From Puchong X To Patong: A Lil’ Long

2011.08.09 – 5.46 p.m.

School – Condo

class ended slightly earlier

can’t wait to go back to hostel,

vacation mood was ON

can you believe it

I left my iPad, iStephru

in the computer lab

 

thank goodness

I missed the bus

seemed like I have to wait for awhile

dug into my bag to look for my pet

then

immediately ran back to get it

 

kept thinking and thinking

on my way back to condo

decided to go back Melaka

get all the blessings from home

so that everything will get smoothly

 

when you grow older,

you can’t help being more superstitious,

and keep thinking of all the bad things

that could have fallen on you

especially it is the month of July

in the Chinese Lunar calendar

 

2011.08.09 – 7 p.m.

Condo to Tesco

reached Tesco, Puchong

got the ticket

8.20 pm bus back to Melaka

therefore spent one hour plus

loitering in Tesco

 

the small ticket booth

of Puchong for Transnational

is right behind the Tesco

a small space out of a restaurant

just walked through the car park

 

2011.08.09 – 11 p.m.

Melaka – Home

finally reaching home

this is totally so not good

the Puchong-Melaka bus comes on

a four hours basis

8.00 a.m. 12 noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

 

it got off from Puchong at 8.20 p.m.

and on its way to BTS terminal to pick up

the KL-Melaka 9 p.m. passengers

that why the whole journey got dragged slow

 

but what to do

that’s the only way

or else in order to get to BTS from Puchong

it gonna take me quite some time too

taking buses and train

 

the smell of home

and the warm blanket

made the journey paid off

 

2011.08.10 - 2.30 p.m.

Home – Sentral Melaka

at Sentral Melaka

last-minutely looking for LCCT ticket

to my surprise

the bus was quite full

with just the very last row left vacant

and it actually departed at 2.45 p.m.

instead of 3.00 p.m.

 

worst comes to worst

if there is no Melaka-LCCT ticket

hop on any buses to KL

from BTS

take the KLIA express train (ERL)

 

but I am not too sure

how long that would take

since the train doesn’t stop

exactly right in front of LCCT

you have to get down at Salak Tinggi

and take a shuttle bus to LCCT

 

getting sent off from home

at least by my loved one

from the bus terminal

felt much better

than departing alone from the condo

really it was

 

2011.08.11 5.20 p.m.

Melaka Sentral – LCCT

a slightly behind schedule

it rained along the highway

 

moreover

since the Melaka-LCCT bus

would always make a stop at KLIA

therefore please bear with it

 

and

the bus stopped to pump gas

which took quite awhile

literally NGV gas

I didn’t know bus can run on that too

thought it is only for small cars

 

ample time to check in

and even Old Town coffee

followed by McDonald’s dinner

 

2011.08.10 - 8.45 p.m.

LCCT – Phuket International Airport

the flight took less than 90 minutes

Phuket’s time is 1 hour behind KL’s

therefore

reaching Phuket

rough on 9.15 p.m. local time

 

2011.08.10 – 10 p.m.

Phuket International Airport – Patong

anxiously waiting for the car

arranged by our hotel

but it didn’t turn up

while all the other guesses on the same flight

have already left

 

a lady

who was  hailing guesses

for her cab service

called up our hotel for us

 

the email confirmation

with phone number,

in my tablet

so clearly written

why is the car not here

 

then got a reply

the car is not gonna turn up after all

for whatever reasons

so naturally

we chose to take cab

of the lady who helped us out

 

wow

it was a Toyota Fortuner

 

we didn’t really feel safe

thinking of 1001 possibilities

which can do us harm

 

what if

she told us

this is a big car

so there’s extra charge

we specifically opted for “small car”

 

what if

she used a long route

on the pretense to charge us higher

and if the journey went on

till midnight

she could actually charge us

for that too

 

when she pointed out the

stark difference in prices

between small and big cars

 

she asked us

: two girls travelling?

it is dangerous for us!!!

is that a hint?

 

then really

fishy things happened

she asked us

whether we are interested

to sign up for tour packages

 

she has got a friend

who works at tour agency

therefore

we can actually get good bargain

blah blah blah

 

then the car stopped by

a convenience store

and the tour agent hopped on

explaining various tour packages to us

 

what if we refused to sign up

and they wouldn’t let us to

but eventually

we did sign up

given the pretty good bargain

 

safely reach our hotel at Patong

by 11 p.m.

 

reflected to the hotel

they kindly compensated us

for the difference in the cab fare

and the price charged by the hotel

for airport transfer

which amount to 400 baht

 

okay

still not too bad

after all our mood wasn’t ruined

 

and greeted by our huge, cosy room

to be covered in another post

soon