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Category: Travel Page 35 of 44

Arriving at LCCT (Kuala Lumpur) after midnight

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On February 7, 2011

In Travel

Seasoned travelers know it and will try as much as possible to avoid arriving at a destination after midnight, more so if it is a new city where they have never been before. Trains or metros or even public buses in most cities normally stop operating after midnight. The only option available is public taxis who prone to take advantage of the desperate travelers  or in some cities are authorized to charge extra. In Kuala Lumpur for instance taxi drivers are licensed to charge 50% extra from rate displayed on meter if they drive you from 12 midnight to 6 am. But unscrupulous ones will press even higher. I learnt some hard lesson when arriving in Kuala Lumpur LCCT from Miri well past midnight, to be exact 12:45am. LCCT which stands for Low Cost Carrier Terminal is the home for Air Asia fleets in Kuala Lumpur. Unlike KLIA, there is no direct train service from LCCT to KL city center. 

So what do you do  if you cannot afford to arrive early at LCCT?

One good thing about LCCT is its bus services. Of many, Skybus and Aerobus provide bus shuttle LCCT-KL Sentral-LCCT almost around the clock, on hourly basis. The fare are very reasonable. Only RM8 (for Aerobus) and RM9 for Skybus, one way trip. This is considered peanut for budget travellers compared to a whopping RM70 – RM80 charged by budget taxi for the same route. The buses are new, clean and air-conditioned. One way journey takes about 0ne hour (midnight trip).  Tickets can be purchased at the ticket counters at baggage reclaim area (domestic arrival) or just before boarding the bus. For Skybus, you can buy the bus ticket in any Air Asia flights or when booking flight on line.

You can see the buses after leaving the arrival hall and turning left. Aerobus is located at platform 2 and Skybus at platform 1.  The bus will take you to KL Sentral, and probably you need to wait at KL Sentral until 6 am, when the first train starts operating for the day. But if money is no problem to you, taxis are available at KL Sentral to take you to your destination at the normal rate, plus midnight charges, plus other charges.

Likewise, if you have to catch plane at 6am or earlier from LCCT, you may catch the same bus from KL Sentral to LCCT. The KL Sentral bus terminal is located at the lower ground floor of KL Sentral (at the nearest end to Jalan Brickfield, but at the furthest end from Hilton and Le Meridien hotels). The bus going to KL International Airport (KLIA) is also parked there. Remember KLIA and LCCT are two different airports. KLIA is home for Malaysia Airlines and LCCT is home to budget airline AirAsia. They are  some distant apart, not walkable.

Something new in Kijal Kemaman

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On February 3, 2011

In Travel

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Returning home to Paka Terengganu during CNY on 3rd February 2011, driving thru Kijal, an area and also a town with the same name in Kemaman district, I noticed a new Giant outlet by the roadside of Kemaman – Dungun trunk road. This outlet could hv been one of the newest Giant outlet in the country as infra are still under construction. Nevertheless it has been open to  public about a month ago. Btw there is yet another Giant-like store under TMC logo at Kerteh Mesra Mall some 20 kms up ahead enrouté Dungun.

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3 jam di Marudi, SARAWAK (3 hours in Marudi, SARAWAK)

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On January 31, 2011

In Travel

Tiga jam tepat selepas memudiki Batang Baram yang berliku-liku umpama ular dipukul, kami sampai di pekan Marudi. Jam di Xperia X10 ku menunjukkan pukul 11 pagi. Pekan kecil yang tak berapa kecil di pinggir sungai. Taman awam dengan piazza (dataran) di tengah-tengah pusat bandar, dipagari bangunan rumah kedai 2 tingkat, antaranya bank-bank RHB, BSN, AMbank, Public Bank, dan pejabat agensi kerajaan seperti kastam, bomba, dan jeti. Pekan kecil yang tersorok ini mempunyai banyak bank komersial. Ini menunjukkan pekan ini makmur dengan aktiviti perniagaan hasil dari industri sungai dan pembalakan dan kelapa sawit. Jeti di tepi sungai itu sibuk dengan aktiviti aktiviti pagi. Bot laju yang baru berlabuh. Bot laju yang bersedia untuk belayar menuju dsetinasi yang ditentukan. Ada ke hulu sehingga Long Lama, pintu masuk ke Taman Negara Mulu melalui jalan sungai. Ada ke hilir sehingga ke Kuala Baram (Miri) . Peraih menanti barang muatan yang baru sampai dari Kuala Baram (Miri). Penumpang-penumpang menunggu bot ekspres masing-masing ke destinasi masing-masing. 

Sungai tersebut ialah Batang Baram yang lebarnya tidak berubah dari hilir (Kuala Baram)  hinggalah ke pekan Marudi dan seterusnya ke hulu Baram. (Sungai disebut batang di Sarawak, kadang-kadang disebut long).  Kami bernasib baik dapat melihat beberapa ekor buaya bersantai di tebing sungai semasa dalam perjalanan tadi.

Kami makan tengahari di sebuah restoran Islam di mana pelayan-pelayannya gadis bumiputera (Melayu, Bidayuh atau Melanau?) berkulit cerah, bersopan santun lagi bertudung rapat. Menunya hampir sama dengan di Miri atau KL. Selain nasi/mee goreng, laksa Sarawak dan mee kolok menjadi pelengkap hidangan dalam senarai menu. Harganya mahal sedikit mungkin selepas dicampur kos pengangkutan bahan mentah dari Miri.

Terdapat sebuah masjid besar yang baru di pekan Marudi yang terletak di sebelah masjid lama yang kini diguna sebagai kelas fardu ain. Di sebelah masjid terdapat sederet bangunan kerajaan di tepi sungai. Suasana yang sunyi dan tenteram penuh dengan ketenangan dihembusi bayu sungai Baram memberi ilham kepada penggiat seni dan pekerja korporat yang ingin lari dari rat-race dan hiruk pikuk bandaraya mega.

Di sekitar jam 2 petang, transport sampai untuk mengambil kami ke Bandaraya Miri melalui jalan balak dan kelapa sawit. (Transport ialah panggilan orang tempatan kepada kenderaan 4WD, sepertimana ekspres merujuk kepada bot laju atau bot ekspres). Kesemua 8 seats dalam Toyota Landcruiser dipenuhi. Pemandunya anak muda yang agak rocker, yang tahu setiap lubang di dan bonggol di jalan balak. Kami sampai Piasau, Miri  hampir jam 4. Dan aku terpaksa ke Kuala Baram sendiri untuk mengambil kereta yang ditinggalkan di jeti Kuala Baram pagi tadi.

BAgaimana untuk ke Marudi:
Dari Miri, Sarawak ada tiga cara untuk ke pekan ini. Pertama dengan menggunakan pengangkutan udara (MasWing)  dan kedua melalui Batang (Sungai) Baram dengan menggunakan bot ekspress. Kami menggunakan cara kedua untuk projek ini. Batang Baram, adalah laluan utama ke kawasan Ulu Baram. Setiap hari beberapa bot ekspres mengadakan perjalanan dari jeti Kuala Baram (20 km dari pusat bandar Miri) ke pekan Marudi. Perjalanan mengambil masa 3 jam setengah dengan tambang RM20 sehala. Destinasi terakhir bot ini ialah di kawasan Ulu Baram, iaitu pekan Long Lama. Marudi juga dapat dihubungi dengan cara ke tiga iaitu pengangkutan darat (melalui jalan pembalakkan melalui ladang kelapa sawit) dari Miri. Untuk mendapat pengalaman, kami mengambil masa hampir 2 jam dalam perjalanan balik ke Miri menggunakan Toyota Landcruiser Ninja berwarna merah, siap dengan aircond sekali. Memang satu pengalaman yang menarik. Meredah jalan balak tersebut terpaksa melalui 2 buah sungai dengan menggunakan 2 feri iaitu di Sg. Bakong & satu lagi di Batang Baram. Jalan yang teruk kadang-kadang melalui lereng bukit menyebabkan kami melambung-lambung sehingga kepala mencecah bumbung kenderaan. Tambang sebanyak RM40 dikenakan bagi perjalanan satu hala Marudi – Miri. Perkhidmatan transport ini boleh didapati di setiap penjuru jalan di pekan Marudi dan juga di lobi-lobi hotel. Lihat papan tanda yang dipamerkan termasuk destinasi dan waktu bertolak.

Bilangan Penduduk 80,600 orang, yang antaranya terdiri daripada:-
Melayu (4,800orang)
Iban (29,500 orang)
Cina (5,917 orang)
Kenyah (11, 031 orang)
Kayan (11, 387 orang)
Kelabit (2,095 orang)
Penan (7,724 orang)
Bidayuh (618 orang)
Melanau (418 orang)

Malaysia Airlines dengan pesawat baru B737-800

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On January 3, 2011

In Travel

I was expecting a new lighter and faster and more fuel efficient flight from KUL to Miri today on MH2592 but alas this much talked about plane did not ply this route as yet. More abt this plane later.

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Kampung Ayer (“a village on water”) in Brunei

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On December 27, 2010

In Travel

If there is only one place you have time to visit in Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), it must be Kampung Ayer (loosely translated as a village on water). People live, work and travel on the water, which is actually a river, a huge river leading to South China Sea.  There are houses, schools, grocery stores, offices, police station, mosques, gas station and everything else a society needs to lead a common life. Yes their daily activities and transaction are done on the water. They travel from houses to house and other place in the motorized boats.  Kampung Ayer reminds me of my trips to Venezia, Italy (2006) and also Inle Lake in Myanmar (2009). Unlike Inle Lake, they don’t grow vegetables and fruits on the water — they must have bought it at the supermarkets along the river banks. I was told that the number of families making Kampung Ayer their home are getting smaller and smaller as many move to the river banks.  But it is really a refreshing experience for big city boys and girls to cruise around the Kampung Ayer on water taxi with nominal fees. Bring along the camera to shoot at waving kids. Water taxis available at the jettty at negotiable rate. We paid only B$10 per boat to the young boatman for a 20-minute boat ride. He had no passengers at that time and he just obliged. Beware that safety jackets may not be available on all boats. Have fun at own risk, so I said. Some photos below.

How to get here?

Kampung Ayer is right in the heart of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. You will never miss it. It is right across the road from Yayasan piazza and shopping center. Water taxis can be found and hailed from the jetty and fares are negotiable.  As a caution, safety jackets may not be available on private boats. How to get into Brunei? Royal Brunei Airlines flies to major cities in Asia Pacific and Middle East and other places. Catch one of their return flight to Brunei from your nearest airport. So easy ha! From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines fly directly daily to BSB. If you are already in Miri, Sarawak, just like yours truly, just catch the express bus Miri-Brunei. You need a valid passport of course, and if you are not Malaysians, you may need a valid visa. Check with your embassy, before getting on the bus or the aircraft. Read my other posting here for crossing land border Malaysia-Brunei from Miri side.

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