HAPPY NEW YEAR!
This is my first post for 2012 and it is unbearably long for most, so do forgive me.
One of the downsides at staying in Singapore is the high price for 4 and 5 stars accommodation. As I have said a couple of posts back, I am willing to stay at cheaper hotels and hostels but not if I am travelling with my mother. I mean, shouldn't we give our parents all the luxury and comfort we can afford? However, with this mindset, I knew that I couldn't stay one night more at Singapore so I planned a side trip to Melaka, Malaysia. Anyway, it was like hitting two birds in one stone: 1) I saved on accommodation; and 2) I was able to take my mother to two countries, not just one.
Planning a side trip to Melaka, however, was a little stressful. I mean, I had to pick from all sorts of coach services from Singapore to Melaka. And there are many to choose from. To help me narrow the options, I referred to this website, Journey Malaysia, which I also used in booking our coach service from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and back in 2008. It has a list of bus operators not only for SG-Melaka, SG-Kuala Lumpur, but likewise for different regions within Malaysia and even to Brunei!
After carefully choosing and thoroughly researching, I settled with Luxury Tours & Travel since they offer an 8:00 am coach service to Melaka; one of the earliest. I bought tickets via its website and I paid SGD 62 for two persons. Believe me when I say that booking coach tickets in Malaysia going to Singapore is usually cheaper than booking the other way around. In Malaysia, the price for a seat might be the same, say 31, but in Malaysian Ringgit. The same is true booking train tickets between SG and Malaysia.
My plan going to Melaka had a hitch. I couldn't find a coach service that will leave Melaka around lunchtime going back to Singapore, prompting me to email a cancellation notice for our hotel in Melaka. Most coaches I found leave Melaka after lunch, and that was back in late June 2011. I was afraid of missing the check-in time for our flight back to Manila since most tour operators time the bus travel from 3 to 5 hours depending on border traffic. But the staff at the Courtyard @ Hereen was helpful and booked us tickets for Melaka to Singapore for departure at 11:00 a.m. The cost per ticket was RM 22 via Melaka 707 Express. Just now, I checked the Journey Malaysia website and saw that Delima Express now offers an 11:00 am bus trip to Singapore for SGD 16.80.
So, everything was settled, and we went to Melaka without a hitch! First, we took a cab from Resorts World to Concorde Hotel where the Luxury Tours & Travel is located. Then, we waited for our departure time and I was too happy to know that there were only a handful of us. In choosing tickets, it's best to get the first seats in front if your coach to Malaysia is a double-decker. Sitting in front gives one an unobstructed view. For the weary ones, there's a tv; like an in-flight tv in front of your seat. To hear the sounds, you have to rest your head against the seat. Relaxed mode.
What they wouldn't tell you, though, is that an hour of travel time is allocated for waiting in traffic for border crossing and departure/arrival procedures. The buses lining to take passengers at the immigration going out of Singapore were unbelievably numerous, creating a very long line. Almost a kilometer; no joke. There were at least 30 buses or even more waiting in line. Good thing our bus driver was quick-witted. He spoke with another Luxury Tours & Travel bus near the head of the line to let us board their bus so we'd finish faster. We got an okay so our bus got out of line, moved towards the first bus, went down and raced along the highway on foot to catch the first bus. It was a thrill, actually, with people on the other buses looking at us incredulously, wishing they could do the same. They probably should have done the same since we got out fast at the immigration.
At the Immigration, Singapore
Buses going to Malaysia from Singapore
We had to go back to our bus and we proceeded to the Malaysian Immigration where I found myself nervous since we had a biometric fingerprint scan (both index fingers). I mean, they have a copy of my prints on their database, in digital form. What if someone stole it for evil means? Yes, I love fiction, and from my reasoning, I've read way too many international espionage movies, but really, I find the fingerprint scan a very strict security policy. It was comforting, on second thought, but unnerving still.
Anyway, we had a stopover for lunch and we ate Hainese chicken rice, which I found myself eating almost everyday while in Singapore and in Malaysia. I think we had at least 30 to 40 minutes of stopover then it rained, like heavily, with the clouds all dark and ominous. I thought we'd be having bad weather throughout the day but I was proven wrong. When we arrived in Melaka, it was hot and humid.
The bus deposited us in front of our hotel, the Courtyard @ Hereen since the driver and the guide were very helpful and it appeared that the hotel was on the way going out of Melaka. Apparently, Melaka's roads are one-way on certain times of the week and the bus had to pass by there. However, since it was traffic and the road was so, so narrow, we had to hustle going down. Then it was bye-bye bus and hello, Courtyard @ Hereen!
Melaka traffic jam on a weekend
