KLM

  • Amsterdam,  KLM

    My flight experience with KLM

    KLM_bird
    A bird perching on rudder.

    I had never been on KLM flight and was excited to get on it because KLM has kindly sponsored my trip to Italy to attend Bologna Children’s Book Fair. I requested to get on the 21st March flight but it was full so I had to go on an earlier flight. KLM got me a flight on the 19th but since the book fair will only start on 24th, I requested to board off at Rome and follow fellow illustrator friend, Evelyn, to Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy for an excursion.

    The flight was at 11.45pm and my husband dropped me off at the departure terminal and off I went to the check-in machine but it was not working so I went to the counter instead.

    Although I can carry my backpack because it weighed less than 12kg, I checked it in because it was heavy for me to carry. Haha, so much for travelling light. I had my book promotion items and that’s the main reason why it was heavy. I didn’t bring much clothings actually. Anyway, only one luggage (maximum 23kg) are permitted to be checked-in. For hand-carry bag, it is up to 12kg.

    I only carry my handbag of about 3kg (loaded with laptop, camera and cables). I stuffed my toiletries (liquid and gel) in my backpack because I read on the website earlier that starting January 2014, liquids and gels can only be carried aboard in my hand-baggage if they are placed in a transparent, re-sealable plastic bag which itself may not exceed one litre in capacity.

    My check-in was very smooth and I later walked to the boarding area, passing immigration and duty-free areas before boarding on the train to satellite terminal and to the gate.

    Prior to leaving, I got myself an aisle seat for KUL-AMS leg because it will make easier for me to get to the lavatory because night flight tends to get my bladder full every time. For AMS-FCO leg, I opted for window seat because I like to view earth from bird’s eye view.

    For your information, I registered for KLM Account via Facebook. KLM account is free to register and we can even log in with other social accounts such as Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter. Having this account will make it easier for us to purchase tickets without having to insert all our details all over again. We can always view all our bookings/tickets summary the next time we travel as it will all linked into our account. By logging into My Trip through either our account or booking code, we can:
    – View and change our travel details
    – Choose favourite seat and see who’s on board
    – Order à la carte meal, add more baggage and arrange handy services.

    Soon as the plane took off, I (along with other passengers) was served a meal; choices of rice and chicken or pasta together with bread, salad and dessert. I opted for rice as I had pasta at home before leaving. The food was delicious! I eat happily without any doubt because prior to leaving, I did some checking about the meal on KLM’s website; whether it is halal for Muslim. According to the website, Muslim meal: does not contain pork, by-products of pork or food containing alcohol. All meats come from ritually slaughtered animals. I double-checked by calling KLM office in Kuala Lumpur and they confirmed that all food outbound and inbound to/fro AMS (Amsterdam) to/fro KUL (Kuala Lumpur) and JKT (Jakarta) route is halal. But that is not the case for AMS-FCO leg, so I requested for vegetarian meal.

    foodKULAMS
    Rice and chicken on board.

    With a full stomach, I continued to indulge myself with at least a good movie. I selected Diana from the list. I haven’t seen the movie yet. Diana was just released September last year. There were few other new movies but I was too sleepy to watch. By the time I woke up, it was breakfast time! Yes, I slept about 9 hours (Flight was 12 hours; 3 hours for meal and movie) because I did not sleep the night before that due to work overload. I went to the lavatory only once haha. The passenger besides me did not go to toilet at all. Lucky me, I didn’t have to un-buckle my seatbelt or stand or squeeze my legs up.

    Breakfast was egg and fried potatoes served with bread, fruits, dessert and coffee/tea. Not long after that, it was time to land in Amsterdam.

    I had 3 hours layover before I could board the flight to Rome and I took the time to explore a small part of Schiphol Airport. I will cover this in another post soon, ok?

    And then it was time to board the flight to Rome. While waiting to board, there was an announce whether there’s any passenger willing to trade seat with a man on the next flight. The man offered 350 Euro. Whoa! I wish I could trade my seat had I not make any plan to go to Tuscany with Evelyn.

    Anyway, I boarded the flight as scheduled.

    sandwich
    Yummy breakfast!

    I had yummy cheese sandwich snack and coffee while watching great views outside my window. See the sandwich box? I kept it and brought it home because I think the idea is brilliant, not to mention the cute box design! Oh, the bread was super delicious, I could eat a pack just like that without cheese. The fact that the grain was grounded in an authentic Dutch windmill has got something to do with the taste.

    I continued to watch the view outside my window before it was time to land at Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO), Rome, Italy.

    alps
    Weee! Alps Mountains below!

    The AMS-FCO flight duration was one hour and 45 minutes and I had a great and safe flight. A steward on the flight converse to me in Malay language and that, made it even more great! I mean, how often can you hear cabin crew speaks Malay other than those outbound/inbound KUL on local airlines?

    Getting to Rome: KLM operated 2 time(s) daily from KUL to FCO (Rome).

  • KLM,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

    Going to Bologna with KLM!

    Every year around the month of March, Bologna will be having the International Children’s Bookfair festival. This year, like any other year, Malaysia is participating this by bringing a lot of children’s books for rights licensing deal. My books will be there too and I don’t want to miss the act and give whatever support I can to help my books to be licensed internationally.

    One problem that I always have is that I am not financially stable. Being an illustrator who works from home does not promise me a monthly fixed salary, it only depends on how many paintings or books that I can draw and sell. Since I am busy with book illustrations, I can only get at least one painting and few books (book stock as royalty payment from Oyez!Books) sold each month for few hundreds Ringgit. And out of the total amount, I have to set aside some hundred Ringgit for my son’s education fund. All the monthly bills are paid by my husband and I spend my money to buy grocery and what not. Book royalty will come in like once a year (from PTS) and that won’t happen until August for me to get the payout. And royalty is not much as well; it will be around RM500 if spread according to month for a year.

    And so to ensure that I go to Bologna, I set Plan A; which is to seek sponsorship for my flight ticket. Plan B would be – try to get some book royalty advance and sell more paintings and books to get the amount for flight tickets. And I have to make it fast also as flight tickets will cost higher when the fly date is nearer. As for accomodation, I ‘kautim-ed’ that already as I got some early advance royalty for a recent book deal with Karangkraf, enough for me to pay my share for a room in Bologna with my illustrator friend, Evi.

    Plan A started with me sending my proposal to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines early last month. They replied and asked me to send my blog’s traffic details for them to deliberate and after 3 weeks, I got a favourable answer; KLM agree to sponsor me! Yippee! And today morning, I went to meet KLM team to discuss their requirements and details. Alhamdulillah, it went smooth.

    klmtrip

    I am already excited to go. Remember that 2010 dream that I would one day return to Bologna’s Children Book Fair and stick my illustration and stuff on the Illustrators Wall? It will come true! And furthermore, this time it will be a journey of inspiration as I plan to do some research on my new books at the book fair as well as visit art places not to forget to do the thing I love; sketching.

    And all thanks to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for making it happen for me.  I will leave for Bologna on 21st March 2014.