How I should have planned my trip to Kuala Lumpur

Every time after I went on a trip, I would feel sorry about not having done something in a there entirely, or not having done something in a particular way.

My trip to KL was no exception.

First, I regret buying a map for RM 10 from a bookstore that was totally useless. I should have bought a prepard SIM card as soon as I arrived at the airport. That way, I could use Google Maps everywhere I

Second, I should have gone to the Central Market (near China Town) as my first stop whereas in reality it was my last stop.

At the information counter in Central Market, there are the best and free maps available! "Kuala Lumpur - Walks and Tours Map" was a fantastic map. Points of attractions clearly mapped out. There are suggested journeys too.

While you are there, don't forget to ask the staff at the counter for information about the guided tour of Merdeka Square (Independence Square). She gave me another excellent map. For free!!!

I believe you can get the following map at Central Market too. But I obtained it at the Bird Park instead. That's "Kuala Lumper City Map". It's a good map! It also has the KL's Transit Rail Map in it.


Lesson Learned: I should go to the most popular point of interest as my first stop, wherever I travel to, and get the free and best maps there!

Putrajaya: a surprisingly good place to travel to in Malaysia

Despite my unpleasant experience with the taxi-drivers in KL, I am glad that I traveled to a new town near Kuala Lumpur - Putrajaya. I would like to recommend this beautiful town to you in this blog post.

Before I actually visited Putrajaya, I once thought about joining a local tour group. But I am glad that I finally decided to go there on my own.

Getting there

If you are going to Putrajaya from Kuala Lumpur, I recommend that you go there by taking the KLIA Transit. It only costs RM 9.5. It's fast. It's comfortable. It's safe. And most importantly, no rip-off by taxi-drivers.

Get off at the station "Putrajaya and Cyberjaya".

Easiest and Cheapest way to travel in Putrajaya

When I arrived at the train station - Putrajaya and Cyberjaya, I walked over to the Information counter there. I obtained a flyer from them. It reads:

Best of Putrajaya Tour

Ticket RM 1.00 Only

Tour Schedule:

Saturday / Sunday

11am / 2:30pm

It's a fantastic deal. But it wasn't a Saturday nor a Sunday when I visited there. Otherwise, I would have joined the tour.

Call 019-236 1796 for details.

Recommended Places

I visited mainly three places in Putrajaya:

• Botanic Garden
• Putra Mosque
• Prime Minister Office

Botanic Garden

The Botanic Garden was a beautiful and huge park. Full of old trees. In the garden, there's a seafood restaurant by the seaside. Food was quite expensive. So, I didn't eat there. You can bring your own food and eat by the seaside. It's a beautiful place. You can rent a bike and cycle in the garden. I should have done this.

Admission is free.

Putra Mosque

The pink Mosque is another must-visit. You can go inside the Mosque and see its interior. When I was there, a volunteer tour guide was explaining the history and architecture of the Mosque to some tourists. I learned a lot just by standing right next to the tour group. One of the interesting things that I learned was that the dome structure at the top of the Mosque has nothing to its religion. The dome structure was built in order to echo the voice of the prayers inside the Mosque more effectively.

Admission is free.

Prime Minister Office

The green Prime Minister Office is right next to the Mosque. However, you can't go inside. You can only take a picture of it from a distance. If you visit Putra Mosque, you simply won't miss the Prime Minister Office.

Getting Around in Putrajaya

I liked Putrajaya so much for several reasons. It's beautiful. It's clean. Much cleaner than KL. Its sidewalks are much wider than those in KL. You can walk comfortably in this town.

Another reason is its buses. You can basically go to most points of interests by bus. I went to the all three places above by bus. Each trip was only RM 0.5. Yes, fifty cents! Unbelievable!

The difficulty with taking bus is that you don't know which route to take and where to get off.

But, after my visit to Putrajaya, I found an easy way to figure that out - Google Maps.

If you have an iPhone / Android Phone, fire up Google Maps, find your point of attraction, then turn on the Transit layer and look for the nearest bus-stop icon. Click on the bus-stop icon and it will tell you which bus routes stop at that location. It's very helpful.



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Getting ripped off by 2 taxi-drivers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

In December 2012, I was traveling in Kuala Lumpur for 8 days. Most parts of the trips were good and pleasant. Except my experience with the taxi drivers there.

For the first 6 nights, I was staying at a budget hotel called Beltif hotel. It was located near Times Square in Imbi. 

On the second last day of my trip, I needed to go to the Hilton hotel at KL Sentral because I wanted to end the trip at a 5-star hotel.

My First Taxi Rip-off

At Beltif hotel, there was an affiliated taxi counter. I asked for a quote for going to Hilton hotel from there. It was only 13km away. So I figured that the fare should be around 15 RM. But the counter gave me a quotation of 25 RM. I thought it was too expensive and so decided to take a regular taxi instead.

I stepped outside and waved my arm to stop an incoming taxi. I asked the Muslim taxi-driver how much it would take to go to Hilton hotel. He pointed at the meter and so I got in. 

Once inside that taxi, he pretended to not know the way to Hilton hotel. He acted like he had never heard of it in his life!!! While he pretended to be looking for the way, my GPS was showing I was moving away from the destination rather towards it! What the heck! I asked him to exit the highway at once. As soon as I saw another taxi queue, I ordered him to stop right there. The place happened to be somewhere near Jalan Robson, as my GPS showed.

After paying him 8 RM for taking me to nowhere, I stepped out angrily and took my luggage back from the trunk. I was too angry and uncool to record his license number.

That was my first taxi rip-off.

My Second Taxi Rip-off

There were a line of taxis waiting for their customers near where I got out of the first taxi.

I went to the head of the taxi line and an Indian taxi-driver approached me and said, "Taxi?". 

"Yes. How much is it going to cost to go to Hilton Hotel from here?", I asked.

"Roughly 5 Ringets", he answered. That made sense to me because Hilton Hotel was only 3 km away from that location, as my GPS showed.

Hilton Hotel (Point B) was only 3 km away!

I thought to myself, "Great, at least this driver speaks English and his quote is proportional to the distance". So, I put the luggage into the trunk and got into the taxi.

Before he started the engine, he said something to me in Malay that I didn't understand. After a few seconds, I said again: "Hilton Hotel". He then replied, "Oh you are from Singapore?". I thought that he was being friendly and wanted to start a conversation, and so I replied, "No, I am from Hong Kong."  In retrospect, it was the beginning of a bad journey. He was checking to see whether or not I was a tourist that he could rip off.

He then asked, "which way do you want to go?"

I said, "Take the shortest path."

"No way. You have to choose. Highway or local?"

I got a little bit skeptical. But then I thought perhaps there might be an even shorter path than the one shown in my GPS. So I said, "Highway."

"OK."

He then drove farther and farther away from the destination. I then realized it was another rip-off. The second one in a row. I said, "We are going away from the hotel! I am looking at my GPS!!!"

"I know you are looking at the GPS. But you said you wanted to take the highway! If you want I can take a U-turn.", he defended.

"TAKE A U-turn!". I became angry. The meter was already showing 10RM.

At that time, he seemed to know that I already realized his rip-off trick. After he took the U-turn, he was really going towards my destination, as my GPS showed.

Instead of stopping right in front of the hotel, he stopped at the road next to the hotel. I asked, "how much?". 

"Five."

As I gave him 5 RM, he said, "No way!  I said the meter plus 5!"

The meter was showing 22 RM already.

What the heck!!!!

I was very angry. But my luggage was still in the trunk and so I paid 27RM reluctantly for a ride that should have only cost 5RM.

But before I paid, I took a picture of this dishonest and rogue taxi-driver:

The dishonest and rogue taxi-driver who ripped me off

As soon as I obtained my luggage from the trunk, I also took a picture of his license plate:

The broken license plate showed HWD 218. The last digit was missing.

He stepped on the gas and dashed off as he knew I was taking a picture of his taxi.

Lesson Learned

In retrospect, I should have taken a picture of him and his license plate before I got in. If I had known his license plate was broken, I would have gotten skeptical and avoided it.

I should have also shown him my GPS as soon as I got in, and asked him to follow the route figured out by Google Maps. That should have scared him. 

Anyway, I will never take another taxi in Malaysia. Even if I will ever go there again.