By M.Zulkifli
The last time we were in Singapore was way back in December 2019. We all know what happened in 2020, and we hadn’t been back to the city-state, until this past November.
It was actually a trip back to my kampung JB, but I decided to squeeze in a day in SG as well. And oh yeah, a couple of weeks prior to that, I finally renewed my passport that had been expired for a good few months, so the thought of getting that first immigration stamp was rather exciting, haha.
The original plan was to drive into Singapore as per the last few trips. But first, we had to go through all the new SOPs post the pandemic. Virtually everything has moved online, and yes, that also means no more filling up the iconic white card!
We applied for the VEP (Vehicle Entry Permit) a few days before the trip, but on the morning of our planned day of entry into SG, we were told at the pick-up point that our VEP would only be ready in the evening. Oh, man. But I had a contingency plan in my head, i.e.: to take the bus instead, something we had never done before as a family.
Of course, this was a normal thing for me decades ago as my late mum and I would usually take the Singapore-JB Express bus every time we went over to visit our relatives there. But with my own family, we usually take a flight or drive in ourselves.
But when I mooted the bus idea, it was enthusiastically received by everyone! So, I drove to Larkin Sentral, parked our car there and walked into the busy terminal looking for the bus station.
I asked around and we were directed to the departure halls. My plan was to take the express bus, but instead, we got on the first bus that arrived, the no 170 transit bus. Everyone else paid using card save for us newbies who handed in cash for the tickets. Which were cheap – less than SGD3 per person.
So far, so good.
After a few minutes, we got down at the customs in JB and got on the bus again, crossed the causeway and got down at the Singapore checkpoint. It was a weekday around 10am, so the queue to get our passports stamped wasn’t that bad. Hurrah!
We then got on the next bus 170 bus again and felt relieved and excited that we were finally in another country after more than a couple of years!
I decided that instead of getting down at the Kranji MRT station, we’d take the bus all the way into the city. “It’s like a cheap hop on-hop off bus!” I told the fam. Which was basically true, BUT between Woodlands and the city, there were close to 30 stops!
After an-hour plus on the bus, we finally reached the last stop at Queen Street, hungry and a little tired from the stop-go nature of the journey.
First stop for us was naturally Bugis Junction, which was just a short walk over. Not much difference from the last time we were there, but hey look, there is now a Liverpool Official Store here! A couple of things caught my eye, but with the exchange rate in mind, it remained just as aggressive browsing for me.
Then it was time for a good hearty lunch, and so we walked over to – where else? – Zam Zam Restaurant at Arab Street for the obligatory murtabak and beriani. And everything tasted as good as ever, I’m happy to report.
After lunch, we made our way to the iconic Masjid Sultan to perform our solat. Ah, what a peaceful sanctuary amid the super busy surroundings of the Lion City.
Where to next? Well, if you only had less than a few hours left to spend here, where else but Orchard Road. So, after enjoying a Cornetto ice cream bought at a 7-Eleven at Arab Street, we got on the MRT and headed to Orchard.
Some window shopping and wefie-ing ensued after which we made our way to Takashimaya. Our daughter Tia has re-found her voracious appetite for reading these past couple of years, so a visit to the huge Kinokuniya was inevitable.
After some coffee and cake at a café, it was time to start our journey back. We took the MRT back to Bugis Junction where we had a quick dinner at the basement food court.
We then walked to Rochor Road to take the bus back to JB. But anticipating a long wait at immigrations and coupled with the fact that we were all quite knackered, we decided to take the taxi instead.
We paid SGD15 per person, and the ride was comfy and smooth in a pretty new Toyota Avanza. But most interestingly, the seasoned driver knew how to maneuver his way through traffic which cut our time on the road rather significantly. I won’t say what he did on the Causeway itself, but we arrived at Larkin Sentral much earlier than most other cars did. Muahaha.
We then collected our car, had dinner at a Sedap Corner and returned to our hotel in JB well before our bedtime!
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