malaysia airlines

i have flown via malaysia airlines over the years and today, i'm declaring this to be the worst non-budget airline i've ever tried. i thought philippine airlines sucked big time but no, malaysia airlines is by far the more disappointing one. 

while b737 400 is fine since i'm not too big anyway, malaysia airlines' planes are not as tidy as one could expect for an international flag carrier. tray tables have withered in color and would give you the feel that you're really in an '70s aircraft. i sat in the window seat when i was flying home and the window panes have scratches, almost as if freddie krueger was flying beside the plane. 

second, the entertainment options were very limited. singapore airlines would have almost 10 new movies while MAS would only have 2-3 new releases. the rest are what they call "favorites". other carriers would provide headsets in tightly sealed plastics but MAS does not. their headsets don't even have earpiece foam cover. MAS does not even offer any pillows. for somebody who has back problems, pillows would come handy. when you request for one, they will just tell you that we don't have any. MAS does not provide any local pinoy dailies and does not even provide magazines other than their inflight one.  

some of the things above may be disappointing but generally forgivable... but just make sure that the food is ok. malaysia airlines, unfortunately for me, has the worst flight meal ever. PAL, during its labor dispute days, offered stupid meal that consisted of rice, blanched veggie, bland chicken and some local sweets. fine. one would understand because they were having problems back then. but MAS does not have these problems (or i just haven't heard of any). their tray was the saddest one i've ever seen... a meal in one of demo classes during my grade school was far better! it's as if they run out of ideas and just opened several boxes of totally "unjiving" treats and put it together in a tray. why would anyone put a cup cake with a chocolate bar? they could have gone with bread or roll and some butter but they chose cup cake. ice cream would have been a lot better than the chocolate bar because it'll light up anyone's eyes and appetite. there was not even an ounce of fruit or salad on the tray. on my way to KL, they were offering fish + rice and chicken + noodles. i chose fish and rice, which was a big mistake. again, it was the saddest fish fillet i've ever seen and tasted. no flavor at all. it would remind you of hospital food intended for someone who had just undergone an operation. the food didn't have any hint of "passion", as if telling the passengers "we're up here so no choice for all of us, just eat it".

   

i wonder whether malaysia airlines take time to look at the very detail of their services. probably not, based on what i've seen and experienced. so for my next KL trip, let's go with PAL or SQ. never mind the PAL middle-aged flight attendants or the 1 hour layover in singapore, no malaysia airlines for me from now on.