RIGHT BRAIN ::: Days in Exhale

This one's a bit overdue (like most things I handle), I know but... So, as mentioned in a previous post, I hauled ass to KL some weeks ago. It was out of necessity more than anything but I knew that I'd find the trip interesting somehow.

After Sunday service, I went down to Lavender to look for and get a ticket from the Transnasional counter. (By the way, for this trip, I'm joining Diane on her way back from her weekend visit.) I must say it was a bit of a challenge to locate that dang office primarily because it did not exist. What was there was something that looked more like an outhouse; a converted container van was not what I had in mind.

The next morning, we headed out to the terminal bright and early...sort of. Unfortunately, I got too distracted by peripherals which resulted in a botched effort to catch our 10 a.m. coach. We missed the bus by a minute or two! The funny/annoying thing was just as our cab pulled into the terminal, there was a Transnasional bus rolling out with a sign saying "KL - Singapura" on the windshield. I didn't realize it was OUR bus thinking that it was one that just came from KL. Susme!

After getting chided by the woman at the counter for not being there at the prescribed time of 15 minutes prior to schedule, we got us tickets for the 12 noon trip and waited around. Our first tickets were rendered useless.

We boarded a few minutes before 12. I'd say the bus was only 15 percent occupied. Soon after, we were on the road and heading out of the city.

Six something hours later, Diane and I found ourselves in a parking lot turned bus terminal in Bukit Jalil. There we transferred to another bus to KL proper.

KL is so much like Metro Manila. There are portions you can easily mistake for QC, Makati, Baclaran, Avenida--all very welcome visuals to me. "Wisma" is also a word attached to every other business sign I saw, second only to 'Berhad." Or maybe even more frequent. Not sure.

After a KFC dinner (may kanin sa KFC nila! can it get any better?) with a despicable rose-flavored drink, we plodded to not-so-nearby Pasar Seni to take an E1 bus to Putrajaya Central and another local bus to where their villa was. Soon after, I called it a day...and Diane left for work. Believe it.

The next morning, I set out to see Kuala Lumpur. Well, parts of it anyway. But first, I HAD to take the train.

From Wikipedia:
KLIA Transit is a rail service linking Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) operated by Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd (ERL). It shares the same tracks as the KLIA Ekspres but unlike the direct airport express service, KLIA Transit stops at three other stations.

Yeah, whatever that said. So I took this train (except the one on the photo is the express one) from Cyberjaya/Putrajaya station to KL Sentral. About 20-25 minutes, I'd say, but it's too short when you're taking in the countryside landscape. Rolling meadows dotted with trees less than half an hour from city central, how'd ya like that? I would not mind at all.

The transition from rural to urban landscape happens at a comfortable pace so I didn't feel cheated. :-P Soon enough, the Petronas Towers and KL Tower came into view, gleaming in the distance, and the announcement came that we had arrived at KL Stesen Sentral.

This place is huge. I would imagine Grand Central Station would be something similar. If I recall right, there are three main rail operations (nb: not lines) at KL Sentral taking commuters in and out of the city everyday.

I walked around for a bit to create a mental map but I wanted, of course, to go to Petronas so I looked for the train to take me there. I found the RapidKL rail and got on it to KLCC station underneath Petronas. Easy peasy!

The KLCC station is where Suria KLCC, the mall, and the Petronas Towers sit. It really is just like any high end mall. You seen one, you seen 'em all, right? But they do have Chili's in there, something I've been sorta missing. Didn't indulge. :-)

I stepped outside for a bit just to see the surroundings and look at Petronas unobstructed. Yep, I really was in Kuala Lumpur, no denying it. Saw where Zouk KL is, too, not that I'll be caught dead in that place anytime soon. I'm just wrong for that kind of dig! It would totally drag the hip factor.

The patches of clouds moved swiftly overhead and since dodging the noon sun wasn't exactly a tourist trap, it was back inside, lard-ass.

I pass a few hours more to check out an art exhibit, get a Maxis simpack (for the folks at home), relish a sorely missed A&W rootbeer float, and just wander wherever. There are, evidently, amusing sights in there since I spent around four more hours doing this. Finally, I did get bored (and tired) enough so I decided to head back.

Back at Sentral, there was a booth set-up by the WWF--yes, the World Wildlife Fund. I'm totally behind the cause but they really should re-train their ground crew. They acted like dogs barking at cars. Basta, they were unpleasant bordering on rude. But then again I wouldn't know if that's how they really do it effectively in their country. Anyhow, it was not something I'm used to.

The next day was something I'd looked forward to and was probably the only thing that got me excited about going up to KL to begin with. I went to Genting Highlands. The mountain, the cool temperature, the trees--these are all anyone needed to tell me about the place to get me out of bed early morning to catch the bus.

I liked how it was close to the city, too. Get this: it took us only an hour from KL to Genting Para lang Makati to Antipolo. That was cool except I also wanted to catch up on sleep on the bus. S'all good. The scenery kept me engaged. It's like the road to Baguio but tamed.

So we get to the drop off point up in the mountains, almost but not quite Genting yet. It's the SkyTrain terminal which is a cable car system taking visitors to the peak where all the stuff happens. I'd say this was about a 20-minute ride over virgin forest on the mountainside.

I shared the car with two senior ladies who were chatting quite animatedly, albeit one was more so than the other. I kind of got the look from her at one point during the ride up cause, as we sat back to back, my hand or head would bump the back of her head and it would interupt her kuwento. She finally turned around and looked at me as if to say "Ano ba?" Reminded me a lot of how Lola Delang would scold me whenever I'd sit next to her on her bangko shaking my legs. Just had to laugh to myself and commented in Tagalog. I forgot what I said though. I made the effort to restrain myself from that point on or risk a high-altitude drop into deep forest. When we reached the Genting complex, it was completely enveloped in a cloud and it was windy and it...was...cold.

Once again, I didn't have any plans on where to go or what to see so I mostly just read and followed the signs. I went to check out their casino. It was spacious and, well, familiar-looking. But the whole time I was wandering around, all I wanted to do was eat. Ha! Surprise.

Here's my RM25 breakfast. It's chicken and it was all mine.

After this, I went to see the outdoor theme park. It was not as amusing for me because they were doing some repairs/improvements on parts of the grounds. Frankly, the place reminded me a lot of Star City. I did, however, get a kick out of watching these girls up at the SkyShot ride flailing their legs all over the place. This is the one where your seat gets pulled up to the top of a crane and then you get dropped then bounced, the crane itself resting at a high precipice. As this was happening to them, a cloud floats by and covers them up. So it was like falling into white nothing for a few seconds. I am not getting on that thing. Never.

Back inside, I looked for whatever else to check out and found a shuttle service going to Chin Swee Temple. It's a 10-minute drive from Genting which features, among others, a huge statue of Buddha above a large square called Sky Terrace, a temple, a pagoda, and some statues of Chinese characters. The view was, of course, more than enough reason to go there.

We went back to Genting complex after an hour at which point I decided it was a good time to go. Apparently, the entire population was thinking the same exact thing and the line for the SkyTrain wound several times. Thankfully, they were quick at loading folks into it, each car was filled to capacity of eight. It was a boisterous descent for the seven women who I think were in their 50s. Saya nga ng kuwentuhan nila, in Chinese.

On my fourth day in Malaysia, I went back to KL to, you know, check out the malls. 'Cause that's what lazy malinformed tourists do. Whatever's familiar. I didn't know what else to do, to be honest, so I took up Annie's suggestion to go to Sungei Wang. I took the monorail to there.

I noticed the monorail stations had names of brands, too. I wonder if it varies from time to time and how it will confuse commuters. Bukit Bintang station was named "Digi", after the telco.

Anyway, yeah, Sungei Wang. It's like Greenlanes in Greenhills back in the 80s. Basta, yun na yun. For lunch, I sucked it up and had Nasi Lemak. *shrug* Might as well. Masarap naman sya pero I don't think it's the kind of food I'll have everyday. Don't know about your individual Lemak experiences but the one I got was just like afritada. I guess what makes it special (or different) are the things on the side. Was good, I was full, now we walk. It was after all Jalan Bukit Bintang.

I ended up in Pavilion KL, a high end mall and easily the best-looking one I've entered so far. It was posh but, I guess, minimalist unlike Ngee Ann City which, for me, is a bit cluttered. They had all the names, but, of course, I went there para lang maki-CR naman eh. Pero, di nga, it was nice. I liked the design and flow of the place. If only.

Overall, I'd say KL is my kind of city. It's laid back but you can see there's order. It's organized without being obsessive. Even the touting cab drivers were not nearly as infuriating. Really, they were polite and not obnoxious at all---to think that they were, you know, unscrupulous individuals. =D

I will do my best to return to KL soon because there's so much character there to uncover. For the meantime, I'm still holding out for this place to find out what kind of rabbit God will pull out the hat. He's done it so many times in my life I think I'll be just stupid to think I'm done.

Am I? Done? Stupid? Done because stupid or stupid because done?