24th August 2013
A friend of mine (MK) came back to Malaysia for her maternity leave holiday, since we haven’t met for a long time, another friend (SY ) and I decided to go to Johor Bahru to visit MK and the baby. Both of us are not used to long distance driving, so we took express bus. Well, SY and me, we stayed in Japan before and public transport was our major of mode of transportation. Travelling in Japan is quite a breeze because the public transport is on time and the schedule is easily available online. (*-*) For train schedule, if you don’t like to refer to the online schedule, you can always buy a train schedule book 時刻表 from the book shop!
Back to our Johor Bahru trip, compared to Japan, finding public transport information in Malaysia is still not so difficult thanks to the helpful netizens. Well, for the express bus, it's quite easy to find the information online. Now, buying express bus ticket is available
online, easier compared to few years ago. I had never have to buy express bus ticket because I studied in the same state as my hometown. Before any long holiday, my course mates would go to the bus station to buy ticket in advance. It was a waste of time and money. Luckily, nowadays, one can book a ticket online in the comfort of one's home.
Intercity buses are more tricky. The schedules are there, just one major issue → punctuality! On that morning, in order not to miss the bus from Putrajaya to Johor Bahru, SY and I left home before 6.30 am. To our surprise, the bus was actually quite punctual, we managed to get on the bus on time and reach our destination on time. Well, if one boards at the first station, chances are the buses will depart on time. However, most of the time, the bus will stuck on the road during traffic jam and the schedule will be delayed, which is a normal occurrences in Klang Valley. Once, I waited for a bus in Petaling Jaya for around one hour, so exhausted!
We reached Putrajaya Bus Terminal in one hour. Then, we claimed our ticket from the Transnational counter. Attached is the available express bus and the schedule from this company. Haha, right after SY and I saw that, we quickly snapped a photo. Sometimes, it's quite difficult to find the schedule.
 |
| Transnational / Plus Liner Express Bus Schedule and Price - Depart From Putrajaya |
On 9am sharp, we boarded the bus. I think that the driver has high EQ, he drove steadily, didn't overtake abruptly. Well, I felt safe that time. I told SY that I could never become a public bus driver, I am a very easily agitated person and I hate traffic jams, I once rejected a job offer in Petaling Jaya because of the traffic conditions. As I grow older (maybe a little bit wiser), I have calm down a bit. When some drivers tried to overtake from left hand side at the junction or traffic lights area, I would just murmur, (something like immoral, well, that's the worst word I could say, the others involving human's organ, I couldn't get it out of my mouth ), Hahaha!
We reached Johor Bahru at around 1.30 pm. MK came with her brother to fetch us. Finally, SY and I met MK's son, a cute little baby with two upper incisors only, so cute when he smiled! Since our intention was to meet MK, we didn't visit any of the tourist attractions in Johor Bahru. We just stayed in MK's brother house and chatted non-stop.
For dinner, MK brought us to a nyonya restaurant. The food there was quite special and delicious. Then, MK suggested that we went to Danga Bay for a walk. However, a housing development was being launched there and the road was jammed. So, MK brought us to a cultural street (Jalan Tan Hiok Nee), well, there are many old shop houses there with unique architecture styles, some still keep the old wooden sign in front of the shops. Others include many stalls selling second hand goods, fake hand bags, etc. There's a corner where cultural performances are being shown. When we went there, a singing competition was held. Well, all the songs were oldies. Very suitable indeed in that cultural street!
25th August 2013
We went to Legoland. Well, gate only! To us, anything above RM100 is too expensive, plus the weather was very hot. We just walked around the gate area and snapped photos. The crowd was smaller than I thought, when I went to Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studio in Osaka, the crowd was huge even before the opening time. We joked that to combat the heat, Legoland Malaysia should open it's door on 7a.m. and extending their operating hour to 10p.m. to let 'puteri lilin' to enjoy all this, or else spending over RM100 to be under the hot sun is not my cup of tea!
'Puteri lilin' is a Malay proverb which means a person who cannot stand heat, she will melt! 'Puteri' is princess, while 'lilin' is candle.
 |
| Legoland Malysia's gate |
 |
| ticket counters in Legoland Malaysia |
 |
| Legoland Malaysia |
 |
| Legoland Hotel (to be open in 2014) |
 |
| Legoland Hotel (to be open in 2014) |
 |
| the shopping arcade outside Legoland (the big fans provide cool air, MK told us Singapore MRT uses this kind of fan too) |
After Legoland, we left for Danga Bay. Well, at the end, we visited a property showroom because we were not sure where to park. We just followed the crowd and reached the parking area for the would be property buyers. So, we just went along to see the so called RM1 million condominium.
There were a lot of people. All trying to grab a property here. However, the apartments, studio, condominiums, or whatever are too out of my reach. So, I just admired the design of the showrooms. MK's brother was quite exited, he was in the midst of renovating his house, so when he saw something interesting, he told his wife to snap a photo to keep as reference. To show off the grandeur of the developments, the developer even hired security guards to give a safety impressions. I think those security guards were former army, didn't look like the normal mall's guards. However, the security guards were quite strict, this cannot touch, that cannot touch, just kept blowing their whistle, no pun intended though!
Now, back to the transport. The trip back on express bus was ok, however, the problem was after the bus dropped us at Klang Sentral. SY and I couldn't get a bus to Klang city centre, the day was getting darker, so we got into a taxi. The driver quoted us RM15 and didn't want to use the meter. We had to accept that. Hmmmm, if we took a bus, it would only cost RM2 per person. Anyway, we reached Klang city centre safely. Then, we quickly find the bus to Banting, the available bus was too crowded already, so we waited for the second bus. The bus driver was very nice, he even asked us to keep our things properly. By the time to board the bus, the staffs there yelled, "perempuan dulu! perempuan dulu!" Haha, ladies first. So, me and SY and other sisters got to the bus first and had a place to sit. Yeah! Then, the staffs yelled to the mainly foreigners to keep their belongings and passports properly because there were thieves there. Well, at least the bus company staffs tried to guard their commuters from any possible danger, thumbs up for them!
A supposedly 1 hour journey stretched to 3 hours because there's a massive jam due to parade near the city centre. When I reached home, I was so relieved, home sweet home!
*Well, at least I can tell people that I have experience in taking express bus in Malaysia, I set foot in Legoland and went to my first property fair (although I cannot afford it!). (#^.^#)
*Another thing is after this little 'adventure', we decided that as a tranport hub, Putrajaya is way better than Klang Sentral.
- Many intercity bus companies operate to and from Putrajaya, plus there's train services. So, connectivity is less of a concern.
- Klang Sentral has connectivity issue. Only buses from Kapar or Meru that may or may not pass the bus terminal. The taxi driver told us that sometimes for the buses bound for Klang City Centre, if the bus is already full load, the bus driver may choose to bypass the terminal, leaving the commuters waiting for a long time for the next bus. However, if one have someone to pick him or her up, it's a good choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment