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.
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.