The time marker showed half past eleven when Malaysia Airlines MH 724 landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. I took a deep breath when the plane was perfectly parked in the apron, it was because the connecting flight Malaysia Airlines MH 1326 would only fly to Kuala Terengganu on 07:25 hours next day. That means, for the next nine hours I had to spend all night at KLIA.
Overnight at KLIA2….Have you ever?….Yes, I was twelve times already, I tasted the “hard mattress” of KLIA Terminal 2
Overnight at KLIA?….Have you ever?….Nup, this was my first time staying at KLIA Terminal 1.
While walking in arrival hall, I took a boarding pass which I got from Soetta airport’s check-in desk. After I looked at it, the boarding pass I was holding didn’t show the gate number. Therefore, I tried to find flight status information in Flight Information Display System (FIDS) located at arrival hall….Finally, I got the gate number….Yupz,A5.
So that tomorrow morning I won’t have to find the gate, I also intend to rehearse to find a way to the gate in question. From the International Concourse at level 4, I went down one level to Domestic Concourse. Please note that domestic flights at KLIA are flown from gate A and gate B, while international flights are flown from gate C, gate G and gate H.
My rehearsal was forced to end in front of the immigration counter, but at least I understood how I had to go to the gate tomorrow morning.
From in front of the immigration counter, I was forced to climb back up to International Concourse to find a place to close my eyes.
Meanwhile, a few minutes into the middle of night, I was sitting on one of International Concourse’s seats when a couple of middle-aged tourists approached and took the empty seat to my left.
“Helloo, Sir, where are you come from?”, I ventured to say hello.
“Hi, I’m from Algeria”.
“Oh I know, it’s a country in north of Africa”, I tried to make the conversation warmer.
“Ohhhh….yeaaa….yeaaaa, you know that. I will go home tomorrow and will transit in Doha”, he started to tell about their travel plans.
“Oh, Doha will be the last destination in my traveling this time”, I started to relate my trip to their trip so that the conversation would be more intense.
“Oh, good. What is your traveling for?….Business?”
“Oh, no. it’s just for tourism. I’m Donny from Indonesia and Oh yeaaa, what is your name, sir?”
“Oh, I’m Younes and she is my wife”
“Hi, Donny, nice to meet you”, Mr. Younes’ wife also greeted me
“Hi, Madam. Nice to meet you too”
“Donny, let’s we have dinner together!” Mr. Younes took out four burgers from a paper bag that his wife had brought with him.
“Thank you, Sir. I had dinner since from Jakarta”, I gently refused.
“No No No…. It’s different, It’s to accompany us while talking about our traveling”, he forced me to accept a piece of burger that was still warm.
As a result the three of us were talking to each other while enjoying a burger together. And when we finished eating the simple dish, they said goodbye to go to the gate.
But…..Before the two of them left their seats, Mr. Younes’s wife handed me one last burger.
“It’s for you, Donny. Just take it, we are moslems, we are family”
“It’s really, I think you need it more in your journey, Mam”, I subtly declined.
“No, Donny, It’s for you”, she came closer sticking the burger in front of me
“Thank you, Mam. Allah is always with you”, finally I couldn’t resist it.
“Amen, Good night, Donny, Assalamu’alaikum”.
“Wa’alaikumsalam”
Very pleasant meeting in the early hours of that morning. I put the warm burger in my backpack. I’d better save it for breakfast tomorrow.
After the meeting, I decided to change places to find a row of empty seats to sleep while straightening my body so I could close my eyes comfortably.
