kuala lumpur - singapore day 1 - april 26, 2009

April 6, 2009

Woken up by my mobile’s alarm at 3.45 am. After taking quick showers, both Meme and I did a final check of must-bring-things. At exactly 4.30 am, the taxi that’d drive us to the airport showed up. We arrived at Soekarno-Hatta at 5.30ish; the check-in terminal hasn’t opened yet. Then we waited, checked in, filled in an immigration form, and finally hopped in the plane.

On the plane, we were seated in 3-row-seats with me next to the window, Meme in the middle, and a lady on the edge of the aisle. Feeling sleepy as ever, I decided to put on my shades and rest my eyes. When I was awake, I was a bit surprised realizing that the seat that was previously seated by the lady was now taken by a man wearing aviators and black polo shirt. I asked Meme, what happened to her. She explained that the lady said she was going to the lavatory…and did not come back afterwards. Hmmm…

Suddenly, the guy opened a conversation, “Mau ke KL ya?” Long story short, he introduced himself by the name of Sam, a Malaysian citizen who travels often to Jakarta. He offered help to drive us to KL Sentral, on which we can get a bus to Sin from there (we planned to visit Sin on the the 6^th-8^th before meeting our mates on the 9^th since they were only able to take leave on that particular date…while us, teachers, were blessed by the privilege of getting semester breaks for about a week). After making a few phone calls, Sam told us that the bus from KL Sentral were unavailable on the set-up times. So, what he did was driving us to Airebus (a double-deck bus that routes KL-Sing) office in Mid Valley mall. He was very helpful and when we actually asked, “How could we ever thank you for all this?” His reply was, “Well, there is one thing you can do for me…I need you to pass on the kindness to another person who needs it…” Aww…

We finally began our journey. Before we got on board, the lady in the office has warned us that we won’t be getting any food since we were last-minute passengers. However, another miracle happened. The bus attendee sincerely apologized to us for not being able to serve us with the kind of food that everyone else were having, however, instead she offered us instant noodles and flowing hot drinks plus a chocolate pastry. If it weren’t for the nice lady, we would most probably starve and appeared cranky on the pics taken on the bus…

The trip took from KL to Sing took approximately 4 hours. We were dropped with our suitcases on Scott’s Rd. without a clue where to find a decent hotel to sleep in. I texted a relative of mine who lives in Sin,g ,Galih, and asked whether it was possible for him to meet us there. That didn’t happen since he was quite busy at that time. He suggested we contact his girlfriend, Dewi, who was roaming about in Orchard. A couple of times we tried to call and text her, but we kept on failing. Worried that the day started to turn dark, Meme and I decided to take a taxi and let our (travel bible) Lonely Planet guide our way. After browsing some streets on (apparently) some not-so-recommended hotels, we decided to stay in a backpacker hotel called Hangout@Mt.Emily. Staying in a backpacker hotel means that we have to share the room (and bathroom) with 3 other girls. However, once we were there, our uncertainties just vanished. The hotel was a cute and youthful colorful 3-storied-building with free internet access on its 2^nd floor, a roof top lounge, and free hot drink dispensers. I really enjoyed spending time there, and so thankful for not taking other ‘mainstream’ hotels.

At night, we made an appointment with Galih and his girlfriend in front of Ngee Ann mall fountain, Orchard Rd. God knows how many people along the way that we asked questions about how to reach the famous road of Sing, and finally directed by a couple of ladies who just got off from work to take MRT (subway train). So, we purchased our EZ Link cards, loaded $10 and off we went to Orchard. Finally (after more of asking directions, “Can you tell me where Ngee Ann fountain is?”), we met Galih and Dewi. We plan to go to Clarke Quay for dinner. Clarke Quay is where restaurants compounded on the edge of a river. It was beautiful. Each of us had ourselves a delicious meal over chats and giggles. It was a splendid place to end the night with, and Galih & Dewi were pleasant companions to begin Sing from.