Travel Tips: Bus Travel in Malaysia

Since I had my fair share of traveling by bus so I thought why not I share some of the travel tips I gathered through my experience. Might come handy for foreign tourists and students who might be away from their families for the first time when they entered matric/university this coming July. In the recent two weeks alone I clocked more than 24 hours being on board a bus. The bulk of it is the KL-Kangar trip plus the usual KL-Kuantan Trip.

1. Always buy your ticket at the counter! This is really important and must be remembered no matter how desperate you are. It's common to see at big stations like KL's Pudu to have pushers trying to sell to you tickets. They usually shouts the destination and chides you if you decline their offer. My advice: ignore them. They might charge higher or give to you a lousy bus. This especially true during peak seasons.

Instead go straight to your preferred bus counter and buy the ticket there. So, in case of any discrepancies or delays you can inquire at the counter. If you a first time buyer, just look at the destination names on at the counters. If you totally clueless I recommend going to the Transnasional counter - they sell tickets to almost all destination (especially from KL).

2. Shop around. Now, which bus is more comfortable? If you are adventurous you could try out different bus each time or you can simply observe the buses when you are waiting for your bus. For those who are in universities, you can ask your seniors. There are many types of bus - the plain one have 4 seats in a row, then the premium 3 seats in a row and the double decker. The first two might costs the same but the latter could be slightly more expensive by around 15%. Double deck bus are unsuitable if you plan to carry a lot of luggage as their cargo hold is rather small and there's no overhead storage compartments.

3. Buy early. You must be real lucky to be able to buy tickets at the last minute during festive seasons or real unlucky to find out you are given extra (read: lousy) bus. You must book early, some bus operators allow booking four weeks in advance. The minimum is usually two weeks for those who still use paper filing system. Some of you might figure out that only tickets to Ipoh and JB are sold out during Chinese New Year but don't be surprised that ticket to Kota Bharu sold out too. Malaysians don't care what the festival is about, they travel home if they have the holiday anyway.

Other peak seasons might occur nearing university semester breaks or school holidays. This is true especially if the town have a sizeable students population.

4. Be prepared. By law bus drivers must stop at least once during the journey so you can eat and pray. Sometimes, the stop is very brief or the rest area doesn't sell food. So you should prepare with your own packed foods and drinks.

5. Alternative routes. The ticket to your destination sold out? No problem - you can still hop on a bus that goes to a city beyond your destination. Say the ticket to Muar sold out, you can hop on the bus to Batu Pahat. But you must clarify with the counter of the route of the bus.

Sometimes it will pass through your hometown or be at the outskirts which you may have transport problem. And be sure to notify the bus driver and remind them. And don't fall asleep! My uncle once end up in Johor Bharu when he fall asleep and missed to stop at Pagoh. This method is only recommended if you have somebody to pick you up. Of course, this method is irrelevant to towns which borders Thailand or Singapore.

6. Alternative stations. Sometimes, a town might have more than one bus station. For example: apart from Pudu, KL have Pekeliling, Putra & Jalan Duta. These stations are smaller and only serve specific regions such as Pahang, East Coast & Northern respectively. I prefer to board at Pekeliling to go Kuantan as it is much less buy and nearer to the LRT. Keep in mind that your choices might be limited here though.

If your town station have limited outbound trips you might consider going to a bigger nearby town to get to your destination. For example Kangar might have limited bus so you can go to Alor Star to get more bus. Kangar-Alor Star are served by a commuter bus so it's quite convenient.

7. Be early! This is very important as you don't want to miss your bus and waste your money. And you might be pestered by your mum. :P A friend of mine had missed more bus in a semester than the rest of the class. Heh. This is also important in big stations like Pudu where you need to locate the platform or where the bus waits outside the station (especially for those double deck buses).

Ok, that's my travel tips for now. Hope you find it useful!

Madani at Perlis

Last Friday, Madani went up north to Perlis. Departing from Pudu at Midnight, the journey to Kangar took almost 7 hours with stops at Alor Star & Changloon. We arrived at around 6.30am. After subuh prayer at the bus station, we head to a nearby mamak restaurant for breakfast. You, might be wondering what we are doing so far away from our normal 'territory' eh? Well, two colleges at IIUM is having a community program at Kampung Titi Tinggi, Padang Besar, Perlis and they invited us to perform for the Cultural Night which is part of the Baktisiswa Program.



Now, first thing first - how we do get there. The five of us are basically clueless about Perlis and my last visit here is almost 5 years ago. Luckily, my mother have a friend here - Hj. Riduan who worked at Kangar Hospital. So I gave him a call and told him that we need to go to Titi Tinggi. I need to pass the souvenirs my mother packed for him as well. Cutting the story short, he arranged for us taxis to get there. Pak Man drove the taxi leisurely at 70km/h to arrive at Titi Tinggi in 30 minutes. That allowed us to enjoy the scenery - and a change from our usually hectic pace to go to shows.

We put up at Mr. Hasbullah's house which is near the community hall of Kampung Titi Hilir. Titi Tinggi is comprised of two villages - Titi Tinggi Hilir & Ulu. Both of them are rather near to each other. After getting acquainted with our gracious host, we knocked ourself to sleep. Well, sleeping aboard the bus is not the same as sleeping at a house no matter how comfortable is. BTW, the Durian Burung double decker bus we took really are comfortable. We are left to make ourself at home while Mr. Hasbullah and his wife went out to buy fish to cook laksa.

I woke up first and get bathed. Only then I awaken the rest of the team. Meanwhile I took some pictures of the surrounding. By the time we get ready, the laksa is ready as well. Never resisting good food, we sit down and enjoy the laksa. Thanks a lot makcik! It's already noon, and she said lunch is still coming up after Friday prayer.

The mosque is situated at Titi Tinggi Hulu and our host is particularly concerned when we said we are going there on foot. We assured them not to worry and off we go along Federal Road No. 7.



Well, it seems that the villagers never walked to mosque especially not all the way for Hilir to Ulu. People gawked at us, pressed their horns. Heh, we must be really odd. For the villagers, the distance is rather far but for us who constantly walk about the city it's normal. IMHO, walking from one end of Mid Valley to the other is further still.

We must be high of Titi Tinggi Oddity Meter - we are the only one who are not 'dressed properly' for Friday prayer. Which means t-shirts and pants instead of baju melayu and sarongs. Heh, we travel light so ditto baju melayu.

As promised, there's a hearty lunch after Friday prayer. The menu is kari ayam kampung dengan pisang, ikan pekasam, ikan bakar and ulam. Yummy! We had lunch together with the participants of the foster family program which is Shidee, Musa and Jebat. At first, I had no idea who Jebat is when being told by our host - to my surprise it's actually Azizul, my classmate for Internet Application last semester.

After Asr, it's time for sound check at Titi Tinggi Hulu community hall. It's situated at the centre of a vast paddy field with a single narrow, windy road as the only access. The committee members and villagers are busy setting up the tents and preparing the place. The sound system arrived at 6.30pm, just before Adil arrived from Langkawi. We took time until dusk to set up the system. On our way back to our host house we crossed the paddy field instead of the long windy road. It saved substantial time to get to the van which picked us up. Unfortunately, I slipped into the mud a bit and forced me to walk barefooted halfway. That's certainly something to be remembered.

After Isya', it's time for the event. Villager thronged the 'island' in the paddy field. I'm amazed how they managed to park their vehicles in a limited area and still have space for the audience. The performance kicked off with Nasyid performance by Nur Ihsan from Kangar Hospital. They put up a good performance with songs from Raihan, Rabbani, and one original song. Our host told us that they are related to Ustaz Amaluddin. Next are a variety of performances from the school children and the villagers. When it's Madani's turn it's already past 11pm, which is surely are the bedtime of the people there. Some of the old folks are already half-asleep but nevertheless Madani still give out their best. The songs for that night is our own 'Janji Setia' and 'Keluarga Bahagia' and 'Hijrah' from Nowseeheart.



Despite that, some villagers are still up to do some more performances which dragged the event to midnight. Oh, my... Back at our host house we had our supper and then went to sleep. A good rest is vital as we are heading back to KL the next day.

Certainly, this event is rather exhausting but it bring it's own joy to us being somewhere different, a different set of audience, meeting up new people. And performing at an 'island' in the paddy field is an appeal on it's own as well.

Oh yeah, the members who went for this event are Adil, Zaki, Ashraf & Haziq as singers while Ashraf Jr. & I served as crew. Looking forward to return to Perlis someday! And our highest gratitude to our gracious host Mr. Hasbullah and his family for their hospitality.

Bomb Threat?

Although my recent trip to Singapore was rather pleasant there's a snag with the customs. They are paranoid as hell. Anything stuffed with wires are suspected to be some kind of bomb or spy stuffs. That's what happened with my gadget satchel put in my hand luggage. They scrambled to unravel the content of my bag only to find some chargers. I told them it was chargers but they won't listen. Furthermore, the metal detector beeped when I passed through. My, my...



The 'Bomb'



The 'Bomb' Inner 'Workings'

I think they should chill out a bit when checking Malaysians. For me, we are the one who are most unlikely to blow up Singapore since many of us are related with the islanders one way or another. Never ever we want to harm our family and friends.

Hopefully it won't happen again.

Sultan Mosque

During my recent trip to Singapore on Saturday, I had the opportunity to visit Sultan Mosque at Muscat Street. Disembarking at Bugis MRT Station, the mosque is a short walk away.



Situated near the Kampung Gelam Palace, this mosque have it's own cultural significance being the oldest mosque at the island. It still houses the beduk although not being used anymore but the mosque still burn incense to give a pleasant aroma throughout.

I had little time to fully appreciate the mosque and learn more about it's history. Insya'Allah, I'll return one day to do a proper photo op and documentation. Anyway, thanks a lot to Bro. Ridzwan for being my tour guide there.

More picture available at my Flickr.