Singapore City ~ Part 1

Salam peeps..

Been postponing this travelogue since forever..hahaha....dun be mad..just finished my GC entry though..plus..nak up kan entry ni pon kene ade mood..and kene reminiscing pics dan korek otak untuk ingat balik pasal trip nie..tapi insyaAllah..sume masih segar lagi dalam ingatan..

Eh, tak buat entri penutup pasal GC lagilah..alamak, den lupo! xpe..xpe..jangan risau..nnti akan dibuat jugak..budget tu x lari ke mane..ade dalam notes aku...kooottt!! (peh, mano den lotak eh?!)

ok, balik pada cerita Singapore...it happened during long weekend due to celebration of 1st Muharram, new year of Muslim Calendar, 1433 Hijrah. (bagus, time tu kau g trip singapore! *mode insaf*)..but its a long weekend. So, i decided to take this opportunity to cross border to have a getaway at neighboring country, Singapore. This time, i had Nairus a.k.a Cik Neyu as a travel partner. It was a blessed when she suddenly called me and asked for a trip during the long weekend. Coincidentally, i planned to go to Singapore weeks earlier but didn't manage to get partner to go along the trip. So, it was like 'seperti orang mengantuk disorongkan bantal'...terus semangat berkobar2 nak g trip Singapore sebab ade teman...klu cik neyu xder, nekad dah aku travel solo.

FYI, it was my first time to step foot in our neighboring country. It's a shame since i went as far as europe but yet yang sekangkang kera ni aku x jejak lagi. That's why i was dying to go to Singapore. Plus, my first attempt to reach there failed (due to inevitable reason). So i was so determined to set my foot there up to the extend i was willing to travel alone. But, luckily, i had Neyu to accompany me during this trip. So, tidaklah saye kembara sendiri. Selamat!!

We started our journey on Saturday, the 26th November 2011 morning (ngam2 aku dapat gaji time tuh..selamat lagik!). We traveled to JB by Neyu's Myvi. It was just a mere 4 hour road trip to JB, stopped at Hentian Nilai for big breakfast and bumped into several heavy traffic along the way especially at Seremban and Malacca exit. It was a long weekend though. I believe many people took the chance to have trips within it. Waktu hujung minggu yang panjang cam ni, bina lapan lane highway pon confirm jammed jugak.

aktiviti menghilangkan kebosanan ketika memandu dalam jammed! (mode perasan diva)

We reached JB at almost 1.30pm. Had some trouble to find ways to Stesen Bas Larkin, since none of us familiar with the road. But, thanks to the technology of smartphones, we manage to reach there safely with the help of google map. We planned to park the car at the station and taking the bus ride crossing the border, but, we didn't know exactly which parking that offers RM5/day flat rate. So, we parked at the station's Metro parking first to just drop by at the terminal and asked for the exact location of the said parking. Metro parking would cost more indeed. Plus, i needed to change some RM to SGD. Tips: please do your money exchange in KL, you'll get better bargain than in the terminal itself even though the difference would be only 0.02, but if you change RM1k, it'll bring much different.

Ok, another tips : the location of the RM5/day flat rate parking is opposite Pasar Larkin. See map below :-

haaa kau...semangat aku google map dan edit di paint...heh...xpaham jugek,sile tampo muke sndirik!

Kalau korang jumpe jejambat menghubung ke pasar larkin tu, maknenye anda di parking yang betul. Sile simpan tiket masuk parking dengan selamat. Kalau tak, rate nye dah jadi lain akibat denda kehilangan tiket.  Dan make sure kete anda termasuk stereng, gear, and etc di lock dengan kemas ye cause its park at your own risk.

Ok, sambung...we had our late lunch at Food Court, Pasar Larkin. It is located at the topmost floor of the market. The lunch was so-so since I was expecting delicious Johor dishes, i had Asam Pedas Ikan Kembung with white rice and Neyu had Ayam Penyet (oh, kalau nak makan ayam penyet sedap kat JB, sile pegi ke restoran Banafee berhadapan dengan New York Hotel - exact location : sila google..ekekeke).

Lepas lunch...kitorg bergerak ke stesen bas untuk cari bas ke Singapore. Since it was first time for both of us, tercangak-cangak juge mencari tempat jual tiket bas. Di sini penting ye skill komunikasi dengan masyarakat. Bak kate pepatah, malu bertanye sesat jalan. So, we asked around. Rupenye senang jer nak cari bas ke Singapore. Cari platform yang ujung2 dekat2 dengan bakeri ape tah..ade berjenis-jenis bas ekspres yang boleh bawa cross border dan salah satunye adelah SJE (Singapore-JB Ekspress)...other express bus, Causewaylink and SBS...ade jugak intercity bus..all u have to do is just ask around. There are lots of options but different bus will have different stop. So, u just have to be careful with the destination u chose.

SJE bus..that took us from Woodland to Queenstown

The fare cost us RM3.30. Cheap aite? The bus brought us from Stesen Bas Larkin to Queenstown in Singapore via Woodland, where the cross-border checking takes place. It was so easy to cross border. Asalkan ko x nampak macam penjenayah, it shud be smooth and easy. The bus will stop at our Kompleks Imigresen, and all the passanger together with their luggage have to go down, walk up the elevator/escalator to the checkpoint where the Malaysian Imigration Officer will check our passport. It was easier and shorter queue in automatic-passport-checking machine. So, i suggest those with little carriage opt for this one.

We were then, go down to the platforms where the bus awaited us..then the bus took us along the bridge of Tambak Johor, cross the border and straight to Woodlands, the Singapore Imigration Complex. Here, you'll need more time to fill up some forms and checking the passport. The officer will definitely ask you several questions on the purpose of the trip and where you're going to stay in their country. But we didn't experience any abnormal situation during the trip through and fro. God bless us.

while waiting for SJE bus to come @Woodland..motip makan rambut sndiri? nan tauuu!! lapo mungken?!

Cume, since there were more time taken during the checking, the bus left us which led us to wait another coming SJE bus. That's how it goes when u traveled by bus. That is why it is important for you to keep the bus ticket regardless how small any easy-to-slip they are (caution! if you loose the ticket, u might need to pay extra fare. Cause the amount RM3.30 shud take u up to the Queenstown). Tapi tunggu tak lama. Dalam 10 min kemudian bas SJE sampai and we were safely arrived at Queenstown.

From Queenstown, we walked about 5 mins to the nearest MRT station namely Bugis Station. From there, we continued with the rest of the journey for the day which, will be continued in the next entry...

...bersambung....

p.s: entri ni dah lame gile dalam draft aku..cume x cukup masa nak sudahkannye...so..nah! skarang perlu di sambung2 sebab aku kene ingat balik every step of my trip in SG.