2024 Week 40: The Bus to KL

To be quite honest, I was more curious about the coach to Kuala Lumpur than the destination itself. I have taken the train and the plane, but never the coach from Singapore to KL. Knowing that there are so many coach services and thinking about the thousands of people who take the route every month gave me major FOMO.

As for KL itself, I had been twice but never broke the surface. Once I went there on a media trip - mainly glitzy shopping malls - and another, Jon and I spent a night in Brickfields on our epic train trip through Malaysia and Thailand. This time I hoped to penetrate a little deeper. Or as deeply as I could in 1.5 days, anyway.

But first, the buses!

Here's what I learnt from my research. There are A LOT of bus companies operating the SG-KL route and they run pretty much around the clock. Aggregator booking sites like Redbus or Easybook can give you an overview, but they can be choice overload unless you have specific requirements like overnight buses. 

So your selection pretty much comes down to these factors:

1. Singapore pick-up/drop-off point: There are heaps of pick-up points islandwide so I shortlisted the ones near my place. The best one for me is KKKL, which departs from and arrives at Bishan MRT exit D! The next best is FirstCoach, which starts and ends at Novena MRT station, but I didn't pick that because of point 2. Spoke to a seasoned SG-KL shuttler who confirmed this is the main reason for her choice of bus service.

2. KL pick-up/drop-off point: Generally, buses from Singapore drop you off right at KL city centre or KL Sentral (main train station for connections to the airport and other parts of Malaysia). FirstCoach, however, only goes to Bangsar (upper-class suburb). So I eliminated FirstCoach.

3. Level of service: For my first bus experience I definitely wanted a luxury coach, for which there are 2 main bus companies: Aeroline and Transtar ("Solitaire Suites"). Both buses serve hot meals and drinks on board and come with frills like massage chairs, on-board entertainment etc. After reading some bad reviews of Transtar's buses - dirty seats w/ peanut shells and hair, bus circling around Singapore trying to pick up more passengers - I chose Aeroline.

On fares, generally SG-KL buses cost about $30 or so each way. Premium services like Aeroline and Transtar cost more - about $50-60. I discovered one money-saving hack for Aeroline, which is to catch the 5.30pm service from JB, cutting the fare in half from RM150 to RM72. So my luxury bus cost only about $23!

Actually if you're willing to cross the border, there are a lot of much cheaper domestic buses plying the JB-KL route. But you have to get the bus from Larkin bus terminal in JB, and the buses terminate at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) in KL. From TBS you have to transfer to the LRT and it's about a 30 minute ride to the city centre. For the purposes of this trip I ruled out any bus terminating at TBS.

Oh and a final note about the ride duration. It's about 5 hours from JB to KL. When you factor in the traffic, border crossing, and travel time to SG pick up point, in total it can take 6-8 hours. There is usually no toilet on board (except for Aeroline) but there would be at least one rest stop around the 2-3 hour mark. You can also ask the driver to stop if you need it; Malaysia's North-South Expressway is littered with rest stops.

My final choices were:

• SG to KL: I decided to split this into 2 legs. Take CW2 from Queen Street to JB ($4.80), chill in JB for a few hours, then get the 5.30pm Aeroline from JB to KL (RM72 or ~$23).

• KL to SG: 3.30pm KKKL from Berjaya Times Square to Bishan MRT exit D ($31.50). That the drop-off point is walking distance from home is a massive plus since I wasn't sure what time I'd arrive. (As it turns out, about 11pm)

Total cost: about $60 return.

Day 1: CW2 to JB & Aeroline to KL

In the morning, I had to drop off a bunny (Jill) at Dhoby Ghaut. As Queen Street bus terminal was quite nearby, I walked over to take the Causeway Link bus CW2 from there to JB. Although I was in no hurry at all - I had more than 5 hours to kill until my Aeroline bus - I liked the idea of an express bus from the city to JB. And it was FAST!! 

We got to Woodlands checkpoint in about 35 mins. At noon on a Thursday, immigration was quick too. After clearing Singapore, you go down the escalator and catch any CW bus, showing the driver your ticket. On Malaysia's side, I used the newly installed e-gates, so there was no waiting time at all. 

I got to JB around 12.30pm and went straight to Holiday Inn (level 7 of Komtar JBCC) for their lunch buffet. It was RM55 (~$18) and I enjoyed it. It's not massive but I liked their salad bar, tuna pizzas, roast beef and broccoli, and the coffee and tea stations. The staff were super attentive and asked if I was comfortable sitting by myself next to a bunch of business traveller-looking men.

I killed the next 3 hours shopping at Komtar and reading my book at Persada Convention Centre (couches and hot/cold water dispenser here). At 5.15pm we started boarding the bus.

The crowd seemed like mostly Malaysian families ("bye bye Daddy!") who were taking the bus for the umpteenth time. I was seated across the aisle from some very well-behaved kids.

After boarding, we got bottled water, blankets, our hot meals (rice, ayam masak merah, veg) and hot drinks (coffee, tea or Milo). There was a wee TV screen with some preloaded movies but I just read Paul Theroux's The Old Patagonian Express and looked out of the window. The bus was very quiet and comfortable and before long people were snoring softly. 

Just before 8pm we stopped at Yong Peng for a toilet break. It was drizzling and a little chilly and I bought some coconut pau which tasted a bit gritty.

We reached KL's Corus Hotel around 10.45pm. The streets still looked lively and I was feeling fresh from my nap, so I walked over to the KLCC and took the LRT to my hotel. First impression: KL people are so young! At this time in Singapore, the train from Orchard Road would be full of haggard retail and F&B workers twice the age of these kids.

Day 2: KL Chinatown & Bukit Bintang

Last night I was a bit creeped out walking from Masjid Jamek LRT to 1000 Miles hostel. Not a soul in sight, except for a few rough sleepers in the shadows, and my room (private mini room, $27/night) looked dismal. But in the morning light it looked cheery again. I did manage some sleep, having stuffed my ears with earplugs. 

I went out in search of roti canai. On our previous visit Jon and I had roti canai along a longkang, and it was amazing. I wasn't quite so adventurous so I settled for the first South Indian eatery I saw that had women in it.

Checked out the sights around Merdeka Square and the River of Life. It's very pretty and I would have liked to follow the river to its end, if the weather had been cooler.

Then I hit up the thrift shops. I wanted to check out Family Bundle, a chain of used clothing stores (2 along Jalan Petaling, one in Kota Raya Complex, a Lucky Plaza-type mall for migrant workers). 

Then went to Junk Book Store (which was really junk, I'm sorry to say - the books were falling apart) and Riwayat Bookstore (lefty local bookstore playing bossa nova covers of Smells Like Teen Spirit and where middle-upper class KLites hang out - I got a few books from here, see below).

I had stumbled upon Kembara Stories, a series of food trails led by KL's migrant workers, and was more than a little obsessed. So instead of eating nasi lemak or something "properly" Malaysian, I went to Mero-Nepal Restaurant for lunch.

After lunch I did some snack shopping at the biscuit shop across the street, then went back to my room for a nap. Woke up at 5pm and walked over to Jal Yoga at The Row. I realised rather too late that girls don't walk around in leggings and crop tops in KL - if you have enough money for yoga, you drive. Anyway, The Row looks like Robertson Quay and has the same icky vibe:

After yoga I went to Bukit Bintang for the first time and realised I probably should have stayed here. There are actually THINGS GOING ON AT NIGHT! I went to The Rabbit Hole for a "KL Creative & Creators" Meetup and although I was feeling extremely unsocial, it at least offered a little glimpse into KL middle-upper class local & expat culture. More on that later on.

Day 3: KKKL bus to SG

I checked out early to attend Free Walk KL Unscripted (not exactly free; it's tip-based, about RM40-60 per person). After chatting with the guide, Marie, for 2 minutes we discovered that her daughter and I are literally neighbours - she lives across the street from me in Bishan! Crazy world. Kind of a reflection of how close-knit Singaporean and Malaysians, despite everything. 

The walk was almost 3 hours long and we learnt about the origins of Chinatown. The first wave in KL were the Hakka, followed by the Cantonese, who were there to mine tin. Then the Hokkien arrived, specialising in trade, which is why there are so many Hokkien in tin-less Singapore as well. Finally the Hainanese arrived as cooks. Hence the preponderance of "Hailam kopitiams" in KL, where they served syncretic cuisine like chicken/pork chops adapted from the British.

Marie's tales were a wild jumble: political intrigues, crimes that shocked the world, architectural evolution, urban planning under the British, historical trades, the postal service and the Sikh police force. One gets the feeling that everything here was pure economic accident. If not for previous generations speculating in rice starch, opium, prostitution and other commodities as hedges against fluctuating tin prices, there probably wouldn't be much life in Chinatown.

I forgot to drink coffee that day and was starting to get a headache around the time Marie started talking about the gentrification of Chinatown. How, through "rejuvenated" places like Kwai Chai Hong and RexKL, Chinatown has transformed from a place you go "to buy Chinese stuff" to this hipster-infested place that gives the tourism industry a raging hard-on. Or maybe it's just that the commodification of history for social media consumption makes me nauseous.

2 things I noted for the next visit:

1. Pasar Karat: Open parking lot flea market not unlike former Sungei Road Thieves' Market in Singapore. It runs from 5-9am daily. Guide says you can apply for a license to sell your stuff from KL City Hall.

2. Thaipusam: Every year in January, there is a mass procession from Sri Maha Mariamman Temple to Batu Caves (some 15km away) and back!

Staggered back to 1000 Miles, where they extremely kindly allowed me to take a shower even though I had already checked out (!!!) and went to Times Square to get lunch and catch my homeward bound bus. Sadly, I squandered my single KL shopping mall visit vomiting into a garbage can outside Watsons before catching my bus.

Verdict: surprisingly good. This was a "SVIP" 27-seater bus, and actually more comfortable than Aeroline. I especially like the legrest. I was worried about taking a long bus ride while sick, but in between pukes, I slept like a baby. There were no bells and whistles like blankets and food, there was a very nice attendant who herded us at every stop. We made one 10-minute stop at Pagoh R&R, a clutch of gas stations with Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway and... Ramly Burger. Then went through Tuas Link, which was quick, and went straight to Bishan MRT. In all the journey was about 7+ hours.

I chatted with the bus driver and his working hours are gruelling though. After dropping off the passengers at 11+pm, he has to drive to Gali Batu bus terminal in Yew Tee, clean up the bus, and then cycle home, probably well past midnight. After that he only gets a few hours' sleep because he has to get the bus and be at Bishan again by 7am. Then it's another 6 to 8 hours' drive to KL. I regret not tipping him. 

Thoughts on KL vs SG culture

At the Meetup I met a Taiwanese traveller whose first question for me was: "how do Singaporeans feel about Malaysians?" She was trying to understand the relationship between the two neighbouring countries. You and me both, girl!

Well, to start with, Singaporeans generally like to act superior to Malaysians. We go to JB or KL and go around screaming "Wah! So cheap ah!", stay in luxury hotels and eat at fine dining restaurants just 'cause we can afford it. Another thing Singaporeans like to do - at least Chinese ones - is feel lucky about being born on the "right" side of the Causeway. We have the stronger currency, the stronger economy. See? Everyone flocking here to work. 

Singaporeans are very hierarchical - Malaysians rank below Singaporeans who rank below Ang Mohs. However, in KL, I soon realised that Singaporeans were not actually anywhere near the top of the pecking order. 

It seems my hometown is simply not of much consequence. No one expressed any "ooh!" type sentiments upon hearing I was from Singapore. One guy even chuckled and says "oh, that explains it" - I guess he was referring to my uptightness. Someone else asked if he considered living there, and he said: "That place where everything is expensive and you have to work 12 hours a day? Nah. Singapore is too nice for me."

KLians, at least the ones I met, seem enviably secure. After all, it's the capital. The power structures, the white-collar lifestyle, the restaurants and bars, the malls, the culture, the economy are all theirs. There's a sense of entitlement there. In contrast, Singaporeans lead a precarious existence - probably from all those years of being told that "no-one owes us a living" - which we try to cover up with dull-headed pragmatism.

 

Whether expat or local, the KLians I met seem to actually like living there and some of the conversation was about how happy they are to be here and how proud of Malaysia they were. Um... I have not actually met anyone who likes living in Singapore, let alone feels proud of Singapore. It's one thing to be here for the high pay/low taxes and quite another to choose to settle here in spite of everything.

KLites seem to have a laidback attitude to life. Average 30-something Singaporean conversation topics tend to be negative: "my BTO is delayed", "now food so expensive", "I got toxic boss", "so-and-so is laying off staff", etc. You can see it's all basic stuff like income security and cost of living. I guess in KL there's either more security or more options, or both. Your rent goes up - you move to some cheaper suburb. Your new boss is shit - you change jobs lah.

On a random but maybe not quite unrelated note, women in KL seem a lot more forward than their Singaporean counterparts. Singaporean girls are just frosty and on guard and many Meetups are sausage fests because "these days girls can get attention on Instagram so they don't go out" (explanation from SG Meetup organiser haha). In KL girls, hijabi or otherwise, chat people up like it's nothing. Both sides of the Causeway are clearly westernised and modernised, but over in KL they've got time for friendship and flirtation and we don't, I guess.