Welcome aboard Jom Naik Bas! (or Let’s Take The Bus!) A blog for all the reviews, the opinions and my passion for buses.

For a start, I will repost all of my previous entries on reviews and articles on public buses in Singapore, as well as the cross-border express buses of Malaysia. These reviews will now be known as “Jom Naik!”. The BusBlogFeature will also be a permanent feature of this blog.

Some of the BusBlogFeature entries posted are:

• Volvo B9TL
• Volvo Olympian
• Volvo B10M MkII
• Scania K230UB
• Malaysian Double-Deckers Special
• Volvo B10TL Super Olympian
• Scania N113CRB

I’ve also done some reviews on Malaysia/Singapore express buses. The “Jom Naik!” reviews are:

• Mara Liner Express Super VIP – Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur
• Transtar Express First Class – Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
• Suasana Edaran Express TopClass – Singapore to Kuala Lumpur
• Transtar Express First Class Solitaire – Genting Highlands to Singapore
• Transtar Express Premium – Singapore to Kuala Lumpur

A brand new series will also be featured on Jom Naik Bas!, thanks to a collaboration with my Malaysian enthusiast friend Nazmie Dalhar. His informative posts on his trips across the Peninsular Malaysia will be translated to English and reposted on Jom Naik Bas!. These series will be known as Jom Makan Angin!. Should permission be given, I will also do a repost of the reviews done by others on these series as well. The first Jom Makan Angin! review will be posted in early July.

• Jom Makan Angin to the East Coast (Part 1) *New*

I will also feature entries on my other passion – trains and planes. These will however, be categorized as special entries, and will not be as frequent as articles on buses. These will be known as Jom Naik! Specials.

A point to note that I am in no way affiliated or linked in any ways whatsoever with any of the bus and travel companies mentioned in this blog.

I hope you enjoy reading my reviews on what I love most. And please do leave your comments as well.

Thank you for reading!

eyeshack

Jom Makan Angin!

Let’s Visit The East Coast! Those were the slogan printed on the banner hung high in the air near the Karak-bound Gombak Toll Plaza. Just last week, together with 5 other friends, we set on a trip to Kuala Terengganu from Shah Alam, for a holiday and to meet other Malaysian Bus & Truck Enthusiast (MBTE) forumnites. We left at around 9.30pm on SP Bumi Express new double-decker coach from Seksyen 17 Terminal, Shah Alam. The journey took around 8 hours and we reached our destination at about 5.30 the next morning. However, we disembarked at the bus depot as one of us wanted a first-hand look at how an SP Bumi Express depot looked like. SP Bumi Express is one of the most popular bus company in the whole of Terengganu.

SP BUMI Double-Decker – WRR 6789 by sks coach (Scania 420)

The upper deck seats up to 48 passengers whereas the lower deck seats as many as 12, with a total passenger capacity of 60, with a ‘2+2’ seating arrangement. For the more comfortable ‘2+1’ seating, it departs from the Putra Terminal in Kuala Lumpur. Tickets can also be purchased at the Darul Naim Express counters.

A freshly-cleaned bus

View from inside the Depot

SP Bumi Express’ Shah Alam -  Kuala Terengganu ticket (RM 42.00)

(Kuala Terengganu Town Bus)

In the later part of the day, we tried taking the Kuala Terengganu Town bus. To board the bus, passengers will need to go to Dataran Syahbandar which is located near the Kedai Payang Market. No fare is charged for all passengers. The route for this service covers areas from the Town to Losong Museum and the Islamic Civilization Park, as well from the Town to Chendering. The bus service started operations on January 1^st 2008, in conjunction with Visit Terengganu Year 2008. Its sole purpose is to attract the public to use this service in Kuala Terengganu. It is operated by Cahligas, a company of the Terengganu state government. The word ‘Cahligas’ has its own meaning. In the local Terengganu dialect, it means ‘active’ or ‘would not sit still’. The pictures below describes its interior finishings which incorporates traditional decorations, wood cravings, ‘songket’ weavings and ‘batik’, which are among the famous handicraft arts of Terengganu, and can be found on all eight Town buses. Four of these Nissan JA 450 S buses were assembled by Sumai Engineering with another four Hino RK buses assembled by Pioneer Coachbuilders.

(Interior Furnishings in the Town Bus)

(Batik Painting)

(Wood Carvings)

(Songket Weavings)

(Batik Patterns)

Sightseeing shots while onboard the Town Bus

(Keropok Lekor shop in Lesong)

(Terengganu Museum in Losong)

(The Islamic Civilization Park at Pulau Wan Man. The Crystal Mosque can be found here)

(Continued at Go East! Part 2)

This entry was originall published on http://nazmiedalhar.blogspot.com/2008/11/moh-ke-timur-part-1.html. Visit his blog at http://nazmiedalhar.blogspot.com.