My 2.4m x 0.9m space

Korea 2025: The pre-trip day trip

posted : Saturday, May 24, 2025

I like to call this Day 0 of the trip. Because in all honesty this is actually part of the process of going to Seoul, details of which I covered in my post-trip post.

What I kind of didn’t factor in when I booked the trip was that I would be in Taipei the weekend prior, and so by the time this trip rolled around I was already partially exhausted. So a 6.20am flight on a Saturday morning didn’t sound very inviting at all. Nor was an overnight at SilverKris Business Lounge where there’s a good chance i don’t get to sleep properly a good idea.

So I scrapped the idea of lugging my suitcase to KL and checking it in through to Seoul, but instead packed light for a day trip (I.e just a backpack) and I was good to go. Idea is I will exit immigration upon returning and go home to sleep on a proper bed, then return to airport the next morning with my proper Seoul luggage in tow. Still exhausting but maybe not as bad.

Back to KL, touched down bright and early and took KLIA Ekspress to KL Sentral. Figured out after a few KL trips that it’s cheaper and faster than Grab when you are traveling alone. Only problem was after I got to KL Sentral, I was a bit at lost on where to head to for breakfast, because places I wanted to go were not opened yet (why do brunch places open so late anyway)? But eventually settled for my trusty APW Bangsar, though that well is starting to run dry too.

Now iconic T2 pic

Chef Wei Cheong Fun for breakfast, figured it’s too early for any lounges

Went on an eating spree because cutting phase is over

Arriving in KL bright and early

Pulp coffee and I went for a French toast, surprisingly uninspiring

Then chilled at 103 for quite a while

One day isn’t too much time and it’s just cafe, cafe, cafe, shopping, and back to the airport. Covered in pics below.

Back to another familiar haunt in VCR coffee, the cereal prawn pasta was surprisingly spicy

And another now mandatory stop for me in recent years, TRX

But what I wanted to record down is more about the short 1 hour business class flight I took, and the lounge experience before that because that’s not likely something I will spend my miles on again. So returning to KLIA and checking in, was told I had a choice between the Plaza Premium Lounge or the Golden Lounge at the Satellite Terminal. Check in counter staff wasnt very helpful with recommending one, so I had to choose - my flight was departing from the Main Terminal so I decided on the Plaza Premium Lounge in the end. Which was of course filled with other folks accessing the lounge by virtue of credit card benefits, but at least they do carve out and cordon off an exclusive section for premium class passengers.

Entrance

Laksa live station

Selections in the cordoned off area

Slightly more peaceful than the chaos outside

Ehhh….why do all lounges have good laksa? This was so good too!

Then the flight itself! Was interested to know how they operate such a short flight, since seatbelt off time is basically just 20min and they still served food (even if it’s just a simpler snack). We got stuck at the gate for a long time because for some reason they decided to fuel up there for whichever long flight they are flying next (it’s an A350 used for medium haul/long haul) flights instead of at their home terminal which is an hour away sigh. And I bet the crew would have preferred to have this extra time in the skies haha. But boy, do they have to work hard - pretty sure it’s the first time I see cabin crew literally running up and down the aisle pushing their carts.

No blue J class cardstock oh well

KLIA1 is starting to feel familiar too…and I definitely prefer it

I actually like this seat! It’s the A350 which they use for mid haul flights and the space to rest your feet especially when bed is activated is so much better because it’s straight in front

Bellini to start

1 hour

Poke bowl as a snack, they were rushinggggg. But surprisingly good as well.

Landed a full hour later than I intended and that means one hour less sleep because I still made the trek to T3 SilverKris Lounge to experience dinner offerings for the first time, since the second leg of my flight is in the morning and there’s breakfast offerings only. And being the first time there I wasn’t aware the Business Lounge had two wings - a smaller one to the right and a much larger one on the left, branching off the First Class Lounge which I’ve been to. So I instinctively headed to the right, the food offerings as it turned out was maybe about half (and without live stations) and I was wondering why it was full to the brim, thinking that can’t be the capacity they planned for.