KL - Dilemma in KK and the Comfort of Familiarity

KL, Malaysia - Before making it back to KL, I had to see Atkinson Clock Tower right up a hill. It has somehow symbolized Kota Kinabalu, and I couldn't leave the city without paying my respect (sort of). Little did I realize that the clock tower was just a few walks at the back of Borneo Backpackers which, on its own has a historical anecdote worth telling. (It rises on "Australian Place" - and one of the three backpacker hotels habitating this "place". Australian soldiers who arrived in the island long time ago first settled here. The name stuck!)

Atkinson Tower is a homage to Francis George Atkinson, the first district officer of Jesselton (KK's original name). He unfortunately died of "Borneo Fever" at the age of 28. As a memorial, they secured a two-faced clock that was given by Atkinson's mother as a present and incorporated it to the tower. From BB, I crossed the street then immediately saw a hill. There it was! Nothing fancy, in fact it would be in its early state of disintegration.

From the tower, I walked around the hilltop. It was used as a parking lot for the nearby police (or was it army) academy. I continued to walk further, made my way down until I reached the City Hall and the adjacent City Park where a memorial of Australian soldiers who fought two 1960's wars stand. It was just a stone with names written in the middle of the slab.

I saw an Internet Cafe nearby, as well as a foreign exchange counter - two of the essential items I was looking for the first night I arrived. Great internet connect at 2 ringgit every 30 minutes. I then rushed back to Borneo Backpackers to checkout (they're rather strict with their 11AM checkout time).

DILEMMA

The dilemma here was: do I "commute" and venture on a city-bus-and-minibus combination? It would be fun and educational if I had enough time. Or do I just take the taxi which is faster and dependable but more expensive. I wanted to experience the bus commute, so against the persuasive logic of a taxi ride, I headed to the nearby Bus Stop just across Milemewa Store where a bus was indeed waiting. I asked the "conductor", "Wawasan Bus Terminal?" He nodded, and I paid 50 cents. It wasn't quite 11 yet, but my departure was at 12:30PM. I am used to being at the airport early. I wasn't too comfortable playing with time because a lot of things could happen in between. Upon reaching the bus terminal right across Wawasan Center, I rushed to find the L.T.T. mini-bus. (It wasn't the Puputan that LP mentioned. The guy I asked instructed to look for "LTT" - so I did! The driver was also the one collecting fees - 1.50 ringgit. "Terminal 2?" I asked. He nodded. Then time started to agonizingly run ever so slow.

But I finally made it to T2 at 11:45AM!

The ride to KL was a bit bumpy and took 2 hours and 15 minutes. Arriving into KL feels like arriving at a familiar room; no more butterflies; no surprises; no photos worth taking. It was somehow comforting. But am I not here for the adventure? That will have to wait.

This is the Eye in the Sky!