Ride a train to the muddy confluence

22 January 2024

A ride to remember
Facebook Memories reminded Tian An (Anna) and I that we took a 7h (Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) [Malayan Railways] train ride from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to Kuala Lumpur (KL) for our 2D1N Uni Grad Trip on this day 13 years ago (i.e. 22 January 2011). Actually, Anna saw this nostalgic reminder first, and he texted me immediately. Both of us had a good laugh reminiscing some of the fun and memorable moments during this trip.

Anna and I were in our final semester of our university school life. We decided to have a short grad trip during our last school holiday before we obtain our Bachelor degree and join the workforce.

Furthermore, Singapore succeeded in negotiating for the return of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and all the KTM railway land within Singapore. As a Singaporean, this is a huge victory for our sovereign, as it is dangerous for Malaysia to own the entire stretch of railway track and land from Woodlands Checkpoint to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station from a defence perspective. Like what Papa said, imagine a train loaded with enemy soldiers and ammunition travelling all the way through our heartlands into the heart of our city centre? Following the resolution of this longstanding land ownership issue, the last KTM train will depart Tanjong Pagar Railway Station on 30 June 2011.

Perhaps it is the history geek and adventurer in us, since secondary school, Anna and I always wanted to travel across Russia via the Trans-Siberian Railway. As we sit beside each other, we always talked about this dream trip in class. Hence, we thought maybe we shall start small by beginning our rail adventure from Tanjong Pagar to KL first. In addition, we decided that we should fixed our trip early (i.e. in January 2011), as it is still school holiday for NTU (damn it, YOG) and we foresee this 'Tanjong Pagar to KL' full journey train ride will be very popular among Singaporeans nearer to the date of the Last Train (i.e. 30 June 2011), especially since June is school holiday.

On 15 January 2011 (Sat), Anna and I purchased our train ticket at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. The nearest date available for the full Tanjong Pagar to KL trip is on 22 January 2011 (next Sat) 8.00am, so we bought our one-way train ticket. We only purchase one-way train ticket, because we planned to fly back from KL as it is much faster and cheaper; plus, our objective of the trip is to 'board a train out of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station'. Therefore, there is no need for us to purchase return trip train tickets.

We were quite surprised that the concept of 'exchange rate' does not exist in KTM! This is because tickets purchased in Malaysia and Singapore are the same price, but based on different currency (i.e. tickets bought at both Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and Woodlands Train Checkpoint are charged in Singapore Dollar, whereas tickets sold in Malaysia stations are charged in Malaysia Ringgit)! In other words, the ticket for our Tanjong Pagar to KL train ride cost S$34; whereas if we bought out return ticket at KL, it will only cost RM34, which is a third of the price if purchased in Singapore. Nevertheless, we are excited to board one of the last few train to depart Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.

Memories of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station
On the morning of 22 January 2011 (Sat), Papa and Mumy fetch Anna from his house, and we had breakfast at Whampoa Market. We reached Tanjong Pagar Railway Station at 7.30am. As there is still ample time before our train depart, Anna and I took some photos of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the train we will board.

Our train departed Tanjong Pagar Railway Station at 8.00am sharp.

Train ride from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

Crossing the Causeway

Train ride from JB Sentral to KL Sentral

Searching for a hotel room!

Jalan Petaling (KL Chinatown)

Bukit Bintang

Good Morning KL

KL City Centre (KLCC)

Travelling to KLIA

KLIA

Fly back to Singapore

[draft; work-in-progress]

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