Sadyah

It was a trip out of impulse and there was no turning back after Cebu Pacific emailed my e-ticket; a.k.a HSBC bill! Whooa, life!

The Flight: There were series of turbulence; kept convincing myself di pa ako mamamatay kasi di pa tapos nobela ko. Parang gusto kong i-hug ang pilot when we landed na sa KL airport. The flight back home though was smooth. Yes, go Cebu Pacific pa rin. Sayang ang miles sa PAL, kaso sobrang mahal. Haay…

Past 1 in the morning when we arrived and sarado ang mga money changers. Akala ko 24/7 din. Naku, can’t get out with my USD and Peso. Buti I made laakd-lakad. I saw a money changer. Intindihan mo naman kahit nasa Bahasa ang label.

First Malaysian Meal, the Guesthouse,and Rides (Bus, Taxi, LRT & Mono Train): Gutom and excited to taste my first Malaysian meal (na di sa resto d2), I ordered nasi lemak for 8.90 ringgit + a small bottle of water for 2.50 at Asia Kitchen (front of Duty Free near the Departure entrance). It’s rice pala with egg & chicken & dilis. This is considered to be the Malaysian meal.

So with my backpack, I made lakad-lakad some more and saw buses. I chose Airbus for 8 ringgit. Buti na lang sumakay agad ‘ko kasi super layo pala ng airport sa city. Ok, I’ve read it sa internet pero as in layo talaga, more than 2 hrs.? Basta, spacious streets at maraming trees. Went down when we arrived at KL Sentral. Then hailed a cab. We agreed on 5 ringgit. Puwede rin metro pero ewan ko nga ba ba’t nangontrata ako. Basta, mabait ang mamang driver at magaling mag-English. Sabi ko dalhin n’ya ko sa cheap + nice+ clean hotel. Ok, I did research and was thinking of Swiss Hotel but I know I can look for a cheaper one there. Mabait talaga ang mamang driver. He brought me to Number 8. I read this is in the Smiles mag sa plane so I checked in.

It’s a guesthouse in BukitBintang, the Malate-Ermita Area except that this is not a red-light district, but the place to go for foods.  Number 8 is clean and cheap. Only 30 ringgit/night for a dorm-type room. Ito na lang ang may vacancy. Fully-occupied na; mostly Europeans and Aussies. I was with a Singaporean Chinese, a German, and an Aussie. We had not chat till the last day.

I bought a 7 ringgit worth of light rail ticket which is good for a day. One thing I noticed was walang masyadong mga naka-make-up o naka-sleeveless dun. Oo nga pala, Muslim country sila. I saw a Universiti station so I went down and took a cab to University of Malaya. Parang UP siya. Talked to the Chair of the Asian Studies Dept.,a friend of Dr. Ruby Alcantara. Mabait siya. Mukhang Malaya talaga. Hirap kumuha ng taxi sa loob. Buti na lang mababait talaga mga driver dun. Pinasakay ako ng isang black, as in sobrang itim talaga na mama pero magaling mag-English - of course in their peculiar accent din - kaya nakabalik ako sa train.

Dumiretso ako sa Chinatown. Dun ako nag-lunch ng sobra ring mura at saaarap. In fairness, malinis ang Chinatown, at syempre, shop to the max ako.

Then went back to the guesthouse to rest for the 6:15 SkyBridge walk at The Petronas Tower. Graveh, first time sumuot ng 3-D na eyeglasses for the orientation part. Here’s some during that walk:

Then go sa Menara Mall/Suria KLCC. Went inside the Petronas Gallery. Proceeded to Kinokuniya Bookstore. OK, kelangan ko palang pumunta ng KL to be able to buy Khaled Hoseeini’s 2nd book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. Bought his bestseller first novel, The Kite Runner, in Bangkok branch.

It’s for 20% off when you bug another one, so grabbed a collection of Malaysian fiction.

My first night was a tour of Bukit Bintang food shops. But I ended up in First Cup Cafe. Felt safer there. Then ended up shopping at Adidas’ factory outlet with it’s 30-70% discounts.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 5th, 2007 at 10:26 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.