Going Back To My Hometown, Melaka!

It has been 1 year and 3 months since the first time I came to Tanjung Malim. On the 1st June 2013, I came here with my family to register as a new student in Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris or well known as UPSI. It has been my dream to enter this university and luckily, my dream had turned into a reality. Just as any other new students, homesickness had always become a major problem. The same goes for me. Since it was my first time being away from home, I miss my family tremendously. To make matter worse, I do not know how to go back home by myself. During my first semester, my father who is working in Subang Jaya, Selangor picked me up and took me home. I know it had been hard for my father to go back and forth so on my second semester here, my friend and I tried to go back home by ourselves using public transports. I know that for students of UPSI who are living in the southern part of Malaysia, it is hard to go back as there is no bus provided here in Tanjung Malim's bus station. I hope by sharing my experience, it will be easier to go back home by public transports.

After asking from our classmates and seniors about the directions, we began our journey. First, we need to buy KTM tickets to go to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan which is situated in Bandar Tasek Selatan. In order to do so, we need to go to KTM Komuter Tanjung Malim Station. From our house in Taman Bahtera, we went there by taxi which costs us RM8. After queueing, we bought the tickets. The price of the ticket is RM 7.50.

KTM ticket to go to Bandar Tasek Selatan.

The look of the KTM which departed from Tanjung Malim.

45 minutes later, we arrived at KTM Komuter Rawang Station. According to our classmate, here, we need to exchange the train line. We climbed up the stairs and get into the train which was waiting on the first platform. Then, we continued our journey to Bandar Tasek Selatan. We also had the chance to enjoy the green scenery along the way.

 

The inside look of the KTM which departed from Rawang.

The KTM here is more modern than the KTM at Tanjung Malim.

Two hours later, we finally arrived at Bandar Tasek Selatan. Again, we need to climb up a stair and cross the road by a junction to go to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS). According to TBS's website, Terminal Bersepadu Selatan or Integrated Transport Terminal in Bandar Tasek Selatan (ITT) is opened to public on 1 January 2011. It has an easy connections to the KLIA Transit, KTM Commuters and RapidKL LRT rail networks.

People were queueing to buy bus tickets.

Then, we queued at the counter to buy bus tickets. I bought the earliest bus ticket to Alor Gajah for RM10. Here in TBS, customers have several options on how to buy their tickets. The first one is through their e-ticketing portal. Credit cards and web cash can be used through this medium. The second option is through the counters provided while the third one is by using their Self-Service Ticket Vending Machines. The second and third option can be used only at TBS as they are available there.

The bus ticket.

To kill time and boredom, we went for a window shopping at the boutiques and fashion outlets located within the terminal. There were also many kiosk and restaurants provided at the terminal. Half an hour before the bus departed, we go down the escalator to go to the departure hall. At the departure hall, we need to go and wait for the bus at the gate as stated on the ticket. When the bus arrived, we boarded on the bus and went home safely.

The view of the departure hall from the top of the escalator.

We need to wait for the bus at the gate as stated on the ticket.

Spacious space and plenty of seats provided.

I really hope that this post will help many students in the near future. If you have any enquiries or questions, feel free to leave them in the comments box. I will try my best to answer them. Till then, good bye!