I love the smell of Roti in the morning
We had a fair lie in, gathered our belongings, and then checked out of the hotel. We went to a nearby restaurant and enjoyed our favourite roti for breakfast. After our hunger was sated, we walked to the bus stop and waited for our bus ride to Johor Bahru. This next city was to be our final destination in Malaysia, after which we’d get a bus from Johor Bahru to Singapore.
We had a small wait before the bus arrived, so we bided our time for a bit, until the bus to Johor Bahru finally rocked up. It was a big surprise when I entered it; the bus looked luxury inside, the seats were lush and there was bags of room. In fact, it was so luxury, they even put a recent film on for us, Fast & Furious. I remember in Laos there was a small box TV that was playing a 20-year old Lao movie.
Final destination
The bus ride to Johor Bahru was pretty short, and though the movie definitely isn’t a favourite, I did want to stay and finish the last 10 minutes. When we left the bus terminal, we ordered a grab taxi, and for some reason, they always feel the need to call you. We attempted to tell him where we were, but we got no where. It was 10 minutes or more before he found us and we hopped in. Our first port of call was the hostel before we go and explore the area.
The hostel is called Memory Guesthouse, and is made in a modified house. It has a nice chill out area where the front garden is, with some nice seating and facilities. Then there are lots of dorms and rooms which are modest, snug, but fit together really well. The host was also super helpful; he told us about all the facilities, surrounding activities, as well as a map marked with all of these things. I was blown away! He even gave us an immigration card that we’d need to fill in when entering Singapore.
Walking round town
After we had checked in and chilled for a little bit, we headed out into the town. The first stop was food, and we used the map he supplied to find it as some places aren’t on google maps. We had a nice and cheap meal, which was satisfying, and hit the spot. We walked our food off by heading to the centre and visiting two large shopping centres, right next to each other.
As usual, we had a good look around both shopping centres, but of course not buying anything. We did enjoy a short session on massage chairs, that’s the most we splashed out. Whilst we were here, we scouted out the immigration checkpoint to Singapore, just so we knew where we needed to head to. I think it’s always beneficial to know where you’ve got to catch your ride, whether it be bus, train, or other mode of transport. There’s not a lot of things more stressful than being short on time and don’t have a clue where you’re going, not to mention in a foreign place!
A fruitful evening
Whilst we were in the shopping centre, we did decide to get a good amount of fruit from a fruit shop. Eating fresh fruit always makes me feeling refreshed and better about myself. After this purchase, we made our way back to the hostel so we could chill for the evening. I didn’t mention that it had been hot as hell all day, and the centre wasn’t far, but the heat did melt you to the floor.
Check this out for when I had a fruity snack in Vietnam.
After we had cooled down a bit, and dark had fallen, we went out for dinner. We only went 5 minutes away, to another restaurant that had been recommended by the host. It was a cosy little restaurant, where they were cooking the dinner in front of the restaurant entrance. I really like places that are like this. I’m not so bothered about fancy restaurants with state of the art food. I prefer the places that the locals would frequent. After another satisfying meal, we returned to the hostel, and turned in for the night.
