Day 19: Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Tuesday May 30th, 2023)

Today I woke up early to catch the bus from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. I woke up at 5:45, got ready, packed my things (including another peanut butter banana sandwich for breakfast and a coffee), and headed out. It was 45min by bus to the bus terminal. But I wanted to get there 30min early and leave a little extra time in case something happened (I get lost, traffic, bus comes early, etc.) 

I thankfully got to the main bus terminal early, around 6:45am, which gave me time to eat breakfast while I waited. The bus came at 7:30 as scheduled, I was on my way! 

The bus ride was easy. I worked on my blog and slept the entire way. It was nice to relax for a bit, listen to music, etc. Traveling can get so tiring because you're constantly on the go and constantly "on" looking after yourself. Even staying at hostels. 

We went through immigration, which was a breeze. I had a few oranges with me and they didn't care at all - or even ask. About halfway, we stopped at a bus terminal where there was a food court for a 30min break. It was about 10:30am, so I wasn't quite ready for lunch. The bus driver had told me that I couldn't eat my snacks on the bus, so this was a good stop for that. Except, I didn't know the bus would be locked. So I went in to use the bathroom and came back out to get my water and snacks, only to find the driver no where in sight. 

We continued on the bus and got to Kuala Lumpur around 1:30pm. From the Central Station, I had to take the MRT to my hostel. I stopped at the ATM to get cash as I made my way through the station. I found Malaysias public transport to be a lot more confusing than Singapore's. There were about 7 different train line options, all using a different ticket. I couldn't just use my phone to tap and ge through the gate. I had to use cash to pay for a token for exactly where I was going. I also had to know which train line was going there. But there were information kiosks, which were helpful. 

I made it to my hostel around 2:00 and checked in. I booked a single room "pod" because it was the same price as a dorm. This was my first pod experience. 

Once I was settled, I wanted to find food and explore Kuala Lumpur for the afternoon. I changed and set out towards Central Market. 

This was nice, because it was an indoor air conditioned market. It wasn't exactly central A/C, but they had large blowers all around which definitely made it more refreshing than outside. I found the food court and got an Indian clay pot meal with chicken and vegetables (RM12 ~$3). It was a bit hot to eat for how hot it was outside, but it was also hard to find dishes with (cooked) vegetables in them. I also ordered a lemon sour pear drink, but afterwards decided not to drink it. I hate wasting food, but after seeing them make it I didn't exactly trust the sanitation standards, and the last thing I want is travelers sickness. 

After lunch, I wandered around the market which was full of Malaysian shops, souvenirs, silver, woven baskets, etc. From there, I continued on towards Chinatown. I walked down Petaling Street through the market. This mostly comprised of knock off Chinese goods though. More handbags, watches, sports jerseys, and shoes rather than clothes, food, etc. It wasn't exactly my type of shopping, but interesting to see. 

After Chinatown, I had an adventure trying to figure out how to get to the botanical gardens. My phone was saying to take a bus to a train. But I couldn't find the bus. So I figured I would just walk. It should be about 15-20min. I had to cross two major highways though and a river. I found one overpass through a shopping mall, MRT station, and parking garage - all connected by this walkway. But then getting from there over the second highway, seemed impossible. I couldn't figure out how to get over or across the street. I finally asked a security guard, and he told me that I had to pass through the MRT station. So I went down and asked them at the information kiosk how to get through. They said I buy a token for $0.80 and then cross over and go back up. I thought this was so funny to buy a token to cross the street. But it was my only option, so I did. 

Once on the other side, I made my way to the botanical gardens. The gardens were pretty, but were not as nice or elaborate as I expected. It was more like a nice park rather than botanical gardens. For botanical gardens, I always expect exotic plants, elaborate displays, well groomed areas, etc. 

I was hoping to find a train station on the other side of the botanical gardens so that I wouldn't have to walk back, but I didn't see one. So I decided to do a loop instead. 

I walked past two waterfalls and an outdoor venue that looked great for concerts - similar to White River Amphitheatre. 

On my way out, I was looking for the orchid garden, but couldn't find it. I did stumble upon "Deer Park". I thought it was funny at the first waterfall that they had deer figurines around it. I thought, "surely, they don't have deer in Malaysia". But it turns out they do - or at least they do in this park. I'm not a supporter of captive animals such as zoos or parks though, so it was so sad to see. The deer looked hot, scraggly, and dirty. I did look it up later to confirm if there are deer in Malaysia - and there are three deer species native to Malaysia! This surprised me, but I was glad to see at least they're native animals. I'm just surprised to see them in this heat.

After the Deer Park, I wandered a little bit more to try and find the Orchid Garden, but had no luck. I passed by a Bird Park which is the a large covered bird aviary. But again, I didn't want to support captive animals - so I passed on that. 

I made my way back to the train station and hostel. There was a bar crawl leaving the hostel at 7:30 that I wanted to make it back for. I hadn't ate dinner yet, but figured I would just grab food at one of the bars. I got back to the hostel around 6:45 and regrouped. At 7:30 I asked the front desk where the bar crawl meets, but she said that no one signed up so it was cancelled. No one told me there was a sign up, so that would have helped. But oh well. I decided to go out myself to go find dinner. I walked towards the central market again to see if I found anything on my way. But most places were closed. The central market was pretty good for lunch, so I figured it would be good for dinner too. But once I got there, the streets were oddly dark. As I got closer, the entire market was dark, it seemed a little smoky (or maybe foggy?), there were lots of people outside, and it turns out the fire alarm was going off. I didn't see any flames, and no one was in a panic. In fact, a few people were pushing the doors open to see what was going on inside. So hopefully someone burnt something and there was no actual fire, but I didn't stick around to find out. 

I didn't feel the most comfortable in the area that I was in, especially alone and at night. There were no street lights, lots of homeless people, it smelled bad, etc. So I made my way back towards the main street and stuck to the well lit streets. I made it back to my hostel and saw a restaurant open on the corner. It was shwarma! Perfect for a late night (late for me) dinner. It was almost 9:00 by now. I got a juice from a convenience store across the street and brought it back to my hostel to eat. Aftwards, I showered and got ready for bed.