AirAsia flight AK 70 landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 5:19 instead of 4:35. Headed to the immigration after using the washroom.
Malaysia Immigration
At the immigration, it was just the non-privileged people from the subcontinent who were not eligible for visas on arrival or visa-free, including all the Bangladeshi immigrant workers on my flight.
Immigration officer Taufik looked like a calm and decent guy. I gave him my visa, return ticket, and the first night’s hotel booking confirmation, along with my boarding pass, current passport, and previous passport with the Schengen and UK visa.
He asked about my purpose of the visit, my return date, and if I was traveling alone. Then, if I have just one night’s hotel booking confirmation. I gave him the rest of the hotel bookings for which I did not have my last two nights booked.
He asked why I did not have those two nights booked. I told him my plan was flexible and that I had not decided yet where to go on those days. He said the only way I could come in was to book those two nights, too, which I said I couldn’t do now because I did not have internet. He suggested I use the free airport wifi.
So I booked those two nights at my Kuala Lumpur hotel, which was cancellable free of charge, and showed him on my phone. He checked that, stamped the passport, and gave me a 12-day visa – precisely the same date as my return ticket, instead of 30 days eligible. I thanked him and entered Malaysia. Apparently, returning from Europe twice was not proof enough that I would return from Malaysia.
I initially booked just a one-way flight to Kuala Lumpur and thought about getting a return ticket from onwardtickets.com on the day of my departure, which remains valid for 48 hours from the booking, which all the world nomads online recommended doing. But when doing more research on it and checking a sample ticket of them the previous day of the departure, it looked like they only provided a reservation number instead of a PNR. This is simply a reservation with the airline that I can do myself – not an e-ticket. No one will accept it as my proof of return with my Bangladeshi passport, which currently ranks 181 among 195.
So, I booked an 80% refundable return ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Dhaka from kiwi.com, although I plan to go to Cambodia from here. I am glad that I did that. Now, after the Malaysia immigration experience, I am sure that they would simply deport me if I had that ticket from onwardticket.com instead of the return ticket.
Rescuing a Man’s Wife
After the immigration, I went to the belt and found the luggage immediately at belt no 9. When exiting the area, a young Tamil man approached and requested to share a hotspot with him because he was having travel connecting to the free airport Wi-Fi. His wife is stuck at the immigration office because she has no return ticket. He needs to book a bus ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore for her and send it to her to pass the immigration.
He is a Tamil Malaysian, and his wife has an Indian passport. They just returned from India from a month-long vacation. While he came out just scanning his Malaysian passport, his wife got stuck because of having no return ticket. He thought I was also Tamil, which is common wherever I go, so he approached me as a fellow race.
So I shared my free airport Wi-Fi with him to book his bus ticket, take a screenshot of the ticket to send to her, and leave only after the wife passed through with much thanks from the man.
Bus Ticket Hassle
Next followed the sign to the bus station. I planned to go to Bukit Bintang and stay there for the day. I booked a 170 MYR ($38) hotel at Bukit Bintang for today, which will now charge me 50% for the cancellation. But I thought it was only about 08:00 on Saturday, and the check-in time was 14:30. Going to Bukit Bintang, I had to wait a long time to check in.
Instead, I can take a bus to Malacca, officially Melaka, which will take 2 hours, spend a day and a half there, and return on Sunday evening to Kuala Lumpur. This should be enough time to explore a small place like Malacca. Also, if I can find a cheaper hotel, my cancellation charge for Kuala Lumpur will be recovered.
There were two bus ticket counters there. The Indian girl at the counter did not like me for some reason. When I asked for the 8:15 bus ticket and what the price was, she said the bus was at 9:45 and 42 MYR. I said I saw on the board that the next bus to Maklacca was at 8:15. She rudely said no ticket, booked, fully booked. That would be too late. So I said no and looked at the board again, thinking what to do. Then, I returned to her again after a couple on the counter, saying I’ll take the 9:45 bus. She said the counter was closed, and she left.
There were a few kiosks where you could purchase tickets. I went to one of them and found that the 8:15 bus to Malacca had 15 seats available. The seats were in a 2+1 formation. I tried to book a single seat, but it automatically said the payment was unsuccessful. I tried another machine, and that also told me the same thing. I was a bit worried that my credit card got blocked, probably because of the fraud issue, because I am trying to use it from a different country than my residence. The machines and the counters all were cashless.
So I returned to the other counter, where a Malaysian girl was, and told her I wanted to book an 8:15 bus ticket to Malacca. She checked it and probably found some issue with it and asked something to her supervisor, and told me it was available and the price was 26 MYR for one person. I told her to issue a single seat in the front. She gave me the POS, which I touched with my card, and the payment went through—she then gave me the ticket. The bus was leaving from platform B, Gate 8. Seat number was 1.
There was a gated boarding area where people were waiting. I scanned the QR Code on the ticket, and the gate opened. I took a seat. I had no local currency or SIM Card. I am out of the internet now.
On the way to the bus counter, I checked a couple of money exchanges, which was a rip-off. The official rate for 100 USD was 447 MYR. They were offering 375 MYR. 72 MYR loss for exchanging 100 USD – equal to one night’s accommodation in Malaysia, to put things in perspective. So, I did not exchange any money. Also, I saw no SIM card booths at that early hour. I thought I’d exchange at the Malacca bus terminal and buy a SIM card there.
Bus to Malacca
After a short time, I headed to the platform and could see only Platform A and Gates 1 to 10, but no sign of Platform B. Looking hard, I found it on the other side of the road. I went to gate 8 just before 8:00 and found the details for the Malacca Bus. It will arrive at the platform at 8:00 and start at 8:15 on time. A few other people were also waiting there.
The Star Mart Express bus arrived at the platform on time. I showed the driver my ticket, which he confirmed and told me to get in. I left my luggage at the luggage storage and took my seat. The seat was wide and spacious. It was nice but hard – not comfortable. Also, it had a fabric cover instead of an artificial leather, which did not feel good.
The bus started on time, had a 10-minute stop at Terminal 2 of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, stopped to refuel at a gas station for about 20 minutes, and then started for Malacca. Within 2 hours, it arrived at Melaka Sentral Station. The highway was a nice three-lane expressway without any traffic, with lots of greenery on both sides. Most of them were huge palm plantations. Also had a few other trees.
Melaka Sentral
Arrived at Melaka Sentral Station at 10:20. Found a Money exchange and exchanged some money. The online rate was now 443 RM for 100 USD. Got 435 RM here – much better than the airport rate of 375 RM. Here, I discovered I had a $100 note with a scotch tap, which someone gave me without me noticing. He rejected this note.
Found a shop to buy a SIM Card next. I got a Digi Sim Card with 40 GB of data, with one-month validity for 30 RM. The chart said it was 25 RM, but the girl then showed me something written in Malay, for which it was 30 RM. No problem!
Back online, I tried to book a hotel. I found one on booking.com, but instead of booking there, I thought, why not go there and book directly and ask for some discounts, since I am here already. Google showed I can take a bus to the Malacca Old Town and walk to the hotel. I went to the designated bus and asked the driver if he was going to the stop Google was showing. He showed me another bus.
I went to that bus, which was unlike a city bus. It was a fully sitting bus without any box to put luggage on, which was inconvenient. So, I decided to get a Grab instead. I went to the designated Grab pick-up point to call one when a young Chinese man approached and asked if I was looking for a Grab, to which I replied yes. He said he has a car and charges the same as the Grab.
I showed him the address on Grab, which was showing as 8 RM, the Standard Grab option. He agreed, and I got in the small car. He said he was a school teacher and drove Grab part-time on weekends. We arrived at the Old Town Malacca in a short time. The road near the address was showing as closed on Google Maps because of an event. Need to get off a bit far and walk from there. He said he doesn’t like to come here because of traffic. A small part to cross the bridge takes a long time. He then dropped me quickly on the main road and left.
No Trace of the Hotel
Followed the map then and walked about 10 minutes to the hotel. Arriving there, there was no trace of the hotel. After looking for it for about 10 minutes, I called their number, but no one answered.
I then asked a lady in a massage parlor, who had been trying to get me into her shop for some time, if she knew this place. She looked at it and said yes, it was a 10-minute walk from here, and showed me the direction. Walked toward that direction for more than 10 minutes, and still no trace of it. Then I gave up. Glad that I did not book it. It was asking for an advance payment, which was also non-refundable.
So I looked at booking.com again and found another one, and started walking toward that, following Google Maps, and arrived there in 10 minutes. It was located just behind the Baba House in front of me, but the road to it was taking a long U-Turn on the left.
Glad to find this one in place, I went to the reception and told the young Chinese man I wanted to book a single room with a private bathroom. He said he had rooms available and could give me 80 RM after a 10% discount. Checking online, it looked like less than anyone was offering, so I agreed. He then said there would also be a 10 RM tourism tax and a 3 RM World Heritage Site tax, making it 93 RM. I said that was too much and asked if he could lower that further.
He then made it a 15% discount, making it 75 RM, and the taxes, 88 RM in total. On top of that, he needs a 50 RM deposit, common in Malaysia, which will be returned during checkout. I agreed and asked if I could see the room. He then took me to the room. A nice and clean small room with a tiny bed and a private bathroom, without a window, which is enough for me. So I accepted this room, paid him, and checked in.
Stuck in Heavy Rain
Went out shortly in search of food. It looked like a food card around the corner. I went there and found a vibrant street food market. A few restaurants run by the local Malay Muslim people were there. Everyone is advertising Asam Pedas, which looks like a popular local food. Also, there was a Pakistani halal restaurant and a 7-Eleven, so I felt food would not be an issue during my stay in Malacca.
I ordered a packet of jackfruit for 4 Ringit ($0.90). She offered to take two for 7 Ringit ($1.58), which I accepted. She then pushed to get 3 for 10 Ringint, which I refused. It was delicious. Precisely the kind of jackfruit I like – hard and sweet, not soft, like we mostly get in Bangladesh and always need to ask if it will be hard and get a part of it out before buying to make sure they are hard since we need to buy the whole big fruit. Here, they were taking the cells out of it and putting them in small packets, so you could see how it is even before thinking about buying—no need to throw the whole fruit after purchasing, like us, if they are not good.
Someone was selling fried chicken and rice. I asked her if this was halal, and she said yes. Got one for 7 Ringit ($1.58). Sat on the walkway and ate that. A local elderly lady saw me and said something in Malay, shaking her head disapprovingly. It was a poor lunch, or should I not sit on the street, I had no idea.
It was a bright sunny day, with some clouds in the corner. But suddenly rain started, from a little to a heavy rain. I took shelter in front of a shut shop for about 20 minutes when the rain was gone. Just a few drops continued. So I walked back to the hotel, which was not far.