Had meant to blog about this trip on the LRT in KL but somehow I lost the photos. Just found them in my laptop. I didn’t do this to rebuke the petrol price hike, ok?
I had travelled on the MRT/MTR/Metro in Singapore, Hongkong, Paris, Sydney, Melbourne and parts of Italy. But I have not been on a single trip on the LRT in Kuala Lumpur. In fact, when I was in HK, I could manage four kids which include a 9mth old baby on the stroller SINGLE-HANDEDLY. We even travelled to the HK War Museum which is located in some forsaken tip of the island. I was all alone with four kids, minus the muscled arms of my atm (he was working). No problemo.
But nah ah, I dare not travel alone on the LRT in KL. Usually, I prefer to hop on the taxi even when I was travelling alone. I would rather get ‘chopped radish’ (fleeced) by the taxi drivers than be a country bumpkin in my own country. You know, asking people for directions and such. I could go, parlezvous zanglais and ask those arrogant French for directions. But I am never going to ask our local KL-ites for directions. “Encik, nak ambik mana satu punya tren ho? Ni nyonya nak pi Ampang.”
Date taken : 2006:01:07 11:41:14
So, one fine day, atm decided to take us on our adventure rides.
Firstly, we got to walk in the heat from our hotel, Darby Park to Ampang Park station. Damn hot lah! Next, we got to take so many escalators. Then, come the hassle of buying tickets and tugging a toddler who wanted to stand and see the ticket pops up.
Atm used his Touch & Go card (company mya la).
Two minutes of waiting, these kids decided to plonk themselves on the floor in the middle of the pedestrian path. (roll eyes) People will straight away know these are jakuns from the island
We were heading to MidValley and had to change somewhere. Cannot remember where already. Another hassle of getting down and making sure that none of the kids got left behind.
The only thing that occupied my attention is lovely views like this church. Someone please tell me if this is a Catholic church? Where and what time is the English mass? I hope to go there one day.
I think this is Sentral station? Heck, I can’t remember a thing. All I know is taking the LRT involves a lot of walking, climbing and very the chuan (tiring). By the time we reached MidValley, I got one tired toddler, two fighting #2 and #3 and one sulky 16 years old.
We took the cab back and KNNMCB, it was so much cheaper, less hassle and comfortable. I think we spent RM18 on the going trip and only RM15 on the cab. Anyway, we always drive to KL so we have our own car.
So, the conclusion is I am never going to venture out in KL on the LRT with four kids. It is risky and our Malaysian crowds stink big time! Ewwwsss…..Imagine if you are barely 5ft (my kids point of view) and you gotta smell the ketiak of the fat guy. It was also very packed and the only advtange is for perverts to pretend going off balance and land on someone’s boobs.
How come the LRT in HK/Rome/etc have beautiful people but not our LRT? Ooohh…I remembered ogling those Italian dudes with their trimmed moustache. Or HKies chun chicks like those from Wah Lai Toi. Why we so like that?
heh. i used to take the lrt all the time way back when i had more time to go traipsing around kl. it’s not that bad, lah… but it’s not that *good* either. just so-so. but i definitely prefer the lrt to the buses & the komuter trains anytime, although i have yet to get on a bus since the new bus system was introduced…
but yeah, i can understand how it could’ve been a not-so-nice experience for families with young kids. especially during rush hour. scary.
It is a Catholic church and not mistaken it is called the Holy Rosary Church. It is located in Brickfields. Sorry, do not know the mass time.
that church is a catholic church….
cant remember the name or the mass time. but it is a catholic church.
yes..that’s the holy rosary church
Church of the Holy Rosary (1903)
10 Jalan Tun Sambanthan
50470 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2274 2747
Fax: 03-2274 4747
Administrator : So, Philip
Assistant Priest : Soosaipillai, Christopher Wilvaraj (on study leave)
Saturday Sunset Mass : 5.00pm (English)
Sunday Masses : 8.30am (English), 10.30am (Chinese)
taken from archway.org.my
Lol. You took Putra LRT from Ampang Park to KL Sentral, then hopped onto Komuter for the short 1 stop ride to MidValley. Never come visit me. My house so close by.
I actually enjoy taking the LRT – dunno, guess I don’t mind the walking and etc but in your case, with such a big group to control it will be difficult. It’s also cheaper for you to sit taxi since a whole group of you.
What? That’s Ampang Park station?! It looked like Sg’s stations. I’m suprised we have at least ONE decent station.
Aircon – not services often. Putra LRT are now officially bankrupt and own by government.
Ticket system – Average 1 ticketing machine will die everyday.
Cabin – the Putra LRT locomotive cannot take more than 4 cabin. Inefficient during peak hour.
Staff – Suppose to be 2 staff station at the platform at anytime. Only god know where they gone.
Parking – Not enough
Routing bus – A multiple millions ringgit LRT can reach next station in 5 minutes, the routing bus only arrived/move after 15 minutes.
You don’t need to hire high pay analyst to know what is “Malaysia corporate governance”.
Look at the LRT management, you know this slogan spoke it out “Malaysia, truly (3rd world managed) Asia”
moo_t : I wonder, do you have lots of white hairs since you are so good at analysing everything?
Grace – Yeap, that’s Ampang. Clean ya? But this is the only station I have been to.
boo- If alone, then its ok, I suppose. Saves the hassle of parking.
gbyeow – I go with the kids in tow, if I suddenly drop by, you also pengsan la. LOL.
Serge – Hey, thanks! I always skip mass if I am in KL ‘cos I don’t know which is nearest to my hotel. Must make an effort to visit these beautiful places.
wmd – Tks, Serge helped out.
zyrin – It was during half day office rush hour. And the heat of all that walking to the station too.
Yapun yapun yapun!!!
Air is cool, timing excellent, no smelly sweaty armpits and seats, super efficient, everyone either turn off their handphone or put them to silent mode. And most importantly… LUIS ARE LENGS!!!
They even have heated waiting room when it’s cold.
I took the KL monotrain a few times… but I still find it hard to understand why I need to switch train from point A to B. (short distance only) Hubby is the expert.. he told me different company operating mia. ** roll eyes ** Can’t they plan nicely beforehand??
But the LRT/STAR/Monorial system is relatively cheap and straight forward. If you are just using LRT & Monorial, you only change ONCE. Assuming you take the train the correct direction, you’ll get there.
Comparing this to the London Underground with some 11 different lines, where you have to keep track of where to change, and which train if the line splits. And it is 3 quids now one way.
Or the Metro in Barcelona which involves quite a bit of walking at interchanges.
My only grouse would probably be that KL doesnt have those day-pass/weekly pass things which allows you unlimited travel on the buses and different trains.
You’re so right about the LRT and stinky people. Try taking buses like Intrakota or something, it’s even WORSE! We went to college in KL and I remember everyday my sister came home, she looked as if she’s going to pengsan. ‘Really chao la… cannot tahan!’
After living abroad for many years, I’m not looking forward to take LRT in KL. I’ve take the Monorial once (just because it was new).
nice and intresting web u have…hope to see more from u..
cheerss
aiyah SG MRT oso can be smelly expecially during peak hours, bunch of school kids after playing soccer all day, never change shirt come onboard oso pengsan. Of course they cant smell themselves..:p
Haven been to london, but been on the new york subway and its just as confusing, so many different lines, each train has a different number, macham like take bus, muz see which is which..
ppl oso sit on the floor while waiting for the train here so ur kids r not country bumpkins lah, they r angmoh from overseas!
hi, i’ve been to the Holy Rosary Church for my cousin’s wedding and it’s lovely.. esp the stained glass at the alter…
if u like, head to these links for pics of the wedding, in and outside the church…
http://shimmers999.blogspot.com/2005/08/fuh.html
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shimmers999/detail?.dir=4da1&.dnm=2bc0.jpg&.src=ph
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shimmers999/detail?.dir=4da1&.dnm=2839.jpg&.src=ph
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shimmers999/detail?.dir=4da1&.dnm=c3b4.jpg&.src=ph
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shimmers999/detail?.dir=4da1&.dnm=e4ad.jpg&.src=ph
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shimmers999/detail?.dir=4da1&.dnm=8ad9.jpg&.src=ph
sorry for the number of links…
ooo ooo… found one more….
http://shimmers999.blogspot.com/2005/09/mr-and-mrs-greenwood.html
Hi Gal
It’s been awhile ” I have missed you ”
Hey i have done lets take public transport thing, especially over xmas when finding a parking place is dreaded.
Same in Oz takes forever and too many weirdos hehe.
We’;; catch up soon , i have tonsilitis at the moment so feel like crap.But i will email you during the week ,be prepared for lots of nagging hehe.
cheerz you tcz
kl sentral is bloody hot. and dusty.
I have been to some other cities around the world and their LRT/MRT/Undergorund network is no better then ours. In London, there are 11 subway lines and you have to keep track of where you. travelling from heathrow to marble arch requires changing train 3 times. There are also a lot of stinky englishman/woman inside the subway. to say that only stinky people are found in our lrt is an unfair comment and unpatriotic. Some englishman even urinate in their subway station especially when they are drunk. The same situation when i was in new york, paris and frankfurt. perhaps the writer was so arrogant or a mat salleh’s lover ……
depending on numbers of person(s) its sometimes cheaper by cab…
KNS, i go Penang also, the local can get me lost….took 45 minutes to travel from Gurney to City Bayview – thanx to the local’s guidance……its all Malaysian lar..boleh boleh land…diu
nazim – Yeah, I adorrrrrrre mat sallehs. You got a problem with that?
simon – Aiks, the pic is Kampung Baru la, wrong station. 🙂
sweetspirit – Aww…so nice to see you at ks and now here. Catch up ya?
Fiona – I went to yr site. The inside looks lovely! Must make an effort to go there one day.
wuching – LOL
fantasyflier – The different lines is quite ok ‘cos they are coloured different. But come to think of it, those lines go really far but KL? Now that Helen brought it up, I do wonder.
sam – 🙂
mandy – I haven’t take a bus in ages. Last time no air cond buses so I guess it was bearable.
deliriouslybored – Now I remembered. Some old stations in Milan don’t have escalators! So, it is a case of rumput hijau di bumi orang. 🙂
helen – It is going to be a long time because you and I have our own monorail in our turf, so I guess we don’t have to waste our purrrrfect little heads with stuffs like these hor? We just need to ‘Dahling, I need to get to….’ and sure got driver liao. Hahaha.
doc – You told me a hundred times liao la, yapun is the best lah.
foodcrazee – In Penang? Take trishaw even faster! Our roads here are crazy la, they hampalang no system one. And don’t try the buses. My son told me their aircond buses always aircond rosak and the windows can’t be opened! And no schedule. Not like those overseas one which come on time, with a schedule on every station.
just wanna let you know… your boys sitting on the floor..? NOT jakun at all. B.K. 2002 (before kids), I would plonk myself on the floor as well..TIRED LAH! Who cares what these KL-ites think..even tho’ I’m one myself!
Some people have the luxury of telling they’ll never use something. Other’s have to use them as that’s the only way they can do it. Agree with you about the stink, though. Some people do need to learn about deodorants.
But it all depends on learning to use something. I find getting on the tail of the train, there’s less crowd. I find going back just after office hours rather than later, you can definitely cuci mata. And it’s far easier than taking the bus. Of course not everyone can afford taxi fares if they travel everyday 🙂
On a side note, there is a easier way to go to MidValley other than using Putra. You can use KTM Komuter which has a station right beside MidValley. Or you can take a bus right at Sentral which will take you straight to MidValley. 😉
Lilian…that one looks like Ayah Pin mya place of worship lah. You didn’t see the big teapot in front meh?
Secondly, didn’t you hear the speech by DPM that day?
“….Ong Kah Ting pun sudah naik LRT 5 kali pergi kerja”
Big Effing Deal!!!!!
Agree with fantasyflier lah. Twice I took the putra, for joyriding. Hehehehe….to see where it goes mlm2, and since I have not been on it before, the husband pon apa lagi.
And eh, nazim, I pon mcm kak lilian jugak. I like angmohs, too *lol*.
couldn’t agree more with the natural perfume.. 🙂
As a KL guy, for me taking LRTs isnt that hard. I still consider the system ok lar….
The only drawback is the extra charge when you change the lines(Eg, Putra-Monorail).
I took LRT sometime back, not often though. Only when I travel alone and my destination has the LRT station. I found it not so comfy. Its kinda pack compared to the overseas one. Its darker as well. And worst, you can smell any kind of smell ranging from people’s armpit, sweat, body odour, foods, whatever also can smell. I notice this when I brought my uncle and family on a trip with LRT and KTM just to let the kids experience it on their first trip to Malaysia. But, hell, they don’t like the smell of it.
Worst is when you travel on the peak hours, you will have to queue long just to get a ticket and its all just because the machine don’t want to accept notes at times. They should improve it already.
Hey, you shouldn’t complain la… You should go to western europe and see. try istanbul, or just go to bangkok which is near.
Landing on someones boobs? Some places you don’t even can find boobs…
The thing about HK, Italy and yadaa yadaa is, it’s cheaper taking the LRT/MRT (watever you call it) there than cabs but back here in Msia, it’s cheaper to take cabs than LRTs when you’re not alone.
And places with good public transportation are the result of good town planning and yadaa yadaa but unfortunately for us Malaysians, kita punya planning semua karut. Here, to take public transportation, you have to know the timing and the way around because you have to interchange here and there BECAUSE every company wants to enjoy the profits of the public transportation sector. Buggers. The govt can’t just give the tender to one company and dats it.
5xmom : Compare to many of my colleage, I am suprise my hair still black and not bald. Maybe I speak it out that helps, and those keep those to themself will get more white hair or balded 🙂
Thats why, i still think car is a necessity, i.e. not only a wish/nice-to-have (like singapore), but a need/must. The public transport system is so lousy that we just can’t rely on it – in terms of both convenience and price! My friend told me that if she takes the MRT, she can use the money to pay monthly installment of a car already…
woohoo
i think somebody already said it but yes
it is a catholic church and its holy rosary in brickfields XDDD
*i grew up there ;p *