My flight to Malaysia had three segments. The first was inside the US. The next was to Hong Kong. Then the final portion was to Penang, Malaysia. But first you have to get through security...
It should be quite easy to leave your own country, right? Not necessarily. The first leg of my travel was with American Airlines. I made it through the security check and was walking towards my gate when my name was announced over the PA system and they called me back to the ticketing desk.
When I got back the lady exhasperatedly asked whether I had proof of onward travel from Malaysia and whether I had proof of funds. Well luckily I did get an onward ticket for this very type of situation. Unfortunately, I didn't prepare proof of my funds during the trip. So we ran through various ways I might get this proof of funds. The lady at the desk said she didn't care, but she wanted to make sure the officials in Malaysia wouldn't "send me back to the U.S." We figured out that once I got back inside I could use my laptop to download my most recent statements and put them on my flash drive and mp3 player. Then if they asked in Malaysia or wherever I could just show those.
Apparently, they don't have free wi-fi in airports. FYI, the same Boingo service in U.S. airports doesn't charge the same rate in different airports. So I decided to skip on the internet. I got a balance print out from the ATM instead. Hopefully that will satisfy anyone who wants to see I have money.
On the second leg of my trip, when I switched to Cathay Pacific, the lady at the desk didn't ask anything about proof of onward travel or funds. Prior to my flight, I was a little worried about Cathay Pacific once I realized they have a tiered weight allowance for carry on baggage (which was all I took). I flew Economy Class which had a limit of 15 pounds. A weight limit for a second smaller carry on bag wasn't mentioned. I didn't bring much, but what I had weighed more than 15 pounds. I only brought two carry on's total for my trip. Without planning I just happened upon a solution to the problem. When the lady asked me to place my baggage on the scale, I placed my laptop bag first and without asking for my larger backpack she said "Oh, you're traveling light today." I was! It seems she took my laptop bag as my main carry on baggage. So somehow I did a switcheroo and she didn't ask to weigh my larger bag.
The flight was pretty okay. None of my neighbors were too bothersome. The food was good enough and I was served first.* I finished my meals by the time the regular meals got to my area. I could have asked for unlimited free beer if I choose to, like the guy next to me. There were first run movies and TV shows to watch in the console in the headrest in front of me.
*At booking I requested one of the five or six different vegetarian meal options. Since they had to prepare my meal separately on the plane I got served first each time. On the flight segment to Malaysia I waited a bit since there were a number of people that I guess were requesting the Halal meal.
Once I got to Hong Kong I needed to prepare for a long layover. I was hoping I didn't need to go through Immigration and luckily I didn't. So I ended up visiting Hong Kong without actually going into Hong Kong. I arrived at about 9pm and didn't depart until about 3pm the next day. I didn't feel like going into the city for just a night because I've done that before and didn't feel like it was that special. However, when I tried to pass through into the departure area the lady checking flight information gave me a look like "You're kidding, right?" I just said "I'll wait" and she let me through. The airport was pretty crowded even past midnight and I wondered if lots of people were doing the same thing. It turns out they just had late flights. It got pretty empty in the early hours of the morning. But everything went well enough and the next day I just walked around and used my computer a few times while I waited for my final flight.
The last flight was pretty much the same as the second, but it was shorter and on an older plane. I arrived in Penang and the Immigration official didn't ask to see any proof of onward travel or any proof of funds. All he asked was if I was here for holidays and I said I was. In the arrival zone, my friend was there waiting to pick me up. The weather was finally warm.
