KLHOHO

I know I know. I’m a Malaysian. Why then would a Malaysian go on a KL Hop On Hop Off bus tour of Kuala Lumpur? Well, first off I’d like to say that I am certain that most Malaysians don’t even know that most of these tourism places exist, because these places are more interesting to the tourists who come to Malaysia, instead of the locals. The proverb ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ exists in the minds of most Malaysians. But that could be me over generalizing.

Moving on, I had always wanted to go on a trip just like a hitchhiker o backpacker if you will, getting on a bus and going to various places to experience the culture and lifestyle of the people. The KLHOHO package appealed to me as a Malaysian student. I need only pay RM12 for a 24 hour bus ride to 22 different locations in KL, and I could get off the bus at any station and explore on my own at my own pace before getting on the next bus on a half an hourly basis. The plan sounded good and I decided to invite two other friends along to hang out together and dabble a little in street photography as well.

Best mates Foo and Fong :) at Station 11 KL Central

We started our trip at the 11^th station: KL Central. The bus arrived on time, the sun was up but the rays were not too bright as there were some clouds about. It was the perfect day for an outing and the weather lifted our spirits up. We decided to stop by the national museum at station 12 for half an hour because I was intrigued by the posters by the side of the road mentioning a ‘Masks of the World’ collection. Upon entering the national museum however, we were told it would cost us RM5 per person to enter. I was dismayed to find out that a national museum in which the artifacts belong to the people charged such a high price for people to simply view the artifacts.

Batman mask :P

Dejectedly, we started to walk away, but I was halted by the sight of a little corner outside which was specially made for children to be more interested in history. This month, the theme focused on ‘Masks of the World’, so there were two small tables set up for children, one of which they were able to put on masks such as Batman, Optimus Prime from Transformers, and other masks just for the sheer fun of it. They were also able to decorate their own Spiderman mask on the other table. I was very happy to see this as it shows that despite the museum ‘higher ups’ charging the public such an extravagant fee, the staff at the museum had the creativity and care to actually set this up for the children. Also, I had fun putting on the masks myself and making a big fool of myself, as usual.

'Horsing around' with the palace guard :P

After exactly half an hour, we got on the bus again and headed off to the National Palace for a 5 minute photo shoot session. Admittedly, I thought it would be boring as there was nothing to photograph except the palace gates and guards, but today there were guards on horseback! The horses added great effect to the photos and we had fun ‘horsing around’ before continuing to the next stop: station 14 to visit our historic National Monument.

Since the butterfly farm was so close to the bus stop, we decided to check it out first. Upon asking, the entrance fee so disgusted me I left in a huff. RM10?? Seriously?? Being from Cameron Highlands where I suspect most of the butterflies in the KL Butterfly Park originated, I couldn’t believe that the entrance fee could be hiked up that much. Thus we headed towards the National Monument, better known as the Tugu Negara.

1st: blurred

2nd: Classic black & white

3rd: Sepia

4th: Original color :)

There was a sense of nostalgia when I gazed upon the monument, thinking of what our forefathers had sacrificed for our beloved country, raising my hand in salute, I proceeded to take a few photographs, which for me, raised in me a sense of thankfulness to our forefathers and patriotism for my own motherland. The first was blurred, but its clarity was unmistakable, as there were the outlines of the soldiers raising their weapons in salute over their dead companions. The second was in black and white; the third in sepia; and the fourth in its original vivid colors: the blue sky, the rough grey stone of the monument, the bright red and white stripes of the Malaysian flag, the Jalur Gemilang, was captured perfectly, so it seemed to me.

Dinosaur Park :)

After that, I dragged my friends off to a supposed Dinosaur park where we took more pictures and I had fun running around the playground. By that time, the sun was high up in the middle of the heavens, our throats were parched and our stomachs were rumbling as loud as thunderstorms. I decided we should head off to Medan Mara at station 18 to grab a bite to eat.

Upon reaching Medan Mara, the first thing I realized was that I had never been here before and so did not know where to find FOOD. Still, there were people walking about, and it was lunch hour, so we decided to walk around and search for food. I chanced upon a sigh that said: ‘The Ship’ which I had heard to be one of the best joints for Western food. Checking the menu, we realized that the price was no insubstantial amount and almost gave up and head off to the nearest KFC but my friend pointed out a lunch set promotion and we entered the dark interior of ‘The Ship’. After our eyes adjusted in the darkness, we saw a beautifully decorated restaurant in the theme of; guess what, a ship of course! With the cool air conditioning and chairs to relax in after a hard mornings walking, we enjoyed our lunch served by waiters and waitresses dressed in sailors uniforms.

I 'borrowed' the Cap'n's cap :P

After the meal, we headed back to the bus stop and encountered our first problem: we did not know what time we had arrived at this station and therefore could not accurately estimate what time the bus would arrive. So we waited for half an hour before the bus came, but it was full, and the conductor waved at us to wait for the next bus so we had to wait another half hour for another bus to arrive.

From there we went on to station 21 where we hopped off right in front of the National Theatre, better known as Istana Budaya. Since we’d all been there before, I decided to visit the National Visual Art Gallery where we could admire the artworks and get some respite from the scorching sun. After almost an hour of browsing through the artworks, we walked to Titiwangsa Lake Garden where we enjoyed a cool breeze and a pleasant walk before hurrying back to the bus station.

By that time, it was already 6.30pm and even though we had wanted to visit the famous KL Tower at station 2, there was not enough time since the bus had to navigate through the infamous KL traffic jam. Therefore we decided to hop off for the last time at station 4 which was between the KLCC Convention Centre and Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Before we took the LRT back home, I suggested we take a walk up a hill in KL City Centre Park to take come photos of the Petronas Twin Towers at night. It proved to be the right choice as we had a breathtaking view of the twin towers in all its splendor and with my friend’s tripod and DSLR, we took some stunning photographs of the three of us with the twin towers at the background.

Petronas Twin Towers with best mates :) <3 you both

Strolling back to KLCC, my friends and I couldn’t resist but stopped at the lake where there was a ‘Lake Symphony’ performed every night for the public’s benefit with flashing neon lights, pulsing music, and beautiful fountains that shot into the air at different intervals in accordance to the rhythm of the music. It was a splendid finale to a wonderful outing with my friends. We are indeed blessed to live in such a beautiful country as Malaysia is. And I am indeed blessed to be able to share these wonderful memories with my two best mates.