The places you go...
One of the benefits of moving to this condo was its nearness to the LRT (light rail transit). Before Matt left for the States, we wanted to try taking it to the city center, but then we all got sick with a nasty bug.
This weekend was a long holiday, with Monday and Tuesday off. Since most people leave for their hometowns, the city tends to be quieter. We decided to take the girls on the LRT for their first trip downtown.
Riding on the LRT
Much like public transportation in any big city, the system here is straightforward and automated to accommodate the daily commuters. It was also easy to get around with our two strollers.
While there are weekly and monthly card options, we used the VTM to get a one-time use token. The girls were free, so we only paid the equivalent of $2 USD for the one-way trip.
The train came about 5 minutes after we got to the platform. It was a little awkward squeezing past people with our strollers, but we found space between the two cars.
(Struggling with two strollers was probably the hardest part of the trip, but we couldn’t bring our double stroller. It wasn't designed to fit the girls’ car seats, which we needed for the drive to the station. I'd love to have a double with the click-in car seats, but it's hard to find those used. And they’re SUPER expensive new. So we make do with our two, preloved stroller/car seat combos.)
It was a 30 minute trip to the city center. Squirt couldn’t see much, so eventually, I put her in the carrier.
It was fun to see familiar sites from new angles. I've seen this building from the highway, but it looked much prettier from the windows of the LRT. It's hard to see in the picture, but there are Malaysian flags hanging on each panel.
The people you see...
One of my favorite things about riding public transportation is being able to people-watch. I like coming up with stories about who the passengers are and where they're going.
A woman wearing bright red lipstick and a mini-mart polo - was she going to work in spite of her cold or going home because of it? Another woman in pantsuit and heels with a watch to match her purse. A little girl who was upset when she got on the train accompanied by her mother and school-age brother. A baby somewhere further down who didn't like riding through the tunnel.
Squirt loved looking out the windows.
But she also liked waving to the people around us.
When we go for walks, she tries to wave at the people walking past, but by the time she figures out how to do it, the passerby is usually gone. Since we were next to the same people for a while, she discovered that people actually respond when you wave "hello"!
Even though everyone was trying to avoid eye contact, it wasn't easy with two staring babies. Before long, Squirt's wave and Squish's smile had everyone around us smiling.
You've arrived at your destination
Lots of people were getting off at our stop. The stream of travelers flowed around our bulky entourage as we paused for a second to look for an elevator (or lift, as they say here). The one nearest us was broken, so we were quickly swept up with the crowd getting on the escalator. We carried the babies up while someone near us helped with a stroller.
The rest of our time in the city center was ... diverting ... but it was a lot busier than we expected. It was also our first time there with strollers. Let's just say that by the time we finished, we'd figured out which places had the best elevators and which places we should've avoided. Maybe I'll start a baby travel guide for families who want to sightsee in KL :)
By the end of it, the girls were tired, so we used a coupon and booked a Grab for the drive home. At one point, it was going to cost us $15, but we waited 'til the peak time was over, and with our coupon, it was $7. For $5 less and a fun experience, Matt and I both agreed that riding the LRT was probably the best part of the day.
