As I boarded the AirAsia flight to the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), little did I know of the adventure that I was about to embark myself. Sometime in the future, I will be experiencing adventures of my own, and I shall look upon this trip as the beginning of many stories to tell my children (or interested readers out there).
Day One
I never take a liking to Changi Airport’s exhorbitant charges & taxes; I discovered Senai International Airport, which, although quite some distance from my house, is nevertheless cheaper and less recognized by Singaporeans as an alternative source of embarkation. I drove myself there, as my parents are supportive of my trip: I had explained earlier of my itinerary in KL, so they knew where I would be staying.
The road to Senai was also an adventure itself: I had to make a U-turn twice to find the right junction, and the traffic – since it was already in the evening when I left my house – had become as bad as Singapore’s business district. If I had to describe the scenery en route to the airport, I would say that Singaporeans need to get used to inconveniences, or they should rather spend more money for otherwise (which they would rather be).
After a quick park and a minute or two of walking, I discovered that Senai, too, is a work-in-progress: thanks to the Iskandar Malaysia mega-project, there are a lot of construction work dotting the Johorean landscape. The Federal Government had pumped in millions of ringgit to ensure its success, and there have been some dividends reaped, judging by the amount of Arabic I heard at the airport.
A quick Jamak of dusk and night prayers, a solemn farewell to loved ones (who will have to take the car back to Singapore) and some bite at a homegrown fast-food restaurant later, I finally went into the transit area, and wait for the aeroplane to arrive. It was ten minutes to ten, so I decided to wait at the gate which it was scheduled to park.
Now, I have never tried taking a budget flight before; most of my previous flight experiences were being in one of many national and international carriers, and their flight schedules had always been on-time. For this particular trip, however, they changed the scheduled gates, and twenty minutes before the stated departure time, the aeroplane finally appeared on the tarmac. Boarding a budget aeroplane means not using the walkway bridge, and you have to climb down a flight of stairs to the ground floor, and then climb the stair-deck again to board the aeroplane. Again, not many Singaporeans are willing to save a few dollars for inconveniences, so any would-be adventurers must be prepared to take inconveniences in their strides, or they should just stay in their little red dot and be content with whatever flotsam and jetsam they can get.
The advantage of a night flight is that I am already conditioned to stay up late until 3 in the morning, so I am more or less awake throughout the short flight.
Arriving at LCCT, I took a taxi carriage to my intended budget hotel; the cab fare was abhorrently expensive (in Malaysian terms). Once arriving at Bandar Sunway, it was to be another ten minutes before we could finally locate the hotel. Having paid my dues to the driver, I went to the hotel to try booking a place for the night.
Now, having said that, all hotels in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur (and its outlying areas) are fully booked for the trinity holiday-weekends of Muharram, Christmas and New Year. Having arrived in Kuala Lumpur the night after Awal Muharram – a declared national holiday -, it was not easy to convince the lobby staff to place me an empty room to stay. After witting out of options – and taking a late night supper at McDs – I decided to walk around the Sunway Pyramid area in the vain hope of a vacancy. With no luck after 20 minutes, I wilted down and took a taxi cab. The driver suggested Jalan Ipoh, and since I am in no mood to suggest other places, I agreed to it.
The whole taxi ride was a fare to remember. During our drive towards KL (Bandar Sunway, where I originally wanted to stay, is a whole different district), we talked about life, politics and current affairs. Once in Jalan Ipoh, it was an Amazing Race to find a vacant hotel room. As far as I can recall, we went through 8 different hotels, driving up and down the stretch of road named so, and the prospect of staying in Chow Kit – or rather, not having any place to sleep in – got ever more closer to reality. On the last hotel, as the driver told me to stay in & save the hassle of me checking out for vacancy, I prayed hard that this hotel would be vacant. As I looked back at the driver, who has finished talking to the lobby staff, I prayed a fool’s hope that this would be the hotel to end all the troubles.
The taxi driver walked back with a smile, and as he opened up the door, he remarked, “This hotel is vacant.”
A heave of sigh and a small thanksgiving prayer later, I recomposed myself, took my luggage and went into the hotel lobby to check myself in. I paid the taxi driver – who asked me to spare another RM10 – and got my keys to my room. The adventures on my first day to Malaysia ended with a quick shower and a strong jump to the bed; it would be but the first day of four days of crazy moments in my solo trip in KL.
Day Two
After being awakened by the loud commotions of other guests outside the door, I saw the timepiece set at fifteen minutes to seven. The tiresome event last night was quickly evaporated by strong A/C and a very comfortable bed, so while a bit dazed, I managed to get myself up and going. At eight I decided to take a look around Jalan Ipoh in search for a meal.
"One does not simply walk into KL..."
I seemed to favour Indian restaurants more whenever I travel overseas: in spite of being in Japan, I am more comfortable eating at an Indian vegetarian restaurant than in a posh restaurant or at a roadside stall selling ramen. It’s the same here: I eventually settled at a typical Indian eating place, and ordered two pieces of roti canai (Singapore variety calls it roti prata). Having taken my breakfast, I went into an Internet cafe I spotted earlier, logged myself for a quick update, and went around briefly for room vacancies.
Having learnt that there are no more room vacancies in the afternoon, I checked out from my hotel and walked down towards Putra KTM Commuter Rail Station en route to Subang Jaya, where Bandar Sunway is located.
The seat of power in Malaysia.
Contemporary post-modernist architecture. All I have to say is, at first sight, it's huge.
Ironically, this reminds me of the Kamigawa River in Tokyo.
The Putra KTM Commuter Rail Station, where I boarded at Jalan Ipoh.
I alighted at Kuala Lumpur Station to transit onto the train going to Subang Jaya. While waiting for it, I spotted a number of Malaccan students carrying – what I assumed to be – cosplay props. How I knew they were Malaccans, it escapes my memory now, but judging from their confusion as to where to get to Comic Fiesta, I assumed again that they weren’t KL natives. There are also other cosplay-minded groups I spotted here, so I should see them again at the event.
Then again, I have my primary objective to go first: attend Monash University Open Day.
After getting down at Subang Jaya station, I boarded a taxi cab to Monash University. Incidentally, two other passengers have similar destinations, so the driver simply packed us to the rolling transport and drove to our location.
It was uneventful after arriving there: granted the Open Day is meant for prospective students to look at the university, but for me, I have always intended to enrol myself here. Therefore a quick enquiries and some filling up of forms later, I have managed to gather and processed all the information I needed from there, and exited towards Sunway Pyramid to attend Comic Fiesta.
Obviously I need to find a place to stay in, so began again my search for vacant rooms to stay in. It was drizzling, albeit it threatened to rain cats and dogs on me as I departed from my future university to a budget hotel that I knew is next to the Pyramid.
Upon arriving, to much of my despair, the lobby staff informed me that they had no vacancies, but they hinted out that their other hotel some 20 minutes east may have a vacant room. I departed, still carrying a fool’s hope, that at the very least, I should be able to get a room there. In case you’re wondering, this is the same walk that I performed the night earlier – walking eastward and westward to these two locations – hoping for a meteor to hurl down from the sky and grant me a thousand wishes.
Wishing this would be over soon, I went in to the lobby counter of the target hotel, and enquired the staff if they have a room to spare for two nights. As the staff process my request, I turned left to find a male Caucacsian, about five feet ten inches, sitting down looking quite perplexed. I quicked up a chat with him about his situation, and learned that he had arrived earlier the night before, and he was on a transit to a destination that escapes my mind. He had initially booked for two rooms, meant for both his friend and himself. Before he could finish his sentence. the lobby staff interrupted our conversation, and I was attended to.
They have a vacant room.
Finally, this budget hotel – the same one that rejected my request last night – had a room for me to stay.
I returned to the Caucasian. He remarked that his friend could not make it for the weekend, so he had to amend his room booking.
Getting to Sunway Pyramid meant a ten minute walk. The sight of the pseudo-Sphinx and pyramid-shaped structures proclaimed itself. I had seen them too many times since; now it welcomes me with a grin, like a bouncer happy that the customer previously barred from entering has fulfilled some God-knows-only requirements to enter.
The shopping complex is huge. It is akin to Suntec City, without the office blocks, and a couple of hectares more space. I enquired on the convention centre to the customer service staff – I reckoned having a convention centre is unique to SUnway Pyramid – who gladly obliged with directions going towards it. Thanking the kind gentleman, I perambulated to the convention centre.
The troubles are over. I can relax and enjoy the festivities, opening up my eyes to a wholly different experience to cosplay conventions I usually attend to at Singapore. One of these days I will have the budget to see either NatsuComi or FuyuComi in Japan, but for now, I simply want to experience the Malaysian hospitality for this lone traveller. I hope that I can learn a lot from this experience – which I will relive again on the last day in KL – and at the same time entertain those who are patient enough to go through my tale.
Tags: comic fiesta, detour, holga, KL, solo trip
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