SOUTHEAST ASIA • Flying from Metro Manila to Kuala Lumpur with Drama in Between

I was shaking, quite speechless for outspoken words but the voice within me was speaking too much that it's so hard to handle...

[South East Asia Region, Asia]

12

I just reached another milestone in life. When I was a kid, I dreamed of traveling outside the Philippines not as a worker but as a leisure traveler or a tourist (though I also want to become an OFW and work as a nurse in Africa and Japan or in a cruise ship). That dream came true today. This travel note happened on 16 February 2016.

I was shaking, quite speechless for outspoken words but the voice within me was speaking too much that it's so hard to handle; speaking so loud and clear that it hits bullets right to the target.

I reached Partas bus terminal in Pasay at around 6 AM. I planned to walk from the station to the airport (around 2-3 km, this wasn't a suicide, I even hiked for 3 days and 2 nights with only food, pee and sleep breaks) but I realized it doesn't hurt to spend a little buck for the tricycle since I've been used to paying 300-400 pesos for taxicab from Cubao to NAIA everytime. The bus terminal is way closer now to NAIA compared to Cubao.

Anyway, a tricycle driver approached me and quoted 100 pesos to NAIA Terminal 3. It was very early in the morning and he was even handling this bag of pandesal. He hurriedly swallowed what he was eating when I approached him as I haggled down to 80 pesos. The deal was done.

At NAIA Terminal 3

I haven't taken any breakfast yet and my mind was preoccupied with food. I saw Wendy's inside the terminal complex. I don't know but I suddenly became interested having a breakfast here—probably because I saw many people (including foreigners) having their breakfast. For 109 pesos, I got a cup of rice, a regular softdrink and 1 piece of chicken. It was quite expensive for me but what could I do? I got to stick with this choice. I didn't know it would turn out to be like this either.

After the breakfast, I have to wait for the check-in counter to open so I decided to sleep in one of the corners inside the terminal. I was able to sleep in a sitting position. That was amazing! In front of me was a Caucasian backpacker woman who happened to manage a sleep better and longer than me. I saw her, so don't ask me why I said she managed to sleep better and longer.

When I woke up, I saw that the check-in counter was already open. The queue was already long so I rushed down to fall in line. On a side note, the woman (a lady guard) didn't allow me to enter. She asked me for the 'boarding pass' and I couldn't present any since I still have to check-in. It was weird. So I walked again to the other side. The security guard allowed me here finally. So what's wrong with the lady guard?

In the counter, the pretty lady who just got pissed-off by an Indian national before she attended for me asked if I've paid for the travel tax. I said no so I paid for it. It was 1,600 pesos and I got shocked! What? 1,600 pesos? BIR must be so rich now. Like a freakin' easy rich now!

At the Immigration

Yes, it's my first time to travel abroad so I was scrutinized by the immigration officer if I could really establish a rightful reason why I was leaving the country.

I was asked for my work, my income, my itinerary, passport and many more! I didn't know it could be this stressing. The immigration officer was not convinced that I could fund my travels abroad given that the salary I told her is the minimum provincial rate. I was initially denied so I was told to meet a second-line assessor.

That time I was getting anxious with many 'what ifs' in mind. I was nervous thinking that I might not be allowed to exit the country. I filled up a form then passed it to the second immigration officer.

After about 15 minutes of interview, yes, 15 minutes, the officer was convinced that time and she checked the "allow" box! Yehey! I was allowed to leave the ▼ PHILIPPINES!

At first, I thought this hassle in the immigration would cause me to be left by the plane. It was just long and taxing. Thank God anyway. My passport was stamped for the very first time.

Arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2)

I've wanted a window seat but because I didn't want to spend more bucks getting a window seat on the booking website, I chose not to. In the plane, my seat was in the middle of a 3-seater row at the right side of the aisle (a total of 6 seats in a row including the 3 seats, left of the aisle). Surprisingly, no one came to sit beside me so I transferred to the window seat! Whew! Great thing I didn't spend bucks for this. It came for free. It was destiny.

In front of me were two good looking Filipinos and God forgive me for judging but they looked like a gay couple. They were just so sweet. A typical male Filipino buddies don't act this way. At my back are white men.

In KLIA2, I was amazed. It was a huge airport with a big terminal with a shopping mall called gateway@klia2, better-looking than NAIA. Dang! Welcome myself to ▼ MALAYSIA!

Where was my next stop? Where should I exit? Should this province-grown boy relatively phobic for big cities survive his first backpacking outside his comfort zone? | to be continued... |

CHAPTER 01CHAPTER 02

CHAPTER 01 SUMMARY: ▼ Five (5) Tourist Stops (Not Spots) to Spice Your DIY Itinerary Below 24 Hours in KL
▼
If you loaded this page expecting for tourist attractions to see in less than 24 hours in Kuala Lumpur, I'm sorry to disappoint you but this is not a story of tourist spots but tourist stops. Yeah, stop here, stop there, stop everywhere.



✈ EPISODE 01: ► Flying from Metro Manila to Kuala Lumpur with Drama in Between

✈ EPISODE 02: ▼ Travel Drama in Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2)
▼
My anxiety as a first-timer almost escalated to panic level. So there's no such thing as overacting because sticking to reality is the name of the game here.



✈ EPISODE 03: ▼ KLIA2 to KL Sentral by Bus: My First Land Travel Outside PH
▼
I was showing physical awestruck signs overtly while inside the bus because I was seeing different races. There are Malays, Indians, Chinese, black and white men. This country is so multicultural! This is my first bus ride in Malaysia!



✈ EPISODE 04: ▼ Reaching KL Sentral and How I Acted Dumb Stupid
▼
You may not believe this but I felt so ignorant about this. There's no train station in our province so encountering a self-service machine like this in actual setting is new to me.



✈ EPISODE 05: ▼ KL Sentral to Bukit Bintang: My First Train Ride Outside PH
▼
The monorail runs overground. I saw the city of Kuala Lumpur in a general perspective up close—the modern skyline, the lush parks, the mosques, the busy roads and the residential areas. I enjoyed it.



✈ EPISODE 06: ▼ Lorong 1/77a: of Endings and First Times
▼
This street was where I ended my first day in Malaysia but it served as the rendezvous of my many first-time experiences and encounters so it meant so much for me.

Coming Soon!

BLOGSERYE 03 SUMMARY: ▼ MALAYSIA-THAILAND BACKPACKING + MOTORBIKE RIDING FOR THE FIRST TIME OUTSIDE PH
▼
As a millennial, this is not conforming to the 'trend'—doing it because your friend do it. For me traveling is a form of continuous education. No masteral and doctoral degree could ever teach you the way traveling does.

Map Showing the Location of South East Asia Region

► FOOTNOTES, DISCLAIMERS, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, ETC

[1] This post was filed under the category "En Route Stories" See more posts related to this below.

[3] The maps I used on this post are from maps.google.com.ph.

[4] The insights, condition and name of places or properties I mentioned here are based on the facts and situation on the day of my visit. Take note that you may have a different experience when you try or see the properties or places mentioned here. Names of places and properties may also change by time so it's not my responsibility to update all the information on this blog because once published, I already consider it an archive and I won't update my narratives because I want them to become my references of what have happened in the past. I'm very particular of the dates because I want my amazing readers to understand that I am writing stories based on my perspective and insights on the day of my visit. You can see dates almost everywhere on this blog. Exempted from this rule are my travel guide posts that need to be updated.

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