Christmas Eve in KL

24 Dec 2015 Thursday

11am was the time of departure from Cameron Highlands to KL. We took the bus from CS Travel from Tanah Rata which cost RM40, a tad more expensive than the rest but it promises to drop us off at Puduraya, where our next hotel is.

Imagine to our surprise when the driver announced that with no negotiations, it will be KL Sentral for all of us. What! It is almost a scam. Most of us were at a loss and 2 foreign workers were talked down by the driver. Seems like he is asking them to catch a taxi to Puduraya etc. What a scam!

We were on the road for 5 hours , with a 20 minutes break just before we got onto the highway. Traffic was terrible. The holiday crush has begun; Christmas being a public holiday.

The driver deposited everyone at KL Sentral, bypassing TBS which we requested. By now, CS travels is condemned. We had no manifest, no seat numbers, our online agreed destination and the final one doesn’t match despite me confirming twice with the staff at TR with my online booking forms, there was no place to put our bags overhead and the bus driver drove like he had a death wish.

From KL Sentral, we took the LRT to the now familiar Plaza  Rakyat, where Hotel Transit is a stone’s throw away.

What can I say about this hotel that most TA reviewers are praising ? Absolutely nice place to sleep. Room 812 looks into an empty land and the telcom tower, was clean, modern, comes with wifi and spacious toilet cum shower ( with doors ) , was bright and every works. I even love the many TV Channels. My only grouse ? Remnant cigarette smoke that irritated me. Slightly more expensive than Ancasa, I can come here again anytime!

Cafe Transit

We had a cuppa at Transit café to make up for the lack of proper lunch. The coffee was fantastic and even more so , the croissant. Things are looking up!

We walked over to Changkat Bkt Bintang where I earlier made a booking with Drift dining and pub. It was at the fringe of Bkt Bintang. We did a little window shopping at Pavilion before hurrying to Drift because the sky wasn’t holding up and neither were our stomachs.

Drift is nice as reviewed. 2 wines, 2 starts ( school prawns, ravioli ), pork ribs and lamb went for RM 290 – a decent price where it is impossible in Singapore. Plus, the food was great and service cheerful. Almost half who occupied the packed restaurant were foreigners. Discerning taste, I must say.

On the way back, we passed by Jln Alor and sniffed out the Chinese Zi Char stores. It was like Chinatown on steroids! That will be our next dinner option, I promised Pat.

We had a very long skype with Hopey and the Kingstons ( LL mainly ) on the wonderful broadband before ushering in the new year KL time.