I
was considering buying a bag and but couldn’t decide if I liked the colour so
after some thought, decided to go check the boutique in Singers and that last
Saturday would be a good day to do that. Oh boy, oh boy. But once I had this
idea, I couldn’t shake it off so I thought, heck, why not. I had taken FirstCoach to Singers a few times before but decided to explore other options as
First Coach departs Bangsar at 07:30 (arrives 5-6 hours later) and the return
trip departs at 18:30 (a day trip would suffice for me and I don’t mind not
spending the night there) which would mean arriving at Bangsar well after
midnight. Now, I don’t like travelling by Uber/Grab (or cabs for that matter)
alone and especially am not going to do that after midnight.
So
I went to Bus Online and Catch That Bus and started browsing. As I was
browsing, I realised I could depart just before midnight on Friday and return
by an afternoon bus so that I could reach KL before 22:00 and still take the
public transportation back to micasa. I finally decided to travel by NiceCoach, a company under Konsortium Transnasional Berhad. The return ticket cost
me RM120 (First Coach return ticket costs RM150). The coach from KL is called
Nice Executive coach while the one from Singapore is Nice Imperial and is a
double decker (for pictures, go here).
I
left micasa late on Friday and was frantic and panicking until we reached KL
Sentral. The Nice coach picks up passengers at the entrance to KLIA Express
(near its ticket counters at KL Sentral) and it was punctual. A good sign, I
thought. Before long, I was settled in my seat. The bus looked full. We left
just after 23:30. Of course sleep was elusive. The driver drove at breakneck
speed and we reached the Malaysian checkpoint before 03:00. The immigration
process was a breeze and we were crossing over to Tuas Checkpoint before long.
We had to take all luggage down here to clear immigration and security check.
A slightly blurry picture of the interior of the bus from my seat
We
reached The Plaza at Beach Road at 04:35. Still too early, the MRT hadn’t
started operations and Suboh was about an hour away so I decided to walk to
Orchard Road. So I did. Singers is a safe country and I wasn’t worried (I
wouldn’t dare walk in KL at that ungodly hour!). I was surprised to see a lot
of vehicles on the road at that time though; they were probably those who
hadn’t returned home from the evening before. I also came across some homeless
people sleeping in doorways and even an old uncle taking a leak under a bright
streetlight near the Singapore Management University. Up until ten days prior,
I was not even aware that there are those living in destitution in Singers. As
if to make the contrast, a turn of the head and I saw party revellers laughing
out loud and people at a 24-hour mamak place. Oh well. I don’t know why I
should be surprised. The ultra rich, the middle-income earners and the poor and
destitute all rub shoulders in all major cities so why should Singers be an
exception eh.
I
reached Masjid Al Falah about 45 minutes after setting off from The Plaza. A
lady who came out told me the women’s section which used to be on the upper
level had been closed off for some time due to small congregation. Women would
have to perform prayers downstairs and there’s no barrier to segregate between
the male and female. We also needed a token to access the bathroom to perform
ablutions and at this, I thanked her and told her I’d head for the prayer room
at Royal Plaza on Scotts instead. It took me a further ten minutes’ walk.
The
bathroom at the lobby was closed so I went to the gym/pool area, knowing there
would be bathrooms there and I was right. After performing ablutions, I went to
the prayer room and stayed until well past sunrise so I could perform Ishraq
prayers.
After
freshening up, I went back to the prayer room for Dhuha prayers before leaving.
I crossed over to Far East Plaza, had some sandwich then continued on to ScottsSquare. There are a few posh boutiques here and I also discovered Fair Price
which products I thought were priced pretty reasonable and fair – for
Singaporean prices anyway (well, I don’t earn SGD). After that, I checked out
Pedder on Scotts, specifically Charlotte Olympia. The range on offer was pretty
limited though (but still better than nothing at all).
The black pair cost SGD720 while the blue and red pairs cost SGD790 or so
I
then returned to Orchard Road and took the underpass to cross over to Ngee AnnCity. It was an overcast morning although I didn’t detect any dark angry clouds
overhead. I decided to avail of the complimentary WiFi offered and sat down to
access social media for a bit before checking out the boutiques. I was
surprised to discover it was raining cats and dogs when I emerged from Goyard. And
to think it had been such an unbearably sweltering week in KL! i continued on
to Takashimaya before crossing over to Paragon and Lucky Plaza. It had stopped
raining by then.
At
Lucky Plaza, I went to find some halal eateries before browsing Bagzaar. I
decided to return to Food Village at Ngee Ann City and had Nasi Padang. Rice
and 3 side dishes (side dishes mean veggie dishes) cost SGD3.80. After lunch, I
headed for Isetan Scotts. I also checked the Nasi Padang stall there. The same
combo I had at Food Village at Ngee Ann City cost SGD5. Probably not much for
you but I could buy a 1.5 litre bottle of water with change.
At Elisa Litz, a Charlotte Olympia Kitty Flats copycat
Fortunately or unfortunately, the soles of their shoes are of pig skin
These cost SGD89/pair
After
Isetan, I returned to Royal Plaza on Scotts to perform prayers. Then it was a
last visit to Ngee Ann City (and complimentary use of the WiFi heh). After
that, I took the train to Bugis and walked to Zam Zam Restaurant. I bought a
piece of beef murtabak to go before heading for The Plaza for my 16:00 coach
back to KL.
I
arrived at the Transnasional Office and made myself some tea. I was then called
to board the bus – it was 15:45 then – so I hurried over to the awaiting coach.
There were only nine passengers making the trip and as everyone was there, we
could already depart. Whoa, great! I went to my seat on the upper deck then
decided to change to a more comfortable seat. We hit a standstill at Tuas -well,
it was the weekend and a lot of Singaporeans were crossing over to Johore – and
the immigration process at the Malaysian side was chaotic. The passport
autogates were not operating and we formed unorganised queues to clear
immigration. We were finally on our way again within 30 minutes.
Transnasional Office at The Plaza
Our coach
Lower deck
Upper deck
Crossing back Johor Strait towards Malaysia
We
stopped at a rest area at 19:00 and I went down to use the bathroom and perform
ablutions. The driver had informed the break was only 15 minutes so I performed
prayers on board. We reached KL Sentral at 21:27 and I waited until 21:47 for the
bus. I was en micasa by 22:10. Total distance walked today: 18.4 km, 28,179 steps.
I
think there might be repeats of this trip.
|