LIMA 2009 – the good, the bad & the ugly.

2 years on and we again find ourselves up at dawn waiting for our AA flight to Langkawi  to visit the  Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace show.

Departing a little past 8.00 am, we found ourselves on the tarmac of Langkawi airport 55 minutes later. It looks like it’s gonna be a hot and sunny day already.

Before going on about what we saw at the show proper, here’s a brief run down of my overall impression of this edition of LIMA.

The Good:

• Loads more food stalls this year in comparison with 2007.
• Meeting and striking up a conversation with Alan & Pat, formerly from Australia and now living their second lives in Penang.
• Singapore’s Apache helicopters!

The Bad:

• Prices for food were still exorbitant. For eg, 10 bucks for a glass of juice and 6 bucks for a pastry. >__<
• Disappointingly, there were no aerial display teams participating this year with the global economic crisis being cited as the main excuse.
• Lack of proper signage directing public visitors to the ticketing counters. The entrance was moved to the side entrance facing the air strip.

The Ugly:

• As it was 2 years ago, there was the same mad crush of people pushing their way towards the ticket counters. It seems that the organisers still remain clueless as to implementing simple crowd control. Had there been some sort of emergency, lots could’ve actually died from being trampled on.
• Toilets which didn’t work. Blech.
• Our return flight on AA being delayed by 1 hour whilst Firefly departs bang on schedule. -_-”

Tips for attending LIMA:

Having learnt our lesson from being forced to pay 7 bucks (!) for a can of 100 Plus in 2007, this year we came better prepared in terms of provisions. Between us, we shared:

(a) 3  X 500ml water

(b) 2 X 500ml 100 Plus

(c) 12 mini packs of biscuits

(d) 1 pack of peanut candy

Note: There’s also a Starbucks in Langkawi airport which you can stop for a quick breakfast fix pre-show. And, whilst waiting for your flight back to KL later in the day, you can opt for Kenny Rogers or Selera Asia for tea/dinner.

Other essentials/tips for LIMA:

(a) sunblock & hat (it’s REALLY hot even on a cloudy day because you’re on tarmac the whole time, which reflects back the sun rays)

(b) tissue paper / wet wipes / towel (for your sweat, to clean your hands, toilet)

(c) sunglasses (but be warned, you will get tan lines)

(d) comfortable shoes (because you’ll be on your feet all day), slippers/sandals not recommended because you’ll get  sun burnt and/or tan lines as most folks normally forget to apply sunblock on their feet

(e) disposable rain coat (it’s an outdoor event)

(f) light clothing (you can wear shorts but I prefer long pants to shield your legs from the sun)

Next up: pictures of what went on in the air.