Backpacking Day 4: Back in Malaysia! (Pudu Sentral, Grid9 Hotel, Chinatown)
On our fourth day!
Backpacking Day 4 is also known as "Tipid, Swerte, Magulang To The Bones Malaysia".
Backpacking Day 4 is also known as "
At first we just wanted to be thrifty by scrimping on anything unnecessary. Then, it turned out that we were able to save more mostly because of our luck. We even scored a free night accommodation at that! And then the later part of the night, it suddenly felt like we took advantage of pretty much everything. Hahaha.
OUR TIPID/THRIFTY PART:
We left Golden Mile Complex at 10 PM. The travel time from SG to Pudu Sentral took us 5 hours (immigration of both countries included), so we arrived at 3 AM.
We tried to walk to Grid9 Hotel from Pudu but we got lost and when we asked a local from a 7-11 store, she instructed us to just hire a cab because it is far. From Pudu to Grid 9, our fare was 20 MYR. There's an additional charge if you're travelling from 12 MN to 6 AM.
Anyway, when we arrived at Grid9... OMG! Que Horror! We reserved a room online (May 28), thinking that we can check in anytime. We admit that we were in the wrong for not clarifying these things beforehand but what do we do? The sleep deprived and very lucky travelers have arrived at Grid9 "begging" but more of like "forcing" the caretaker to produce a place where they can stay. Kulang na lang sabihan siyang, "Gumawa ka ng bagong building!" haha!
He kind of scolded us saying that if we knew we were arriving at 3 AM, we should have booked two nights (that being May 27 and 28) because check-in time is at 2 PM. He also told us that if we were so sleepy, we can sleep at their common area which we, of course, said no to. It's not being picky (though it is. diba haha!) but it would really be hard for us because we NEEDED beds and not bean bags. The super low batt me just sat at the corner as my friend continued negotiating with him. A little later, they rode the elevator and then when they went down, we had a room to stay in!
Just our luck and stubbornness! My friend told me that he (caretaker) accidentally mentioned that there was an unoccupied room with a broken shower knob. The shower's working when you turn it on from the shower heater but since the knob doesn't work, they opted not to have it booked by anyone. Upon my friend's persistence, the caretaker agreed to show her the room and when she saw that the broken shower knob is something that can be overlooked, she told him that we'll take the room. The caretaker agreed and here's the SWERTE/LUCKY PART.
1. It was our mistake for not clarifying the check in time but we still got a "flawed" room that seemed so perfect in our swollen eyes and tired bodies. hahaha.
2. We had no 50 MYR to give as our deposit but the caretaker told us to just sleep and deposit it upon waking up. We knew at that point that he was starting to get annoyed. There we were forcing our way in and when it was time to pay, we couldn't hand him anything. But instead of getting mad, he managed to keep his cool. Another thanks to you, Sir!
3. Our stay was supposed to be two nights (that's PHP 5,400.00) but it turned out that we slept on our "first night" for free. We couldn't care less about the broken shower. The room - its beds and beddings, its aircon, its tv- were beyond what we were hoping for when we thought we'd be spending that morning in the common area.
If you're planning on staying at Grid9 Hotel in Maharajalela, do so and please convey our gratitude. :)
P.S. I didn't post this here to advice you to do the same but to tell you to double check your check-in time and coordinate with your hostel/hostel prior your trip unless you want to sleep in a common area.
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| From Grid9 Hotel, Chinatown is just walking distance. Malaysia's Chinatown is a lot different from Singapore's Chinatown mainly because of the things being sold. Unlike in SG where it's mostly souvenir items and stalls have their own debit and credit card (Visa, Mastercard etc.) terminals, Malaysia's Chinatown was less on souvenirs and more of clothes, bags, cellphone accessories etc. If there are similarities though, they have those high plastic roof, colorful establishments, and red lanterns. Oh, even our local Chinatown has those lanterns ahhh. Can't wait to go back to Binondo and see it through a different set of eyes. Hahahaha. Duhhh. |
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| I changed P 1,500.00 as my budget for Day 4 and 5. |
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| Here's my brunch for that day. Locally known as Nasi Ayam (sweet and sour chicken strips) from Marrybrown in Pudu Sentral. Visiting Genting Highlands was one of the things on our mind but it was already around 10AM when our day started so we kind of crossed that out. But that walk from Chinatown to Grid9 made us decide to push through just to escape the heat. Also mainly because we didn't know what else to do that afternoon should we stay in KL again. From Grid9, we hailed a cab to Pudu Sentral again (for 10 MYR) to try our luck if there are still available bus seats to Genting Highlands. THE REST OF OUR MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE (MIS)ADVENTURES LINK: HERE. |
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