The Experience With FirstCoach

By Elie - 5:00 AM

If you could simply recall properly, my trip to Singapore was by bus and today I'll just rave about what an amazing ride it was. The thing is while I am already working, my salary hasn't quite been enough to cover on airfares just yet so we opted for the FirstCoach bus that departs from Menara KPMG, Bandar Utama. It costs RM 140 per person for a round trip ticket so that totalled to RM 280 for the both of us. What I didn't know however was that FirstCoach would provide us a bottle of water, a set of jam sandwich and a cup of hot beverage when we set off from Bandar Utama so mum and I had our breakfast before catching the 11 AM bus.

 Milo is still the best morning pick me up.

Because I have experienced bus rides on NICE, Konsortium and Aeroline respectively to Penang, it's pretty fair to say that there is a certain standard of which I was expecting seeing as that I paid RM 140 per person to begin with.And I was not disappointed at all.

 Extremely comfy!

The seats were arranged to a 1 - 2 formation so there were 3 people in each row. Mummy and I managed to book the 20th and 21st seat which was pretty close to the back and we had expected a bumpy ride but that wasn't the case at all. Not only that, the seats were really spacious so much so we could actually plant our butts comfortably while placing our handbags by our side...ON THE SEAT! It's crazy, I actually felt like I was on a massage chair. You can even pull the handle for a leg rest to pop up so your feet don't have the suffer the 5 hour madness while you recline the seat back to sleep. And if you're curious about that string on the right side of my feet...

It's a freaking plug point!

I am not kidding. Every corner seat comes with a plug point to charge your electronics so I took the cue to plug in the charger and play games as I liked because I knew I wouldn't be out of juice! It was after all a 5 hour ride, okay? But it's so convenient especially for those who find the need to be working on the go, you could actually plug in your laptop and just do whatever you have to do. I think. I'm not too sure if the bus could handle such heavy voltage but it sure charged my phone fine! And I was extremely lucky that the plug point was there because when I got closer to Singapore, I realized that I needed to send a file back to my colleague but my battery was running low. PLUG POINT TO THE RESCUE, LITERALLY!

Leonardo DiCaprio says hi.

Each seat is also fitted with a personal entertainment system but they don't provide you earphones so I clearly did not run out of luck with my earpods from the iPod. Throughout the journey, I watched The Croods and The Great Gatsby! And good God here's a sidetrack moment: The Great Gatsby is amazing! Leonardo DiCaprio is still sexy as ever while the colours, the feel and the music of the entire movie just blends like a heaven sent act. Seriously, why didn't I watch it before this? Sidetrack moment over. The monitor is touchscreen but it lacks on sensitivity so you have to be extremely precise AND you'd have to tap really hard but what can you expect on a bus, right? No complaints!

There is however only 1 stop to the entire journey and they would usually pick the Pagoh R&R because it is bigger and cleaner to begin with. When mummy and I got down to use the loo, we asked the bus driver how long the break would be and he told us it was for 20 minutes. I guess it was a good thing to let the coach take a break and the engines go on a halt for a while too. Mummy and I explored the R&R before settling for some froyo from DailyFresh at the R&R. If you're feeling a little more on the rich side, there's even a Baskin Robbins at the Pagoh stop! The driver does a head count before leaving the stop so you don't quite have to worry about being left behind but please be courteous if you're on the bus and watch for the time if you've gotten off during the break. We had to wait an extra 10 minutes for some uncle who went missing!

 Desperate measures for froyo! I've been having mad cravings for it!

The coach was generally very clean and each seat comes with a seat belt for extra safety measure. Our driver was fairly courteous and he didn't speed so that's when you know you can get from point A to point B in one piece. It was a good ride and the RM 140 spent was definitely worth it and in fact, I would think it's better than having taken the flight! Imagine having to travel to the airport then waiting for the flight, getting through the hassles of immigrations and customs while lining up amongst the hundreds of other passengers to other flights then having to travel again when you're at the Changi Airport! It would probably take you 5 hours too!

FirstCoach stops at Novena Square or West Coast Plaza while departure spots are at the KPMG building at Bandar Utama and at one of the shop houses along Jalan Bangsar (It's right behind the 7-Eleven!) which is really convenient either way. A special route from Subang Parade to Star Vista is also available! Rides cost RM 55 from Malaysia to Singapore and RM 85 from Singapore to Malaysia while the two-way ticket costs RM 140 for adults. It is RM 28 from Malaysia to Singapore and RM 43 from Singapore to Malaysia while the two-way ticket costs RM 71 for children. Please don't ask me why it's more expensive to come home. The times can be found at their website here and I highly recommend it to be the right way to travel if you want to go to Singapore.

An irrelevant insert of yours truly.

The selfie is just a sign that I'm still well and alive. It was taken in the bus and it should tell you how stable the ride was because I took that while it was moving. That or I have really stable hands for selfies at this point of time. I've always switched my glasses, have you noticed? I'm looking for thoughts on it because I've gotten too lazy for contact lenses ever since the change but I really need to know if I look ridiculous or not. Let me know, please! Moving on, I've got some work to catch up on. I'll pop by for an update sometime this week or the next. But really, life isn't that interesting when you've got a job. I'll try!

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