Pulalu Pinang to Kuala Lumpur
*July 22, 2011; 5:45 am (Ajran's cellphone alarm rings)*
"Allahu Akbar!", I started into a half-sitting position as my sister's alarm rang. I had to relax again after that loud ringtone we'd tried for the alarm the night before, had frightened all my molecules, cells, and nerves. That was not the best way to wake up. My heart was beating fast as I felt like my soul was pulled from somewhere far away back into my body in a speed faster than the speed of light! Thus, I slept again.
I woke up (AGAIN!) at 6:15 am. This time I finally got up. The Masjids did not call the Qamat yet. That was a relief. We did all the things we had to do in preparation for our departure. By 8:45 am, we left the house to start our journey to KL.
In our itinerary, we allotted 1 hour to wait for the bus. They don't pass by as often as buses in the Philippines do. You'd have to wait for at least 20 minutes to an hour before the bus arrives. We stopped at BJ Kompleks' bus stop. From there we rode a bus that took us to Sungai Nibong bus terminal, where all the buses from Pulau Pinang bound for other states in Malaysia stop by to pick passengers up.
A staff of the bus terminal assisted Amah on buying our tickets. He also told Amah that we were the only passengers the bus was waiting for, making us hurry and think that the bus was about to depart already. When we got down to the departure platform though, no bus bound for KL was to be found. We found out from the same man that the bus was arriving at 30 minutes later... 10:30 am. He probably meant that the ticket booth for the earliest bus to KL was about to close already (it really was) and that we had to hurry. He probably just failed to relay it to us clearly. Slang and accents can be a problem in communicating here sometimes.
Minutes before the bus arrived, Ajran and Zakiran were settling their argument of who gets the window seat. Amah suggested they play 'bato-bato pick' to determine who gets the seat. But they ended up playing thumb wrestling instead. Zakiran won... We boarded the bus at 10:35 am....
The bus left at 10:45. Our excitement heightened as we crossed the Penang bridge. I felt like getting off the bus and diving into the water from the bridge. I felt like as if the sea was calling me... hehe
Our eyes were full of the beautiful sceneries we saw on our way. We stopped by a stopover 2 hours later in Ipoh. It stopped for a few minutes, just enough time to make all the passengers use the comfort room.
The stopovers also had a Surau for praying. But the bus did not stop for the prayer time yet since Zuhr was still at 1:30 pm. I'm not sure though, if it really stops for that.
By 2:30 pm, our surrounding started to change. From greens to greys (with a little green), from mountains to skyscrapers, as we arrived in the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur.
We got off the bus at KL Sentral. We were supposed to get off at the Puduraya Bus Station. But that was because we didn't know that the bus was to stop at KL Sentral first before the Puduraya Bus Station. All the trains stop at KL Sentral making it easier to go to different places from there.
Upon arrival, we started looking for a good place to eat. We always wanted to taste Malaysian food. We found this small restaurant that had a serve-yourself system wherein you are your own waiter. We ate a chicken dish served with rice, curry sauce, salad, and small dried fish. What I like when it comes to restaurants here in Malaysia is that they give you such big servings of food! Nice!
In the middle of eating, a fellow foreigner, a british stopped as she was passing by to take a stolen shot of us eating! I was surprised when light flashed towards our direction, right at our direction. Only Amah noticed her. But I think he only noticed her after she took the picture. She probably thought we were the 'Typical Malay Family' dining in our own traditional food. Ever since we arrived here, people would mistake us for Malaysians. They'd speak to us in Bahasa Melayu first before English (when they finally find out we were Filipinos).
We departed for KLCC after eating. From KL Sentral, we took an MRT to Suria KLCC, Malaysia's premier shopping center at the base of the Petronas Twin Towers.
*July 22, 2011; 5:45 am (Ajran's cellphone alarm rings)*
"Allahu Akbar!", I started into a half-sitting position as my sister's alarm rang. I had to relax again after that loud ringtone we'd tried for the alarm the night before, had frightened all my molecules, cells, and nerves. That was not the best way to wake up. My heart was beating fast as I felt like my soul was pulled from somewhere far away back into my body in a speed faster than the speed of light! Thus, I slept again.
I woke up (AGAIN!) at 6:15 am. This time I finally got up. The Masjids did not call the Qamat yet. That was a relief. We did all the things we had to do in preparation for our departure. By 8:45 am, we left the house to start our journey to KL.
In our itinerary, we allotted 1 hour to wait for the bus. They don't pass by as often as buses in the Philippines do. You'd have to wait for at least 20 minutes to an hour before the bus arrives. We stopped at BJ Kompleks' bus stop. From there we rode a bus that took us to Sungai Nibong bus terminal, where all the buses from Pulau Pinang bound for other states in Malaysia stop by to pick passengers up.
A staff of the bus terminal assisted Amah on buying our tickets. He also told Amah that we were the only passengers the bus was waiting for, making us hurry and think that the bus was about to depart already. When we got down to the departure platform though, no bus bound for KL was to be found. We found out from the same man that the bus was arriving at 30 minutes later... 10:30 am. He probably meant that the ticket booth for the earliest bus to KL was about to close already (it really was) and that we had to hurry. He probably just failed to relay it to us clearly. Slang and accents can be a problem in communicating here sometimes.
Minutes before the bus arrived, Ajran and Zakiran were settling their argument of who gets the window seat. Amah suggested they play 'bato-bato pick' to determine who gets the seat. But they ended up playing thumb wrestling instead. Zakiran won... We boarded the bus at 10:35 am....
The bus left at 10:45. Our excitement heightened as we crossed the Penang bridge. I felt like getting off the bus and diving into the water from the bridge. I felt like as if the sea was calling me... hehe
 |
| Crossing Penang Bridge |
The stopovers also had a Surau for praying. But the bus did not stop for the prayer time yet since Zuhr was still at 1:30 pm. I'm not sure though, if it really stops for that.
By 2:30 pm, our surrounding started to change. From greens to greys (with a little green), from mountains to skyscrapers, as we arrived in the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur.
We got off the bus at KL Sentral. We were supposed to get off at the Puduraya Bus Station. But that was because we didn't know that the bus was to stop at KL Sentral first before the Puduraya Bus Station. All the trains stop at KL Sentral making it easier to go to different places from there.
Upon arrival, we started looking for a good place to eat. We always wanted to taste Malaysian food. We found this small restaurant that had a serve-yourself system wherein you are your own waiter. We ate a chicken dish served with rice, curry sauce, salad, and small dried fish. What I like when it comes to restaurants here in Malaysia is that they give you such big servings of food! Nice!
In the middle of eating, a fellow foreigner, a british stopped as she was passing by to take a stolen shot of us eating! I was surprised when light flashed towards our direction, right at our direction. Only Amah noticed her. But I think he only noticed her after she took the picture. She probably thought we were the 'Typical Malay Family' dining in our own traditional food. Ever since we arrived here, people would mistake us for Malaysians. They'd speak to us in Bahasa Melayu first before English (when they finally find out we were Filipinos).
We departed for KLCC after eating. From KL Sentral, we took an MRT to Suria KLCC, Malaysia's premier shopping center at the base of the Petronas Twin Towers.
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