The KL trip I was supposed to write about:

Sorry I didn't write anything about the KL & Genting trip I promised to write about...was too busy with things….slightly too lazy and tired to type out something to be exact. But now that I’m back to my old self, and old hometown Kuching… here’s a juicy bit of stuff about my 5-day trip:

The trip went on pretty okay, albeit it taught me a little lesson on patience and self-control, and of course the benefits of everyday exercise since I became quickly exhausted after each ‘marathon’ tour or lengthy ‘walk’ around the streets of Malaysia’s capital & Genting. Woke up at 4a.m on Sunday afternoon (29th May, and was off to the airport and to the plane at approximately 5.45a.m. We took an early flight at dawn because the seats were fully booked due to the school holiday season. The moment we touched down at KLIA...it was a quick rush all the way to my Aunt's apartment at Subang, then at 10.30a.m, we walked, caught a taxi, then a train, then a bus all the way to Genting, and after that it was a horribly long wait at the Genting Skyway.... Horribly long because there were practically hundreds of bobbing heads milling around, and not the mentioned the long queue which packed up the entire waiting area. The waiting alone swallowed up an entire 2 hours of our time. Imagine that--Two long hours, carrying and dragging my luggage across the whole way! I was sweating profusely, arms terribly aching by the time I was in the sky cab.

I thought our torment was over…but we were clearly in for a mega shock, and another round of sheer torture---we had to get a number (like those you get while waiting for your turn at banks or polyclinics) before we could check in at the First World Hotel at Genting, and worst still…we had to wait for over 200 families to check in before it was our turn—the number we were given upon reaching was a 970, and number flashing on the screens at that time was just slightly over 700.Yikes! Even with 32 reception counters at the waiting lounge, the hotel was clearly under-staffed since I believed over 1000 rooms were due to be booked by that day. So you can imagine, by the time we haggardly and tiredly waded into our rooms over two hours later, momentarily relieved from the intense fatigue of having to lug our large luggages all the way up and down from the taxi’s boot all the way to torture zone, it was already almost 6p.m.

Our state of elevation didn’t last long…for another surprise came uninvited: The room was small—but it didn’t matter at first, until we discovered that it didn’t have many of the facilities deemed appropriate for a deluxe room—no clothes cabinet, mini refrigerator, small coffee table, plus poor air circulation around the room, which we had to bear for the rest of the two days we were there. And we spent over RM 130 for that room! My Mom, ever the fighter, couldn’t believe it was a deluxe room, and walked all the way back to the reception counter to request for an explanation and possibly some help, since no one picked up the call of enquiry she made. And although after some amount to probing, and demanding for an explanation, she was given the confirmation that that tiny hole we were given was and is actually a ‘deluxe room’. Bear it or leave it!

Not that I want to sound too critical, but not having a refrigerator really spoilt our plans of having a fresh meal. We brought loads of roasted chicken, cheese, fresh milk and other food to cut cost, and we ended up having to throw away a whole piece of chicken after that. What’s more, the stench of human excretion had to be endured with bated breaths, and ignored to the best of our ability. But it seemed that our rooms were not the only ones direly lacking in resources---we were confronted with the same odour as we hurriedly scrambled past the other rooms too as we made our way to the lift each morning! It just goes to prove how misleading advertisements can be at times.

I enjoyed myself tremendously at the outdoor theme park though. Could finally try out the many different rides I missed the last time I was in Genting. Tried one of those slightly hair-raising rides twice (can’t remember what it was called), once in the morning and once at night after 9 p.m. The impact I got was clearly different—it was freakier and dizzier at night, as expected. Then we went around the indoor park, and did a lot of window shopping, a bit of arcade game playing, then on the last day at Genting—a few rounds of bowling, which definitely showed that I needed A LOT of practice at it since the ball I threw became too attached to the little ‘drains’ at the sides of the lane. Haha! Well, at least those fascinating rides and games somewhat made up for the bad experiences we had with our sleeping arrangements. So it wasn’t that bad after all.

Went back to KL on the 31st May…and the journey ‘home’ to Aunt Helen’s condo was much smoother than I’d expected. We didn’t encounter any other hassle, strolled around KL Central, then a train ride down to Carrefour and Parkson at Subang Jaya for ‘a few’ hours of shopping. Bought plenty of reasonably cheaper items there—a new canon printer, sewing machine, food items and stuffs. We finally arrived at my aunt’s apartment pretty late, loaded with a whole bonnetful and armful of boxes and baggages. Phew!

1st & 2nd June saw a flurry of activities that included window shopping, hopping onto one bus to another, etc. To cut the long story short, we covered many places—KLCC, Mydin, Petaling Street, Tesco, Ikea, The Curve, 1 Utama, Giant, Sunway Pyramid and so forth….I couldn’t remember all the places since there were too many. We tried out as many different modes of transportation available—Taxis, metro buses, KTM trains, Putra LRT, and the oldest form of transportation—our two feet. I finally knew what it was like to have blisters on each of your feet, and a sore heel to match. A very sufferable but enlightening experience I must say. And my Dad even commented that I walked like a duck the whole while…haha, I didn’t know I had the talent to wade around like one of those Quakers. Not bad! Maybe I should try perfecting that duck quack a bit—you know, to be more authentic. Oh well!

3rd June—phew, it was back to home sweet home. Took a final tour around every single floor of KLIA before boarding the plane home—to the serene and peaceful Kuching. Sigh, nothing, not even the so-called dizzying glamour of big city KL could match the tranquility of humble old Kuching. Oh well, as they say, nothing beats home!

P/S:We didn't manage to get hold of a digicam, so we snapped photos with a manual one instead. Will upload photos of the trip when the photos are ready.