Winter in China: Penang to Bangkok on TG

• Introduction
• Penang to Bangkok
• Bangkok to Beijing
• Hotel G Beijing 
• Exploring Beijing
• Exploring Beijing - The Great Wall at Mutianyu
• Exploring Beijing - The Forbidden Palace
• Exploring Beijing - Temple of Heaven
• Novotel Beijing Peace 
• The Duck Hunt 
• Food in Beijing 
• Beijing to Harbin on Air China
• Food in Harbin 
• Ibis Harbin
• Exploring Harbin
• Sun Island Park Harbin
• Harbin Ice & Snow World
• Harbin to Shanghai via Beijing on Air China
• Shanghai to Singapore on SQ
• Conclusion

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We got to the airport around 6 am for our 8am flight to Bangkok. There was no line in the business class line. Check-in was done by MAS agents with a supervisor from Thai Airways. Our bags were tagged all the way to Beijing and we were handed boarding passes and lounge invitation to the MAS Golden Lounge.

It was rather annoyingly warm and stuffy that not all the air-conditioning was turned on yet when we got to the lounge. The staff eventually turned it on a couple of minutes later. I caught up on email before enjoying a hearty breakfast of nasi lemak and coffee knowing that the food in the lounge would probably be better than on the plane later.

My hearty nasi lemak breakfast

The lounge itself was pretty good with plenty of seating, a good view of the tarmac, business center, a kids play area and even a shower. It does puzzle me however who actually gets to use the lounge since the lounge is on the international wing of the airport and MAS does not serve any international destination from Penang.

We got to the gate area just as boarding was about to start. We promptly boarded and were offered hot towels and water or juice. There were 3 other folks joining us on the flight in business class today and coincidentally a Canadian couple that we found out and talked to later was actually on the same flight to Beijing as us.

It started to rain when we left but thankfully it didn’t get too bumpy and we were above the clouds in no time.

Penang Airport undergoing renovations

2nd Penang Bridge in construction

Climbing above the clouds

The Boeing 737-400 was old but the seats in business class were surprisingly very comfy especially on this short hour and a half flight where you just want to lounge instead of sleeping.

There was only a noodle dish being offered on this flight which I skipped and Lydia poked at. The nasi lemak in the lounge was definitely better. I had some of the fruits and continue with my killer combination of champagne (wish it was Dom!), coffee and water while finishing up my never ending work and shortly after, we landed on-time into Bangkok.