The previous week in KL reminded me of why i hated my time in KL when i worked there about 10 years ago. The air was bad, the city seems disorganized, and the traffic condition was horrendous. There was jam on the road almost every hour. I really don't understand how could anyone stay in such place.
My colleagues in KL said that traffic congestion has become part of their daily lives and they are so used to it that they really don't feel anything about being stuck in traffic everyday. Little boss said that comparing his life in SG where he has to walk and take the MRT to work, he'd rather be driving in KL even though it may take him an hour to reach a destination that should only take him 20 minutes. Well, i guess that's the difference between people in KL and us in the south.
On Friday afternoon, i was supposed to take a cab from the office back to the hotel, pick up my luggage, and then take the KLIA Express to the airport. My flight was at 4.55pm, and i had planned to leave the office at 2.30pm. I figured that more than 2 hours of time should be sufficient for me to reach the airport in time.
Boy, was i wrong. The Malaysian colleague tried to book a cab for me but there wasn't any cab available. Then i walked to the mall beside the office block hoping to get a cab at the taxi stand, but only to see that there was a long queue and the person last in queue complained to me that she had waited for a very long time.
Then i realized that i had missed out on an important factor, that is it was a Friday afternoon. Don't get what i meant? Hint: The majority of cab drivers in Msia is of a certain race. Another hint: a certain race has longer lunch hour on Friday. So, the whole of KL cab system practically came to a halt because of this factor.
In the end, i made a quick decision to take the LRT back to the hotel, which turned out to be correct because while i was on the LRT, i saw how jam it was on the highway. If i had continued waiting, it would have taken me half-an-hour or even more to finally get on to a cab, and then probably another half-an-hour to reach the hotel. I would have missed the flight then.
Anyway, the whole experience just re-affirmed my dislike for the city. I'm ok in going there for the shopping and dining once in a while, but to live there, seriously, i don't think i can take it.
I'm just glad that i'm back.
Labels: travel
