We assumed that since we had a view of Singapore from our apartment across the river in Malaysia that it would be easy to get there. We were wrong.

The price of living in Singapore is so much higher than Malaysia so we thought it would be worthwhile to stay in nearby Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia. We learned quickly that it takes a long time to commute to Singapore. We tried the train, bus, and Grab (like Uber) to get across the Johore Strait. No matter what we tried, for some reason or another, it would take 3-4 hours to go to or from JB.

In our taxi to our Airbnb, we immediately noticed ALL the motorcycles. It seemed at every stoplight, it was protocol for the motorcycle drivers to remove their helmet to smoke a cigarette. Then the light turns green, the helmets go back on and everyone is on their way.

Our first night, we arrived late in JB from Australia. Malaysia was a big change after the familiar western feeling of the Gold Coast. The nearby Lion Kafe was our savior that night–they had pizza! The staff was friendly and helpful, the unusual mutton pizza was delicious! It was the perfect way to end our tiring travel day.

Our first full day was spent in JB. There weren’t train tickets available to Singapore and we needed a down day. As we often do in each country on Sundays, we searched online for an English speaking protestant church. A cheap Grab took us to church and not only did we enjoy the service but a very kind family invited us to join them for a traditional Malaysian meal! We were so grateful for their generosity and hospitality. That night we went to our first (of many) night markets in Southeast Asia! As recommended by our Airbnb host, we stopped at TIP, the Ice-Cream Project. They freeze the ice-cream right there in front of you. We loved it! We walked along the streets of the night market seeing everything from fresh fish on ice for sale, knockoff watches, clothing and hookah cafes.

We had no idea how long it would take to get to Singapore. We knew that it all depended on time of day, holidays, school etc. The reason it took so long was it was a multistep process. We took a Grab to the train station, took the train across to Singapore, took a bus to a subway station and the subway to where we wanted to go. Mixed in all that was customs and immigration, which meant standing in long lines for a long time. Mom and Dad were very impressed that no one complained the whole time. We stopped at Little India for lunch. The food was delicious! After lunch, we checked out the famous Mustafa Centre. It is a HUGE department store, full of tons and tons of shoes, clothes, watches, jewelry, the list goes on. C picked out some flip-flops for herself among the thousands of shoes and K picked out a skirt.

Our second day commuting to Singapore, we spent most of it on a bus going over the strait that took minutes to pass over the day before. Once we finally arrived, we went to Chinatown for lunch. The vibe there was much different than Little India. There were tons of people and lots of food options. We went into a couple Buddhist and Hindu temples. After a very hot and humid day, it started to sprinkle which lifted everyone’s moods.

After Chinatown, we went to the stereotypical wealthy Singapore area (think “Crazy, Rich Asians”)– Marina Bay. It was extremely clean (it’s against the law to litter or chew gum). And we definitely felt dressed down to say the least compared to the Gucci store workers with their white gloves and nice suits. We enjoyed some “foo foo” bubble tea and frozen yogurt while watching the light display in the center of the food court, if you can even call it that. Outside, we walked along the helix bridge and then in the Gardens by the Bay.

We discovered the Cloud Forest, full of waterfalls, statues and Lego sculptures among the plants, which was a wonderful break from the humidity. C, K and I were overjoyed when we saw a piano in the lobby area. To our dismay it was out of tune and covered in melted ice-cream. It was still great to play a little something after 4 months.

We loved our time in Malaysia and Singapore but we DO NOT recommend staying in Malaysia and commuting to Singapore everyday if your primary goal is to visit Singapore. We still really enjoyed our time in Malaysia because of all the awesome people we met, the prices and we know there are so many more things to do there.

More next week–Thailand!