ban Kuala Yakin forever and ever

am too tired of work to blog about work. anyways,..last weekend I went back to Penang happily..Left office at 7pm (mistake no 1!) and went straight to Puduraya via LRT...upon reaching the station, I guess everyone was like me, hunting for last minute tickets (mistake no 2). Of course, as everyone usually does, one will head first to Konsortium to see if there are any available ticket (if you are heading to Pg)...sadly all the tickets were sold out till 12am..naturally, I wouldn't want to wait for 4 hours just because I like Konsortium's services (mistake no 3)...finally found a booth that sold the Penang ticket for RM35 (usual is RM27 nia) since the fella said, it is Friday bla bla, extra bus bla bla

HC: uncle, confirm or not is 3 seater????
uncle: yes ,yes..
HC: Sure arrrrrr....
uncle: sure la you look at the picture.. new bus u noe..
HC: yamehhh extra bus worrr sure 3 seater arrrrrr....
uncle: yes la...
HC: (it was 8pm) 9.30pm ar..how much?
uncle: RM35
HC: Wahhhhhhhhhh...not RM27 meh..nvm I go other counters ask 1st thanks

Then I walked and asked around still..I think they shared the same bus, so it was RM35 as well..then after that I think think...last time studying only want to save the RM8 la..now I'm earning RM2.5k dammit, what's RM8??????? So, my spendthrift-inner hooiching beat the kiamsiap-truly-a-penangite inner hooiching and convinced myself to purchase the RM35 ticket (mistake no 4). Went to KFC to satiate my craving for KFC black pepper chicken while waiting for 9.30pm

Sesampainya to Platform 13, pleasantly surprised that the bus came early! 9.15pm oredi get to be seated comfortably, so I expected that the bus will leave at 9.30pm sharp..Oh well the bus was a little old, but at least it was 3 seater as promised. Good 1st impression. Definitely will keep Kuala Yakin in mind next time I want to go back Pg. (Cis, mistake! never make assumptions for bus companies).. I happily texted my kengkawan, saying I will probably reach by 1am, can come pick me up by 1.30am, latest...mayb can supper sumore..mistake mistake mistake.. 10.15pm I was still stranded at Platform 13..apparently they wanted to fill up all the kekosongan (vacant seats) before we depart.

Akhirnya after somebody complained, we left at 10.30pm. Hmmmphhh..tak sampai 1 hr bertolak, we stopped again for almost 45 mins (and it bloody said BAS EKSPRES)...ho ho ho by that time the bus' airconditioner knows ninjutsu, sumore can use Reversal no Jutsu thim. Hot air flows inside the bus instead of cool air. Cis bedebah. After a not so comfortable ride, we passed Juru toll at about 3am. 3am!!!! 1.5hrs behind schedule. and since our bus was supposedly be strictly to Penang Island, not Butterworth, the bus should head to the Pg bridge right???? No worrrr..it stopped by the road side and waited for another bus so that those that want to go to Pg Island will have to transit bus. Don't have to purposely detour to Butterworth ma, the bus driver said. Gah. Baka siot. We waited 1 hr for the bus to come. What time did I reach Sg Nibong terminal? 4.30 am. ok..calculate calculate..7 hours journey. Rm35. If I took Konsortium it would have been RM27..12am..reach by 4am with a nicely working aircond.

So I hereby blacklist Kuala yakin forever and ever and ever. (Actually I blacklisted many companies d since I always get the tickets only when I reach Pudu)..This isn't even my worst bus experience yet. I've encountered stalled bus, totally non-working aircond bus in midday under the scorching sun, buses that stop at every freaking state they pass to pick up or drop passengers (Muar, Batu Pahat, Ipoh Seremban yada yada).

Moral of the story:
1) Buy your tickets in advance
2) Leave your office on time so you could've gotten better tickets

Checklist when purchasing ticket from an cacat not so well-known bus company:
1) Are you sure it's 3 seater?
2) Are you really sure it's 3 seater?
3) Confirm ar 3 seater?
4) How much is it?
5) Why so expensive?
6) Haggle
7) Sure the aircond is working?
8) Sure that it's express?
9) Will you be stopping on every state on the way to pick up or drop passengers?
10) Still stick to later bus departure but surely will arrive de (i.e. Konsortium, Gunung Raya)