Train Ride from Kajang to Batu Caves

An unexpected train ride

Some of you may wonder why I am talking about a train ride in Kuala Lumpur. Its a new experience for me - rushing up the stairs trying to catch the train on the other side of the tracks. We were travelling from Kajang to KL Sentral.

The steps were steep and it was not easy trying to balance my overweight handbag and my overnight bag. It only costed us RM3.40 each from Kajang to Batu Caves, the last stop. We were on the way back from a weekend at Jenderami and Yara Center.

Dinner on board the Orient Express

Tonight I was amused to see the Orient Express in the Batu Cave train terminal. The dining coach was brightly lit with lamps decorated with quaint little shades. I saw tourists in there all dressed up, eating their dinner by the windows. The train was stationery along the dusty old railway tracks.

Maybe the train was deliberately timed to stop over so the passengers could have a relaxed and stable dinner without their chicken and drinks sliding all over the dining table! The humble grimey and dusty surroundings seemed a little surreal.

Have you been on the Orient Express?

Just recently I took a pleasant train ride to Singapore. I asked my friend who was a widely travelled tourist guide whether she had been on the Orient Express before. She said yes and I asked her whether it was any improvement from the ordinary passenger trains.

I was quite amused when I recalled her answer " Not much difference actually. The only difference was that people would dress up formally for dinner and food was served in fine China and silverware". She also mentioned that the food was not even impressive or tasty!.

Wrong Perception can create different impressions

I used to imagine the expensive train ride being very luxurious and elegant, with comfortable carriages, chugging all over the romantic countryside of Europe and Russia! Too many Agatha Christie novels during my teenage days!

Moral of the story : Many people and situations are actually very ordinary but it seems special and attractive just because it is something new and different. What is new to us may be actually dull and boring to people who are used to such a way of life. The grass always seem greener on the other side!