On my trip to Malaysia, I went for an appointment in Kuala Lumpur. Since the troublesome driving experience where I got lost and took many wrong turns, I decided that I would not be driving to the city. So I had to rely on public transport.
On the day of the appointment, my sister-in-law sent me to the train station near where we live. Then I took the train to Kuala Lumpur Sentral ( which is Kuala Lumpur Central Rail Station) and then took a taxi to the venue in Jalan Tun Razak.
After my appointment, I decided to go to KLCC Suria, which is the shopping complex in the Petronas Twin Towers. The taxi dropped me off at the front of the shopping complex where the busses stop. A short walk was all it took to get to the shopping area. While walking along, I noticed that there were several busses in the area, all waiting to pick up passengers. The first bus had some passengers and the rest looked like they were waiting for their turn. I also noticed a sign that said that the rides are free – from KLCC to Bukit Bintang. BTW, Bukit Bintang is a shopping area with lots of shops and malls, ranging from posh designer outlets to malls that a more affordable. It is also a main tourist area with many food and beverage outlets.
The reason I went to KLCC was to look for the Charriol outlet to repair my watch and to replace the bracelet. However, I could not find the outlet there, and the watch shops do not do replacement of batteries and bracelets. one of the shops informed me that they would sent my watch to the authorised dealer to get it done. However, he could not tell me where the wholesaler / authorised dealer was except was.
I remembered on the last trip back, I was in Penang and non of the watch shops ware able to replace the battery. The reason was that they did not have the ‘mould’ to open the watch. So I had to go to the authorised dealer in KLCC. They dealer was from Singapore
So this time I thought they were in KLCC. I was then informed that they are at Star Hill in Bukit Bintang. So I decided to take the free bus ride to Bukit Bintang. The Bus was air-conditioned and was not packed at all. I noticed most of the passengers were foreign workers. The trip to Bukit Bintang was pleasant.
Upon reaching Bukit Bintang, I went looking for the outlet in Star Hill, but they have shifted. I went to look around a few more shopping complexes, but I could not locate it.
It was around lunch time and I had lunch in Lot 10 food court. There were lots of stalls, each featuring a different type of food. There was Chinese, Malay, Thai, Indian and many types of foods like noodles, rice, etc. I settled for Chinese Wonton noodle with 3 types of roasts – roast pork, char siew and roast duck. It came with soup and I ordered a drink. I was given a little pack of tissues as well!!. It was self-service , just order the food, pay and take the food away. The noodle was tasty and the roast was yummy. After that I took the LRT (Light Railway Transport) to KL Sentral and took the KTB home to Subang Station.
Another surprise.. After some shopping in Subang Parade, I walked out to see whether there were any free busses. I had read about the free bus rides for locals in Subang Jaya, Selangor ( Selangor is the name of a state in Malaysia, near to Kuala Lumpur, it is equivalent to a shire in England). So I decided to wait for the bus, if there wasn’t one, then I would take the taxi as I wasn’t sure of the route nor the timing. While I was waiting, there was a couple of ladies who were waiting for the free bus as well. When the bus arrived, I asked the driver about the route and it did go to Taipan area in Subang which is just a 5 minute walk to my final destination!!
So up I went and the ride was really cool, as the bus was practically empty, with about 3 to 5 customers!!.
The frequency is every 15 minutes. It tooks about 30 minutes to reach my destination from Subang Parade, waiting time included.
So you see, there is no such thing as a free lunch, but there is such thing as free bus rides in Malaysia. So the next time you are in Malaysia, do look out for it. There are free bus rides in Shah Alam ( in Selangor) and in Penang as well. So it is worth checking them out!!.
