a safer option - go to jb by bus

when i wrote about my driving trip to johor, one of my balestier group walking kakis, posted this in my facebook:

But Johor's a 'dangerous place'. My office attendant lost her car and passport over the weekend in Johor. ALL GONE! Luckily she had her i/c with her and managed to come back to SIN in time to report for work today. sigh....

another case, another warning. this was posted in my yahoo group forum page:

If you meet a guy who rides a motorbike with bloodyhand knocking your window demand you to stop and asking for tissue paper to clean the blood when you are driving a car, remember DO NOT stop the car at all . Even how he damages your car or holds the side mirrors tightly also DO NOT stop the car but directly drive to the nearest police station.

with all these reports of cars being tricked into stopping by men with bloodied hands, isn't it better and safer to travel into johor bahru by bus. there are at least three local services that ply the singapore-jb route. they are smrt service 950 and sbs services 160 and 170.

with the opening of the new ciq, i find it more convenient to get to johor central/jalan wang ah fook. after the immigration and custom clearance, you just follow the directional signs to 'johor central' and you will soon find yourself at level 3 of city square.

if you prefer a clean, orderly and apparently safe environment, then stick to city square. if you are more adventurous, then you can venture to the older parts of johor bahru, which is just next to the shopping complex.

the place is like a mix of geylang and sim lim square - a lot of makan places, vendors peddling sex pills and enhancers and shops selling vcd and dvd. in spite of constant raids, the flesh trade is still thriving in the old shophouses of jalan wang ah fook. the dvd sellers are more discreet these days.

it is also quite convenient to take a bus back to singapore. after clearing immigration at the new ciq, you just follow the directional signs and they will lead you to where all the buses are parked. if you are taking the bus back, pay for your fare in malaysian currency, don't use your ezlink card.

$3.20 for a haircut

this morning, we took bus service 950 from woodlands interchange to johor bahru. the bus drops you off at the new customs, immigration and quarantine (ciq) complex in johor bahru where you can walk across the linkway to city square. you can also opt to catch the bus - the same one, if you can - to get to the bus terminal at kota raya. we chose to do the latter.

we alighted from the bus in front of city square and walked to jalan dhoby where the barber shop is located. while i was having my hair cut, my travelling companion victor samuel went to a nearby coffee shop for his smoke and a cup of tea.

i was the only customer and the barber took about twenty minutes to complete the job. in the barber shop, i saw a piece of plank. it reminded me of my younger days when i visited the chinese barber along thomson road. he had to place a plank across the arms of his barber chair so that he did not have to bend so much while cutting children's hair.

the cost of the haircut was rm$8.00, which is equivalent to $3.20. we had a bowl of noodles and a glass of tea each at a nearby coffee shop. we paid rm$6.00 for the noodles and drinks for two persons.

this afternoon, i was on the skype with my younger daughter, who is in melbourne, and when she noticed my new haircut. she asked if the barber had placed a bowl on my head to cut the hair. she commented that i looked so 'toot'. told her old people don't care so much about their look.

congestion at new ciq complex

on tuesday morning, i drove to kluang, a town located about 100km from singapore. it provided me a chance to experience the first day of full operation at the new sultan iskandar ciq complex. when we reached the malaysian side of the causeway, my wife's friend, a malaysian exclaimed: this is the first time i have seen the check-point so clear, without a single car in any queue! she had not been aware of the shift to the new check-point at bukit chagar.

there was no need for any directional sign to point you to the new check-point. once out of the old customs complex, the road you are on will lead you to the new complex. as we were nearing the approach road to the new complex, we saw the long queues of cars and buses ahead. the buses were on the right and the cars were squeezed tightly to the left of the buses. motorcyclists use the extreme left lane.

we inched along, which is not something new. it is something we have grown quite accustomed to on both sides of the causeway. the situation at the malaysian side has been like that on most days when you are returning to singapore after 4.30 p.m. i had been through worst jam, waiting more than four hours just to get past the immigration on the malaysian side. since the tightening of security at the singapore's side in april this year, we have been resigned to long wait at the woodlands check-point.

we did not have the 'touch n go' card but there was no need to worry. staff from the toll operators were on hand to sell us the cards at rm$20 each. once out of the jam, clearing the immigration and customs was a breeze. after your passports have been duly stamped, you move forward, tap your card at the terminal and the barrier is lifted automatically. that day, the customs people did not ask to check the boot of the car.

another problem awaits you once you get out of the complex. you come to a wide and unfamiliar (new to you) road and you have to decide which side to move to. as we were heading for senai, we looked out for signs pointing us to scudai. we kept to the left and eventually ended up at a junction, where turning left will lead you to jalan wang ah fook and turning right will lead you towards danga bay. we made a right turn.

returning from kluang in the evening, we saw this message flashed on the screen near the senai toll booth: bad jam, use the 2nd link. as with the launch of any project or system, during the initial period you could expect some teething problems. so, we decided to go for the 2nd link. approaching the tuas check-point, we realised that we would be facing the same problem - two lines of vehicles stretched nearly 400m from the check-point. it took us more than half an hour to be cleared.

wonder how the situation will be like when school reopens in january 2009.