The Honeymoon Part 2

by: Bryan

Last November, niregaluhan kame ng kaibigan namin na si Sherly ng advance wedding gift, two-day-one-night hotel accommodation sa Days Hotel sa Tagaytay. Sinabi namin na December 28 yun date para saktong hotel hopping kame after the wedding. Unfortunately, fully booked na ang hotel for that day. So she gave us a choice for Kuala Lumpur. We choose the Chinese New Year dates since it is a two-day holiday in Singapore. She got a reservation at Sunway Lagoon Resort and Spa for January 26-27. After the wedding, we plan for our trip, Second Honeymoon!!! We asked some information from our friends on how to get to KL. We had different choices from cheap and faster to cheapest but slower… lolz… either via air with Jetstar, via bus with travel agency or via train with Malaysian KTM.

I booked one way ticket for two with Malaysian KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad) while return ticket is with Transtar Travel via their coach or bus.

Since medyo matagal daw ang traveling time via train (around 8 hours!), we choose to travel at night. We can sleep during the travel, so we chose a sleeper coach at Superior night class. The name of the train is Senandung Malam. Instead of usual seats, it has a double deck bed. Supposedly, I will be using the upper deck but since spacious yun bed, nagtabi na lang kame ni Bhy sa lower deck. The train departs at Tanjong Pagar station at 10PM of January 25.

Around 30 minutes later, we alight at Woodlands station for SG Immigration checkpoint. We already checked by Malaysian immigration at Tanjong Pagar. After the immigration, we board again the train and continue the journey. Medyo hilaw ang tulog since maalog ang train at maya’t maya, nagigising si Bhy lalo na may kakaibang tunog ang train. We arrived at KL Sentral station around 6:30AM of January 26. Isa sa napansin ko sa location, parang hindi city… at that time, konti pa lang ang sasakyan sa labas pero ang daming fly-overs at expressways.

Pagbaba naming ng tren, kumain muna kame ng breakfast sa Mcdo. Then, sumakay kame ng LRT to KLCC to go to Petronas Tower. Nabinyagan agad ako kasi nawala ko ang ticket ko sa LRT, so nagbayad ulit ako ng amount katumbas ng ticket ko which is RM1.60 from KL Sentral to KLCC. After taking some pictures sa harap ng tower, we looked and queued for the tower's skybridge visit. 9AM nun umakyat kame sa skybridge. Then nagpicturan lang for around 10 minutes tapos pinababa na kame… nag-ikot ng konti sa mall then sa KLCC park. Then, bumalik kame ng KL Sentral station para sumakay naman sa KTM Kommuter train papuntang Subang Jaya where the Sunway Resort is located.

Pagbaba naming ng Subang Jaya Station after around 25 minutes travel from KL Sentral we either to take taxi or bus to Sunway Pyramid mall. Medyo kakatawa kasi I am expecting a bus similar to city bus in SG parking at the station pero yun nakita namin, isang ordinary lang na bus, maganda pa nga yun ordinary bus sa Pilipinas e… tapos nagpuno pa… as in may pasaherong nakatayo then isa lang ang pinto… walang sinabi yun ordinary bus na punuan sa Manila. Since Medyo nag-alangan pa kame sumakay pero since first time... hala sige.. sakay!!! nakarating naman ng ayos sa mall. Kung naglakad lakad lang sana kame ng konti pa sa may Carrefour, nakita namin un bus na ineexpect ko... Anyway, at least nasubukan namin lahat ng sasakyan, except pala sa city bus ng KL.

Then after we dropped off in front of the SunWay Pyramid Mall, we looked for good resto. We checked Fridays but medyo hindi type ang pagkain at presyo, we end up sa isang Chicken Buffet, ayun… eat all you can! After the lunch, we tried checking in na sa hotel. Noon una, akala namin, dun sa Sunway Lagoon Hotel, when we reached the concierge and looked at our voucher, dun pala sa sunod na hotel which is Sunway Pyramid Hotel – Resort Suite. We allowed to check in kahit na 4PM pa dapat. Nagpahinga lang nang konti then nagpasyal na kame sa Sunway Lagoon theme park.

Maganda sa Theme park, ang theme nya: combination sya ng Splash Island, Enchanted Kingdom, with zoo (hindi Manila Zoo), extreme park at Bahay ng Lagim! Since ayaw ni Bhy ng most of the parks, sa wildlife kame napunta(zoo). Eto yun iba't ibang parks sa loob:

* Extreme park
* Amusement park
* Water park
* Wildlife park
* Scream park

In all those five parks, sa Wildlife kame napadpad ni Bhy. Because, if you check the rates, there are some packages need to choose. Since takot si Bhy sa amusement park, ayaw nya sa roller coaster, sa pirates revenge(parang anchor's away ng Enchanted Kingdom), lugi kung ako lang sasakay e bayad din sya. Takot din sya sa scream park, lalo na sa extreme. Sa water park, di naman kame nagdala ng madaming damit. So sa Single park na package kame at sa Wildlife kame napadpad. Picture picture ng mga hayop, nanood ng korny na animal show, sumakay sa safari train.

After around 2 hours nang paikot ikot sa zoo, lumabas na kame, nagpahinga sa room. Nagdinner sa Pizza Hut. Sobrang mura ng pagkain sa KL, halos same value ng SGD pero Ringgit ang currency. Yun inorder namin sa Pizza Hut, total is RM22.00 pero sa SGD, almost SG$30.00 na yun, given na ang conversion is SG$1 = RM2.30. Not bad!! Matagal na rin kaming di nagpi-pizza kasi mahal sa SG yun e.. hehehehe...

Nagtake out kami sa Subway ng pang almusal namin kinabukasan since malayo pa dadayuhin namin coming from Sunway at baka wala pang bukas na kainan during that time. After that, nagaya si Bhy na magdessert so pumunta kame sa Starbucks, nag-order ng chocolate bliss at usap-usap.

Since pagod na din kami by that time, bumalik na kame sa room to rest. Hayyy ambilis ng araw... uwian na.

The next day, gumising kame ng 7AM, kumain ng almusal sa room then around 820AM, nagcheck out na kami, kumuha na ng taxi from the hotel to the Kommuter station just in time to catch the 836 schedule. Maaga kame uuwi ng SG kasi na-rebooked yun bus namin sa Transtar. I booked for 3:30PM Premium class coach online. But when I confirmed it via phone, the seat was already taken by someone who booked over the counter but in the internet, it was still vacant. So the agent upgrade our booking to a First class coach for FREE!!! so ayun, naging 11AM yun trip namin so kelangan 1030AM nasa Pasar Rakyat terminal na kame. Goodthing at hindi kame sa Puduraya which is known for Quaipo and Cubao-like places. Since bago lang daw yun Pasar Rakyat... nasa liblib pang pook, kelangan pa namin hanapin. So niresearch ko na agad yun place, roads nearby at nearest monorail station.

Upon reaching the KL Sentral terminal, lumipat kame ng monorail station. We drop off at Bukit Bintang station. Nilakad na lang namin papuntang Pasar Rakyat. Buti na lang, medyo naalala ko pa yun mapa. Di naman kame naligaw.

Agad kameng nagcheck-in sa bus counter. Saktong 11AM, umalis ang bus. Nasa kahulihang seats kameng dalawa. Spacious ang seats, may massager pa at may own LCD TV. Mabilis din ang biyahe...Almost 5.5 hours na biyahe... Di rin kasi namalayan kasi maraming choices na entertainment like VOD (video-on-demand) movies, computer games and music. Grabeng haba ng highway... I am expecting dadaan kame ng villages or city gaya sa Pilipinas pero wala kameng dinaanan kundi kalsada lamang... nakadalawang stops kame for toilet break.

Around 4PM, nasa Tuas Checkpoint na kame, una munang bumaba kame sa Malaysian Immigration then after crossing the Tuas Causeway, bumaba ulit for SG immigration. Sa may Golden Mile Complex sa Beach Road kame bumaba. Dumeretso kame ni Bhy sa Suntec para magmeryenda. Then sa bahay na kame nagdiner. Pumasyal pa sa amin si Pio at nagluto ng fettucini.