KLM to/from Jakarta

When AirAsia started operations, they made good on their slogan “Now Everyone Can Fly.” With their fares a mere fraction of other airlines’, I dare declare that a plane ride from KL to Jakarta is often akin to a bus ride, judging from the curious mix of passengers that you get to fly with every time.

And then came KLM.

They offer daily flights to and from Jakarta, excellent service, huge wide-body planes…and, unlike AirAsia <drumroll please>, they serve free inflight meals!

Yessirree! For a mere RM460 nett (about $143), you get to check in online as early as 30 hours before the flight AND choose your seat AND even request a special meal.

Now don’t get me wrong on the meal thing. Their standard menu is excellent. KLM have this RDS concept (route-dependent service), whereby their menu is tailored to the area where they are flying.

So for the KUL-CGK flights, standard menu fare is fried rice with satay (Malaysian sweet barbecued chicken on a skewer), a small cucumber-and-tofu salad with peanut sauce and a slice of a dessert that resembles the Philippine maja blanca. On the other hand, CGK-KUL flights have fried mee hoon (rice noodles), a cucumber-and-pineapple salad, and the same dessert.

Being one who is always eager to try out new things, I decided, on an impulse, to request for a special meal when I booked our tickets (HD’s and mine) this time around. Choices were: vegetarian, low-fat/low-cholesterol, low-calorie, low-protein, low-sodium. My first thought was low-calorie, but fearing the worst possible outcome, I opted for the ‘safer’ low-fat/low-cholesterol option.

HD was quite skeptical about the whole thing. But he was immediately won over when we were served our meals before everyone else and when the meals turned out to be very good!

For our KUL-CGK flight, we were served chicken breasts with carrots and potatoes, an artichoke-and-lettuce salad and some fresh fruits. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of that meal.

As for the CGK-KUL flight, it was gnocchi with herbs and tomatoes, a green salad with feta cheese and some fresh fruits. Yummy!

It was much, much yummier than how it looks like in this crappy photo, no thanks to the poor lighting and the fact that I was using a camera phone.

It was so yummy that I got inspired to write this post right after eating it :P