{"id":1102,"date":"2008-06-19T02:43:02","date_gmt":"2008-06-19T02:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/?p=1102"},"modified":"2008-06-19T02:43:02","modified_gmt":"2008-06-19T02:43:02","slug":"well-travelled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/?p=1102","title":{"rendered":"Well-Travelled"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Ah, the video I was looking for! Thanks TDR<\/a> for geeking out with me and finding this video.<\/p>\n

I’ve been invited to a few boycott-petrol-stations and fuel-hike-protest Facebook groups. Honestly, to them, I say, ride with me<\/b>.<\/p>\n

On the bus.<\/p>\n

On the LRT.<\/p>\n

Cars are a convenience, yes, but they take up so much space. Imagine a packed shopping mall – if everyone drove there in their own car, one shoplot would only fit 2 cars plus the road required to drive into that parking lot<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Now imagine a Vincci. At least 20 ladies and 6 men idling around on the seats (oddly, no metrosexual man would be seen shopping at Vincci.) That would mean that parking lots should be ten times bigger<\/b> than the shopping complex itself!<\/p>\n

Only 20% of Malaysians take public transport – in developed countries, 50% do. Part of this can be blamed on a underdeveloped public transport system… but I also say that Malaysians aren’t supportive. Have you bothered to find out which bus comes to your area?<\/p>\n

There is<\/b> some predictability in the timing of buses. I used to write down the times of the buses that would go to my place, on my phone. Give or take 15 minutes, with a 1 hour space in between buses. After I had understood the system, I could accurately plan my timing<\/b>; after all, the LRT is very consistent at 2 minutes per stop.<\/p>\n

I’m also a heck lot more punctual than my car-dependent friends.<\/p>\n

Could I go get a car? Perhaps. But I could retain my position as the “hey how do I get from KLCC to One Utama by public transport?<\/i>” phone support guy. If it’s not anyone as well-versed, who else would it be?<\/p>\n

George<\/a> started taking the train, and documented some exploits in comics. Hooray!<\/p>\n

I Have A Secret<\/b><\/p>\n

I’m a closet tree-hugger.<\/p>\n

I was watching Idiocracy<\/b> on TV, and after that a scene of a bayou appeared on the screen. I didn’t have any idea what that was about but I was hooked. It was Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth<\/b>. I was sleepy as heck, but for some reason I couldn’t stop watching it. Each time I wanted to retreat and sleep, I thought “I got this far through the show, I’m going to finish watching it.<\/i>”<\/p>\n

Al Gore has an amazing skill – no matter how sleep-inducing he can be, he doesn’t let you sleep.<\/p>\n

To make it worse, they showed the add-on documentary after that… but I didn’t last past that.<\/p>\n

Two Weapons<\/b><\/p>\n

I have my monthly RapidKL RM135 all-access bus and LRT pass. It lets me on any RapidKL mode of transport for free<\/b> and for unlimited rides<\/b> for an entire month! Knowing that I have this pass encourages me to skimp on taxis unless I am in a rush or am sick.<\/p>\n

The other item that lets me travel around is a Touch N Go card. This covers the KL Monorail and KTM Komuter services. I also use it for tolls, if my friends are giving me a lift. After all, they’re paying for a lot more in petrol so I might as well be considerate!<\/p>\n

After Midnight<\/b><\/p>\n

…public transport in Malaysia ceases to operate. But the only reason I’m out after midnight is if I’m clubbing and there’s alcohol involved. So since there are no buses or trains left, I should drive, right?<\/p>\n

No, don’t be an idiot, don’t drink and drive.<\/p>\n

Have a designated driver who doesn’t drink. The other benefit of this is, you’re carpooling!<\/p>\n

Biii-cycle!<\/b><\/p>\n

Sometimes, I wish I had one of those cool inventions I used to see on Beyond 2000<\/b>. A bicycle that could fold into a backpack. It’s usually the last mile that isn’t covered so I wish I had a portable bicycle. I could take the bus to 1 Utama, unpack my bicycle and cycle to The Curve in 10 minutes instead of taking a leisurely 20 minute walk.<\/p>\n

I seem to take 20 minute walks quite a bit – my walk from the office in Technology Park Malaysia to the Bukit Jalil LRT station is one of them, when I’ve just missed the bus. Or the Segambut KTM station to my house, from say Midvalley – so I can take the KTM instead of taking the LRT to Titiwangsa and then waiting for a bus.<\/p>\n

Real walking beats paying for a gym membership and walking on a treadmill. I’m actually heading somewhere, and paying nothing for it!<\/p>\n

I Hate Bandar Utama<\/b><\/p>\n

Yes, I really think that having everything centralized in 2 buildings is dumb. For one, if you have the munchies, you can’t just walk out to grab something from your neighborhood 7-Eleven or mamak. Instead, you have to get into a car and drive and take up a parking lot.<\/p>\n

I wonder if the people who drive to 1 Utama from across town curse at the residents of Bandar Utama for taking up a parking space just for a small errand. Or the other way around.<\/p>\n

I love how my neighborhood has 7-Elevens, burger stalls, mamaks, restaurants, and grocery stores. If I just want to grab a Coke, I can just walk out of my house. To force people to drive out just for that is ridiculous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ah, the video I was looking for! Thanks TDR for geeking out with me and finding this video. I’ve been invited to a few boycott-petrol-stations and fuel-hike-protest Facebook groups. Honestly, to them, I say, ride with me. On the bus. On the LRT. Cars are a convenience, yes, but they take up so much space. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rants","category-travelling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glaringnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}