Beware of First coach

[Adrianli]

Back from my coach trip to KL and back, from Sat to Mon. Here is my FR.

 

 

From Novena Square to KL(Bangsar).

- Boarded the coach at 7.20am.

- 7.30am the ticketing lady did a head count and the coach was full.

- 7.35am Coach left Novena Square.

- There were two drivers on the coach.

- The VOD machine "rosak", so listened to my own mp3.

- There was a jam at Tuas Checkpoint. Other coaches were cutting queue by using the lorry lane on the left. Then last min before entrance, cut in. Lots of other drivers were honking them until finally Aetos police arrive and direct traffic.

- 9am disembark the coach and walked into immigration.

- Lots of counters but also lots of ppl. Managed to clear immigration by 9.15am and re-boarded coach.

- One couple still to board the coach. Dont know what they doing. Their mother-in-law already seated on the coach. Only at 9.45am then they appear and never apologise to everyone.

- 10.15am cleared MY immigration. Only three counters but very efficient. Queuing was a bit chaotic. Custom officers were playing game on their hp and cant be bothered to check the x-ray machine but everyone just stuff their luggage into the x-ray machine.

- 12noon reach Pagoh R&R. No speeding at all. They were cruising at abt +/- 100km/hr. Very safe driving.

- Lunch break was compulsory 30mins for the drivers even though all of us were on the bus within 20mins.

- Ard Seremban, that couple went to the driver and request for a pee stop. And the driver obliged. A quick 15mins stop at one of the R&R with no other facilities, just toilet and food trucks.

- Near KL, traffic starts to build up, not too much of a jam. As the coach went to Bangsar instead of Sentral KL.

- Reached Bangsar office at 3pm sharp!!! Its office is just next door to Bangsar LRT and Rapid KL bus station. Very convenient location.

- 7.5hrs journey!!! Not too bad. The seats were comfortable and more than enough leg room for my extra long legs. I could cross my legs and still got room to spare. There was one bottle of mineral water and a small packet of oatmeal biscuit. Ride was comfy and drivers seemed to be very experienced and polite.

 

 

From KL(Bangsar) to Novena Square.

- 2.20pm boarded the coach.

- 2.30pm sharp, coach left the office. The very same office when we arrived. The office has two ticket counters, two toilets and big area for passengers to wait.

- This time, VOD was working with a 10" touch screen. Just plug in your own ear piece. None provided. Managed to watch two movies during the trip, Scully and Sisters. Lots of movies selection + music + games. My wife love the big2 game.

- No highway drama, traffic was smooth.

- 4,45pm reached Pagoh R&R. Again, dinner break for the drivers. Had a nice bowl of Mee Rebus, gravy was thick and flavorful. We did some fruits marketing, bought a huge mango at RM24 and some jambu fruit. Driver only came back at 5.30pm. So this was a 45mins break.

- 7pm reached MY checkpoint. Chaotic queuing, only three counters open. Pretty slow clearing here. 7.30pm re-boarded the coach.

- 7.45pm reached Tuas Checkpoint and lots of counters at immigration. Cleared pretty quick as not many ppl. But Custom was pretty slow cos thorough check and only two queues.

- 8pm left Tuas Checkpoint.

- 8.30pm sharp arrived back at Novena Square.

- Exactly 6hrs journey. Very smooth traffic and immigration clearance. Plus every passenger co-operate and was back on bus quick. Same mineral water and wholemeal biscuit. 

 

 

 

My wife say she prefer to fly as travel time is shorter. But I pointed out cost is higher, double if we count in tranaport to Bukit Bintang where we wanted to go. From Bangsar, we took the LRT to KL Sentral(RM1.20/person one stop only) and changed to Monorail from KL Sentral to Bukit Bintang(RM2.50/person 5 stops only). Total cost would we SGD62 including the coach ticket to and fro SGD60.

 

Flying, would cost around $150 including air tickets.

 

But I think driving the best!!! I only bought four packets of air fragrance and one wind breaker for this trip. If driving, would load a lot more stuff.

[Jman888]

if you take air asia, the bus ride from budget terminal to KL sentral is RM9 (some bargain to RM8), one hour to reach.

[Kusje]

 

My wife say she prefer to fly as travel time is shorter. But I pointed out cost is higher, double if we count in tranaport to Bukit Bintang where we wanted to go. From Bangsar, we took the LRT to KL Sentral(RM1.20/person one stop only) and changed to Monorail from KL Sentral to Bukit Bintang(RM2.50/person 5 stops only). Total cost would we SGD62 including the coach ticket to and fro SGD60.

 

Flying, would cost around $150 including air tickets.

 

But I think driving the best!!! I only bought four packets of air fragrance and one wind breaker for this trip. If driving, would load a lot more stuff.

 

Flying time is indeed shorter but not by much lor.

 

Time taken:

30 mins - additional time to travel to airport

60 mins - Gotta arrive at airport 1 hr in advance

60 mins - flight time

30 mins - clear customs at airport assuming no check in baggage

60 min - travel from airport to Bukit Bintang

 

4 hours already

[Jman888]

Flying time is indeed shorter but not by much lor.

 

Time taken:

30 mins - additional time to travel to airport

60 mins - Gotta arrive at airport 1 hr in advance

60 mins - flight time

30 mins - clear customs at airport assuming no check in baggage

60 min - travel from airport to Bukit Bintang

 

4 hours already

 

 

time to airport cannot count lah.

[Kusje]

time to airport cannot count lah.

 

depends where you live lor.

 

Eg. You live near to the bus pick up point and damn far from airport. Alternatively, you live next to airport and damn far from bus pick up point.

[Mustank]

[Adrianli]

No need for bottle to pee in lah.

 

Just inform the driver and they will stop at the nearest R&R.

 

I think overall, pretty pleasant experience for me on First Coach. Delays at immigration and custom unavoidable. For the drive/ride, its pretty much ok. 

[BanCoe]

Motosikal juice lah!!

 

 

 

 

[Flying_genie]

Motosikal juice lah!!

That's in Indonesia, not Malaysia. Quite commonly done in rural Indonesia and Thailand.

[Lala81]

That's in Indonesia, not Malaysia. Quite commonly done in rural Indonesia and Thailand.

What's this ar?

[Adrianli]

What's this ar?

 

Petrol.

[Lala81]

Petrol.

Lol I thought it was some pineapple water like what we used to have in our canteens

[Kangadrool]

My first time in Langkawi in Y2K era, I rented a car, but was delivered with low fuel. Drove around to search for petrol station, but first "petrol station" I saw was makeshift roadside stall selling petrol in F&N glass bottles.

[Dleodleo]

the way they speed on NSHW average 120kmh, not that slow compare to some cars.

 

I agree.

 

We usually drive at 110km at NSH but we always see coaches driving very fast overtaking us and soon they are out of sight.

 

Although they drive very fast, it takes longer for them to reach the destination because:

1.  Stop for toilet break

2.  Stop at local product shop