Yes, we’ve embarked on our first international trip in the APAC region outside of Singapore and the destination (drum roll!) was our next door neighbour, Johor Bahru, Malaysia!

Since arriving in Singapore at the beginning of February, we’ve heard a lot from friends and colleagues about going to Johor Bahru, commonly referred to as “JB.” We were looking for a quick get-away and an opportunity to pamper ourselves a bit and thought, yep, let’s do it.

“It’s an easy weekend trip,” our friends have exclaimed. “The food is great and everything is really cheap.”

So, we began our research online to figure out the best way to get there… bus? car? train? Or some combination? There’s advantages and disadvantages to all of the various options depending on the traffic going into and out of JB. We eventually landed on the train option and quickly realised that JB is a popular destination for Singaporeans on the weekends so you need to book your round-trip early to get the arrival and departure options you want.

Getting ready to board the train at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint.

And here’s the cool thing about our trip…

We walked 12 minutes from our apartment to the MRT (Singapore subway system) - free
We hopped on the MRT at Red Hill and took the East/West and North/South lines to Marsiling which took about 45 minutes - S$2 each
We walked 15 minutes from the Marsiling stop to the Woodlands Checkpoint - free
Note: We could have taken the bus, sweat much less, and only spent another S$1 each but, you know, we love to save money.
We went through the immigration at the Woodland Train Checkpoint and hopped on a train which took us to JB in 5, yes, 5 minutes - S$5 each, S$1 per minute

5 minutes is all it takes. It’s like going from NYC to Newark except that you have to go through an immigration checkpoint.

Our 5-minute train ride from Singapore to Malaysia… in comfort.

And we have been pleasantly surprised by the not just how inexpensive everything is but also by the friendliness of all of the Malaysians we’ve met. They are a happy, friendly people and a little spoken Malay like “Terima Kasih” or “Selamat Pagi,” “Thank you” and “Good morning” respectively, goes a long ways in increasing the friendliness quotient especially when they hear it coming from a couple of caucasians.

And leave it to Nick to master several popular phrases in Malay so that we were able to order water, beers, and food within a matter of hours of arriving. He even figured out that you only say “Selamat pagi” until Noon. From noon to 2 PM, you use “Selamat tengah hari” and immediately after 2 PM, you start using “Selamat petang” until 7 PM at which point, you switch to “Selamat malam.”

For our first trip here, we found an amazing hotel online called the Amari Hotel which is right in the heart of JB and which cost us approximately $115 USD per night including taxes. Our 60-minute massage at the hotel which included a foot scrub salt bath to start… just $45 USD in an absolutely beautiful hotel spa. Beat that NYC! Our food and drinks throughout JB… half the price of what we would pay in the USA and amazingly good. The buffet dinner that we had at the hotel included foods from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Western options, and most everything was delicious and healthy.

We also took an 8K run on Saturday morning to a park we found online and while the heat and humidity took it’s toll on us, the run to and around the park was amazing. It was a beautiful little park with lots of families with kids who were so happy (and surprised) when we ran by and exclaimed, “Selamat Pagi.”

We were amused by the sign that warned of scorpions, snakes, mosquitoes, and centipedes but at the same time, took it very seriously. Fortunately, we saw none of these creatures.

We also had the interesting opportunity to chat with Ho Eng Hui, the Guinness Book of World Record’s holder for being able to pierce coconuts with a single finger (see video). He was a funny dude and made it very clear several times that he was a Guinness Book two-time record holder. He even allowed Nick to pinch his forearm which had no fat and no give. And then he proceeded to compliment us on our ages and fitness. So, we looked him up online when we got home. Sure enough. Here he is on YouTube. Oh, the interesting people we meet in the world!

Later that day, we decided to wander around the city a bit more to several other neighbourhoods. One of the things we love most is just aimlessly wandering and discovering neighbourhoods, people, shops, parks, restaurants, etc. that you wouldn’t normally find if you looked on TripAdvisor or some other website.

Kilometre Zero, Bangunan Sultan Ibrahaim, and Istana Gardens, Johor Bahru

One of the random things we happened upon was “0 Kilometre” which we discovered is listed as the 0 km point of peninsular Malaysia and also the Asian continent.

JB has what appears to be a very high-end experience and a more local experience. While we started in the higher-end south part of JB and found some interesting parks, our adventure took us north where we ended up wandering into the more local JB where we saw some interesting homes and happened upon a little Thai restaurant at 818 Food Junction where we each ordered a plate of Shrimp Pad Thai for about $3 USD. After our local adventure, we wandered back to the Amari Hotel and enjoyed some cold beers at the Dip Bar next to the pool.

Later that day, we wandered over to the mall next to the hotel, wandered in and out of shops marveling at:

the variety of options available for food, clothing, and all other accessories;
the number of Western stores and restaurants;
how inexpensive everything is except for many of the Western goods and ‘luxury items;’ and
the sheer volume of people shopping at all of the stores and eating at all of the restaurants.

That evening, we wandered back to hotel for our $45 USD massages, had more wonderful food for dinner. When we checked out on Sunday, we discovered that our entire weekend adventure in JB cost us less than $500 USD. And what an amazing adventure.

Our summary? Malaysians are very friendly and welcoming. The men and women are both really beautiful with great smiles. The women dress wonderfully and many of the burkas that women wear are really beautiful and quite elaborate. The food is very good and really inexpensive. The accommodations at the Amari were excellent… clean, comfortable, modern, and very affordable.

Thanks JB for a great weekend. We’ll definitely be back.