We got up early as our bus to KL was due to depart at 8am. We got there at about 7:50 and were the first to arrive. The bus was sitting there with the engine on and no driver and no other passengers. We loaded our luggage and proceeded to wait…eventually a few more passengers arrived and the bus left after 8:40. I guess Singaporians aren’t as strict about schedules as they are about other things.
The bus trip, advertised as 5 hours, took 7. The journey was pretty uneventful, there were a few toilet stops and at one point we had to switch busses but nothing exciting.
When we arrived in KL we went straight to the tailor, suitcases in tow. He wasn’t there so we dumped our stuff in his shop and walked to Chinatown via Little India, hot work with a backpack. I am not ashamed to say that I ate at McDonald’s because it was purely for research purposes. Their Big Macs taste much the same as ours, the fries are a bit more potato-y. We have been buying a few things, presents and clothes, so I bought another cabin bag for the flight home so that we can distribute the weight, bargained down from RM30 to RM12.
Got the cab back to the tailors and had my fitting, the suit looks like it will be good. We tried to call and book a flight to Pulau Langkawi but had no success with our calling card: for some reason it blocks 1-800 numbers. We were both getting a bit pissed off at this point, a heavy suitcase burden and nowhere to go, so we decided just to go to the airport and hope for a flight.
When we arrived at the airport we found that there were no more flights available that night so we booked one for the next morning. We didn’t feel like going back to the city (70km) so walked to the Pan Pacific hotel, which is connected to the airport. The rooms at this hotel were very expensive (by Malay standards) but we got one anyway since they had wireless internet in the rooms.
Our room was very luxurious, with all of the trimmings except one: no wireless. I complained and was escalated to the manager, who granted me free (wired) broadband for the duration of our stay. This is where my geekiness comes in handy, as I pulled out the power adapter, power strip and wireless access point from my bag and in 5 minutes we were happily wirelessly updating our blogs and catching up on our email. We also booked our return flight from Langkawi to KL on Air Asia – this only cost RM90.
“The bus trip, advertised as 5 hours, took 7.”
I wonder whether you took normal ones from Singapore to KL or the “luxury” buses (about RM70/person)? One is the Nice2 double-decked coaches, http://www.plusliner.com.my/nice2_schedule.asp that stops outside Heritage Station Hotel. Another is Aeroline double-decked coaches with seating at the top and lounge at lower deck , https://www.aeroline.com.my/bus_features.html .
regards, sabre23t =^.^=