GAMECON1 - Prelude...

Haah... finally.

I have managed to clear my "work backlog" to write about my experiences in KL. Apparently, "paid annual leave" equals to "unpaid OT to catch up with all the work hours that you missed when you're taking the leave" in my case. A brilliant way to "discourage" people from taking their alloted leave. You wanna take leave? Be our guest. Just make sure you keep your evenings clear because you're gonna need them to catch up on your work, on top of all the extra hours you had put in before being able to take the leave in the first place.

Anyhow, I managed to wake up in time to catch the first MRT to Changi Airport, and boarded the plane in one piece. Sri Lankan Airlines is not bad, but I felt like I was in Little India when on that plane.

Upon arrival at KL International Airport, I had a breakfast meal at the local Burger King. The price was surprisingly close to that of Singapore's, being only cheaper by $1 or so. Then I puchased a 2-way ticket (RM 70, valid for 3 months) for the KLIA Express train, and began my journey to KL proper. The train was very nice and clean! A little pricy for the distance that it covers though, considering that it is in Malaysia. It is about the same price ($15) with Japan, where the train journey takes close to 1 hour compared to this one's 30 minutes.

Then I took the LRT from KL Central Station, arriving at my destination at about 10.30am. Since it was still too early for check-in, I decided to watch a movie at the mid valley megamall (our event venue, and my hotel is just riiight next to it!). Harry Potter for only RM6! Now, that was excellent. The movie was pretty good, even though Harry only managed to blunder his way through the scenes, very much like the previous movies.

After checking in, I went back to the mall to help my collegue find a book. I found an MPH Bookstore there, and asked for some assistance from one of the staffs there. This guy looked pretty clueless, and it was proven when he proceed to take me to the children's section to look for the book. It was not there. He then found another staff and then led me to another section, chatting in cantonese all the time with the other staff. It was not there too. Finally, they brought me to a section made up mostly of chinese books, and passed the request to another staff there. The lady was immediately able to tell me that the particular book was out of stock, and she even helped me inquire from other affliated bookstores. Very helpful staff, although the first one was kind of weird.

Finally, it was time to go to the other hotel and meet up woth the rest of the volunteers from Singapore. I took the KL Monorail, and managed to get close too my destination without too much of a hassle. The problem is, this particular hotel where they are staying was kind of hidden, and I had to wander around the place looking for it. After over 2 hours of fruitless search, I heard knocking from one of the cars that was waiting for the green light! It turns out that one of the Malaysian volunteers was driving the car, and he was on his way home before the welcome event later in the evening. So, I hopped into the car, ended up helping him move apartment (some stuff), experienced the KL traffick jam (deja vu) and got treated to some Mc Donalds for dinner.

We finally made our way to the elusive hotel (it was like a maze trying to get into the hotel...), and after some briefing + some games, two of the other Malaysian volunteers who live close to my hotel drove me back.

What a day.

I'll have to say that I am pretty impressed with KL's public rail system (when comparing it to Indonesia), but it still has quite some way to go (when comparing to Singapore). But I got to my hotel in one piece, there was no need for taxis, and the rails were affordable, if a little troublesome. Good rest for the event on the next day!