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.

Kuala Lumpur - Cameron Highlands ( Tanah Rata )

22 Dec 2015 Tuesday

Thanks to a friendly Ancasa concierge, we got up at 7 am to catch bus 690 right smack in front  of Ancasa. It made a direct 15 min ride to TBS for only RM 2! We were gleeful, saving a walk to the LRT Station and RM1 each. The only drawback is that the bus departs on the hour.  We were extremely refreshed, having secured a seat for the 15 minutes ride and the TBS lounge was couple of meters nearer from where the bus dropped us. Need I emphasis that it was a good deal!

Our Unititi bus departs fron Bay 1, so the friendly folks at the counter says. With 45 minutes to burn, we ate breakfast at the canteen ( yucky noodles and coffee for RM11 ). It was cheap but I am not going to repeat that again. We ate in silences in the cavernous café overlooking a huge swamp.

On the dot, we got on the bus. It makes a few stops with Tanah Rata as terminal.  Unititi bus ( secured online for RM35 ) was cheap and bus comfortable. I greatly recommend this company! We even had a toilet break halfway at the base of the mountain range.

It was a slow start from KL due to some jam on the roads but we made prograss once we got out of KL. After a tiring 5 hrs, we arrived at Tanah Rata at 1 pm. Amidst a congested main road, the bus disgorged all of us with some finding further transport up the CH. I didn’t like the look of things – Tanah Rata didn’t look so busy on streetview. It was like a mini Hanoi!

Food is .... meh !

We had lunch, luggage and all, at Kougen which was a self professed Japanese café. It was 2 Katsu Don, 1 tea for RM39,  which I think was way too expensive. To add insult to injury, the chef most likely has never been to Japan for who in the right mind would declare the half cooked egg over rice as Japanese? It must be a scam! Tripadvisor reviews were overrated for this restaurant!

Wait till you see the balcony! 

We lugged our worldy belongings to Century Pines Hotel. 3 times more expensive than Ancasa, 3 times more the pleasure and comfort. The room ( 201 ) was ridiculously huge with a price tag of RM 330/room/night. Wifi and cable TV sort of soothed the fact that it was more expensive than the other hotels in TR.

We took a walk along trail 4 that started beside our lodging. Obviously we are not in top form, still with coughs and remnant flu. It was tiring and got me panting not long after we started – on the easiest trail at that !

The waterfall was so-so. Debris and rubbish floated along the banks and some were caught on tree branches overhanging the river. It was horrific.

Halfway, we returned because our knees and lungs couldn’t take it anymore. 4.30pm – back at Century Pines with nothing to do, we headed to My Cake House for refreshing beer and juice. The second mistake for the day! The cake was hard and dry and not worth mentioning. We bled RM 24 and other than concluded beer is not expensive, we resolved never to set foot at the place anymore.

Though I had plans to visit the tea plantation, this was not to be. The hotel staff said it was too far for us to go on foot. We contemplated engaging CS travels and tours for a half day tour the next morning. It was RM26 for 5 hours and we took their offer, with the option of pickup at our hotel.  Or perhaps we should get a personal taxi so that we can go anywhere we like. The problem is – where ?

Finally, after much consideration, we bought the countryside tour for RM 26.50 with CS travels.

With our program for tomorrow settled, we dawdled to Ferm Nyonya Restaurant for dinner, our cake and beer still sloshing in our stomachs. Ferm looks like a sad, quiet place compared to the bustling and lively May Flower next door. Though slightly more expensive, we opted for the busier place. For the first time, we disregarded the reviews on TA and obeyed our instincts.

Instinct is a good thing ; it is generated from experience ,  something a review cannot do. For RM44 ( + tea ) , we ate a huge, waist busting steamboat dinner and couldn’t even get to finish the noodles. All plans for supper were abandoned by the time dinner ended.

We Whatsapp with Hopey in London and watched TV until the aftereffects of multiple meals and the tiring trail walk knocked us out into Lala land.

Setting off! SG - KL

21 Dec 2015 Monday  

It’s off to Cameron Highlands by bus , all the way from Singapoere to KL. The last time we did it was a short trip to JB for marketing. This time, it comes with luggage and all.

Anyway, off we go ! It’s no joke catching a taxi on a weekday morning, even if it is to IMM nearby. It was a nervous wait, since every taxi was taken. Still, we managed to get to IMM by 7.30 for a leisurely breakfast at Macs.

Departure time was 9.00 am , off BKing. But in typically SG Kiasu style, we got up the waiting bus at the bus bay at 8.45 am. CausewayLink Express ( RM 88 pax online from causewaylink.my.com ) was basic, clean and functional, with no wifi and toilet ( what am I expecting ! ). The extra pleasure was getting the ticket much cheaper than from the IMM booth because it was almost dollar for dollar. I reckon we saved about 20-30% for the ride.

The busload of us left promptly at 9am – but what a slow start from Tuas onwards! We waited a good 45 mins for the rest of the passengers to clear immigration.  That. Was. No. Good. Just the first of many waits and I am already rethinking about driving the Volvo into Malaysia, diesel or not!

Malaysia immigration was a breeze which put SG to shame! Now 10.30 am and not anywhere near KL, we made up for lost time. The bus went a little faster and thankfully traffic was clear after the announced crowd in the news last week.

At this junction, I have to say the bus ride was good; the driver was competent and we have an uneventful ride. I hope it is the same for the rest of the trip.

12nn. We stopped by a rest stop for buses at Yong Peng for a quick lunch and toilet break. Though no-fuss, the food was decent and delicious in fact. I hope the rest of the Malaysian food continues to be this nice or better.

We set off at 12.30pm to complete the journey. I went back to my book “Lagoon” by Nnedi Okorafer.

The bus arrived at TBS at 2.55 pm,  a tad later that I would have liked. We couldn’t endorse our ticket bound for Cameron Highlands at TBS at the Unitiiti Counter. Then we headed to KL city by LRT.

We took the Rapid KL ( LRT ) from Talak Selatan Station to Plaza Rakyat Station ( RM 3 pax ) , which is just next to our hotel.

It was a direct ride , crowded but bearable. 20 mins later and a bit of walk under the boarded linkway, we got to Ancasa Hotel and Spa at Jln Tan Cheng Lock. The hotel ( RM 155 /room/night from booking.com ) was a good choice, being so convenient.

 

( Ancasa Hotel has seen better days. There are lots of misses – broken lights, door, toilet with no exhaust, non-existant shower door, inadequate toilet paper, limited TV channels, poor sound proofing. But the location is beat, water pressure decent and comes with a comfy bed that has the a/c blowing into our faces the entire night. )

After getting rid of our belongings, we explored Jln Sultan nearby and chilled at Café Amo. Coffee’s not bad but did not come with the fancy latte art. 2 cuppa + 1 cake for RM 30 was a tad too expensive for the not-so-fancy café ( half undergoing renovation ). I would rate it 3.5/5

Jln Petaling Chinatown was pathetic with rows and rows of stalls selling the same imitation items we declared it super boring! There was no street food, no variety and no excitement. We were bored to tears. It wasn’t the Chinatown I remembered.

We ate at Old Kafe China; babi ponteh, sambal veg, fried tofu off the box, fancy cowpea coconut rice, tea for a princely RM60. Nostalgia aside ( from the décor ) , we felt disappointed with the food. Outside the café, there was absolutely no ambience as well. The only saving grace was a service that came with a smile.

At Jln Sultan, we loaded up Vitamin C, shampoo, water at Guardian Pharmacy ( RM 42 ) and pronounced our loot a good deal ! unsatisfied with the dinner, we bought 2 donuts from dunkin Donut in the almost empty Puduraya station for night snacks.