Kuala Lumpur—Seen Through The Eyes Of Rudy

Many of us who have experienced city life have the tendency to take things for granted. Those who are used to the kind of infrastructure or any other facilities available in the city might find it hard to cope in the rural areas. Most of us have forgotten where we came from; of how far we have progressed...

We have about 60 employees in our KK office. This year we picked 4 of them for a few days' visit to Kuala Lumpur (KL). They were Ejrailah Rasid, Boyed, Karen and Dolnah. Except for Karen, the rest have never been to KL before. Ejrailah has never even been on an airplane in his entire life. Never mind about how to pronounce his name—all of us in the office have not come to a consensus on what's the correct pronunciation. Anyway, to keep things simple, he has come to be known as Rudy.

The company paid for the airfares and lodging. It's an opportunity of a lifetime for these people. The plane was scheduled to depart a little after 7 am last Friday. Rudy, being a first timer, was somewhat unsure how much earlier he should be at the airport to check in before departure. Well, he arrived at the airport at 3am. The excitement was simply too overwhelming that he stayed awake the entire night.

About an hour before the flight the other three arrived for the check in. Unfortunately, they were unaware that the 7am flight has been cancelled, and their seats have been moved to the 4pm flight. Yes, AirAsia is quite famous for that. Well, to make the long story short, they somehow managed to get onto the 9am flight. I don't quite know what happened throughout that 2 hours in the airplane—it must have been exciting for Rudy—but, yes, he did find out how to put on the safety belt and how to undo it. I hope he was informed that there're toilets onboard.

Upon reaching LCCT, they took a bus to KL Sentral. Thereafter they walked across the road to the Monorail station. Rudy was impressed to see a train that didn't produce any smoke. And the train was passing above the city overlooking many buildings and the highways below.

Soon, they arrived at the place where they're to spend the next 2 nights. A short rest, and then it was time to explore the city! Now I am a bit mixed up on the sequence of the visits, but I will try to cover as much as my memory can cope based on what Rudy told me.

They went to KLCC where, according to Rudy, they walked until his legs began to ache. Soon it was time for a meal. They reached an eatery. Scanning the signboard, he saw a meal that cost RM7.60. He quickly went to the front of the queue. There was a variety of food. He chose ikan rumahan (fish) being the cheapest he could afford. The rest had the common sense to wait and watch the whole process. Then he went to the counter and was told that his meal cost RM21.00. Of course Rudy was shocked; he turned back to see the others slowly moving away. He said he finished his food budget for the day.

Later they went to Aquaria KLCC. They took many pictures and he was very proud showing them to his colleagues in the office this afternoon. Surprisingly Rudy has a flair for posing for the camera; lots and lots of "V" signs with the fingers, if you know what I mean.

They also went to some sort of science centre where Rudy took a picture with his face appearing as if he's in a space suit. But he wasn't very happy with that picture, because he said he looked like a corpse.

In the evening, they went to the night market at Chow Kit Road. He's amazed to have been told that the so-called night market actually encroaches into the wee hours of the morning, and closes at around 4am. In Kota Kinabalu (KK), night markets usually mean they will close around midnight.

After buying some T-shirts, Rudy suggested to Boyed that they should try to walk back to the apartment. Apparently they could see the building from Chow Kit Road. It's not exactly near, but might as well take the opportunity to walk and explore the area. Well, they walked and walked for an hour or so and found themselves making a big circle and ended up in the exact spot where they had started. The concrete jungle wasn't that straightforward after all. So in the end, they gave up and took the Monorail.

The next day was even more exciting. They made a trip to Genting Highland. We don't have a casino here in KK. So it would be fun to see how people throw away their money up in the hills. Upon disembarking the bus, Rudy was surprised to see the mode of transportation up to the casinos. They queued up for a few minutes, and soon found themselves in the cable car. Again it was a scary feeling hanging by the cable like that. They spent their day exploring the park and hotels/casinos. But soon it was already time to leave.

I think they spent several more hours exploring the city the next day before making their way to the airport. By then I'm sure Rudy must have been told that there're toilets in the plane. It's good that the aircraft manufacturers thought of the toilets, you know.

Rudy was so excited this morning, telling his colleagues of his wonderful experience. The city that never sleeps, he said. He has learned that in KL fish is more expensive than beef and chicken. It is understandable why he thought ikan rumahan is the cheapest. In KK, I usually buy rumahan between RM5 to RM7 per kg (depending on the weather) merely as bait for my fishing trips. I'm sure it is expensive in KL. I think Rudy will remember that RM21 meal in KL for the rest of his life.

I am so happy for Rudy for learning all those new stuff within just 3 days and 2 nights. I'm sure he feels a whole lot more experienced and wiser now.