"Friendly frontliners needed at KLIA". Would like to share my experience too.

A throwback
About a month back (why did I take so long to finally complete the draft of this note before posting...), I came across a letter entitled "Friendly frontliners needed at KLIA" sent to the Editor of The Star by reader G.K. Gill.

I concur with what Mrs Gill had written.  Likewise, I shared a similar experience some nine years ago.

My intention to share my personal experience is not to defame any party, but just to share a fact that took place quite some time ago. 

First class infrastructure does not guarantee first class service

"I am first-timer"
My pioneer international trip took place in June 2005.  Being a first time user of KLIA, I was excited.  Please don't get me wrong, as being an ordinary person (I am not a wealthy person), I only travel very very occasionally.

Everything started off pleasantly until I was about to go to the queue to board into the plane.  An officer was there checking the passports of passengers.  Passengers boarding that flight comprised mostly Japanese, followed by a handful of others including Malaysians.

Politeness is selective
Mister Immigration Officer on-duty appeared very polite to the majority of passengers. He greeted each one of them "good morning" before taking a glance at their respective passports without asking questions.

When I gave him my passport, the demeanor of his face transformed from smiley to stern. There was no greeting whatsoever.  Fine, I understand perfectly well the mantra of "mandatory politeness to foreign nationals, but politeness is optional or selective once it comes to your country folk".

It is a fact that in the past, some Malaysians used to go to where I was traveling to under the pretext of being visitors, complete with valid travel documents and return tickets, but ended up remaining there longer than allowed to work illegally.  Maybe it's a phenomenon of "nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga" - a Malay proverb which literally says 'a drop of ultramarine spoils the whole barrel of milk'.

But still, even if you have grounds to suspect  (note: suspect, not confirm) someone for possibly being hanky-panky, do you have to show a tight face to that person even before you confirm your speculation? 


Mr Immigration officer: "Ni frst time punya passport ke?"
Me: "Ye encik" 
(He then took about 5 minutes flipping through every page of my mostly empty passport, still with a stern facial expression)
Mr Immigration officer:"Visa ni you buat kat mana?"
Me: Penang
Mr Immigration officer: "Berapa you bayar untuk buat ni?"
Me: Tak kena bayar... free.
(Mr Immigration officer then returned my passport and left without a word)

While I understand he is merely performing his duty, I wonder about the necessity of having to show an expression that is borderline-hostile, if not truly hostile.  If I had been hostile to him first, then I can see why he had to treat me like that.  But I was never one, never been arrogant to any public servant whom I have came across all my life. 


My visa was genuine alright.  Rather than to go through the hassle of going to the embassy to apply for one, I had mine done through a travel agent.   My trip was not under any tour group, so I had paid a commission to the agent to have it done.

Those were the days when a visa was mandatory for Malaysians to visit Japan, but it is no longer applicable today.  I knew that the visa was issued free-of-charge, or else, I might kena kantoi at the stage of Mr Immigration officer's interrogation.  Imagine if I had mistaken the commission paid to the agent as payment to obtain a visa... then Mr Immigration officer would have thought I had "bought" a fake visa.

Conclusion
During the days when my mood was still boiling, I thought of not using KLIA anymore because I hated the rude encounter I came across.  First time kan, sure traumatizing.  Fortunately the immigration and customs people whom I encountered during my return to KLIA were nice.

Public Transport in KL

Recently, I had the experience of taking a few public transports around certain areas of KL and Selangor after being away from taking any for a long time (with the exception of that train which I board).

A. To Ampang with Love...
Haha... speaking of the town where my "Ampang hero" was born.  A busy town with a thousand memories. 

There was one day when I had be in Ampang for a certain matter.  It's so long since I drove, because I've "sold" my car to my brother.  Therefore, I have to try to be as street-smart as possible (if at all I am...) by resorting to public transportation.

View along the five-foot-way, near the bus stop in front of Menara MPAJ

LRT to Ampang
The nearest LRT station to places such as Menara MPAJ and Hospital Ampang for instance, is the Cempaka station (Ampang Line, formerly known as STAR LRT).

Up-close with the bus from Cempaka station for play time with dear babe
From Cempaka, there are two RapidKL feeder buses that cover those places, as well as areas around the Selangor part of Ampang.  The bus fare is very low at just RM1 per ride, but they may not be very regular during non-peak hours.
 
However, please be prepared for the buses to be highly-packed during peak hours e.g. at 5.30 pm.  I have taken the bus twice in my life, both during my "confinement" period when I found myself missing Alvin so much... it's actually untypical of a new mom to be away from her newborn baby and thus, the untypical decision to go out during the day, without waiting for Alvin's dad to finish work to go to Hospital Ampang.

I used to go by excuses like "I'm running out of milk supply for Alvin, so I need to go there urgently".  I defied all confinement rules by carpooling with my brother to the city center (my brother drives my car to work), board the LRT, then the bus to Hospital Ampang.  My awaited moments?  Play-time with Alvin through the armholes of the incubator!  Anyway, those were the days when my kid and I were still away from each other before he's allowed to go home.

Cabs from Cempaka to around Ampang
There are also taxis operating from Cempaka.  During peak hours, the cabbies go by the "once full, then start moving" concept.  It simply means the cabbie will wait for his cab to be full (4 passengers) before moving.  They go by the meter system nonetheless, but I'm not sure how the bill is split.  In any event, it's much cheaper than one passenger booking the whole cab.

Bus from Ampang to KL
From my one time experience of waiting for a bus at around 9.30 am near the MPAJ bus stop to KL, I found the waiting period to be very long.  I did not sight a single feeder bus which goes to Cempaka.  Don't know if it has a connection to being a non-peak hour.   But after that one-time experience, I wouldn't recommend anyone to take the bus unless one is able to spare the time to wait.  The only bus I finally managed to get was a RapidKL intra-city bus which goes to Bukit Bintang (BB)... way out of my intended destination.  The bus took a long route from Ampang to Pandan Jaya, Taman Maluri Cheras, Pudu, and finally to BB. 

B. KL Monorail
Just in case if you notice how come all pictures come with portrait layout, that's because I tried to be as discreet as possible when I took those pictures with my phone. 

Back to the story, here's the latest looks of the the Imbi monorail station, some time in early April.  It's a pleasure to see fans and digital clock fixed around the platform so that passengers can line up in comfort and convenience.

Below is a snapshot of the ongoing renovation work to "add length" to the existing platform.  It's high time the monorails be upgraded from just 2 coaches to at least 4, considering the existing size of our monorails that does not tally with the high volume of passengers during peak hours, and also weekends when there are many folks going to places like Times Square, Low Yat, Sg Wang, etc. 

Inside the monorail, looks almost like any other ordinary tubes.   But if we were to look at the monorail from outside, it surely reminds us of a theme park.  It's miniature, very short and compact. 

C.  The hot route from the "KL Sentral Monorail Station" to KL Sentral
It's hot, indeed.

Contrary to the name "KL Sentral" given to the monorail station, the platforms and station are actually located outside and opposite the transportation hub called KL Sentral.  A project is currently in place to build a connecting bridge from KL Sentral to the "KL Sentral Monorail Station".

The bridge project aside, there is a host of construction work presently taking place in front of KL Sentral - shopping mall, office buildings.... and a hotel named Aloft was recently completed and officially-opened.

Due to ongoing construction work nearby, it has become quite a mess to walk from the monorail station to KL Sentral.  What used to be a direct and straight route has become a twisted one today.

Looking at the picture below, one can see how dark and perhaps suffocating the lower ground (LG) level of KL Sentral has become today.  The LG level which houses the RapidKL bus hub is dark and feels claustrophobic now.  From LG, one has to take the escalator or manual stairway up into the KL Sentral complex. 


This is what one sees when coming from across the road near Public Bank in Brickfields to KL Sentral...















D. Conclusion
It will be too early to comment on what the situation will be like once the construction projects attain completion.

Fingers-crossed, things should gradually improve so as to create more incentive for the people to take the public transport.  A little improvement is better than none, albeit slowly.  But shouldn't be too slow either... or else the objectives of having public transport will only be defeated.

In short, our existing public transport does generally bring us to many places that we intend to go, but the coverage is not as comprehensive as what would have been ideal.

Taking the public transport becomes challenging when trips get irregular due to reasons like traffic jam and the negative attitude of some (important note: some, not all) who are entrusted in operating, maintaining and improving the public transport system.

The Other Train - KLIA Transit

The ERL at Bandar Tasik Selatan...

View from the platform at Bandar Tasik Selatan KLIA Transit station...
From here, we can see the newly-built bus terminal that's scheduled to open by end of 2010. Traffic at Bandar Tasik Selatan (BTS) is already heavily congested now, and is bound to become more so after the bus terminal starts its operation for good.

I Love ETS

I'm currently addicted to train-rides. I like the speed, comfort and good service. The ETS...

The New Babe called ETS

Friday the 13th... 13/8/2010 ~ My first ride on the new train from KL to Ipoh. Yes, the new KTM ETS has finally come into service on 12/8/2010. :P

At Platform 2, KL Sentral:

Getting There

At KL Sentral, ETS passengers are required to buy their tickets at the "ETS Counter" which is located at Level 2, opposite the Genting ticket counter. There's a lounge (with wi-fi) for passengers to comfortably wait for the trains. I managed to get a ticket for 8.30 am. About 30 minutes before departure, a stewardess came to guide passengers to the platform at Gate B.

Crowd-wise

There weren't many people taking the train at the time when I took the train, mainly due to the fact that it was during office hour on a working day. Comparatively however, I remember the KTM Shuttle Train to Ipoh being very largely occupied on similar days. It's probably due to cost factor as the tickets cost a little more those of the DMU trains.

The Trains

The promotional ETS ticket price for KL - Ipoh is currently set at RM30 per trip, while ticket price for the KL - Ipoh shuttle train is set at RM22/trip (Second Class) and RM12/trip (Economy Class). If it's the First Class coach on the train to Butterworths, a trip from KL to Ipoh is RM40. The ETS is classified as Premier Class, as indicated on the ticket. The trains are manufactured by Hyundai Rotem.

View from my seat:

Inside Coach B... there are a total of 6 coaches per train.

The train reached its top speed at 148 km/h when I took it. This picture was taken when the train reached 144 km/h. The top speed of these ETS is 160 km/h, which is reasonably fast (nb: ETS is not bullet train). I like the display of speed and time, it really reminds me of such similar screen in the plane.

Through the windows, a scene away from the concrete jungle:


At the railway station in Ipoh:
Here are my comments in a nutshell...

1. Comfort

Nice and smooth. I like the ETS for its quietness sans the sound of diesel engine. The overall train design is very pleasant.

2. Speed

The train achieved its promise travel-time at about 2 hours ++ for the Transit service.

3. Service On Board

The crews are polite, friendly and helpful. Well done. :)

4. Conclusion

I like this new service and look forward to riding the ETS more often. If possible (i.e. if cost does not matter), for every trip to Ipoh. It's like an addiction, where after taking the train once, I feel like taking it again and again.

I've heard about the proposed new price after this introductory period, at RM45.xx per trip. I've also heard about the possibility of the introduction of monthly pass for this service. Well, if it's going to be somewhere a little above RM5xx per month (the maximum that I can afford with my novice income), I seriously consider shifting back to Ipoh for good and commute to work in KL by ETS daily. I really love Ipoh very much; the food, the place and of course being my hometown. Right now at RM30 per trip, if I were to take the train daily, it will cost a handsome total of RM1,200 per month - as good as buying a house in KL.

I'm so in love... with the new trains and the fact that folks travelling to Ipoh have even more transport alternatives now.

KTM ETS Spotted

Voila... On my way to Ipoh recently, I spotted a few sets of new KTM ETS while bypassing KTM Workshop in Batu Gajah. The train that I was travelling in was on the move while I took these photos, so they're not as clear as I've intended them to be:

Long & cool!

New train sets at the workshop

KTM had earlier stated that these new trains will come into service for "KL-Ipoh" & "Ipoh-KL" in April 2010. However, a few weeks back, it said "June 2010". I really wonder. In any event, trips from KL - Ipoh and vice versa should be interesting once these trains come into service. :) However, I have a feeling that it won't be so soon.... typical :(

The 2+2

The 4-coach LRT... finally. These random pictures were taken during a joyride (as opposed to a necessary ride to work or back). At last, I've got no more complaints that I've still yet to try the new train ever since it was launched to the public in December 2009.
Since the pictures were taken from the 2nd last station, there are plenty of empty seats and thus, the freedom to take out the phone to take pictures as if I was riding on LRT for the first time in my life.
The interior...
The section for passenger(s) on wheelchair...

Spacious-looking...

On the outside...

The air-conditioner is much colder than those of the 2-coach train. Possibly because it's new, and also that when a train is twice its original capacity, there needs to be higher capacity air-conditioners in order to ensure sufficient ventilation. There's also a slot at the windows which may be opened in case of emergency.

Bizarrely, the train came around when I didn't expect it to come. What's more, I sneaked the opportunity to ride on it for fun and out of curiosity. Yay.... I'm sure LRT rides will be much more comfortable when all trains are 4-coached.

How Long?

The RapidKL Kelana Jaya Line (PUTRA LRT) has got a few 4-car trains a few months ago. However, they're currently still under test runs. It's real, I've spotted the new trains a few times now. Below is a video by "kelvinkhew" on YouTube:



Personally, I can't wait for the day when Rapid finally launch the 4-car trains into actual service. Firstly, our 2-car trains are already way overloaded like crazy. For a long time, we've been in dire need of trains with larger capacity due to the ever increasing number of passengers. Secondly, like most people, I'm excited to experience new things, including new trains. Given a choice, I'd like to remain in PJ and commute to work at KLS for just 20 mins by LRT daily (than to drive over everyday or to take other train like KTM Komuter because compared to LRT, Komuter service seems inconsistent).

Here's another video, posted by "turbokitube":

Strangely, I get excited when I see the new trains on test runs. At the same time, I wonder how long are we going to wait before we get to ride on them... it's been a few months already.

TGIF? Not really

Just a diary entry. It was a tiring week (during the weekdays), so I decided to sleep in more on Friday morning. Waking up at almost 7 am, and work at 8.30. Parking spaces are limited and surely, by the time I arrive, there wouldn't be spaces anymore. The wiser thing to do is to NOT drive for once then.

Transportation Woes
Resorting to shortcuts is sometimes deemed nice. Being driven from one place to another for once in a bluemoon is nice. However, with the generally poor public transportation system in our country (unfortunately....), waiting for a bus or cab can be a pain at times. No wonder our roads get more and more congested - people have no choice but forced to buy cars.

Anyway, I was glad that I still managed to arrive on time.

American Coffee
Moving away from the above, I had my first try of American coffee (some Americano stuff which I didn't really know) when I met my brother for a drink during lunch break. Both of us were too full for a lunch, so we had sandwiches and coffee at Starbucks (my bro likes coffee and Starbucks... a coffee-fan just like my dad).

Frankly, I'm not a great fan of coffees, and therefore not a frequent customer of Starbucks. I thought I wanted something non-ice-blended or topped with creams, so I went for that. What came out was merely black coffee. Now I know.

"How come you didn't tell me that I was merely ordering black coffee?" was my first question to my brother. "Why ask me?", my brother replied. I said "I thought since you're formerly in the food industry, you might...". Being a 'jakun' in coffee-drinking, I should have asked the Starbucks guy.

Taste-wise, Americano was not too bad. But a cup of coffee did not manage to keep me awake throughout the evening. I was still feeling sleepy. So far, coffees have never succeeded to keep me awake, unlike many people who are able to burn the midnight oil with just a cup of coffee. I am the type who can drink coffee at 8.30 pm and go to bed at 9 pm - from real life experience.

The one with the longest hair in my family
None other than my dearest brother, of course. His hair is longer than mine, the style and colour reminds me of Takizawa Hideaki (or Tackey) from J-pop duo Tackey & Tsubasa. Be on the lookout for the guy with that description at Low Yat G-floor.

For better, or worse?
I thought I could sit comfortably in a bus, but no. Who am I to know after all, since I've not really taken the town bus during peak hours before this? I crossed the long street from across KL Sentral in order to go to the cash deposit machine to urgently pay my credit card bill of RM 10 in that particular bank (the nearest branch from my workplace being there). It's just a small sum and I didn't want to get penalised just because of lateness. I thought maybe I'd want to hop on to that #99 bus. Instead of walking a big round back to KL Sentral. Since the bus is already there right in front, why not give it a try? Besides, I could actually go home straight by that bus, since I didn't drive.

The bus was still new and air-conditioned. In the beginning, I felt comfortable. Later as the bus arrived at Midvalley, more passengers got in and from then on, I started to feel sick. No puking of course, but I was in discomfort all the time.

Tempted to
Firstly, I was tempted to get down at "Universiti" station and then continue with LRT. Second thought came and mysteriously, I didn't get down. Until I got to the next place, which was Asia Jaya. I should have got down there, but I didn't. I should have, because later there was a massive traffic congestion ahead.

After passing by Jaya 33, Colgate-Palmolive and all those places nearby, the bus reached Seapark. Again, I was tempted to get down. But if I were to get down, I'll need to walk for a long distance to that Paramount station. I'm okay if I don't carry any valuables with me, but together with the company's laptop, I thought it's not a bright idea to do so. Snatch-theft is the reason why.

After enduring 1 hour of discomfort and such, I was relieved that I've finally arrived.

Reason behind
I can guess why I felt sick and uncomfortable in the bus.
1. Too many people
There were so many folks inside, and the air-conditioning was insufficient to cater to so many 'breathes'. It's more uncomfortable than being in the packed LRT.

2. Naturally so...
People are unique from each other. It is perfectly understood that after a long day out, some people sweat, and bacterial mechanism contributes a lot to causing unpleasantness. I have nothing against anyone regardless of whether they have or don't have sweat-related problems. Reason being when a person has done no intentional wrong, we should not despice a person for his/her physical-related factors, i.e. no reason to hate anyone for things beyond control.

There were also smell of 'minyak angin', probably because there were some passengers who felt as dizzy as me and therefore, applied 'minyak angin' (but I didn't apply). I did not go and frown upon those people involved. I closed my eyes and endured the hard journey.

Back 'home'
Whewww.... The blasting air-conditioner was just a joy. In light of the crowd and discomfort earlier, I immediately went for a thorough shower. The joy of the pleasant shower cream, shampoo, and even my Bio Oil (I'm currently using Bio Oil in attempt to lighten the scar on a certain part of me... which worked a little because the brownish marks are lighter now).

The aftermath
It must be gross that my appetite was affected after that. I didn't go for dinner because I was still feeling a little uncomfortable. I only had a soup at 10.30 pm. I thought, 'habislah', if I really fall ill, then all the appointments over the weekend have to be cancelled (there are 3 appointments). My face felt hot as if feverish. The only drink I had was a can of 100 Plus and a little water.

I was only hungry late at night. By which time, I no longer felt like walking/driving out alone. It just felt creepy to do so. Never mind 'lah', just stay home and call for a delivery.

Adios for the moment!