Church Camp II: Loitering In Kuala Lumpur

As soon as we reached Kuala Lumpur, our driver Albert P began to rely on his Papago GPS (Global Positioning System) to guide him to our budget hotel where we had booked two rooms.

To go northwest to Jalan Sultan Ismail, we followed the instructions of the devise to head to the entrance of the Smart Tunnel. Listening to the mechanical voice without verifying the sign board, we drove into the electronic toll-lanes where we had to pay with either Smart Tag or Touch'n Go. We had neither of them and there was not a human being inside the toll booths to assist us. It was impossible for us to move forward! Fortunately, we were the only "smart" ones being stuck there at that moment. We were able to reverse and avoid a few others cars behind us which later came into the same wide lanes. Otherwise we would have caused a traffic jam! When we noticed the less obvious cash lanes which were actually just on the left, we quickly slipped into one of them.

The GPS did not lead us to our destination immediately after the shortcut to Bukit Bintang. We spent more than half an hour trying to locate the hostel, after which we were familiar with the landmarks we kept passing by and the instructions repeated by the devise. Despite our numerous phone calls to the reception to seek help, we did not get the right turnings. Thank God I was not the one sitting at the driver's seat--I would have lost my patience easily after turning several rounds in the same area in vain.

Finally the receptionist offered to wait for us in front of the grand Istana Hotel where his guest house was hiding behind. Two minutes after we met this human GPS Vincent who was more efficient than Papago, we arrived at Trekker Lodge.

We had chosen this budget hotel from a website because of its low cost, strategic location, complementary breakfast and other facilities. Located right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur's Golden Triangle at Bukit Bintang, this lodge is favoured by international backpackers between 18-45 who contribute 90% of its occupancy. Our adults-children "One Malaysia" team from Melaka was definitely bizarre local species.

Our imaginary "hotel manager" who had turned up in his singlet looked far more casual than the bellboy of Istana Hotel in uniform. I would have taken him for a waiter of a kopitiam (traditional coffee house)...

After we settled our luggage in our respective rooms, we walked down to the nearby eateries to have our proper meals

and/or desserts.

We noticed a flat above a restaurant where cute and colourful lanterns in the form of cartoon characters were hanging on the balcony.

Once the desire for food was fulfilled, what great things were the CCH boys led by their home administrator going to do at Bukit Bintang?

Now they needed to satisfy their appetite for the latest technology. The ideal place to visit was of course Low Yat Plaza suggested by the senior addict Albert who would happily marry an electronic gadget rather than a woman.

The boys seemed to have "inherited" the same gene from their symbolic father and were obsessed by computer screens.

Once, Albert and I even purposely ran away and hid somewhere to get back their attention. When we realised that we two adults, by suddenly fleeing from a shop with a cell phone and camera in our hands though belonging to us, might be suspected as thieves, we stopped the hide-and-seek game.

After spending more than one hour in this indoor "mission field", we ourselves almost became high-tech converts.

As it was dark

and the "sons" felt bored, the symbolic father of CCH thought it was time they returned to their romantic four-bed dormitory.

My small single room with yellow curtains was lovely during daytime.

When I was back at night and switched on the light, it looked sad due to its green painting and white tiles on the wall. Weighing my safety against my interest to explore the surrounding area alone at Bukit Bintang, I decided not to sneak out from my "hospital" room.

Good night!