Sept 5, 2025 – Start of our Anniversary Trip
We took the afternoon flight from Coimbatore to reach Chennai as our flight to Yogyakarta was at night from the Chennai airport. Chakrapani was waiting for us at the Chennai airport and we went to Radha Athai’s house within half an hour. Spent nearly three hours there and got to meet Vasu Chitappa as well. It was a surprise for him and we got the famous Arakkonam Bhajji to eat.
Left Athai’s house around 7 pm and reached the airport within 30 minutes.
Chennai airport never fails to irritate us … this time was no different. The entry took ages since everyone was busy saying goodbye to their loved ones, children were crying loudly and ofcourse the checking of the passenger credentials also took a lot of time. Finally we got in and reached the Air Asia counter only to wait in yet another queue.
After a long winded huddle, the Air Asia team was in place and we quickly got our boarding passes. Next was immigration and since we had already asked Hareesh about how the Fast Track Immigration was enabled for him, we went to the counter at the airport and got our biometrics done. The whole process was quick and we could easily complete it. Will be useful on our way back to India. This was the silver lining in our Chennai airport experience :).
Immigration was smooth, with a set of happy officials who chatted away with all the passengers even as they checked our passports and tickets.
The favourite part of any flight that we take was next – security check. Utter chaos is the only way this can be explained. They have two queues but some volunteer stands next to the left queue and pushes their trays onto the conveyor belt. We stood in the right queue (pun intended) and were totally ignored. Finally the CRPF personnel who were managing the whole process came by and asked the volunteer to get lost. Things moved forward and we were checked in, though every other person jostled to push their tray ahead.
Went and sat in one of the many sofas near the food court … and a family of six (four children, mother and father) were occupying the sofa next to us. They were eating many different items and suddenly got up, leaving the plates on the sofa. Guess they were waiting for PM Modi to swing by and clear their plates. 🙁 This was repeated with another couple on another sofa. Why can’t we understand that keeping our country clean is our responsibility, not just the government.
Anyway, we got onto our flight on time (the flight was late by 10 minutes). The seats are cramped in Air Asia, but the fares are light on the pocket. It’s Indigo’s alter ego for overseas travel. It was a 4 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur where we had a stopover for a couple of hours before our flight to Yogyakarta.
A couple of pics of Kuala Lumpur from the flight –
As soon as we came through the exit gate at the KL airport, we saw the flight information board showing our flight as delayed by an hour. So we had enough time to brush our teeth and also have a cup of Tea(fit).
We found this interesting water dispenser that dispensed both hot and cold water. Another fellow passenger helped me to get going with the hot water as it wasn’t dispensing at all when I tried. But once I got the hang of it, the water was piping hot !! We should think of installing a similar dispenser at our airports and railway stations.
I used two packs of Teafit, poured the hot water on top and shook the “Instacuppa” 400 ml cup/flask. Perfect tea was ready. Have to mention the “Instacuppa” insulated mugs/cups/flasks. They are wide-mouthed, easy to clean and keep hot liquids hot for a couple of hours but cold liquids stay cold for nearly 8 hours. We don’t travel without these mugs.
After having a nice cup of Masala tea and speaking to Amma over WhatsApp (why miss the free WiFi) we walked around a bit before sitting down in front of a cafe. Unfortunately the chairs are not very comfortable to sit or snooze. Krishnan and I took turns for a few minutes of shut eye.
It’s obvious Asha is well travelled because her team at Designs4trips didn’t plan for any activity on day one. An important thing to remember whenever you travel – on the day of arrival don’t plan on any activity. Most international flights are late at night and unless you travel Business Class – it’s just not possible to sleep on an airplane seat.
Vegetarian Food while Travelling
We are carrying some eatables from India as always. It’s tough to choose foodstuff at South Asian airports because the use of fish sauce and eggs is rampant. Opened a packet of Khakras to have with the Masala Chai. Have to check the food labels in Indonesia as well, but am sure we will find vegetarian stuff to eat :).
Do read my earlier post on Teafit – Tea Tales and Teafit.