Business trip to Shah Alam

I went to Shah Alam for an acceptance test last week.

Hotel
I stayed at the Grand Bluewave Hotel. The room rate was RM270. The building is located next to an UMNO building. The room is spacious (living room and bedroom), there are even two separately controllable air conditioning units. My room had a view of a construction site and Wisma PKNS. The buffet breakfast was okay.

Nearby locations
The street is quiet, pedestrians are rare. Even vehicles are rare outside of peak hours. There are at least two malls nearby, approx. 10 min walk (in the same direction). You need to walk under a flyover to get to the zebra crossing, crossing the highway is rather dangerous. The malls seem a little old and run down; not many visitors. Some common outlets are there, e.g. KFC, Secret Recipe, Big Apple. Mosque visible.

Mercu Picorp
Located in some sort of light industrial zone. According to the taxi driver taxis don’t usually come to the area, so one needs to book the return taxi in advance. Otherwise, call the centre and offer a price. No idea if this is true, but taxi driver says the drivers will not come unless a price has been offered. How unusual. Nearest food outlet still needs car, so either pack a lunch or hitch a ride (unless lunch is provided for your event).

Taxi
KLIA to Grand Bluewave Hotel: RM 65, 45 mins
Grand Bluewave Hotel to Mercu Picorp: RM 20, 25 mins depending on traffic

Some taxi contacts:
Razali 019 303 0961 Claims to be an ex-cop and husband to a government accountant. Moderately talkative.
Mansor 012 335 5243 Drives a green cab. Likes to promote places to go. Talkative. Was late for the return trip not once, but twice!
Centre 03 802 42727 Didn’t call this one yet.

Demography
The place seems to be dominated by Malays.