would be a heck of an understatement.

kl trip was quite bad, but i managed to do lots of shopping, and made new friends, so all’s good. anyway i’m back home in singapore now, just waiting to see when i have to go back to penang.

anyway. nice bus ranks with the worst coach buses i’ve ever taken. granted, it’s masqueraded as a luxury bus based on its price (which is probably the most expensive from kl to sg) and the fact it has something like a steward, but it is really worse than one of those buses i take from penang. like eltabina or konsortium. even causeway express is so much better. chien, you and your great recommendations. i took the 12.30pm nice ++ bus from old ktm stesen to singapore on 20th may. (i would really give it a horrible ++ rating.)

number one. there is no leg space. the elderly woman in front of me reclined her chair, and yay, no space. obviously if i’m taking a coach, i’ll have a lot of luggage. since you have a powerpoint in your bus (one plus point, yes, but what’s the point if it’s too cramped to use your laptop?), you should expect that people will bring laptops on your bus. well guess what, the woman almost crushed my laptop when she reclined her seat. mind you, my seat was already reclined, aka it was the maximum space i could get. and guess what? there is no overhead compartment to stow your handcarry. so all your stuff is with you on your seat. great minus point here since i was carrying a lot of things. sure, it’s okay if you don’t carry a lot of stuff, but when i travel inter-state or inter-nation, i would expect that people do have luggage and handcarry.

number two. compare this bus to other luxury buses WAY below their price. there is simply no comparison. this is a 26-seater, and it’s already the most luxurious bus they have. there is simply no comparing this to a 18-seater because let’s face it, this bus rides like a normal 40-seater coach bus. it’s so uncomfortable on the seat, if there was a railing i’d rather stand and hold on to it.

number three. price. of course. for the price of 80 ringgit (or more, i can’t really remember) a ticket, you would expect this to be a much better busride than the other cheaper alternatives. wrong. please take other buses that are priced at less than rm30, because you will get the same level of comfort.

number four. it is a direct bus. now this may seem like a plus point for many people, but for me, it is a big no-no. this means i have to get down at a certain point, because it will not stop anywhere else. and they take the second link, so you can’t just run off at woodlands. the problem with singapore is that coach buses do not have fixed points to stop at. it’s not like oh, penang you always go to both butterworth jeti and sungai nibong bas stesen. oh kl, it’s more often than not puduraya. in singapore, you can stop at a variety of places. there’s golden mile complex, boon lay shopping centre, copthorne orchid hotel, that place at lavender which i don’t know its name etc. and there are two ways. if you go by second link, you cannot stop there and take a cab like you can via woodlands.

number five. in-bus entertainment. well there was no selection. there were about two working channels, and only one movie was being played. you cannot choose the movie to watch, and there are absolutely no games to play. no console, no games. i didn’t recognise the movie, and the screen was jumping like crazy, not unlike two crazy humping rabbits, so i didn’t watch the movie. i wouldn’t want to subject my eyes to that kind of torture. not to mention the small screen.

number six. nice bus advertises that it has a host (like the air stewardess-equivalent) that serves you ‘free’ coffee and food. i don’t know about you, but i’d rather not pay rm50 for a host to serve me stale pastry and cheap coffee. sure, the driver helps put your luggage into storage, but so do many drivers of cheaper coaches. the driver could not store my luggage properly yesterday and it fell. if you don’t have strength, let me do it lah. don’t so gey kiang. i don’t want you to break your back, or worse, anything inside okay?

lol. snigger snigger.

conclusion. TOTAL RIP OFF. please take other buses like five stars, aeroline, transtar or grassland. i personally recommend five stars’ 18-seater. taking it from singapore to penang takes luxury to a new level. in a record nine hours. normally if it were a normal coach that cost less than rm30 i wouldn’t have bothered typing this. but this is a rip off that costs rm80+. read the comments here to read more on their substandard service and inflated prices. ok this is a very lopsided review, but you know what, i really couldn’t find anything good about it, hard as i tried.