KL Sojourn: 23-30 May, 2006 [ Pt. I ]
Weeks prior to travelling up to KL from Singapore, I was excited and so looking forward to seeing my family and friends again. I missed home cooked meals, the rush of driving on a straight road with cars nowhere to be seen on a late night, the voice of mum giving the maid a morning lecture when I wake up, grandma's laughing and my jostling with her whenever I try to stuff some money in her pocket which she always refuse but I never failed to let her keep it. These have always been my joie de vivre for the past 11 months of my stay in Singapore.
A year is almost quickly getting by and this July 4th, which coincidentally is the US Independence Day, my work contract ends and it's time for me to move on to some other job, or stay permanently with the current job till I find a new one, or go elsewhere. It's not that I have not tried, but I have not been trying hard enough. I seem to be constantly out of focus. That explains why I never posted much here anymore. I have tonnes of things in my mind but there's just no way I could arrange the details and solve them bit by bit. Perhaps I am burning out, or perhaps I am just worrying too much. Anyway, I decided one day that I will go up to KL for a longer period of time. To unwind, to catch up with old times, whatever. Also, I wanted to coincide with the arrival of my best friend, neuy who is in Malaysia for a short period of time before he goes back to Dublin for his convocation and later on proceed with his training and work. He has been so sweet to leave his home in Malacca just to catch up with the rest of us in KL.
The first day of my arrival was another coincidence because I was in the same coach as neuy's friend, Damien whom I didn't know at that time but neuy told me about that the night before and I asked him to pass him my contact if he wants since we were gonna meet anyway when we arrive. Halfway during the journey at this stop in Pagoh, Malacca, Damien came to my seat and introduced himself. I stood up and shook hands with him and we chatted a little. Approximately 1437H, the coach arrived at Bangsar LRT station where neuy, all sweaty in his yellow T was already patiently waiting there, looking up the window through his glasses looking for us. Walking towards him with Damien trailing behind, I noticed that neuy has lost some weight. Must be those nights before exams. We talked for a bit before parting ways on different sides of the LRT station but not before encountering the first Malaysian dysfunctionality; the train ticketing machine. Either they don't accept notes or the touch screen display refuse to recognise our fingers. Travellers to KL should have spare coins with them at all times. At least RM2.00 worth. When that didn't work, we walked to the customer service counter to purchase our tickets. With that, puts KL right behind Bangkok and Singapore.
The journey to the Asia Jaya LRT station where dad picked me up was spent with calling some close friends to say HI (sorry if I missed anyone) and observing the people in the train. So soon I spotted the second Malaysian dysfunctionality; bad maintenance of public properties. One of which is the condition of the train interior. The floor and the walls, probably being scarred by the many advertisement laid on them over and over again for the last 6 or more years. It seems like no one is taking heed of the ailing trains. Really sad, what would have been the pride of the country could well be the laughing stock of others. Imagine what will the tourists think. If I am not mistaken, the government has recently taken over the management of the public trains. So I hope they are aware of these, and not just sat in their Mercedes, Perdanas and other executive commercial vehicles.
I was soon home after dad drove me to grandma's house to pick up my car which I drove around during the entire trip. I rang up neuy and told him we will be hanging out around KL for the rest of the evening. Bowling was one of the highlights. I was on my way out when I realised that that those two fellas might need some time to settle down so I called up my cousin because I wanted to borrow his SONY Cybershot M1 so I could shoot around till the end of my trip. On the way to Cheras, where neuy's parents' apartment is I was trying to remember the routes there as it has been ages since I was in that area. 2 years are such a long time but in the end I made it there but not without making a wrong entry into the wrong apartment next to his.
Arriving in Midvalley after a long drive, we walked and ended up at the basement of the mall, a foodies' haven! Fast food restaurants, Japanese franchise, bakeries, a hypermarket; really, most of the things you can think of. I saw the money changer that I normally go to just a few steps away from the escalator so I went there to trade off some of the Singapore dollars. RM2.29 to a dollar, best rate in town! Since they couldn't decide what to eat, I suggested MPH, since I wanted to get some magazines. Since TIME magazine and Newsweek are almost twice as expensive in Singapore than in KL so I thought, why not wait a couple of days more and get them here.
neuy received a call from his friends from Uni and not long after that, we drove off to Chinatown, or locally known in Cantonese as chee cheong gai, to meet them. While waiting, we went looking for my favourite beef noodles stall but they are not open so we walked through the streets, wandering and taking pictures and videos which I later posted on YouTube. Just before neuy's friends arrived, I proposed to the guys to wait at McDonald's since Damien was thinking of having a Sundae earlier. Unfortunately, they don't have it.
When the trio of Grace, William and Morgan arrived, we greeted them just outside at the sheltered walkway aligned by peddlers of all kinds. They have on sale whatever leather and watch brands you can imagine but they are not those off the shelves type of products you see at Gucci, Prada or Rolex boutiques. If you're thinking of getting them at RM50.00 or less, here's the place to go but I think the ones in Thailand are of much finer worksmanship! As the night wither away, chatting, having dinner around that area and finally bidding farewell to neuy's friends, we whisked off to Berjaya Times Square to rendezvous with Gordon Tan before looking for the bowling place in Sungei Wang Plaza.
I parked at Sungei Wang Plaza, because I knew they had this parking rebate for bowlers. We decided to just hop over to Times Square just across the road just a block away to meet Gordon. Walking towards Starbucks, I noticed how the café al fresco culture has changed. Wireless broadband is encouraging people to leave their homes and still be connected to the world. And privacy is no longer much of their concern. I mean, I saw some people surfing sites with contents you don't want others to associate you with. Then again, it's not a big deal. The brief encounter with Gordon soon found us roaming around Bukit Bintang area after we realised the bowling place is under construction. Eventually, we ended up in the 24-hour McDonald's just around the cross junction near Lot 10, all sleepy and tired. The two blokes settled for more savoury stuff while I went for an iced Milo. I forgot if Damien finally got his sundae that night but that first day in KL was a treat anyway!
