Day trip to Johor Bahru, Malaysia

One of the nearest "overseas" place from Singapore, it is literally over-the-sea, Johor Bahru (JB) is the capital of Johor, Malaysia. Easily accessible through buses and taxis through Woodland Checkpoint, it's a favorite destination during the weekends, mainly because you can eat and shop at half the price due to the currency difference!!

We made the mistake of going over this Saturday at noon...biggest mistake ever! The crowd is so huge that the queue for buses from Queen Street to Singapore Immigration is at least 4 buses trip. And since that is not sufficient to warn my pea size brain, we went ahead and took a taxi to the checkpoint, pass through Singapore Immigration and got stuck in a situation where:

• the queue for buses from Singapore Immigration to JB Checkpoint is twice as long, if not longer than the earlier queue, and
• there is no way to u-turn (cos we are out of SG and not in any other countries yet!)

which means we die die must get ourselves to JB!! 

So how did we get ourselves there:
Longer, more expensive route (which we took since well, our brains are not functioning today...) 

• Initial plan was to take CW2/ SBS 170 bus from Queen Street Bus Terminal straight to Woodland Checkpoint (around SGD2.40)
• Ended up we took a taxi to Woodland Checkpoint (SGD18++)
• Proceed through the immigration with the intention of taking one of the buses to JB Checkpoint
• Ended up walking there (FOC 30 minutes of exercise) which was faster due to the bad traffic today. Not really recommended though - the hot blazing sun is not very kind and pedestrian walkway ends halfway, so it's quite a dangerous walk.

A better option would be (which in my opinion is faster for those using public transport): 

• Take MRT to Kranji station
• Board SBS Bus No. 170 to Singapore Checkpoint (get your passport stamped)
• Back to SBS Bus No. 170 to JB Checkpoint (get your passport stamped again)

and you are free to explore the city! Or you can proceed with the bus that goes straight to Larkin Bus Terminal in JB.

For those going for a quick shopping spree, City Square is just right next to JB immigration. Though not very big, it does house quite a number of salons, nail parlors, Sg. Wang style (street/ youngster wear) kind of boutique & a mixture of international fashion brands like Uniqlo & soon to be opened H&M. I find the stuff is a little on the high side though (equivalent/ more expensive than KL). Well, it's cheap for SGD but expensive for MYR if you get what I'm trying to say... 

So, instead of shopping, we went to get a good meal & pamper our hair :) 

Lunch was at Dontaku Japanese Restaurant. The food is pretty good and reasonably price. Shabu Shabu set starts from RM17 and their bento starts from RM15 (add on RM5 for rice, etc). We ordered additional Volcano sushi (which is their in house speciality) at RM14. It was pretty good but some might find it over price since it's just crab stick. The sauce though is mouth watering, really gives one a 'starter' appetite.

Lunch at Dontaku Japanese Restaurant

After a good meal & a visit to the salon, we got our butts back to SG before 9 p.m. to avoid the crowd heading back.

Wouldn't mind coming here again for a pampering session but would totally avoid Saturday noon (esp. during school holiday season)! Perhaps I should try going on an early Saturday morning for a more pleasant ride (maybe...)