LRT Laluan Seremban

Sipping Oat Powder at The Bed Station

18 January 202322 January 2023travelingpersecond

I was so hungry that afternoon….

I rushed down the escalator after escalator to go to the 3rd floor of Bersepadu Selatan Terminal and immediately decided to get out via the connecting bridge to Bandar Tasik Selatan Station.

Arriving in front of the row of ticketing vending machines, I immediately looked for a ticket to Pasar Seni Station, which I would take using two integrated train routes, namely the Seremban LRT and Kelana Jaya LRT. I put 3.5 Ringgit into the machine to get a blue token to go to the Pasar Seni which was ten kilometers to the north.

It didn’t take long for the Seremban LRT to arrive and I entered the middle carriage. That afternoon the train was full, and I had to stand until the train arrived at KL Sentral.

You need to know that Pasar Seni is an area that is located just two kilometers north of KL Sentral. From KL Sentral, I rushed down and headed for the LRT Laluan Kelana Jaya platform to reach Pasar Seni Station.

At almost seven o’clock I arrived at the Pasar Seni…..

The Pasar Seni area was visible from the station.

Automatic fare collection gates Pasar Seni Station.

I momentarily pulled over in the corner of the station platform to observe the busy area of the Pasar Seni from above. It was been three times I’d explored the area since 2014, meaning this was the fourth time I’d arrived at the same place. Bored?…. Of course not, there were always new and interesting things that I could find even in the same place.

Towards dark, I started down the steps of Pasar Seni Station and started walking down Hang Kasturi Street to reach the inn, namely The Bed Station. The inn I chose was quite close to Pasar Seni Station, only needed to walk 200 meters.

Finding the inn’s location, I rushed in at an unguarded and unlocked door, only a stairway leading up, connecting several floors.

The reception desk I was looking for was located on the second floor. I entered the room where its situation was still empty and quiet. To then decided to take a seat in front of the reception desk to wait for the hotel staff to arrive.

Finally, fifteen minutes later, the male staff arrived.

“Hellooo….”, he friendly greeted.

“Hi….I want to check in”, I got up from my seat and approached the reception desk then handed over the online booking confirmation sheet and passport.

“Let me see!…. Your name is in our system. Ok, 22 Ringgit for room and 20 Ringgit for deposit”, he started to close the transaction.

“Why don’t several hotels in some cities in Malaysia require a deposit?”, I was feeling astonished

“I don’t know about that. I’m originally from Egypt, so I don’t know more…”, he explained still with a smile.

“Just take a bunk bed in your room….All the choices are up to you”, he handed me the locker key.

After completing the transaction, I headed to the 3rd floor via the stairs to enter the room. The room was full, with 20 bunk beds in the room leaving only a bunk bed near the door.

“Oh, this is my bed”, I smiled frowning.

The dorm room was empty, all guests were probably having an adventure in the city. Later that night, before going to bed, I found out that the guests were all a group from another city in Malaysia because they spoke Malay to each other. I guessed it was a group of students who were on a study tour because one of them was called a teacher.

I went around the 3rd floor looking for a shared kitchen but never found it. There was only a shared bathroom on a side of the stairs and a shared lobby in the form of a chair row with an elongated hanging table which was usually used by guests to work with their laptops. There was only a long sofa available in this shared lobby.

“Wow, that means I have to eat out”, I immediately decided to leave from the 3rd floor.

The single staircase connecting between the inn’s floors.

It was already eight in the evening….

That night I would only fully explore all sides of Central Market. Even though I’d visited it three times, I hadn’t even explored it in detail. So that night I will complete my intention.

I went back down Hang Kasturi Street heading north. Until arriving at a big T-junction.

“I have to have dinner soon, before going any further”, I decided to sit on one of the concrete benches on the edge of Tun Sambanthan Street.

I confidently opened the oat powder package, poured it into the foldable lunchbox, filled it down with mineral water, then started my very simple dinner. I deliberately sat on the side of the road because, on the upper side, the LRT Laluan Kelana Jaya went back and forth across the road beautifully.

LRT Laluan Kelana Jaya crossed Tun Sambanthan Street.

Don’t rush, Donny!

Enjoy your dinner!

Next Story—->

Exploring Bersepadu Selatan Terminal

17 January 202318 January 2023travelingpersecond

<—-Previous Story

Towards sunset, I arrived at Bersepadu Selatan Terminal after traveling eight and a half hours from Kuala Terengganu using the Arwana Bus service. Bersepadu Selatan Terminal is a giant terminal in the south of the city that replaces the role of Puduraya Bus Terminal which is located in the center of the city.

That night, I was going to stay at The Bed Station in the Pasar Seni area, but I didn’t need to be in a hurry because I’d reserved one bunk bed at that inn through a well-known inn e-commerce six days before I left my own home.

This wasn’t the first time I’d set my steps in Bersepadu Selatan Terminal (TBS). In March 2018, I stopped by for the first time when I was back from Melaka. Whereas my second visit occurred nine months later when I was back from Ipoh.

But on the last two visits, I’d been in a rush. So at that time too, I never had any intention of really exploring the biggest transportation hub in Peninsular Malaysia.

But in the late afternoon that night, instead of going to the inn.

My intention to explore TBS was growing at that time….

Finally, that evening, I decided to explore Bersepadu Selatan Terminal, which was an integrated hub covering an area of 2 hectares with a height of six floors, the pride of Malaysia.

That afternoon, the Arwana bus dropped off each passenger at the arrival hall on the 2nd floor, to be precise, on the west side of the terminal. As soon as I got off the bus, I was faced with five escalators in a row which would take each passenger up to the 3rd floor. Why was that?…. Because on the 3rd floor, was where the TBS’ connectivity point with other public transportation routes was located.

While passengers chose to continue their journey to their respective homes using private vehicles, of course, their vehicles were nicely parked on floors 4 to 6.

Entering TBS’ main lobby door on the 3rd floor, I was immediately faced with an arrival lobby on the right side of the door which was filled with rows of chairs. While in front of the arrival lobby, there was also the TBS executive lounge for passengers.

While several banking promotion booths appeared to have acquired several corners of the lobby, one of the bank’s brands was PTPTN (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Nasional). The Guidance & Information LED also displayed a directory about floors 1-6.

The remaining part was travel-related stalls such as telecommunications equipment shops (DiGi was one of them) and minimarkets (POINT and 7-Eleven could be seen in the corridor) completing the hustle and bustle of the 3^rd-floor corridor.

West side of the terminal where the arrivals platform was located.

The arrival platform was visible from the 3rd floor.

Escalator to the departure hall on the 2nd floor.

Ticket sales counter seen from the 4th floor.

Before heading to the center of the hall, there was a departure hall gate that was divided into two departure gates. It was the two gates that would lead passengers to two parts of departure hall l, namely the departure hall with platforms 1-13 and platform 14-16. Meanwhile, right on the south side of the departure lobby, there was an exit to the connecting bridge which would take passengers to the commuter train line, Seremban LRT, and airport train (KLIA Transit). Apart from trains, of course, passengers would also be directed to be able to use city buses and airport buses.

Walk until you were right in the middle of the 3rd-floor room !, there were two giant LED boards to display departure and arrival schedules. Meanwhile, under the two LEDs, eighteen sales counters were visible in a row, acquiring almost half of the hall. And right at the very beginning of the ticket sales counter, six machines were part of the self-service ticketing system corner. And finally right at the very end of the hall, enhanced by the existence of an information center to facilitate the information needs of passengers.

From the elevator at the east end of the hall, I started to go up to the 4th floor. The 4^th-floor corridor was dominated by a food court, and shopping center, and there was also hotel transit, as well as access to parking locations. From the 4th floor, I followed the stairs to the 5th floor. There was no longer a hallway on the 5th floor, but all floors of the building were dominated by car areas (parking areas). Likewise, the 6th floor was also used for the same function.

After half an hour, I was satisfied exploring the whole of Bersepadu Selatan Terminal. Now it was time for me to head to The Bed Station. I had to get closer to downtown before it was too late.

The 4^th-floor hall of that 10-year-old terminal looked neat.

The connecting bridge to Bandar Tasik Selatan station.

The view from the connecting bridge to the east.

Finally, I rushed down using the escalator to the 3rd floor to reach the connecting bridge to the Seremban LRT.

Next Story—->

Menyesap Bubuk Oat di The Bed Station

7 September 202112 September 2021travelingpersecond

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

Aku lapar sekali sore itu….

Aku bergegas menuruni escalator demi escalator untuk menuju lantai 3 Terminal Bersepadu Selatan dan langsung memutuskan keluar melalui jembatan penghubung menuju Stasiun Bandar Tasik Selatan.

Setiba di depan deretan ticketing vending machine, aku segera mencari tiket menuju Stasiun Pasar Seni yang akan kutempuh menggunakan dua laluan kereta yang terintegrasi, yaitu LRT Laluan Seremban dan LRT Laluan Kelana Jaya. Aku memasukkan 3,5 Ringgit ke dalam mesin untuk mendapatkan sebuah token biru menuju Pasar Seni yang letaknya berjarak sepuluh kilometer di utara.

Tak perlu lama menunggu, LRT Laluan Seremban tiba dan aku memasuki gerbong tengah. Sore itu kereta penuh, aku harus berdiri hingga kereta tiba di KL Sentral.

Perlu kamu ketahui bahwa Pasar Seni adalah sebuah area yang letaknya hanya dua kilometer di utara KL Sentral. Dari KL Sentral, aku bergegas turun dan menuju platform LRT Laluan Kelana Jaya untuk mencapai Stasiun Pasar Seni.

Hampir jam tujuh aku tiba di Pasar Seni…..

*Automatic fare collection gates* Stasiun Pasar Seni.

Aku sejenak menepi di pojok platform stasiun untuk mengamati keramaian area Pasar Seni dari atas. Sudah tiga kali aku menjelajah area itu semenjak 2014, berarti ini kali keempat aku tiba di tempat yang sama. Bosan?….Tentu saja tidak, selalu ada hal-hal baru dan menarik yang bisa kutemukan di tempat yang sama sekalipun.

Menjelang gelap, aku mulai menuruni tangga Stasiun Pasar Seni dan mulai menelusuri Jalan Hang Kasturi untuk menggapai penginapan, yaitu The Bed Station. Penginapan yang kupilih cukup dekat jaraknya dari Stasiun Pasar Seni, hanya perlu berjalan kaki sejauh 200 meter saja.

Menemukan lokasi penginapan, aku bergegas masuk pada pintu yang tak berpenjaga dan tak terkunci, hanya lorong berupa tangga menuju ke atas, yang menghubungkan ke beberapa lantai.

Meja resepsionis yang kucari ternyata terletak di lantai kedua. Aku memasuki ruangan itu yang suasananya masih kosong dan senyap. Untuk kemudian memutuskan mengambil satu tempat duduk di depan meja resepsionis demi menunggu staff hotel tiba.

Akhirnya lima belas menit kemudian, staff pria itu tiba.

“Hallooo….”, dia menyapa ramah.

“Hi….I want to check-in”, aku beranjak dari tempat duduk dan merapat ke meja resepsionis lalu menyerahkan lembar konfirmasi pemesanan online beserta paspor.

“Let me see!….Your name is in our system. Ok, 22 Ringgit for room and 20 Ringgit fo deposit”, dia mulai menutup transaksi.

“Why don’t several hotels in some cities require a deposit?”, aku sedikit tergelitik

“I don’t know about that. I’m originally from Egypt, so I don’t know more…”, dia menjelaskan tetap dengan senyumnya.

“Just take a bunk bed in your room….All the choices are up to you”, dia menyerahkan kunci locker kepadaku.

Usai menyelesaikan transaksi, aku menuju ke lantai 3 melalui tangga untuk memasuki kamar. Kamar itu penuh, 20 bunk bed di ruangan hanya menyisakan satu bunk bed di dekat pintu.

“Oh, ini tempat tidurku”, aku tersenyum mengernyitkan dahi.

Ruangan itu kosong, para penginapnya mungkin sedang berpetualang di tengah kota. Nanti malam, menjelang tidur, aku baru tahu bahwa tamu itu seluruhnya adalah sekumpulan rombongan dari kota lain di Malaysia, karena mereka saling bercakap menggunakan bahasa Melayu. Aku menebaknya sebagai sekelompok siswa yang sedang melakukan study tour karena salah satu dari mereka dipanggil dengan sebutan Cikgu.

Aku berkeliling lantai 3 untuk mencari shared-kitchen tetapi tidak pernah menemukannya. Hanya ada kamar mandi bersama di salah satu sisi tangga dan lobby bersama yang berupa deretan kursi dengan meja gantung memanjang yang biasa digunakan penginap untuk bekerja menggunakan laptop. Hanya tersedia satu sofa panjang di shared lobby ini.

“Waduh, berarti aku harus makan di luar”, aku segera memutuskan pergi dari lantai 3.

Tangga tunggal penghubung antar lantai penginapan.

Sudah pukul delapan malam….

Malam itu aku hanya akan mengeksplorasi secara lengkap segenap isi Central Market. Walau sudah tiga kali mengunjunginya, tapi belum sekalipun aku menjelajahnya secara detail. Jadi malam itu aku akan menuntaskan niat itu.

Aku kembali turun ke Jalan Hang Kasturi menuju utara. Hingga tiba di sebuah pertigaan besar.

“Aku harus makan malam segera, sebelum melangkah lebih jauh”, aku memutuskan duduk di salah satu bangku beton di tepi Jalan Tun Sambanthan.

Aku dengan percaya diri membuka kemasan serbuk oat, menuangkannya di foldable lunchbox, mengguyurnya dengan air mineral, lalu memulai makan malam yang sangat sederhana itu dengan lahapnya. Aku sengaja duduk di tepi jalan itu karena di sisi atas, LRT Laluan Kelana Jaya hilir mudik melintasi jalanan dengan indahnya.

LRT Laluan Kelana Jaya melintas di atas Jalan Tun Sambanthan.

Tak usah terburu waktu, Donny!

Nikmati makan malammu!.

Kisah Selanjutnya—->

Menjelajah Terminal Bersepadu Selatan

6 September 20217 September 2021travelingpersecond

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

Menjelang maghrib aku tiba di Terminal Bersepadu Selatan pasca mengarungi perjalanan delapan setengah jam dari Kuala Terengganu menggunakan jasa Bus Arwana. Inilah terminal raksasa di selatan kota yang menggantikan peran Terminal Bus Puduraya yang terletak di tengah kota.

Malam itu, aku akan menginap di The Bed Station di daerah Pasar Seni, tapi aku tak perlu terburu waktu karena satu bunk bed di penginapan itu sudah kuamankan melalui e-commerce penginapan ternama pada enam hari sebelum aku pergi meninggalkan rumah.

Ini bukan pertama kalinya aku menjejakkan langkah di Terminal Bersepadu Selatan. Pada Maret 2018, aku menyinggahinya untuk pertama kali ketika kembali dari Melaka. Sedangkan kunjungan kedua terjadi sembilan bulan kemudian ketika aku kembali dari Ipoh.

Tapi pada dua kunjungan terakhir, aku memang terburu waktu. Jadi kala itu pula, aku tak pernah ada niatan untuk mengenal sungguh-sungguh hub transportasi terbesar di Semenanjung Malaysia itu.

Tapi sore menjelang malam itu, alih-alih langsung melanjutkan perjalanan

Niatku kini berkembang….

Akhirnya menjelang malam itu, aku memutuskan untuk mengeksplore Terminal Bersepadu Selatan yang merupakan hub terintegrasi seluas 2 hektar bertinggikan enam lantai kebanggaan Negeri Jiran.

Sore itu, bus Arwana menurunkan setiap penumpangnya di balai ketibaan (arrival hall) lantai 2, tepatnya di sisi barat terminal. Begitu menuruni bus, aku dihadapkan pada lima escalator berjajar yang akan membawa setiap penumpang naik ke lantai 3. Kenapa demikian?….Karena di lantai 3 inilah letak titik konektivitas TBS dengan jalur transportasi umum lainnya.

Sementara penumpang yang memilih melanjutkan pulang menuju rumahnya masing-masing menggunakan kendaraan pribadi, tentunya kendaraan mereka sudah terparkir manis di lantai 4 hingga 6.

Memasuki pintu main lobby bangunan TBS lantai 3, aku langsung dihadapkan pada sebuah arrival lobby di sisi kanan pintu yang dipenuhi dengan barisan kursi. Sementara di depan arrival lobby juga terdapat TBS executive lounge bagi para penumpang berduit tentunya.

Sedangkan beberapa stand promosi perbankan tampak mengakuisisi beberapa sudut selasar, salah satu brand bank tersebut adalah PTPTN (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Nasional) . LED Panduan & Informasi juga tak ketinggalan tertampil berisikan directory tentang lantai 1-6.

Selebihnya kios-kios terkait perjalanan seperti kedai peralatan telekomunikasi (DiGi salah satunya) dan minimarket (POINT dan 7-Eleven tampak di selasar) melengkapi keramaian selasar lantai 3.

Sisi barat terminal dimana *platform* ketibaan berada.

*Platform* ketibaan tampak dari lantai 3.

Dua sisi gerbang pelepasan (*departure gate*).

*Escalator* menuju *departure hall* di lantai 2.

Konter-konter penjualan tiket dilihat dari lantai 4.

Sebelum menuju ke pusat selasar, terdapat gerbang balai pelepasan yang dibagi dalam dua departure gate. Dua gerbang itulah yang akan mengantarkan penumpang menuju dua bagian departure hal l, yaitu departure hall dengan platform 1-13 dan platform 14-16. Sedangkan tepat di sisi selatan departure lobby terdapat pintu keluar menuju jembatan penghubung yang akan mengantarkan penumpang menuju jalur kereta komuter, LRT Laluan Seremban dan kereta bandara (KLIA Transit). Selain kereta, tentu penumpang juga akan diarahkan untuk bisa menggunakan bus kota dan airport bus.

Berjalan hingga berada tepat di tengah ruangan lantai 3, terdapat dua papan LED raksasa untuk menampilkan jadwal berlepas (departure) dan ketibaan (arrival). Sedangkan di bawah dua LED tersebut, delapan belas konter penjualan tampak berjajar mengakuisisi hampir separuh sisi selasar. Dan tepat di ujung awal konter penjualan tiket, tersedia enam mesin yang menjadi bagian dari pojok self service ticketing system. Dan akhirnya tepat di paling ujung selasar, disempurnakan dengan keberadaan pusat informasi untuk memfasilitasi kebutuhan informasi para penumpang.

Dari lift di ujung timur selasar, aku mulai naik ke lantai 4. Selasar lantai 4 ini di dominasi oleh food court, shopping centre dan tersedia juga transit hotel, serta akses menuju lokasi parkir. Dari lantai 4, aku menelusuri jalur tangga menuju lantai 5. Tak ada selasar lagi di lantai 5, melainkan semua lantai gedung didominasi medan kereta (parking area). Begitu pula lantai 6, juga digunakan untuk fungsi yang sama.

Setengah jam sudah aku puas mengeksplorasi seisi Terminal Bersepadu Selatan. Kini sudah saatnya bagiku untuk menuju ke The Bed Station. Aku harus segera merapat ke tengah kota sebelum kemalaman.

Selasar lantai 4 di terminal berusia 10 tahun itu tampak rapi.

Jembatan penghubung menuju stasiun Bandar Tasik Selatan.

Pemandangan dari jembatan penghubung ke arah timur.

Akhirnya aku bergegas turun menggunakan escalator menuju lantai 3 rtuntuk meniti jembatan penghubung menuju ke LRT Laluan Seremban.

Kisah Selanjutnya—->