of seat row in Transportation Hub located at Gateway@klia2 mall level 1. I was still rubbing my eyes when several other travelers were still snoring around .

I forced my feet to step into the 1st floor mosque which was located outside the terminal building in order to fulfill my obligations to “The Creator” who had given time and funds for an adventure through East Asia….Thank you, God.

My scheduled flight time at seven in the morning made me not dare to budget for breakfast time. I only bought two packaged chocolate buns at a convenience store located next to NZ Curry House as lunch in the plane.

At five o’clock, I went to the check-in desk in 3rd floor of Main Terminal Building to get a boarding pass to Soekarno Hatta International Airport. Shortly after, I headed to the immigration counter to get permission to leave Malaysia. As predicted, everything happened easily and quickly.

Half an hour before boarding, I arrived at the gate and found an Air Asia AK 382 nicely parked in front of it. Shortly after my arrival, the gate was actually opened. I started entering the waiting room after reporting my boarding pass and passport to the ground staff who checked every passenger.

A few minutes later….The pilot, co-pilot and several flight attendants entered the plane to preparing. The bustle of loading in the fuselage, filling avtur and loading inflight meal became a sight that caught my attention at every stage until everything ended well.

The boarding announcement filled the airport ceiling, I immediately queued, then entered the cabin through the aerobridge full of joy because soon my adventure would be over. I found a seat right at the tail of plane. Understandably, this was a cheap ticket which was purchased nine months before the flight.

Since the boarding process, demonstration of flight safety procedures, taxiing, take-off, airborne to cruising, I hadn’t even touched the Travel 360 magazine which was Air Asia’s inflight magazine. Of course I was bored, I had read it many times since the QZ 200 (Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur), AK 170 (Kuala Lumpur-Kaohsiung) and D7 505 (Seoul-Kuala Lumpur) flights. For more than twelve hours during those three flights, I had finished reading the inflight magazine.

After enjoying the packaged chocolate bread, I quickly felt asleep. A sleepless night on last night made my eyes no longer helpless to stay awake while in the air. I was sleeping….and hopefully not snoring……????

I was really asleep until the announcement of plane that would soon land at Soekarno Hatta International Airport woke my eyes. Leaving behind a bit of a headache and taking a little time to clear the eyes, I could see the streaks moving fast out there and watching from the window. The plane was landing…

Spoilers on the wings of plane seemed to stand to help contain the wind speed to stop the fuselage speeding down the runway. Shortly after, the plane started taxiing and stopped in the apron.

Ohh… It was over.

With a faint smile, I left the fuselage via aerobridge and entered the airport building. I immediately went to the immigration counter to certify my passport with an arrival stamp.

After that I immediately went to DAMRI Bus counter to go to the Kampung Rambutan Terminal and went home….

To get flight tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta, you can search for them 12go Asia with the following link: https://12go.asia/?z=3283832

THE END

Aroma Timur Tengah di Terminal 3 Ultimate Soekarno Hatta International Airport

29 June 20214 July 2021travelingpersecond

Bus DAMRI Terminal Kampung Rambutan – Soekarno Hatta International Airport

Sabtu sore itu sangat cerah. Ketidaksabaran yang menyelimuti hati sedari pagi runtuh sudah. Semburat tipis senyuman terus menggantung di ujung bibir usai aku turun dari angkutan kota dan menapaki shelter DAMRI yang merupakan moda transportasi bagian dari JA Connexion.

Menjelang pukul 15:30, usai memastikan armada di hadapan adalah bus yang akan berangkat tercepat ke Soekarno Hatta International Airport, aku melompat masuk ke dalamnya melalui pintu depan dan duduk di belakang pengemudi sisi kiri.

Setelah semua penumpang masuk, seorang petugas Terminal Kampung Rambutan masuk dan menarik uang retribusi sebesar seribu rupiah kepada para penumpang. “Kok retribusi ngga dimasukkan ke dalam harga tiket saja”, aku bertanya dalam hati.

Tak lama kemudian, bus pun berangkat….Perlahan melaju keluar dari terminal, sebentar saja melalui sisi tol dan kemudian memasuki gerbang tol beberapa meter di depan.

Di permulaan perjalanan dalam tol, kepadatan mulai terasa, tetapi aku tak begitu mengkhawatirkan keadaan karena aku berangkat 4 jam 20 menit sebelum penerbangan. Aku pun menikmati perjalanan sejauh 50 km itu dengan sangat nyaman.

Satu jam lebih beberapa menit, aku tiba drop off zone Terminal 3 Ultimate Soekarno Hatta International Airport. Melaui Departure Hall Gate 3, aku mulai mencari status penerbangan Malaysia Airline MH 724.

Nomor penerbangan yang belum tertera di Flight Information Display System (FIDS), membuatku berani bertanya kepada seorang petugas wanita di information centre desk dan akhirnya aku mendapatkan informasi bahwa check-in desk C akan digunakan untuk mengurus administrasi penerbangan Malaysia Airlines MH 724.

Kursi tunggu di Departure Hall Terminal 3 Ultimate

Mengetahui informasi itu, maka kuputuskan untuk menunggu di bangku terdekat dengan check-in desk C. Selama menunggu check-in desk dibuka, aku tertegun pada kesibukan sepasang tour guide yang sibuk mengatur rombongannya yang entah akan menuju kemana?. Mereka berdua mengumpulkan rombongan dan dengan lantang melakukan briefing sehingga suara mereka bisa didengar oleh siapapun di sekitar pojok tunggu Terminal 3 Ultimate.

Satu jam menunggu, akhirnya check-in desk dibuka dan aku segera mengantri di kolom antrian C24 untuk mendapatkan boarding pass menuju Kuala Lumpur. Kali ini Kuala Lumpur hanya akan menjadi persinggahan, karena aku akan mengeksplore Kuala Terengganu, sebuah kota yang terletak 450 km di utara Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Terengganu akan menjadi kota di Malaysia kelima yang akan kunikmati setelah Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Ipoh dan Penang…..Ahhhh, sore itu aku tak sabar ingin segera tiba di Kuala Terengganu.

Melawat ke Kuala Terengganu adalah niatan yang muncul usai aku bertemu dengan Mariya, seorang solo-traveler asal Malaysia di Seoul. Pesona Kuala Terengganu yang diceritakan oleh Mariya telah menghipnotis alam bawah sadarku untuk mengunjunginya. Butuh waktu tiga tahun untuk mewujudkan mimpi itu.

Tapi sekali lagi, Kuala Terengganu juga bukan menjadi satu-satunya tujuan dalam perjalananku kali ini, karena titik sasarku tentu berada di tempat-tempat yang lebih jauh, yaitu negara-negara di kawasan Timur Tengah.

Kembali ke Terminal 3 Ultimate…..

Kini aku menuju ke konter imigrasi untuk berburu departure stamp. Di depan area imigrasi, aku berusaha menyelesaikan proses pemeriksaan imigrasi melalui autogate immigration tetapi ada seorang petugas yang menahan langkah dan melarangku melewati jalur itu. Aku diarahkan menuju ke konter imigrasi dengan petugas yang siap memeriksa. Menghadap seorang petugas imigrasi, aku menyerahkan passport dan boarding pass.

Staff imigrasi: “Tiket pulang, Mas?”

Aku: “Ini, Pak”, aku menyerahkan print out tiket penerbangan Philippine Airlines dengan rute Doha-Jakarta dan transit di Manila

Staff imigrasi: “Sendirian, mas?. Dalam rangka apa?”

Aku: “Solo-Backpacking, Pak”

Staff imigrasi itu akhirnya sibuk meneliti dengan detail halaman demi halaman pada pasporku.

Staff imigrasi: “Mampir kemana saja, Mas?”

Aku: “Kuala Terengganu-Kochi-Dubai-Oman-Bahrain-Qatar, Pak”

Staff imigrasi: “Boleh lihat visanya, Mas?”, wajahnya masih saja dingin dan serius.

Aku: “Sebentar, Pak”, aku membuka zipper bag dan mengeluarkan Visa India, Visa Uni Emirat Arab, Visa Oman dan Visa Bahrain, “Ini, Pak”

Staff imigrasi itu memeriksa satu persatu visa yang kuberikan.

Staff imigrasi: “Ok. Hati-hati, Mas”.

Aku keluar dari konter imigrasi dengan nafas lega dan segera memasukkan segenap file ke zipper bag kembali. Kini aku akan menuju ke Terminal 3 Existing untuk mempersiapkan diri terbang bersama Malaysia Airlines.

Kisah Selanjutnya—->

Air Asia AK 382 dari Kuala Lumpur ke Jakarta

23 June 20214 July 2021travelingpersecond

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

*Flight Information Display System* (FIDS) di depan tempatku tidur.

Memasuki Jum’at, sekitar jam setengah lima, waktu subuh Malaysia tiba, aku terduduk mengumpulkan nyawa di salah satu deret bangku di Tranportation Hub yang berlokasi di Gateway@klia2 mall level 1. Aku masih mengucek mata ketika beberapa pejalan lain masih saja mendengkur di sekitar.

Aku memaksakan kaki untuk melangkah ke surau lantai 1 yang terletak di luar bangunan terminal demi menunaikan kewajiban pada Sang Pencipta yang telah menganugerahkan waktu dan dana buat berpetualang menembus Asia Timur….Terimakasih ya Allah.

Waktu penerbangan yang dijadwakan pukul tujuh pagi membuatku tak berani menganggarkan waktu bersarapan. Aku hanya membeli dua roti cokelat kemasan di sebuah minimarket yang terletak di sebelah NZ Curry House sebagai bekal di pesawat nanti.

Pukul lima, aku sudah menuju check-in desk di lantai 3 Main Terminal Building untuk mendapatkan boarding pass menuju Soekarno Hatta International Airport. Tak lama kemudian, aku menuju konter imigrasi untuk mendapatkan izin keluar dari Malaysia. Sesuai prediksi, semua berlangsung dengan mudah dan cepat.

Setengah jam sebelum boarding pun aku tiba di gate dan memergoki Air Asia AK 382 terparkir manis di depannya.Tak lama dari kedatanganku, gate pun benar-benar dibuka. Aku mulai memasuki ruang tunggu setelah melaporkan boarding pass dan paspor pada ground staff yang memeriksa setiap penumpang.

Beberapa menit selanjutnya….Pilot, co-pilot dan beberapa pramugari-pramugara memasuki pesawat untuk bersiap. Kesibukan loading di lambung pesawat, pengisian avtur dan inflight meal loading menjadi pemandangan yang menarik perhatianku dalam setiap tahapnya hingga semuanya usai dengan baik.

Pengumuman boarding pun memenuhi langit-langit bandara, aku segera mengantri, lalu memasuki kabin melalui aerobridge penuh rasa sumringah karena tak lama lagi petualanganku akan usai. Aku menemukan tempat duduk persis berada di ekor pesawat. Maklum, ini tiket murah meriah yang terbeli sejak sembilan bulan sebelum penerbangan.

Semenjak proses boarding, peragaan prosedur keselamatan penerbangan, taxiing, take-off, airborne hingga cruising, aku tak sekalipun menyentuh majalah Travel 360 yang merupakan inflight magazinenya Air Asia. Tentu saja bosan, aku telah berkali kali membacanya semenjak penerbangan QZ 200 (Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur), AK 170 (Kuala Lumpur-Kaohsiung) dan D7 505 (Seoul-Kuala Lumpur). Dua belas jam lebih selama ketiga penerbangan itu aku sudah khatam membaca inflight magazine itu.

Usai menikmati roti coklat kemasan, aku terlelap dengan cepatnya. Tidur yang tak lelap semalam membuat mataku tak lagi berdaya untuk terjaga selama di udara. Aku tidur….dan mudah-mudahan tak mendengkur……????

Aku benar-benar lelap hingga pengumuman pesawat yang akan segera mendarat di Soekarno Hatta International Airport membangunkan mata. Meninggalkan sedikit pening dan mengambil sedikit waktu untuk menjernihkan mata, terlihat garis-garis bergerak cepat di luar sana dan terpantau dari jendela. Pesawat sedang landing…..

Spoiler di sayap pesawat tampak berdiri membantu menahan laju angin untuk menghentikan badan pesawat yang melaju kencang di landasan. Tak lama kemudian pesawat mulai melakukan taxiing dan merapat di apron.

Ahhh…usai sudah.

Dengan senyum tipis, aku meninggalkan badan pesawat melalui aerobridge dan memasuki bangunan bandara. Aku segera menuju konter imigrasi untuk mengesahkan paspor dengan arrival stamp.

Setelahnya aku segera menuju konter Bus DAMRI demi menuju Terminal Kampung Rambutan dan pulaaangggg…..

Untuk mendapatkan tiket penerbangan dari Kuala Lumpur ke Jakarta, Anda bisa mencarinya di 12go Asia dengan link berikut: https://12go.asia/?z=3283832

TAMAT

Behind of Air Asia QZ 206 Flight from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur

25 October 201925 November 2019travelingpersecond

Just after returning from expedition to Garut-Tasikmalaya-Sumedang, my fatigue after a week traveling in that three districts didn’t make me tired. Didn’t take a break, I prefer to complete my mission for complete South Asia exploration by visiting the remaining three countries.…Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Air Asia ticket which I bought for USD 25,8 since April 7, 2018 was able to keep my mission and my wallet to continue to travel the world. Yes, I had to caught Malindo Air on Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka route in KLIA.

During waiting period of my departure, many questions arise from work colleagues or other friends outside of work.

“Yeeee, why are you traveling to Bangladesh?. It’s not elite”

“Donny, what do you want to see in Bangladesh?”

“You will go home and sick, Donny”

“Wasting time….Better you go to Ancol (a beach in Jakarta) than go to Bangladesh”.

“Donny, Why does have to go to Bangladesh?”

I answered: “Yes, up to me … it’s my money … It’s my steps“.

Ups, I didn’t answer like that….That’s impolite.

Hahaha …. “Yes, guys, my money is only enough to travel there“….Hahaha….That’s my answer to them.

Other people don’t know about my mind about traveling….more crazy, more better….more weird, more amazing…Hahaha.

—-****—-

As usual…Using DAMRI bus at Kampung Rambutan Terminal. Besides being cheap, it is also close from my home. I prepared USD 2,9 to pay the fare with departure time on 15:00 hours. 1 hour and 15 minutes trip drove me in Terminal 2F, Soekarno Hatta International Airport.

Through gate 5, I started entering first X-ray screening. Not so smooth, my backpack which became my only friend was seen flipped by AVSEC (Aviation Security) officer, smeared with wet tissue and then watched closely. No need to worry…. the important thing is no drugs in it….Hahaha. Even if denied entry, it’s calm…. this is still in my city. Just go back to home with DAMRI again….If I denied to boarding.

“Hi Ms, can me get window seat, please!“, My seduction to check-in staff at Air Asia counter. God, She is very pretty and kind, always smile …Hahaha, It’s be her duty to smile to everyone. “Hello, It’s your boarding pass“, She said….I got seat 2D, yes I failed….Hahaha.

Let’s stamped a passport! …. Even though it’s an e-passport, but my habit of stamping a passport make me didn’t care about existace of autogate counter.

Immigration Officer: “Where do you go?“

Me : Just mention in detail one by one of my destination, so he wasn’t be suspicious, “Penang, Dhaka, Colombo, Maldives, sir. Transit in Mumbai and Singapore“. What kind of trip trip is it? … crazy.

Immigration Officer : “Backpacker?”

Me : “Yes sir”

Immigration Officer : He saw my face, checking my new passport and old one. Then….He stamped it, “be careful, sir“.

Me : “thank you, sir….surely I will be careful”.

Immigration Officer : “You are great“.

Yuhuuu…..I’m great like he said

Then I prayed at end of corridor before entering gate. After that, I entered second X-ray screening in front gate D5….Yess, very smooth.

While I was sitting reading near charging station, came a couple of Korean. They tried very hard to use it too.

Me : “Hi, Sir. That’s broken. I had tried many times and failed”.

He : “Oh yea….Why put it here if broken” ostensibly kicking charging station while smiling.

Me : “Do you want go to South Korea?”.

He : “Oh, Nup….I’m from California and will fly from KL”.

Me : “Oh Nice”.

He : “What are you doing here? “.

Me : “My profession, your mean?”.

He : “yeaaa”

Me : “Sales”.

He : “Good money?”

Me : “If not good, I willn’t here to fly with you”.

He : “yea…yea…yea”, nodding while smiling at me.

Looked like his girlfriend was a travel vlogger. Always speak with her confidence….Great. I thought I could not be like that? It’s better to write than to talk like her.

QZ 206 finally leaned to gate. Yup ….my adventure started immediately. Thirsty made me out from gate to buy mineral water. And a little warning from gate officer to immediately back to gate. Ok, sir, instead of buying it on the plane, it’s expensive.

Airbus A320-200 with a capacity about 186 passengers.

Exactly on 19:17 hours, I started boarding.

Turbulence night flights on end of December. Seen middle-aged man next to me was so tense and held tight to the armrest chair throughout flight while me and a young woman who flanked him only wryly smiled while hiding misgivings.

Because my latest knowledge about Ipoh and Penang was so minimal, I decided to explore Travel360 inflight magazine. Hoping to find valuable information about Ipoh and Penang tourism. And …. thanks …. I really got it.

QZ 206 was preparing to landing. Could not sleep during the trip because focus in reading inflight magazine to find information. This time, my 5 days transit adventure in Malaysia was foolish. Traveling without enough information.

What is the baggage for? It maybe a flight safety equipment.

Once arrived at KLIA2, a thoughts which immediately occurred to me were looking for a free water station, dinner, prayer, bought bus ticket to Penang and then sleeping.

You have to go to Transportation Hub on 1st floor to find cheap food. Oh yeah….Bus ticket sales counter is also there.

Come on…Got ready to go to Penang tomorrow.

For several transportation mode from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur, you can get the ticket in 12Go Asia or in link: https://12go.asia/?z=