Hi guys! How’s it going?

Popping in to share my thoughts on a recent situation and habit I’ve decided to adopt.

I’ve been toying around with the idea of taking public transportation every day for work, to and fro. But alas, this thought never came to fruition. Whether it was procrastination, or being so pampered by the convenience of my car and ride sharing services, I simply never got round to it.

So last week, it finally happened.

Read on, to find out how this public transport newbie survived her first week!

What drove me to actually drag my groggy self out of bed earlier than usual to embark on a new journey of public transportation was this: The new exorbitant parking rates of my office building.

Given that I now work right in the heart of the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur,  the price tag of practically everything there should be sky-high, as expected. Expected, but not acceptable. Not to me at least.

Anyone who now parks in my office building is to pay RM20 upon entry. However, people who work there (like myself) can get an RM5 rebate off their RM20 at the end of the day. This process is slightly troublesome to me, as I’ll have to pay RM20 at the guardhouse daily, get it validated at the lobby upstairs and remember to collect my RM5 back when I exit (sometimes the guards even run out of small change)

What about season passes, you ask? Same price. A flat rate of RM300 per month.😔

Ergo, to spend RM300 from my salary solely on parking, wasn’t exactly up my alley. On top of that, was the issue of costly fuel consumption. The traffic gridlock during the rush hour – about 1 hour’s drive – had also been burning my fuel faster than a speeding bullet.

What could be a more feasible alternative?

And that’s when public transportation hit me. 😀

 

So why didn’t I think of it earlier?

Growing up in Penang, I never really had the chance to take any mode of public transportation. Dad hired a driver to take me to school and tuition classes. Right out of high school, I got my very first car to drive to college & university.

I never really understood what it meant when my friends used to say:

“Ok I’m leaving the house now. See you in about 1.5 – 2 hours”.

I’ll be like, What? Do you live 180km away? Only then I stop and think: Ohh… public transport. 😅

 

So for the most of my life, the thought of public transport never really crossed my mind, until I realized how much money and time I’ve been spending caught in the jam and paying expensive fuel & city parking prices. I could do so much more with that money!

There were no more excuses – I even have a train station right in front of my place of residence! Heck, it was the train station – amongst other factors – that convinced me to purchase this condominium in the first place. So why wasn’t I maximising its facilities? 😱

Perhaps the mere thought of thronging through the (sweaty) crowd with their arms raised (read: exposing their underarms directly towards my nostrils in full glory) during peak hours could very well be the bane of my life. And doing it in flat shoes, no less. Also, horror stories of getting pick-pocketed or molested in a packed bus/train.

 

So yes, I take the KTM and the LRT to work and back every day now. 😀 It really was an eye-opening experience.

Here are some photos to encapsulate my public transport excursion!

 

Don’t ask me why I use two cards.

I think I got overzealous with the whole new idea, so I bought an extra card.

And another one 😛

I always, always take the stairs. Up and down.

Also, I head off straight to our new F&B business – The Desi Lab – almost every day with the LRT train too.

Things I learned and noticed while taking the KTM & LRT every day:

Sometimes, I encounter people like this.

Other times, my rides are usually rather zen.

Clearly, the advantages outweigh the downsides. The only disadvantage is probably waking up a little earlier and potential train operational failures/technical difficulties. Then again, to be fair, your car can break down too. 😂

The 10 major plus points I observed while taking public transportation in KL are:

  1. I get to burn extra calories power walking and standing for an hour
  2. In time for coffee runs in the morning and never running late for work
  3. It’s so cheap! So much money saved!
  4. People don’t line up. They need to be high-fived in the face with a chair.
  5. I get to observe people from all walks of life
  6. Chances to identify opportunities for advertising or what society could potentially benefit from
  7. No creeps. Everyone was very civil.
  8. I arrive work/home in less the amount of time being stuck in a jam
  9. My feet hurt. I need new walking shoes.
  10. I stink by the end of the day. If only I could carry a portable shower in my handbag

It was the first time I could actually smell myself. And then I learned how not to judge people with body odour. Trust me on this, you can’t help it when you’re walking for miles and sweating in the hot sun every day. 🙄

Not everyone has the privilege to arrive all puffed and powdered in the comfort of air conditioning, or the luxury of being ferried to and fro everywhere they go.

Maybe if you take more public transport and save all the monies, you will get there.

A little goes a long way, hey? 😀

Thank you KTM Komuter Malaysia and RapidKL LRT for making Kuala Lumpur a better place for locals and foreigners alike! 😍

Saving money and congested roads one day at a time.

Edit: I got new walking shoes just yesterday from Skechers Malaysia! 😀

And they’re comfy AF.

 

Also, new best friends for my ride!

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