Here's a less talked about but equally important balik kampung travel check list

You’ve heard it time and again at every “balik kampung” festive season. Remember to check your car engine components’ condition, change your engine oil, make sure your tyres are in tip top condition before you start your journey…

No doubt, these steps are important to follow, not only are you travelling further than your daily route causing more stress to the engine, there is also a possibility that you will get trapped in a 9-hour long traffic jam on the North-South Highway (true story this).

And there’s not the mention the danger of a downpour, you will need all the traction you can get from a good set of tyres even though your car comes equipped with ESC and traction control.

Remember, all the safety assistance systems available on your car is there to help reduce the risk of injury to your person and not to prevent an accident.

But instead of singing the same tune about the same old items you need to perform on your car before you travel on your checklist, there are other factors that we think needs to be done before you head home.

Remember to top-up your Touch’n Go card (Note: CARD, not your eWallet)

If you’re not an RFID user then this is probably the most important step here, as Plus, the company that operates the toll booths on the North South Highway, have removed all “Tambah Nilai” services as an effort to reduce congestion.

Unfortunately for the rest of the country except for Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Johor, Plus toll booths does not accept PayDirect services from your TnG eWallet. And even for BSI in Johor, PayDirect is only applicable for toll fares and not the booths that run the classic ticketing system.

Other than that, PayDirect is available at all other toll booths. So, you can enjoy the convenience of reloading your eWallet in the comforts of your car at those stops. We’re looking at you now Plus.

Get a Celcom or Unifi Sim card if you’re not a user, just in case you get lost (this ain't an ad!)

The roads are ever changing, especially now that the government is taking huge efforts to reduce congestion. As a result, there are constructions everywhere, you never know when you might get lost and in need of data for navigation purposes.

Not to mention those moments when you need to top-up your PayDirect! 

Celcom and Unifi might not be the fastest Telco provider in the city but they do have the widest net. So even when Maxis, Digi and the likes that run on the respectivve tower network fail to receive signal, Celcom and Unifi signals are the reliable sources.

There are plenty of companies that ride on Celcom and Unifi’s signal towers. Yoodo, Xpax, XOX, and TuneTalk just to name a few, offers you cheap packages and better serves as a second Sim card.

Downloaded your favourite playlist and movie yet?

With no guarantees on how long the trip would take and with the patches of the highway with no data signal, having your music and movies available offline for a seamless experience is important.

So, make sure to make your favourite playlists on your Spotify Premium and a number of movies on Netflix available offline before you travel. Especially if you have younger passengers, Netflix hooked up to your infotainment would keep them occupied!

Downloading onto your account’s cloud system might take some time so don’t leave the downloads to last minute!

This is our different take on the balik kampung checklist that we think you should create! Safe journey and Happy Chinese New Year.