After a few days I started missing the rottenness of Jakarta, and I mean rottenness in a very much positive sense. I came up with a very random plan to visit Malaysia, Indonesia's "younger sister". The city of my interest was Johor Bahru (in Malaysian, Johor means 'Jewel', and Bahru means 'new'), the southernmost city of continental Asia. It is one of the largest cities in Malaysia, and very close to Singapore - just across a kilometre long causeway.
My journey began with talking a bus to the Woodlands Checkpoint in the morning. There I cleared immigration, first Singaporean, then Malaysian. After some minutes of dealing with all the bureaucratic requirements and filling in forms, I was in Malaysia! From there it was a walking distance to the centre of Johor Bahru. It is really easy to travel between the two countries as EU citizens don't need a visa to enter either of them. Entering Singapore is a bit more complicated; about that later.
I didn't know what to see in Johor as the city is rather industrial in nature; it is also famous for some organized crime groups operating from there and smuggling stuff into Singapore ;) Brochures available at the checkpoint have proven useful, however. I have learned about a Sultan who once build a palace here and who established the city. The palace is still there, still standing. Why not pay it a visit, I thought. But first: foooood! There were numerous food places just outside of the border crossing, where one of the main roads goes. So I ordered some unspecified Malaysian food (which has a lot of resemblances to Indonesian food) from an Indian man and filled my stomach with joy.
After getting some calories down the stomach, I went on a search for the bus that would take me to the Sultan's palace. Unfortunately a few bus drivers I spoke to either didn't know what the palace is, or maybe didn't know it by the English name. The fifth driver or so finally knew what it is and he happened to go past it on the route. After a short ride, I arrived on the spot. I must say, I was a bit disappointed, as the building (at least from the outside) was not that impressive. To get inside, I would need to pay quite some money as probably the rich Singaporean tourists don't really care anyway, and so I decided to just go somewhere else.
After a short walk through the park surrounding the palace, I got out using one of the side entrances and went to explore some more of the city. Without really knowing where I was going, I found some interesting architecture, a few long and narrow streets with an endless number of street vendors offering some amazing cuisine, and a mosque on top of a hill, overlooking the Strait of Johor.
Johor Bahru is definitely not a premier tourist destination and there aren't that many things to see. Nevertheless, it was interesting to just mingle with the crowds and explore the local way of life. The city is very affordable relative to Singapore and therefore a lot of Singaporeans come here on a regular basis to do shopping. I did the same and later regretted it.
Being unfamiliar with the local customs, I unintentionally attempted to smuggle some contraband into Singapore. Without having even tried to hide it on the border, I got singled out from the queue and was escorted into a small room where I had to explain myself in front of three angry-looking men. I suppose my story was very convincing and the amount of contraband not significant, and so I was told that they have decided not to imprison me (sick!) and not to give me any fine (one of the popular things to buy among tourists are t-shirts saying "Singapore - a fine city"). Instead, I was just escorted to another room where I had to pay the duty. I was really pissed off, I didn't know I was doing anything illegal. Still, having arrived in Singapore I compared the prices and it turned out that even with the duty I paid, I still have saved some 20 cents, leaving me with a big smile on my face for the rest of the day ;)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment