my first firefly

My friends call me
- siuV or
- sly or
- maiyok

Do you know that Mr Firefly also has nicks like
- Mr Glowworm or
- Mr Lightning Bug?

and Mr Firefly is not a fly, he's actually a beetle !

When he turns into an adult, he becomes what we call, bioluminescent (the abillity to GLOW)

Light is produced caused by a chemical reaction of their photic organ and oxygen. By controlling this oxygen supply, it's like switching the 'on' and 'off' button.

In fact, 100% of a firefly's light is given off as light!

(By comparison, a normal light bulb gives off only 10% of its energy as light, while 90% is wasted as heat). thank god for that, or else Mr Firefly would totally fry if his body got as warm as a light bulb!

So why does Mr Firefly like to fire up his ass for?

1. to give a warning to approaching predators that he's gonna taste real bad because of the defensive chemicals in his teeny weeny body.

2. he wanna attract the attention of a particular 'Ms Firefly' by using a specific flash pattern, be it one continuous glow or discreet single flashes or multi-pulsed ala 'disco light' flashes!

Well, i had my first encounter with a firefly recently.

and no, i've never been to Kuala Selangor.

I'm referring to our very own community airline, the Firefly.
such an adorable name.

Launched in April 2007, Firefly operates from Penang and Subang Airport while their ticketing office just only opened in Subang's Sul. Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Jan, 2009.

I was pretty excited to 'experience the Firefly', but at the same time, with all the buzz going around, i was quite skeptical of this 'lesser-known' airline and the 'smaller-than-usual' planes they use. Well, happy to say all the butterflies in my stomach flew out of the Firefly as soon as my 1-hour journey to Penang began.

7 am - Alighting from my usual cabbie, i arrived at what looked like 'a-dodgy-looking-alley-leading-to-some-bus-terminal-or-something', passed the glass doors, to be greeted by the airport Information Counter.
It was surprisingly pretty posh inside the building. Look. Not a soul in sight...except for that one Starbucks dude
It was so insanely quiet, you could hear a pin drop.And also starking cold that the loo suddenly became the warmest fuzziest place on earth.
After have packed enough 'heat' (and courage), I weasled my way back out coz I was curious to see what else this 'low-profile' airport has to offer.

Found this big-screen TV which aired nothing but this exact same advertisement...again...and again....and again. I found Firefly's ticketing office...and finally, human!

Don't laugh, I know my face looks 'fat' on cam cam (".) but as I revisited the ladies, I had this in mind...

(Hmm...where is my friend)Nope, she ain't at the check-in counter..More shots in the loo : )

No wonder the washroom was so clean and dry, there was no water supply that day! uurgh, *thumbs down* As i plopped myself into one of these couches,
and gobbled down my hotdog bun for brekkie,Cutie Belinda finally arrived..wearing the exact same T-Shirt as me.

We were both in white slacks too! Talk about good taste, eh-hem... CHeck-in cHeck-in!What the Firefly staff wore...Nothing much to do after that but waaait, so took a picture of the boarding pass for me and my little infant... =_=This was where they placed the passengers waiting to board their plane. Can you spot me, huh, can you? ........

of course not, coz I was holding the cam cam.

Look ma, it's a bird, it's a plane... with a giant propeller, it looks like one of those toy planes I used to own...

'tOy'(?!) *gulp*

It's a small plane alright, this looks like the interior of an express bus.
All smiles like an excited child on her first flight experience.
I simply love the feeling of a plane cruising on the runway and finally lifting off into mid-air!

And the guy beside me was already fast asleep even before lift-off. After Bel and I did our 'thing' in Penang, it was time for lunch in search of Penang's best char kuey teow and asam laksa. Ah-HA, Victoria Station!

just kidding, VS was the nearest eating place and I was starving, I was ready to eat a horse!
Like in KL, they too had this 'carriage'-like section.

Beef Steak seems their specialty.. Unfortunately, I was more attracted with their 'Soup' menu.

New England Clam Chowder......(!)

Lobster Bisque......(!)(!)

Our pretty-looking drinks.... no points for guessing which one's mine! >,<(slurp slurp)

Grilled Fish of the Day - fish was nicely proportioned and grilled, fries were top-of-the-notch!
And I've never tasted a better tartar sauce, they mixed butter in it, I think.

Mine was Fish & Chips. Wished they'd fried it in a crispy batter rather than breading it.

This is the result of our waiter's lack of photographic skills...heee.

It was back to using Air Asia on my flight back to Kay-eL...not that I don't like Firefly, but there was no suitable time.

Know what? I think I like to fly Firefly now. Though their flight duration is like 20 minutes longer than the rest, it was the smoother and more stabile flying experience that I like.

Best of all, I was served 2 delicious chocolate chip cookies and a refreshing glass of fruit juice by an attractive lady in orange.