Wednesday, November 08, 2006
KL-genting (travellogue)
Trying to document my trips....
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I went to KL last Friday night taking an 26-seater executive bus from Golden Mile complex on Beach road (www.konsortium.com.sg) costing $29. I find that with any bus companies, it is best to book at least a week in advance to get the seats you want. Anyway, this bus is basic but comfortable; big seats, no entertainment, and as predicted the temperature is more suitable for polar bears than humans.
On my return leg I booked online a First Class bus ticket from www.transtar.com.sg. Why first class? It is a 16 seater bus with your own entertainment system (storable monitor, nintendo, movies, built-in massager, meals, etc) for $40. Sounds expensive? In case you didn't know, most buses cost more if you buy the Singapore-KL leg compared to the KL-Singapore leg; I guess to rip off as much money as they can from poor Singaporean based customers. This one is already "cheap" as the other leg with a same bus cost $58.
KL is same as I remembered it - a touch of Indonesia's fun and yet you can sense the orderly habits similar with Singapore's. I stayed at Heritage Hotel, a place that used to be the old train station (now only serving KTM/commuter trains). The lift is antique (you had to close the door manually), the building really original, and the staff very accommodating (they let me in at 4 am); which fully makes up for the rather pricy rate charged for a basic but clean room (MYR 100 for a triple room incl breaksfast). Be warned, although the place is just near LRT (Pasar Seni station, 1 stop away from KL sentral) but due to its entrance points you will tend to take taxis to save the trouble.
Where did I go? Well aside from some shopping, I went to the Skybridge on the 41st floor of Petronas towers. It's free but as I came late (10.30 AM) I only got tickets for a 3 PM 15 minute visit. I didn't mind as many people later ran out of tickets (they only admit around 1500 visitors a day on that bridge) and:
a) I ended having time for a great lunch with my KL based friend and her family
b) I went to Taipei 101 earlier this year to the outdoors of its 89th floor...now that was brilliant!
Aside from KL I decided to do a day trip to Genting which is famous for its Casinos (Malaysian muslims prohibited) but all I did was actually go the theme park and get some adrenaline rush. For MYR 14 I got a return transport and another MYR 36 lets me have all day access to the park. That place is COLD though; my thin jacket was almost not enough to keep me happy.
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I went to KL last Friday night taking an 26-seater executive bus from Golden Mile complex on Beach road (www.konsortium.com.sg) costing $29. I find that with any bus companies, it is best to book at least a week in advance to get the seats you want. Anyway, this bus is basic but comfortable; big seats, no entertainment, and as predicted the temperature is more suitable for polar bears than humans.
On my return leg I booked online a First Class bus ticket from www.transtar.com.sg. Why first class? It is a 16 seater bus with your own entertainment system (storable monitor, nintendo, movies, built-in massager, meals, etc) for $40. Sounds expensive? In case you didn't know, most buses cost more if you buy the Singapore-KL leg compared to the KL-Singapore leg; I guess to rip off as much money as they can from poor Singaporean based customers. This one is already "cheap" as the other leg with a same bus cost $58.
KL is same as I remembered it - a touch of Indonesia's fun and yet you can sense the orderly habits similar with Singapore's. I stayed at Heritage Hotel, a place that used to be the old train station (now only serving KTM/commuter trains). The lift is antique (you had to close the door manually), the building really original, and the staff very accommodating (they let me in at 4 am); which fully makes up for the rather pricy rate charged for a basic but clean room (MYR 100 for a triple room incl breaksfast). Be warned, although the place is just near LRT (Pasar Seni station, 1 stop away from KL sentral) but due to its entrance points you will tend to take taxis to save the trouble.
Where did I go? Well aside from some shopping, I went to the Skybridge on the 41st floor of Petronas towers. It's free but as I came late (10.30 AM) I only got tickets for a 3 PM 15 minute visit. I didn't mind as many people later ran out of tickets (they only admit around 1500 visitors a day on that bridge) and:
a) I ended having time for a great lunch with my KL based friend and her family
b) I went to Taipei 101 earlier this year to the outdoors of its 89th floor...now that was brilliant!
Aside from KL I decided to do a day trip to Genting which is famous for its Casinos (Malaysian muslims prohibited) but all I did was actually go the theme park and get some adrenaline rush. For MYR 14 I got a return transport and another MYR 36 lets me have all day access to the park. That place is COLD though; my thin jacket was almost not enough to keep me happy.
# posted by ~bu~ : 2:07 AM
