My wife Soh Ai went back to Kulim, Kedah by coach from The
Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) at Bandar Tasik Selatan, K.L. (fare RM 34) on
Monday morning, May 23, 2016 to visit her elderly auntie and other relatives there
before proceeding to her hometown in Rantau Panjang, Perak to visit her
mother. She would stay until Saturday
and return home with me.
Earlier on Sunday May 22, 2016, I booked online a train
ticket for the KTMB’s Electric Train Service (ETS) – train 9208 (ETS KL-Padang
Besar) from KL Sentral to Bukit Mertajam on Thursday, May 26, 2016 on ETS2-ETS
Gold Class with a 50% discount for being a senior citizen exceeding the age of
60. I paid RM 33.00 for the fare plus RM 2.00 for internet banking
charges. There are two departure times
in the morning i.e. 9.00am with the final destination at Butterworth (fare is
about RM10 more expensive) and 9.30am with the final destination at Padang
Besar. I chose the 9.30am train which
was expected to arrive at Bukit Mertajam at 1.15pm.
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My very first selfie photo in my life after I have recently purchased a new smartphone with such a function. |
On Thursday morning at 6.20am I followed my third son Wai
Yu’s car to Bandar Tasik Selatan. Reached
there at 7.00am and took KTM Komuter train to KL Sentral (senior citizen fare
RM 1.20). The train came at 7.20am and
arrived at KL Sentral at 7.35am.
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Bandar Tasik Selatan commuter stop |
As it was still earlier, I went to KFC Restaurant on the
same floor as the ETS entrance for a light breakfast. An “egg riser” burger and a cup of white
coffee cost me RM5.00. At about 8.45am I
went to the waiting hall and chatted with a Chinese middle-aged man who took
the 9.00am train to Taiping. He told me
that the train provides meal (cake and mineral water). Later I found out that
the meal must also be pre-booked together with the ticket.
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KL Sentral |
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Electric Train Service (ETS) gateway |
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Waiting hall for ETS |
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Another selfie photo taken at KFC Restaurant |
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Arrival of ETS train |
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A glimpse of ETS train coach |
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In front of seat |
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Cafetaria inside the train |
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Price list of food |
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Toilet exterior |
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Toilet interior |
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Wash basin in toilet |
The ETS train departed on time exactly at 9.30am from KL
Sentral. It stopped at the following
places: Tanjung Malim (10.41am), Tapah
Road (11.18am), Kampar (11.28am), Ipoh (11.50am), Sungai Siput (12.09pm), Kuala
Kangsar (12.19pm), Taiping (12.35pm), Parit Buntar (1.01pm) and finally Bukit
Mertajam (1.14pm) where I alighted. This
train is to proceed to Butterworth, Bukit Mertajam, Sungai Petani, Alor Setar,
Arau and finally Padang Besar at 3.00pm.
I noticed the highest speed that this train was
141km/hr. Although it stops at many
places along the way to my destination, I observed that every stop lasts only 1
minute. One has to get ready to alight when one is about to reach ones
destination, or else one might miss the stop.
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ETS train leaving Bukit Mertjam station (backward moving) |
I found the train ride fast, comfortable and enjoyable. This is the first time in decades that I rode
the ETS train as I remember the last time I took a normal train was in the late
‘70’s of the last century when I traveled to Singapore to pursue my engineering
degree course. It is highly recommended
to take such a means of transport to travel, especially for senior citizens who
can enjoy concessions. The journey from
KL to Bukit Mertajam takes only slightly more than 3 ½ hours. It will take me at least 3 hours just to
drive from KL to Ipoh,
and much longer during festive seasons due to the heavy traffic jam.
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Bukit Mertajam ETS station |
After coming out from Bukit Mertajam train station at
1.15pm, I saw my wife and mother-in-law waiting for me, and soon later my
sister-in-law Sock Kim came with her car from the car park. We went to the famous Yam Rice Restaurant (大山脚芋饭专卖店) for lunch. The
Teochew dishes of mixed pig intestines, taufu and etc. were really
delicious. The only disadvantage was the
difficulty in finding a car-parking space around the restaurant.
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Yam rice restaurant |
|
Famous yam rice dishes |
After lunch, we went to Kulim, Kedah to visit Soh Ai’s brother
Sze Hean family. The weather then was
scorching hot and really unbearable. We
met Hean’s wife Yen Li, second daughter Le-yi and youngest son Jia-wei. Hean was working but not available while his
eldest daughter Xin –yi went to tuition class and returned only after 3.00pm.
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In Kulim |
At about 3.30pm, we left Kulim for Rantau Panjang,
Perak. After reaching Rantau Panjang at
about 4.40pm, I was really tired and took a nice nap till 6.00pm. We had dinner at Selama Perak town at 7.40pm.
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Dinner at Selama Perak town |
My second day in Rantau Panjang on Friday was quite
boring. It is a small ‘kampung’ and was
very quiet even though my in-laws house is located by the side of the main
road. Most young villagers have gone to
big cities to make a living and come back to reunite with their old folks only
during Chinese New Year.
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My in-laws house in Rantau Panjang, Perak |
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A very quiet main road of Rantau Panjang |
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Jalan Besar, Rantau Panjang |
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Delicious lunch prepared by my mother-in-law |
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Her specialty of duck |
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Evening view of a serene Rantau Panjang |
On Saturday, Sze Hean
and his family came at about 10.45am. We
left Rantau Panjang at 11.10am in Hean’s Nissan four-wheel-drive 7-seater
car. He is a seasoned driver and his car
condition is so good that one feels very comfortable even at a high speed of
130 km/hr.
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Jia-wei |
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Xin-yi (pic left) and Le-yi |
At 1.00 pm, we stopped for lunch at Tapah’s famous Restoran
Jin Cheng (金城茶餐室) near the toll plaza, a place I heard from Soh Ai’s
youngest brother Sze Teong a long time ago but I wasn’t able to find all this
while. The total cost of 5 dishes
comprising ginger-garlic patin fish (姜茸河白丁 RM46),ginger-chilli
blackfish (公保生鱼片RM15),claypot stew taufu (砂煲豆腐RM15),fermented bean curd lettuce (腐乳油麦RM12), ginger-onion chicken (姜葱鸡丁RM12),rice (RM6), teapot drink (RM6.80) and biscuits (RM13.30) was
RM126.10. Very delicious and
considerably cheap! Besides, there are
plenty of local delicacies, biscuits and cakes etc. and I bought a total of
RM106. I will surely patronize this restaurant again in the future whenever I
travel to and/or from the north.
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Restoran Jin Cheng, Tapah |
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Blackfish (raw fish), vege and taufu |
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Patin fish |
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Chicken |
We arrived at Mutiara Damansara PJ at about 3.30pm. Hean and his family checked into the Royale
Chulan Damansara Hotel for a night’s stay.
We walked around the Curve, Ikano
Power Center
and settled for drinks at Kluang Station Restaurant.
|
Lobby of Royale Chulan Damansara Hotel, PJ |
|
Hotel room |
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Sze Hean and family at the Street of the Curve |
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At Ikano Power Centre |
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At Kluang Station, IPC |
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"Vintage" photo |
Wai Kit came with his friend to fetch Soh Ai and I home at
about 6.00pm and we reached home at about 7.30pm. That concluded my short trip to my wife’s
hometown!
Labels: Travelogue
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