more from KUALA LUMPUR

This is my second time to take a picture with the Petronas Twin Tower. My first one was in June 2008 and I was alone then. This time I was with couple of friends, my college classmates Dupong and Jackie, and my partner Erick.

Day 4, November 2, 2010 (Tuesday)

After having seen much of the city in a garden, Singapore, we packed up our things and headed to Kuala Lumpur City. It was All Soul’s Day in the Philippines but we thought of visiting our ancestors and relatives graves when we get home. This might have been contributory to a little back luck of the day. We hailed several taxis whose drivers refused us as we showed them the note on our destination. The note on the piece of trampled paper said Larkin. I was not able to remember where Larkin is. I thought it's a bus station within the city of Singapore. What I remember was that the first time I headed to KL from Singapore I rode a bus named CausewayLink and it transported me to a bus station in Johor Bahru where I transferred to another bus bound for KL city.

Until finally one taxi driver understood our predicament and brought us to a bus terminal beside Darkin place where Transnational buses queued. So we thought that the note's "Larkin", given to us by Erick's cousin, Lemuel, was actually Darkin. It was when we passed by Johor Bahru that I remembered Larkin as the bus station at that point in Malaysia where we can find various bus liners going to KL city. So the note was right, it only lacked more hints as to where it is and how to get there, and not by taxi.

We paid SGD32 for the direct bus trip and reached KL at 4pm. That was of course after passing Singapore immigration at Woodlands and the Malaysian immigration at JB or Johor Bahru. That's the hassle of crossing borders because you really have to get down the bus and queue at the immigration counter; plus, you have to fill up departure-entry documents.

Nevertheless, this KL trip was something special and free! I really wanted to stress the word free; courtesy of Dupong’s cousin, Ate Jerlyn. She fetched us at Bukit Jalil bus station. Good that she offered to pick us up and we said yes because that new bus terminal in KL is far from the KL city proper. Unlike my first visit, that the bus I boarded parked at Puduraya Bus Station, right in the heart of KL city, at the Pudu Street in fact. I learned that the Puduraya Station is under renovation.

Without delay, Ate Jerlyn drove us to KL tower. It excited me since I was not able to reach that tower during my first visit. Much to my surprise, she drove us through the SMART tunnel in Malaysia. I have been wishing I could see that "Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel" or SMART after I saw it featured in National Geographic Channel as one major innovative megastructure. And my wish was granted with added bonus of seeing the entire KL from the top of the Menara KL. Take note, Menara means tower.

Our next stop was at the King's Palace. Not inside though. And the giveaway did not end there, Ate Jerlyn treated us a free dinner at Crowne Plaza and offered us her home for the overnight stay. She and her Malaysian husband welcomed us in their so-called White House. Again, for free!

Day 5, November 3, 2010 (Wednesday)

This fifth day made me conscious, though it was second day at Ate Jerlyn's place, but to be freed of everything seemed more than we can ask for. Her husband bought us our breakfast since they all work early, except Ate Jerlyn, only today I believe. She became in fact our driver, tour guide, and even photographer.

She brought us to Putrajaya, the portion of KL where all national offices and museum were erected. I have read that Putrajaya is a planned city. Indeed it is! We have seen the state of the art, uniquely architectured bridges, buildings, mosques, palaces, conventions centers, et cetera in this territory.

But we can not survive the heat of the sun so we left Putrajaya at around noontime. We dropped by the Carefour Mall to grab a lunch at a hawker. Yet again, we enjoyed chicken and pork recipes cooked in some chinese ways.

Our afternoon and final stop was at Petronas Twin Towers and Suria KLCC Mall. We were not able to take the ride to the skybridge because the tower only gives free viewing in the morning. Well, except me, I already reached the skybridge the last time I visited KL. And as a closer, we traversed the Petaling Street for last minute shopping of souvenirs and drove back to Bukit Jalil bus station to go back to Singapore. To my surprise, we only paid RM39.00 each, as compared to our way in where we paid about the same amount at SGD.

Again, it took us more than 5 hours to reach Singapore. We arrived at 10pm arrival at Woodlands. After passing immigration, we waited for more than an hour for our bus; but it left us. I was sure we told the driver that we'll ride back but he and his bus was nowhere to find at the loading bay. Fortunately, we have a Singaporean resident with us and he led us to find and ride another bus. This new bus parked at a terminal which was just few blocks away from our hotel. We entered the hotel at past midnight. This misfortune hungered me and so I ate dinner alone at the nearest Mcdo around Bugis Street. I did not invite them nor bring some to-go for them.

When I got back to our room, Lemuel and another female friend, an acquaintance of Erick, were there with bottles of beer. We drunk to the limit that whole night long. After all, this was our last night in Singapore.