This Precious Life

Last month, Air Asia announced a new flight destination – Hangzhou, China. What a great opportunity to visit one of the most modern city in one of the most powerful country in the world.

I quickly booked my flight, joining five others, including my dad, who were similarly interested to travel together. We decided that the highlight of our trip will be a trek up the scenic Mount HuangShan nearby.

My flight costs RM849.00 (about USD270.00). Even though it was booked through the Air Asia website, the flight is actually operated by Air Asia X Pte Ltd, a totally separate company from Air Asia.

Since this is Air Asia X instead of Air Asia, the terms and conditions are slightly different. The most obvious difference is that passengers are not allocated any space for check-in luggage. If you wish to check-in any luggage at all, you will need to buy space at RM25 for the first 15kg and RM25 for every subsequent kg after that. You will also be encouraged to purchase further upgrades such as travel insurance not including motorbike insurance, food, and the larger XL seat.

My flight to Hangzhou was quite restful. As we drew near, I felt so excited when I glimpsed HangZhou city for the first time.

From the air, it looks like all the buildings were built by the same guy. They’re all about four storeys high, built along a big road, and with wide open space right behind.

We finally landed at about 1pm on Monday March 3, 2008. I could hardly wait to jump off the plane and experience for myself one of China’s greatest city!