And sort of an answer to a question by another poster.

Since I do not want to clog up the MR forum with long posts I guess this should go here:


First of all, I thought the guide books all sucked on SIN. If you are a half-experienced traveler and respectful of the culture you will have NO problems. Ask the locals what they suggest.


When I told the concierge ate the Ritz-Carlton (I am a RC employee and get a huge discount) that I wanted to go to Batam(not Bintan) in Indonesia, he blanched. He STRONGLY suggested Bintan. OK. Bintan, then. They are both Indonesian Islands across the Singapore harbor... maybe an hour Ferry ride. (High speed ferries, with TVs, etc., though you must sit inside, not outside.)

In the meantime, because we were going to go to Indonesia for the day, later in the week, I checked out of the RC for one night and did this: (TRY IT YOU WILL LIKE IT)

I rode the MRT(subway) to the Kranji station. Got off and got on the #170 (red) local Singaporean bus. You will have to spend SD$15 for an EZ Card for Singaporean public transit(they sell them in the stations) but anything left over is refunded (at the windows in the station). This will be more than enough to get you into Malaysia and then back out of Malaysia.

SIDEBAR: If you are traveling on the weekend or during rush hour DO NOT take this bus. Take the yellow express bus. It is only a few pennies more. The red 170 bus is more "local" though. The trouble is that the queues for the 170 are HUGE during peak hours. There was a riot in the queue when I was there because of lane-jumpers. (You can read about it on the...ummmm....3rd(?) page of the "Back from SIN..." thread.) There are very short lines for the express busses.

The #170 bus (or any bus) will drop you off at Malaysian immigration. During off-peak hours it only takes a few minutes to go across the border, while the bus also crosses the border, empty, and is checked by border officials.

SIDEBAR:If you have long hair: cut it. If you smell: take a bath. All these countries will not let "hippie types" (their words) into the country. I wore long pants and collared shirts with short sleeves the whole time out of respect for the culture and I just think I was treated better.

After exiting immigration in Johor Bahru (called "JB" by EVERYONE), Malyasia, you will see the busses loading again. The beauty of this is that you can take ANY #170 (or yellow bus) on either side.

Make sure that you now get on a #170 that says "Larkin". That means it will go all the way to the Larkin Bus Terminal. (All the Singaporean busses are in english as that is their official language). Everyone disembarks at Larkin. The moment you get off the bus there will be touts yelling destinations out. They seem like charlatans trying to hook you but it is the way the business is done. If you hear one of them yelling, "MelaKAH!!" go with him. You will get a (US)$3 bus ride three hours to Melaka. (Pronounced, MelaKAH). You can also go to the bus windows. National appears to have the nicest busses for about the same prices but they were not leaving soon enough for me.

SIDEBAR***REALLY IMPORTANT*** There are two convenient ATM's in the Larkin Terminal. Use them to get ringgits. (There will be ATM's all over most places you go... you will see that everyone loves US$ and SD$ but you will lose money if you don't get ringgits).

The bus ride is on an air-con bus usually with a toilet and it stopped in a highway rest area where there was a fruit and water stand. The stop GOING was 1/2 way through the trip. The stop on the way back was almost at the end but was really cool as it was in a sort of asian "Stuckey's". (Those huge tourist trap restaurants that use to be along the interstates in the US). The ride on the bus will be breathtakingly beautiful .. esp the mountain range (small) you cross. I took food and snacks on the bus. Glad I did.

When you get to Melaka, you will be in the REAL Asia. I was often the only white face and never had any anomosity or malice shown towards me. The bus station is just a huge parking lot for busses.

I stayed at the 'Eastern Guesthouse'. I found it by talking to some people in the food stalls near the bus station. (I found if you are very polite and smile and compliment people on their english, ask where they learned it, etc, it gets you very far!) The guest house was $5(US!!) per night. I could have got one for $4 but I wanted a window! My window opened onto the stairwell but it was still worth the extra dollar. Haha. Email me if you want directions to this guesthouse. I actually still have the map! Breakfast at the guesthouse was, like, US$1.50 for two eggs, toast and coffee.. I do not rememeber the Malay prices, now.

While in Melaka I took a boat ride (US$2), saw museums(US50 cents) and ate lots and lots of satay. There is a night market which is really cool and has lots of interesting food (I have no idea what I ate!). Once or twice I went into a fancy hotel to get a blast of A/C but mostly I just let the sweat pour off of me like everyone else. I ALMOST bought some shorts but I think the long pants really made a difference. Who knows.

Since the room was so cheap I got it for TWO nights even though I just needed it for one. That way, I could leave my duffel bag there all day, safely, and come back later for a shower... which BTW, was cold water only... and THEN catch the bus back to larkin and reverse the whole process.

Next time I will go to Melaka for the week!

When I got back to the RC and told the concierge where I went, his eyes got as wide as saucers and he said, "BY YOURSELF?!" The good news, is the next day when I told the OTHER concierge what I had done, SHE said, "Oh, you like to travel like I do." Ahhhh.. a real concierge, finally. Not trying to fit me to what they think I should be doing. She said that we absolutely (we being my female cousin, her 13-year old adughter and I...they had not gone to Melaka with me) should go to the island of BATAM, not BINTAN. Bintan, while beautiful, is mostly a seaside resort along with a very small historic village. Nagoya, on Batam, is a typical asian factory town. We had the taxi driver take us to Batam Plaza, in Nagoya. (25,000 rupiahs... about US$3).

SIDEBAR: while in SIN, Indonesia amd Malaysia ONLY get taxis from taxi stands. When we couldn't find one, we walked to a big hotel and got one.)

After a while we took another taxi (from a hotel) to Batam Center. (another 25,000 rupiahs.. a taxi from the "Matahari Department Store back to the ferry dock was 30,000 ru. The guy running the stand wanted 50,000 and I offered 25,000. BTW the Matahari was a huge warehouse full of dingy stalls. I loved it.) Both the Plaza and the Center are 'local' shopping areas in the midst fo local activity. Not touristy at all and really, truly Indonesian flavor. The Center is mostly huge Indonesian stores which are a fascinating way to see the culture. Across the street were food stalls. The taxi drivers would not stop hounding us so we sat down to cool off. We are all 3 blondes and while we sat and had a cold water and sodas, the little kids came and petted us and laughed at us. It was all very cool.

Bottom line on everything: Indonesia is VERY, VERY cheap. Malaysia is VERY cheap. Singapore is pretty cheap. Don't stay at a hostel!

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Just trying to keep up with the gals in the trailer park next door.

[This message has been edited by GoodKarmaGuy (edited 08-01-2003).]