I was (thankfully!) wrong about the seat from Kuala Lumpur to Osaka/Kansai. Normally the plane I flew on has a configuration of 3 seats on each side and 3 in the middle…except for the last 7 rows which only have 2 seats on the sides. Knowing that from my flight from Osaka/Kansai, I requested a seat in one of those back 7 rows upon check in at Penang Airport and was assigned an aisle in the very last row. Last row seats can be very noisy due to their proximity to the lavatories and people huddling around them (not to mention the aroma…)
So when I got to Kuala Lumpur, I lined up to request a better seat. At that point I was shown a seat map and surprises of surprises, this particular aircraft has 2 seats on each side and 4 in the middle making it only 8 across rather than 9. This meant the entire aircraft from front to back had just 2 seats on each side AND that each seat would be wider than this airlines’ standard configuration.
I requested ANY aisle or window on the sides of the plane, but was told I’d have to wait until I got to the gate to make that change or pay a fee to do so (which would have been nearly the same cost as one night in my hotel in Penang!)
So at the gate, I politely approached the agent and asked for a better seat. He told me to wait until the check-in for the flight had been closed before he could change my seat. I did as was told and again politely approached him 40 minutes later. While he couldn’t get me an aisle or window on the sides of the plane, he did get me an aisle seat 20 rows ahead of where I was and only 10 rows from the exit…SCORE! And my seat mate was a really nice person!
When boarding the plane, I noticed the livery was different than normal and quite generic. I realized that the airline had gotten it secondhand from another carrier and when I boarded, I also noticed the upholstery was not their standard black and red pleather, but gray and blue cloth. I inquired about it with a Japanese flight attendant (the airline isn’t Japanese) and she said “It’s your lucky day! This airplane was acquired from Singapore Airlines and has a roomy configuration!”
There was oodles of legroom and the seat was indeed wide. The flight left on time and arrived 16 minutes early. As I was close to the exit, immigration was nearly empty when I got there and I got through it in lightning speed! The bags took about 15 minutes to come out, but that was no problem as my friend who was meeting me was delayed about 30 minutes (he arrived 20 minutes after I cleared customs).
Anyway, my flights from Japan to Thailand and from Malaysia to Japan were on Air Asia and from Thailand to Malaysia were on the Malaysia Airlines subsidiary “Firefly”. That flight was also fine, though a bit lacking in legroom.
Some LCCs have a bad rap, but I’ve been extra lucky, I guess!
Thank you for reading this overly lengthy and verbose flight report…especially considering that this is a food site. While no meals were ordered/eaten, Firefly did give us a free bottle of water, Famous Amos cookies and peanuts…rare for an LCC!
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I will add the mussels recipe to my list.
BUT I’m also supposed to cook a new recipe this week… decisions, decisions 
