Before You Read
This was one of the more unconventional trips I did because instead of the usual Singapore to Malacca / KL / Genting route, we followed the Malaysia train map and picked stopovers that looked interesting.
First thing first: grab a steady friend who is willing to do this with you and just go.
Please do not expect clean toilets, pretty hotels, atas shopping malls or a very polished holiday. This is not luxury travel and also not exactly backpacking. It is more like: we wanted something affordable, our leaves were already approved, flight prices were crazy high, so we decided to take trains around Malaysia and see what happens.
This post is based on my 2018 trip, so please check current KTM timings, hotel conditions, Grab availability and attraction openings before booking.
Trip At A Glance
| Detail | Notes |
|---|---|
| Route | Singapore/JB, Seremban, KL, Taiping, Penang |
| Duration | 7D6N |
| Travel style | Budget train route, local food stops, random attractions, Grab-heavy transport |
| Best for | Steady friends who can laugh through imperfect hotels, rain, closed stalls and random plans |
| Main warning | Train timings control the route, so book transport before finalising stays |
Before You Go
- Book your train tickets first before finalising hotels. Some routes have limited timings, and one of our trains from Taiping to Penang only had one service for the day.
- We used Easybook for train bookings then, but please check current booking options before buying.
- Tally the train timings properly because the transport schedule may decide how many nights you can stay in each place.
- For Malaysia, we mostly used Grab because it was cheap and easier than trying to work out local transport.
- I preferred cash payment for Grab in case we needed to cancel or if drivers were not familiar with certain ulu places.
- Bring tissue and wet wipes. Believe me, you will need it.
- The SGD 500 estimate was not inclusive of personal expenses/shopping. It was more about keeping the main trip cost low.
Route we did:
Singapore / JB > Seremban > KL > Taiping > Penang
Watch the full video first if you are lazy to read.
Day 01 – Singapore/JB To Seremban
Before the trip, I had a hard time researching because most Malaysia itineraries I found were the usual Singapore > Malacca > KL > Genting road trip.
I wanted something different, so I ended up looking at individual places along the train map to see which ones were worth stopping at. Since I already did the painful research, this route may help if you want a one-week getaway that is affordable and not the usual route.
We wanted to take the KTM train from Woodlands to JB Sentral, but we did not manage to book it. So we woke up very early and started from JB Sentral instead.
Our first train was at 7.15am. We were worried about getting stuck at customs, but because we reached Woodlands checkpoint around 6am, there was surprisingly no jam. Any later and I think the jam would have started.
Important note: for trains going to many parts of Malaysia, you may need to transit at Gemas. There was no other option for our route then, so factor that into your timing.
By the time we reached Seremban, it was already evening. We checked into our hotel and were quite happy because it was connected to Palm Mall, which is apparently the biggest mall in Seremban.
But hor, “biggest” does not mean very exciting. It was good enough for convenience, but if you are imagining massive shopping, please lower expectations.
Dinner was supposed to be Ketam Nipah & Lala, but it was pouring so we changed plans and ate at a random Korean BBQ restaurant opposite the mall.
Big mistake.
The service was bad, the food was bad, and we ordered BBQ thinking we could BBQ ourselves, but they cooked everything at the back before serving it to us. The servers also made mistakes with simple orders. So yes, boycott-level experience for me.
Day 02 – Seremban Food, Ostrich Farm And Massage
Day 2 was supposed to be our Seremban food and activity day, but this was also when our unlucky streak started.
Our intended breakfast places, the beancurd stall and Restaurant Melido, were closed because the owners went on holiday. Then Haji Shariff’s Cendol was also closed for no clear reason. Even the neighbours looked surprised.
Thankfully, Restoran Mei Xin saved the morning. Their Hakka noodles are very simple: noodles with pork lard and minced meat. But omg, the taste was so good. Sometimes the simple food is the best.
After that, we went to Master Siew Pao instead of Kee Mei Siew Pao because a very nice Grab driver recommended it. According to him, Master makes the pastries on the spot, while Kee Mei is more factory-packed.
Coincidentally, the Yit Poh Lao Shu Fen he recommended was directly opposite Master Siew Pao too. Both were good, so that driver really saved our food day.
Then we went to the main highlight of Seremban: Jelita Ostrich Farm.
We fed ostriches, touched their eggs, rode on one and even watched an ostrich race. There were goats around too, but they were quite aggressive. One of them “horned” my friend for more food LOL.
I would say it is an experience, but one hour is more than enough. I initially thought it could take half a day, but no need lah.
We skipped Lake View Square and the State Library because they were under construction, so we went straight to Seremban Gateway Mall for shopping and massage. Very happy to find Thai Odyssey there because after the early train start and random closures, massage was exactly what we needed.
Dinner was at Restoran Yit Sing, and this was a must-try for us. They are known for marmite crab, and apparently people drive up from JB/KL just to eat and go back. The other dishes were good too, and it was such a satisfying meal compared to the horrible KBBQ the night before.
Day 03 – Seremban To KL, Mid Valley And Mookata
Day 3 was our KL stopover.
We had breakfast at an Indian restaurant opposite the hotel, then took the train to KL.
For KL, I went back to the usual hotel I liked because of convenience. It was connected to Mid Valley shopping mall, which made the day very easy. Since KL is somewhere we can always visit again, we only planned one day there.
The main reason we stopped in KL was actually to try Mangkorn Seafood, a Thai mookata place we saw in one of those Facebook trending videos.
We spent most of the day at Mid Valley doing retail therapy, then Grabbed to Mangkorn Seafood. It was not really in central KL, so the ride took around 20 to 30 minutes.
Food-wise, it was okay only. It reminded me of Three Peacocks in Singapore, just cheaper because of the exchange rate. The fun part was catching and cooking live prawns. Other than that, it was just mookata lor.
After dinner, we went back to rest because we had another morning train the next day.
Day 04 – KL To Taiping, Food Court And Night Safari
Taiping was one of the places I was looking forward to the most, but it also became one of the places where expectations and reality did not fully match.
We reached Taiping hungry and went straight to Larut Matang Food Court with our luggage. It is like a hawker centre with many local food stalls, so we ended up ordering a lot for two people. This was probably one of the better food stops so far.
Then we checked into our hotel.
This was where the first disappointment came in. The online photos made the hotel look way better than it was. In real life, it felt like a 2 to 3-star budget hotel, even though the photos gave me 3 to 4-star expectations. Quite a big hit to the mood.
We wanted to visit Taiping Zoo in the day, but by the time we reached, it was too late because the zoo closed around 5pm. Based on what I saw online earlier, I thought the zoo and night safari could be explored together until midnight, but no: zoo was day time, night safari was from 7pm onwards.
So we explored the mall nearby first. Ahem, the mall felt like those Batam malls.
At night, we went to the Night Safari.
Honestly, do not bother if the lighting is still like what we experienced. The animals were actually more awake than Singapore’s Night Safari, but the place was so under-lit and under-maintained that you could barely see anything from the tram. There were also spider webs around the walking paths, so yah… not exactly glamorous.
After the tram ride, we left and went to Siang Malam, the night street with food stalls. Some must-try items there are nasi lemak and chee cheong fun, but we were too full from nonstop eating and skipped the nasi lemak.
Tip: Taiping food is better when you go in a group because you can order and share more.
Day 05 – Failed Maxwell Hill Plan And Duck Farm Surprise
Our initial plan was to take the jeep up Bukit Larut, also known as Maxwell Hill.
Plan failed.
By the time we reached, the jeep tickets were already sold out. I had actually read about this issue online but lazy us decided to take a bet and go later. Bad idea. There was already a huge queue when we arrived.
The first jeep started around 8.30am, and we reached around 7.30am. Online forums had advised reaching at 6am. No kidding. There were several time slots up to early afternoon, but everything was filled before our turn.
So there goes half a day of plans.
We pivoted to Yut Sun Restaurant for breakfast instead of lunch, and this turned out to be a good choice because the pork chops there are a must.
After that, we went to Trong Leisure Farm & Resort, also known as the duck farm. I was initially skeptical because it was far, around 1.5 hours by car, and it was raining almost the entire time.
The biggest warning: there was no Grab service at the duck farm.
Lucky for us, the Grab driver who brought us there warned us and agreed to wait for us, with additional payment of course. We verified that there really was no Grab service there, so unless you have your own transport, please arrange with your taxi/Grab driver for the return trip.
Despite the rain and transport issue, I did not regret going. The ducklings were SO cute, and there was a huge area with thousands of ducks, though we could not enter that part because it was pouring.
We only asked the driver to wait for about two hours, but if the weather had been good, we could have spent much longer there.
After that, there was really nothing much else to do, so we went back to the hotel to chill. We skipped the night food street because we were getting a bit sick of local food and ended up at Double Tap cafe instead. Surprisingly, the food was good.
Day 06 – Taiping Breakfast, Coffee Factory And Train/Ferry To Penang
Our train to Penang was only at 2pm, so we used the morning for a few Taiping stops.
Breakfast was at Kedai Kop Prima, and the noodles were pretty yummy. After so many heavy food days, it was nice to eat something lighter.
Then we Grabbed to Aulong Heo Pia, a hidden biscuit factory inside a private terrace-house area. It was quite cool because they had many old-school biscuits, and they were making heo pia on the spot. The smell was so good and this was a good place to buy souvenirs.
After that, Antong Coffee Factory.
Sadly, we did not catch the workers grinding coffee because they were on lunch break. Speaks about our Taiping luck again LOL. But we still had a good time tasting different drinks.
Important note: their honey lemon tea was a must. Both of us regretted buying only one pack home because our families finished it within a week. I even thought I might make another trip there just to buy it.
Then we took the train to Penang.
For first-timers, note that we had to take a ferry to the main Penang island. The ferry was also used to ferry cars in and out of Penang, so yes, you can drive in too if you want.
By the time we checked in, we only had half a day left in Penang, so we kept it simple: shopping, massage, and dinner.
Dinner was steamboat at Chong Qing Lao Huo Guo. We did not plan this originally; the restaurant caught our attention while we were in a Grab to the mall. It was a happy Chinese-food moment after several days of local food.
We wanted to try nightlife/bar hopping at Upper Penang Road, but we were too tired and lazy, so we went back to rest.
Day 07 – Penang Street Art, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion And Home
This was technically my second time in Penang. My previous Penang trip was 3D2N, so I did not plan to stay long this round.
But after this trip, I did have a small regret: I should have either extended Penang by one more day or cut Taiping shorter and gave that time to Penang instead.
We started with Little Penang Street and the street art area, then went into a 3D Glow in the Dark Museum just for fun.
After that, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. This is the mahjong place from Crazy Rich Asians. The tour was okay only for me. The mansion is now partly a dining restaurant and hotel, so there is not a lot of free area to wander around. If you want to go, check the tour time slots and plan properly.
Brunch was at Awesome Canteen, one of the must-try cafes I found online. Food was so-so, but the ambience was quite cool.
Then it was back to the hotel to check out, because I had another trip planned the next day and we needed to catch the night flight home.
Overall, this is not the usual holiday most people expect. It is more of a “try once”, affordable, our-leaves-were-already-approved-so-why-not kind of trip.
It was also surprisingly relaxing because there was not that much to do in some locations. We even managed to finish an entire season of a Netflix show during the trip LOL.
What I Would Do Differently
- Book KTM train timings first before locking hotels, because some routes only had limited services.
- For ulu attractions like Trong Leisure Farm, arrange return transport properly. Do not assume Grab will be available.
- Keep Taiping shorter if you are not into slow/local places, and give Penang one more day if you want more food and cafe time.
- Bring tissue and wet wipes. Really.
- Treat this as a try-once adventure trip, not a clean luxury holiday.
- Manage hotel expectations. Some online photos can look way better than reality.