March
One thing that I was both fortunate and wanting more in my workplace was that I was pigeonholed as a Sitefinity specialist. I knew the platform more than well enough without the certifications that my supervisors and bosses entrusted me with tasks and I was able to deliver on time and with only minimal issues. Lots of clients preferred Sitefinity for ease of use, so work just kept coming in. Even if things got handed over to other vendors for maintenance, more replaced those. But I also desired branching out and trying my skills either on another CMS platform or an entire new platform. That’s why when my supervisors try out new third party integrations and task me with marrying them with the Sitefinity applications, I tackled it with gusto. It’s a skill after all. From MoEngage to Mailchimp to Stripe to Elastic, I was quite happy to try. New puzzle pieces excited me.
And finally, boss wanted more expertise, so they sent a couple of us programmers with some supervisors to apply for a Sitecore XM Cloud developer license. Man, I was happy. So I happily agreed and set aside days in my calendar to attend a few days worth of paid seminars via MS Teams. The main presentor was in Kuala Lumpur, while the other attendees were from European countries like Greece and Croatia.
While attending said seminar, a bad realization in my gut came up. I realized fairly quickly that this is a bit of a mistake. The main presentor started the presentation and as he launched from one topic into another after the Deploy app was discussed, I realized that this is an “advanced” course that heavily favors the Sitecore-experienced. I have ZERO experience. So to adapt, I kept this comparative mentality of how most CMS stuff work based on my previous experience with Sitefinity and Sharepoint. So for example, when he launched into how the Pages UI work, I envisioned first how did Sitefinity tailored theirs in v15 then compared it to how things and objects were being related to in Sitecore, and it gave me a grasp on things.
Two things were made crystal clear after the seminars. One, Sitecore XM Cloud seems to be in a “transitionary” phase – they want to move into this newfangled user-friendly UI more but are still not ready yet to abandon their old platform tools of comfort to their existing userbase, so they have found a manageable medium of where the new complements the old – but it’s heavily apparent what direction they will go moving forward. Second, f*ck me but I need to learn more of the Sitecore basics quickly because the boss wanted me to be the guinea pig for the certification course, but I am scared shitless because I have no idea how the hell I am to pass that.
When March came, I had one thing in mind to do – a practice run again at a DIY overseas tour.
See, while I liked the tours I got in Thailand and Taiwan, they were out of necessity. For example, Ayutthaya and its myriad attractions and significant sites was so far away out of Bangkok that it would be insane and expensive for a carless solo traveler to do them alone, let alone self-manage my time for a day with those. Same with Taiwan, the Yehliu-Shifen-Jiufen tours were feats of time management as well. Cheap ones, too. But one thing was for certain – they were EXHAUSTING. To see more than 5 attractions for a full day – from 8am to 6pm – walking and hiking and looking around for shots is just pounding your feet. Pro tip – foot ice baths.
But as I plan on going outside of Asia for the first time this year, I looked up on a lot of options and I felt that it would be best served for me and my budget to split stuff – the more out-there remote stuff be on tours and the city stuff be done as a DIY tour. But if there are means to access remote stuff easily – bus or train – I would need the experience and confidence to try if I can. I do not intend to rawdog such an experience on a main holiday. So I have to try first on a low-stakes tour.
With that in mind, I went to Malaysia.
Fortunately, a holiday opened up on a Monday – Hari Raya Puasa, March 31st. Better than staying home on a long weekend, huh. I filed for a half-day leave on the 28th, I mapped for 3 days in Kuala Lumpur, and I returned on the 31st. The main plan was I wanted to go to Genting Highlands. I skipped on that last time I went to KL, but now I have options. Bus options.
I used the BusOnlineTicket app to book two trips to Genting Awana, one going and one leaving. As it was the cheapest way, I figured this is it. I wanted to try that out and get my confidence in. Expensive confidence booster, but I’ve seen my share of panicked tourists scared of trying the local transportation out.
I packed 2 days worth of light clothes (and 3 days worth of undies and socks) into a sports duffel bag and went for it on that 28th. This time, unlike the hellish mistake I did with booking a hotel in KL two years ago, I chose a rentable apartment right beside a rail line station.
Everything else I was able to book and prep for ahead of time:
- Plane tickets (surprisingly cheap at AirAsia given a holiday was around the corner)
- KLIA Ekspres tickets plus metrocard
- Genting Highlands access tickets for the Skyworlds and cable cars roundtrip
- Malaysian e-SIM card good for 5 days
The plan was the Saturday be for Genting and Sunday be for food hunting. Specifically chocolates, white coffees and freeze-dried durian.
So with that taken care of, two weeks passed, and…
I booked a night flight but still within manageable time to use the Malaysian rails. I got to my rented unit’s place by 9PM. However, I had to wait for the lobby manager for Five Senses in that building to settle my deposit fee. I got in that night mostly fuss-free, and as I got in late, I settled for a nearby food stall that was open for late-night hungry folks like me.
With my dinner settled, I trooped to a nearby 7-11 to buy granola bars, canned Americano coffee and two 1.5L bottles of water, then back to my unit.
The next morning, I woke up very early, around 5am. Took a shower, wrapped my feet with kinesio tapes, munched a granola bar and downed a coffee can, and then prepped for the Genting trip. I used the sports shoulder bag I brought with me in the trip (it’s my gym bag, and I bought it in KL two years ago), stuffed a towel and my handy powerbank in, and went to KL Sentral where the buses are. Got there by 8am.
I must say, booking online weeks before was the right move. The buses there going to Genting were moving in and out in a decent pace, and the ticketing booths all said that the next available tickets were for the 2pm buses. Ain’t that sweet. Also, some foreigners were haggling at the Sentosa ticket booth for some reason.
I got in the 9am bus I was booked into (I chose a front seat as well in the booking) and settled down for what I expected to be a 1-2 hour drive. Seats were wide and comfortable, and the airconditioning was also decent. No onboard radio bullshit as well. Seemed to go well.
Not really. What followed after the first 20 minutes were 4+ hours of hell.
Apparently with the Hari Raya Puasa holiday in a few days, people in Kuala Lumpur with hometowns had started to drive back to where they can spend the holidays on. And that meant TONS of cars went out of the city and congested the major highway exits. And I blindly chose to travel out of Kuala Lumpur on that day. I dreaded what shit could happen as I saw heaps of cheap cars (mostly Protons and old Nissans) that got overheated and sidelined by the wayside, hoods open with steam coming out.
Traffic moved at a glacially slow pace. I spent my time checking Facebook and reading manga. Thankfully 1) I had my powerbank to save me of low battery, and 2) the bus driver had mercy and put in a 10-minute pit stop at a Shell station for a much-needed bathroom break by all.
By 2pm, the bus mercifully got to Genting. I had a bus ticket back to KL by 5.15pm, that meant I had at most 3 hours to “enjoy” this place. Well, life and lemonade and all that. I went out and made a beeline for the cable cars.
The cable cars were nice. I got bunched with a self-touring group of three people – of which I recognized were on the same shitty bus ride I was in before, they sat at the middle area – and a charming elderly couple, and the husband was regaling us with how he drove the night before from Johor to here. Cool. But I also noted that we were being ferried past an old temple that I was planning to stop by (cable car station for it too) but I skipped due to obvious time constraints. Man, I messed up that ride huh.
By the time I got to the top, I just started taking as many pictures as I could. No choice, I only had at most three hours. I took like 70+ shots (some selfies as well) but I’ll show some of them below.
I finished the mall plus the Skyworlds in 1 hour and 30 minutes. I did buy a couple of souvenirs from the exit gift shops – a cap, a foldable bag (for sister), three t-shirts, two keychains and three mugs from a “mystery bag” that was way too cheaply priced (likely clearance items).
I went straight back to the cable cars. Ride down was quick, and I had to buy quickly what I planned for food souvenirs. So I made a beeline for the “premium outlets” section. I perused the Puma, Adidas, and Nike stores and found nothing of uniqueness that I would find intriguing. Basically a “sale” sign with no actual sale. I did spy on one chocolatier store near a part with a nice view.
It was a store called Fidani, and they sold a lot of chocolate that I liked. I ended up buying four 1-kilo bags of dark chocolate balls of random content (macadamia, raisins, peanut) and three containers of individually-packed soft chocolate that are flavored with durian. I was running out of time, so I hurried back down to the bus terminal. Fortunately, I arrived as the bus I booked was sliding into its slot with 5 minutes to spare.
The bus ride back was surprisingly quick. Lack of traffic, I’d say. Nearly everyone was going out of KL that the roads going into KL and the ones going out of KL were laughably insane in comparison. Our lanes were sparse and only a handful of vehicles were plying them, so the bus driver was free to speed it up and use the full 60, while the other lanes were like Payday Friday night traffic, only much worse. I left Genting at 5.15pm, and I was back in KL Sentral by 6.10pm.
Truth be told, earlier I was desperate to find a return bus that at least was from 6pm onwards, as I was really sad that my Genting visit was just a pitiful 3 hours. But when I looked at the online bookings and even in the booths for the bus tickets, return buses were in hot demand. Openings got snapped up in seconds. There was even three people in the manned booth that was haggling because they missed their booked bus and was looking for any opening with three seats. The bus that I rode back to KL was full – 95% booked, and the bus conductor apparently had let in some stragglers that missed earlier bookings under the same bus fleet, to occupy the seats of those who clearly did not make it to the bus on time.
I had my dinner at the adjacent mall to it. I had Assam laksa – the properly tangy and strong one, I’d say – and a bowl of ice kacang. I had Chagee milk tea as well at the station before I left – no lines, compared to the ones I knew in SG. Delicous, though. Went back to my rental place by 8pm. Man, long day.
What did I learn from that practice run that I can apply to future holidays?
- Book the transportation online and early, as much as possible. Onsite booking might be a gamble.
- Research public holiday dates. Might impact travel time.
- Buses are nice. They don’t stay in business for long if their seats suck. Even in that prolonged bus ride earlier, the bus seat I had was very comfortable. Easy to sleep in.
The next day, 29th, it was just a planned chill day. Not much except hunting for treats. I went to Jalan Petaling to look for things I fancied. Last time I was there, it was a full-on CNY on a dark cloudy day so not much store activity. This time, it was blazing sunny and lots of things to see. It was 10am so not too many folks yet.
By the end of the street, I had nothing I truly liked yet. I went in to several stores looking for freeze-dried durians. I found some but I just earmarked it for “later” as I found the other things I would’ve liked to buy repetitive. Like coffee. It’s mostly OldTown and that Ah Huat. The others seemed to be the equivalent of Kopiko in my country – second tier to Nescafe. I was about to turn around and buy just the freeze-dried durians when I looked around and I saw that a “market” was also nearby across the street.
The market area was called Pasar Seni, or the Central Market. Covered market! I gladly crossed the street as I was curious as to what I might find there. And fortunately, I was rewarded at just the right time. It was lunchtime at 12pm, I was in a covered market with good ventilation, and the food court had ample seating. So I randomly chose food – I assumed they might be good anyway. It’s stirfried noodles from some province in Malaysia, and laksa. And just saying, when they claim the laksa was “spicy”, they meant it. To be fair, it was delicious, but also a sweat generator.
After that, I went to a small “grocery market” beside the food court to see what’s in. “Pasar Besar”, it was called. And lo and behold, I found both things I wanted. Freeze-dried durian, conveniently packaged in three-piece-per-serving packs. The ones in Petaling were like 15+ pieces in the same resealable bag, these ones were packed perfectly for occasional snacking without worrying about eating the entire bag within a week. I bought four right away, should last me months.
Then they had fancy instant stuff, the ones I prefer. I snapped up a box of Oriental Kopi White Coffee, a pack of Zus Latte Coffee and a pack of Chek Hup Cham Tarik (it’s creamer, coffee and black tea in one). Never tasted these ever, so I should be fine with these for now. I could’ve bought more but I only have a duffel bag. I’m more than happy with my big bag bought from “Pasar Besar”.
After that, I went to KLCC, specifically to their Books Kinokuniya branch. I wanted to see if they had some volumes I could not find in the Takashimaya main one, and yes I ended up buying four books. One of them was a manga version of “The Three-Body Problem” by Cixin Liu, two were manga and the last one was a light novel.
After that, I was spent, and dinnertime was around the corner. This time, I wanted to redo my Turkish meal here two years ago, so I went to their food court again and ordered from Go Tarbush. Pretty generous portions, I must say.
After that, one last thing I did. There was an adjacent mall beside the rental apartment called Quill City Mall, and I was curious as to what I could find there… and also to burn off some of that calories. Turkish meal was the bomb. So off I went back via train.
I found a store with some nice shirts called Colegacy. Fancy store, but I was pleasantly surprised the shirts were affordable. Bought three shirts, one of which I planned to wear to the airport the next day.
Got home fairly early at 8pm. I found the Five Senses lady that checked me in a couple of days ago and got my deposit back, as I was to check out early morning. She instructed me to leave the keycard on her desk in the lobby before I left.
Left early morning by the sunrise, KLIA Ekspres train was smooth. Got back to my Singapore unit by 11am, no fuss no muss. Flying out was smooth, as I already knew the airport well enough.
Briathrail // Albert 2MNG 
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