Lost in KL, Found at Jalan Alor

The trip to Malaysia and Singapore is so special to me that I only have time to start to journal everything about this trip on the flight back to China. I was occupied by so many activities and fun experiences that I couldn’t set aside even a second for journaling in order to make the most out of my trip. Indeed, this trip is so fantastic.

On the night before I set off to Kuala Lumpur, I was completely up because I was so exited about the upcoming trip. I was also busy modifying my dissertation since I didn’t want to do it during my trip so that I could allocate all of my time enjoying it. However, I failed to complete it before my departure. I was OK with that at the time because I thought I could still complete it on my flight to KL since the flight would take nearly 4 hours which should be enough for the final format modifications. Therefore, I don’t think I couldn’t sleep for a second because of the concern about my dissertation. It was simply due to my excitement about traveling abroad to 2 amazing countries and I hadn’t travelled abroad for 6 years! I was looking forward to it for so long!

I set the alarm clock at 4.30 am and appointed a car transfer at 5 am. Since I couldn’t fall asleep the whole night, I decided to get up at 3.30 am, finished my morning routine, packed up the final items in the suitcase, and left home at about 4.40 am. I thought everything was going quite smoothly at this time but actually I put the wrong charging cable (I need type c but took the trapezoid one) , which I didn’t find out until I reached my residence in KL and tried to recharge my intelligent eye mask. The driver of my airport transfer arrived even before I left home. He parked his car some distance away from my designated location so it took me a while to find his car. This was my first time to use CAOCAO airport transfer and it was a quite an experience for me since I could control the ac, music and air purification using my phone and there was in-car WIFI! I only controlled the music played inside the car because I was quite satisfied with the environment in the car. I played some familiar songs like Taylor Swift’s since listening to familiar songs I like made me feel more comfortable as I didn’t feel well due to sleep deprivation. The driver was pretty nice and drived pretty smoothly. He even patiently explained to me what the robots at toll station on highways are to me. After arriving at the airport, he helped me take my luggage out of the trunk of his car and wished me luck during the trip.

When entering the airport, a staff member brushed a piece of paper on my body for sampling for explosive material check. It was pretty early in the morning (5.30 am) but there were still lots of people queuing up in front of the check-in counter, which didn’t start its operation until 6 am. The check-in and security check process was quite smooth except that I was asked to go into a room near the check-in counter to double check my luggage since I put my eye mask in it which contains a little lithium battery. All of these processes only took me 30 minutes and I passed all the checks and went to the waiting zone at 6.30 am, which was 1 hour before boarding. I went to Pacific Coffee, bought a cup of americano and had breakfast there.

All the unexpected started since I was on the plane. Since I decided to solo travel, I thought I would go everywhere and enjoyed everything alone. A lady sitting next to me initiated a conversation with me and we started to chat on the plane. She told me she was going to Malaysia for Phd study and this was her second time to fly to Malaysia. She was very friendly to me and we had a really pleasant talk. We talked about our plans in Malaysia and also complained how this early flight made us both nearly awake all night. I was very uncomfortable on the plane due to lack of sleep and only listened to the only English song playlist, Michael Jackson, with the touchscreen while taking a nap at the same time. Whenever I felt slightly comfortable, I would work on my dissertation but I couldn’t finish it before I arrived in KL.

The lady was extremely kind and friendly to me. After we left the plane, she led me to where the airport shuttle bus was and we walked together to a digi kiosk since her digi SIM card couldn’t connect to the internet. Her English was not very good so when talking with the person in the kiosk, she asked if I could be the translator and I said I could give it a try. This was my first time to talk with a local in English and I nearly understood what he was talking about since he had a strong Malaysian accent. It was at this moment that I realized things wouldn’t go as smoothly from now on as my trip until now. Before the custom check, since she had student visa, she could use quick access but I needed to go to another path, so she pointed to me which path I should go and offered her WeChat to me. I didn’t have internet connection at this moment because I decided to purchase SIM card after leaving the airport and didn’t realize at the moment that there is WIFI in the airport, so I didn’t add her in my WeChat. We waited together near the baggage carousel and she even offered me a ride since she had appointed an airport transfer. I was so excited about everything in the airport so I kept taking photos after I went to the toilet. I must have spent too much time looking for the toilet and taking photos and when I returned back to the carousel, I found my luggage but she was already gone. I waited for a while hoping she would come back but it didn’t happen. I lost contact with such a kind lady. I could feel a loss of something at that moment and blamed myself for missing her. However, this experience taught me a lesson that I shouldn’t forget to add those who have a special bond with me along my journey as friends in social media to add a even special touch to the experience and continue to connect with them. The next day on my special connection with an Indian businessman, I was quite mindful about not losing him while going from places to places and adding him to my Instagram account.

I was so disoriented after that and couldn’t even believe that I am already in KL. The truth that I was outside of China and landed on KL was so unreal to me. I wandered around at the arrival hall for a while, found out that I could use the WIFI at the airport and sent some messages to my parents and friends. Then I went to KLIA express station and boarded the train.

The train ran very fast, passing the beautiful scenery of the countryside of KL. The train was clean and spacious with designated spaces for luggages. There weren’t a lot of people on the train so it seemed quite empty. I was both uncomfortable and anxious on the train, feeling extremely unreal and disoriented. The first challenge arrived when I arrived at KL Sentral. I was planning to get my Malaysian SIM card after settling in the residence but without internet connection at the KL sentral, I didn’t even know how to go to my residence! I asked the staff at the station and a man told me that I should take the monorail to Bukit Bintang, but I couldn’t find where the entrance of the monorail is, which is actually located at another building nearby and cannot be accessed without some twists and turns. I figured this out when I took the monorail train to KL sentral before I flied to Langkawi. Luckily, there is a Yes! store in KL sentral, which is one of the mobile carriers I planned to use. There is also a money changer which offers quite reasonable rates just behind the Yes! store. From the moment on, my luck never ends during my whole journey.

After getting my SIM card to access the internet to find out how to get to my residence and the cash required to purchase train tickets, I tried to download Yes! APP to monitor the data I used. However, I couldn’t log in my US Apple ID, since I didn’t take my IPad with me and my Chinese SIM card lost connection completely in Malaysia so it couldn’t receive OTP required for US Apple ID login. I could only log in my US Apple ID with the help of my father at home and in order to keep it logged in, I couldn’t use Apple Music any more.

The way to my room in the residence was not easy though. Being the first time to travel abroad alone and get around this unfamiliar city, I was exhausted upon arrival at the residence. To make things worse, the check-in process was extremely complicated. I needed to contact an agent who specifically connected with Chinese guests. He then sent me a long message via WeChat to give me the passwords for opening a locker and safety box in the mail room. 2 cards, one for elevator and common area doors and the other for room doors. For some reasons, after tapping the card to the card reader in the elevator, it didn’t take me to the floor where my room is located. Luckily, floor 37 is also where the fitness center and rooftop pool are so it has a specific button in the elevator which I could simply clicked and the elevator would take me there.

My room was spacious, clean with day curtain and night curtains, allowing light to come in making the room bright without electric lighting. The TV was more like a computer controlled by remote controller, which came with some music and video streaming apps but didn’t have traditional news channels. The toilet was spacious too equipped with a bidet shower for cleansing body. The residence has a rooftop infinity pool, like most hotels in KL, but I didn’t have time to enjoy it. After settling down in my room, it was already 6.30 pm. I was so burnt out and hungry since I didn’t eat anything after the meal on the plane. I wandered around in my neighborhood and went to Jalan Alor (Alor Street) to look for something to eat. It is a night market or so-called hawker center where lots of vendors were standing by their stalls and shouting the products they sold. It was shoulder to shoulder when walking along the street so I was very anxious about my belongings stolen while trying to find food to eat. Most of the stalls offer snacks, drinks, fruits and plate dishes which I didn’t want since I was looking for set meals to fulfill my hungry stomach. I ended up with a cup of coconut shake and cheese chicken rice with coleslaw and half-boiled egg in a quiet and cosy restaurant called Anytime Dining which also provided free water and toilet. After dinner, I went back along the street and came across some stands selling souvenirs , which was obviously aimed towards tourists and the items are slightly overpriced. I bargained with one vendor to buy a travel adapter for a RM2 discount. While wandering around nearby streets, I went to the lot yat plaza to have a stroll and bought a type c charging cable. Everything in the plaza is about electronics, which should be suitable for technology and electronics fanatics. I went back to my room after that and had a really nice sleep at night.