Imagine stepping off your overnight coach for a quick toilet break. A couple of minutes later, you walk back, only to see your coach drive off into the darkness without you. And now, at 4.15am, you're stranded at a rest stop in Malaysia.

That was exactly what Singaporean traveller Ernz, 35, claimed happened during a recent overnight journey to Kuala Lumpur via a Billion Stars Express coach. 

Speaking to 8days.sg, Ernz said what started as an ordinary ride slowly snowballed into one of the most stressful travel experiences he has ever had. 

The coach had stopped midway through the journey and Ernz, assuming it was a routine rest stop, got off to use the toilet. But when he returned, the coach was gone.

“I saw the coach bus just zoom away in the far distance and left without me,” he wrote on Instagram.

Speaking to 8days.sg, Ernz said his friend, who was still on board the coach, later told him he had informed the staff that he had been left behind. “But they didn't bother and just continued on their journey,” he added.

His friend also believed it may not have been a scheduled rest stop at all but rather, a passenger drop-off point.

As the coach disappeared into the distance, panic set in. Ernz told 8days.sg he tried to flag down the first passing car but quickly realised that probably wasn't the safest thing to do. “The car's high beams flashed briefly and I realised I'd better stop doing that,” he said.

Luckily, he noticed a car idling nearby. After asking the driver whether he was a Grab driver, Ernz immediately made a booking through the app. Fortunately, the booking matched him with the same driver. “That's when I finally felt like I wasn't stranded anymore,” he said.

While he had no idea exactly where the coach had stopped, Ernz told 8days.sg the Grab pick-up location showed up as "Pusat Servis SONY".

“The only people around were a handful of diners at a nearby eatery an...