3 Nights in Muar

The past three nights I was in Muar. Not much there, and I've had a cold so I didn't care really. There's food, and a few things to look at, but not much else. It was a step up from Johor and some of the other villages I've passed through, but still nothing special!

I stayed in the Riverview Hotel for the 3 nights at 75RM a night because I was still sick, and it was the easiest to find after trying a couple of other places there. All this motorbike gear makes finding accommodation a hassle. It was decent, roughly equal (or better) to that of a $75/night room in Australia.

The language barrier seemed to be a bigger problem here, a lot of people speak English, and if they don't they will call over someone who can. I learnt some Malay words but haven't really needed it. There is also a big Chinese population in this town too so in a lot of the hawker centers they have their menus in their own language. It's not fair throwing that into the mix too, I'm struggling with Malay (and English)! If it's too hard there's always Pizza Hut and KFC in most places.

I've been drinking drinks with ice in it, and eating at places where rats were present (oddly enough, that was the tastiest place!) and so far I'm still fine!

I left Muar this morning and have moved up to Melaka to stay in a backpackers for 175RM for a week (this one). That's crazy cheap! Roughly $8AU a night. Shared bathroom, and a fan in the room is all, but still!

Some photos of Muar then:

Muar!

Alley. A lady came out of one of the houses after I took the photo and told me a lot of people take photos of this alley. I thought I was being original!

Tanjung Emas park

Not really sure why this is here. Seemed to be more of a Banana or palm oil growing location.

Smelly waterway in Tanjung Emas

Fountain in Tanjung Emas

One of the main roads in/out of Muar

Driveway is a little damp.

Parking

Tanjung Piai

Tanjung Piai is the southernmost tip of mainland Asia. It doesn't seem to be publicised anywhere, I just saw it on a wiki page somewhere. I'd also read about a campsite here and wanted to come and have a look.

This is the entrance to Tanjung Piai national park

And this is it. This is on a concrete platform out over the water.

There are a lot of tankers out here. At night the horizon is filled with the lights of Singapore's industrial side, and these guys. 

Dodgy walkway through the mangroves

Monkeys!

Canals built everywhere here.

Some rural Malaysia!

I scared this guy off.

This is where I'm staying. 128RM ($40AU) to stay out here over the water. It's expensive and over my budget, but it has a flushing toilet and I have a cold and didn't want to deal with anything else. I'm in a room right at the end away from everyone else.

This is just next to the Hotel/Resort

Jahor Video!

I went out to try and find the Malaysia AA office so I could get some third party insurance (It's a bit vague if it's a requirement). Went to the spot where it should be and it was now a mechanics. After that I went to a few other places but none had ever heard of motorbike insurance, so then I just gave up. Once I get closer to KL I'll try again.

Malaysia!

Malaysia! It's crazy!

I'm in Johor Bahru, or more correctly, in the outskirts near Skudai. I managed to find my hotel after fighting with my GPS to enter addresses (oh and getting batteries, more on that later). I've since learnt that Jalan means road, and a lot of streets are just numbered.

Getting through Immigration was no problems. But make sure you try to find a customs officer before you leave to get the Carnet signed in. Also, you'll need to show them how to fill it in. They had done a stack before, but they must have a large staff rotation.

Protip: Before leaving Singapore make sure you top up on ringgits.

You'll need ringgtis at the toll booth on the Malay side of the second link out of Singapore to pay for a touch and go card (the only place in Malaysia a motorbike has to pay a toll). Or, you can do what I did and keep trying to give the operator Singapore dollars of which he will eventually accept, but it will cost about twice what it's worth (lost S$20 on that one). Also, don't expect the first places you see on the side of the road to have ATMs, some can take cards but with a minimum of 20RM (so, ~$7). Now I have an extra 4 AA batteries I didn't need. Also, it's handy to have a GPS that will find the nearest ATM, but make sure they are charged... At least I have 4 extra now.

On the expressway to KL it's 6 lanes, almost no traffic and 110km/h. Some of the 125/150cc bikes they have here will only do 70ish and they all run up the side of the expressway. I saw monkeys trying to cross the road too!

Now traffic. It's a free for all here. Like most places you only notice the bad drivers of course, but there are proportionally more here. Bikes/scooters are everywhere and just dive through traffic on the move (same as citylink in Melbourne really), but cars will end up doing the same. You just gotta remember to concentrate on the traffic and not look at the sights. I've seen a car parked in a lane on a freeway, they were just going to the shops and felt that was the best place, so that was ok. Tailgaiting is about as bad/common as Melbourne. If there's any free space in front of your car then it's time to see how fast it goes of course. Luckily a lot of these people can't afford fast cars, or bikes.

But... It doesn't take long to get used to it. I ended up in the city area with 4 lanes of traffic trying to barge through and survived! I'm sure a lot of people die out there and it's probably skewed towards being someone elses fault however.

The Hotel (Euro Hotel)

I was a bit worried about this area when I rode into it. It looks really run down but I think that's just the Malaysia way. On the street behind this one lane of the road is closed because there's just too much rubbish in it. But I've later discovered that this is actually sort of upmarket area. It's right near Bukit Indah, which is a big shopping centre, along with Tesco's and Giants just near by. There are many beauty salons along here (can't say I tried any) and they have all the upmarket electronics and white goods, and then furniture and mechanics thrown into the mix. There's also a McDonalds,, a Dominos, a Pizza Hut and a KFC here.

The room I'm in has no windows, and smells of very strongly of smoke, but it has a flushing toilet, and it's clean, and they have toilet paper, and I did have to move to a different room tonight for some reason (this one smells less). But this is probably quite expensive for local standards.

The Road

I'm close to a motorbike shop. They even had a z750 in there for some reason and it was 65000RM (more expensive than *.au). Everything else was the 125/150cc scooter things they have here.

Tomorrow I'm off to try stay somewhere on the south western side of the peninsula. I can't find a lot of info on places down there, the lonely planet guides pretty much miss that part of Malaysia. Also google maps doesn't show a lot of detail. I've discovered there are places to stay in Kukup, but not a lot more info on the surrounding areas.

Bringing your own vehicle into Singapore

Pretty easy. Follow these instructions: http://www.lta.gov.sg/motoring_matters/motoring_guide_nonwest_regis.htm

What I did the Day after I arrived, and the day before the bike arrived is:

Singapore AA
Take all the documentation mentioned in the above link to Singapore AA. and get:

Insurance: They will issue you "Carnet Insurance" which they can only sell for 30 days now, so a minimum of $310. You might be able to shop around if you have more time, but I only had a day to sort the documentation out.

ICP: This little slip of paper cost me $53.50. I'm unclear if this was related to the number of days I was staying in Singapore. Anyway, you must remove the vehicle from Singapore before this expires. They clearly were not too familar with this step as I'm not sure that it had been filled in correctly.

Carnet Endorsement: They stamp the back of the Import slip stating that they are liable for the duty on the vehicle if it does not leave Singapore in 12 months. However, I'm not sure why as this is what the Carnet document itself is for. When you leave Singapore you must get the Export slip endorsed also.

Expect Singapore AA to take about 2 hours.


LTA

After Singapore AA is complete, head over to the LTA to get your autopass card. Just hand them all the documentation and they will issue you the card. The whole process takes about 15 minutes, and the card costs $10. You don't need an IU for a car but they will try to get you to hire one, however foreign vehicles are charged $5 for a full day of ERP use if they pass though one (I'm unclear on the rules for a motorbike in regards to the IU, I'll find out at the boarder I guess).


Airport Cargo

As my bike was Airfreight it was a pretty easy process at the airport. You MUST have your Bill of Lading to gain access to the cargo area of the airport. Make sure you can get a copy faxed to you somewhere. Once you get to the airport you need to surrender your passport to the security office and they will issue you a visitors pass. After that retrieve the bike from the cargo company (addresses will be given to you), reassemble if required, and then ride it out to Customs (stay left!). Customs will go over the Carnet and sign it off. In my case they didn't even leave the office to inspect the bike or ask for the ICP or insurance, it was all done and signed quickly (and with the involvement of around 4 of them), And then you're on your way again! Just remember to stop at security to get your passport back.

7 Days in Singapore

I've been sticking mostly to food things to do while here. It's cost me a little over my budget to get my bike here and replace some stuff. But here's my brief guide!


Maxwell Road Hawker Centre

Tian Tian Haianese Chicken Rice

The best of the chicken rice stalls in Maxwell Road Hawker Centre is Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice according to a lot of sources, and there always seems to be a line up out the front which might be proof of this. I've only tried chicken rice here twice and it is the tastiest thing I've had, and as far as I can tell the only real difference in vendors is the condiments. The Boneless Chicken Rice stall down one end of the centre offers separate chilli and ginger which you can mix together yourself, at the Tian Tian stall it's mixed already but it's a much better (and hotter) sauce. The only problem with it being mixed is you miss out on trying a mouthful of extreme ginger chicken rice. It's cheap at $3/$3.50 for a small/large plate of the Chicken Rice and this probably explains the reason for the popularity more than anything. They seem to run out mid afternoon so don't expect it to be open too late, and if visiting at lunch time be prepared for a long wait.

The other standout place I found in this centre was the Indian/Malay place in the south west corner. It was one of the only places to serve nasi goreng that I've found. One of the best nasi gorengs I've had so far! And after 4 days here it was the first thing I tried that had any real chilli in it. They're either leaving the chilli out because I'm white, or the locals like everything really mild.

As always there are many drink stalls with cheap(ish) beers, $5.50 for a longneck of Tiger isn't too bad. I think the most I paid in any hawker centre was $7 for a bottle of stout. Also when drinking there are ladies that will come around and top up your glass, and get another bottle for you. This is all too convienient. I wasn't aware of this at first and just thought it was someone that the guy I was sharing a table with knew.

The link above mentions the Char Kwey Teow from the Marina South Delicious Food Stall, but I'd go elsewhere for that. Which leads me to...


Lau Pa Sat

One of the 'streets' in this centre

Lau Pa Sat is another very clean hawker centre with a lot of options. There's a lot more variety in this one than in the centres closer to chinatown, with Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Indian food along with the usual Chinese I'm used to seeing. It also has a Wendys, a Panini place and another place that served western food. It's right next to the large city buildings so there are a lot of office workers that appear very quickly at midday.

Best thing I had here was the Lai Heng Char Kwey Teow, which was the best char kwey teow I had in Singapore. There's something about the way they make it in Australia that I prefer though, probably that they just load it up with more of the chinese sausage. Still, this one was better than the other 4 I tried here!

Ya Kun Kaya Toast

Ya Kun Kaya Toast is the original of the kaya toast outlets apparently. You can get the Kaya Toast at a lot of the Kopitiam's in the hawker centre, but the lonely planet guide and several other reviews all point to the original of this chain in the Far East Square.

This is what I've been having for breakfast for the past few days. You can get a Kaya Toast set for $4.00 which is Coffee (with condensed milk), two soft boiled eggs (whites still runny), and the Kaya toast which is toast with coconut jam and butter on it. I've found the same sets at other places for $2.50 however.


The Olde Cuban

I stumbled accross The Olde Cuban here in chinatown and it's a cigar and whiskey bar. The entrance is at the back of a restaurant, not far from the MRT escalators. There's a big selection of very old very expensive whiskeys, and also cigars in their own little humidor room too if you're in to that sort of thing. I recommend the Highland Park.


Brewerkz

Brewerkz is a microbrewery here in Singapore. It seems to have the biggest selection, as shown here:

All the usual styles, a few odd ones thrown in. On the bottom of the pic you can see their scaled pricing, so between 12 and 3pm you can get a pint for $6, this goes up to $15 depending on the time of night. There are also more expensive options of course. It makes it worse that the more you drink the less chance you will have of working out the best value.

The beers were pretty average for their styles, I had nothing really outstanding. It was also really unnerving to be in a brewery with table service and then having to ask for the check when I was ready to leave. The bonus here was it was only $6 a pint (plus 7% GST) at the right time. Other places charge $15.


Internet

Go to any 7-11 and get the StarHub MaxMobile prepaid broadband SIM for $12, the $12 also counts towards your credit. Once you've got it connected up you can add more credit (certain countries cards only, and this process was broken for a day also) to get more days out of it. You can use recharge cards, but DON'T USE THE $17 OR $28 CARDS! They're not for this service, and the only note I saw about this was in the recharge screen while trying to use the $28 card.

Anyway. Once that is all set up you can get online at 7.2Mbit, 2GB/day for 5 days, for $20.


Transport

Get the EZLink card from an MRT station. Cheaper fares (slightly) and then you can roam anywhere the MRT goes. I never tried the buses, but in the area I'm in there are 4 stations on 3 lines all within 15 minutes walk. Note that at the moment the circle line is still under construction and stops at Marymount, however all the signs up in stations show the completed circle.

Next stop, Malaysia.

Singapore Video!

Me moving my bike from the airport carpark to one closer to chinatown. Watch me get lost twice!