On 11 August 2017, when we arrived at the Lavender MRT Station, the Malaysian
registered MPV driven by Khairol had already arrived. He was somewhere near the
bus stop next to the McDonald’s. In order to ascertain the correct venue to pick
us up, we communicated with the driver of the MPV over the phone. To our
surprise, we realized that we were in a close proximity to each other by the
roadside. He led us to the street level car park on opposite side of the road. In
the vehicle, we were unable to leave the car park until the driver communicated
with the officer via the intercom. By the time we left the car park, it was already
drizzling. The driver was not sure of the way as he was quite new to the job.
The GPS led him to the Bukit Timah Road near the Chinese High School before
turning back to go by the PIE vie Adam Road. The Customs clearance on Singapore
side was fast but we were held back in the queue for about 40 minutes before we
cleared the Malaysian Customs. The driver was kind and helpful. He drove us to
the Amari Hotel at Jalan Trus to check in before sending us to the KSL City
where we started our shopping and looking for the best food we liked.
Da
Shanghai was our choice lunch venue. By chance we came across a durian stall
selling Black Thorn, a unique species from Penang but locally produced with Johor
flavor. We could not resist its temptation.
Eating durian with thin transparent
gloves provided was an enriching experience. As it was a raining day, we had to
move around with our own sunshine to enjoy our happy hours. We returned to the
Amari Hotel by taxis that cost about 12 Ringgits. It’s time for us to rest so
that we would have enough energy to carry on with the night. As the Hotel was
new, the rooms were very cozy and comfortable. The service staff was very
helpful and courteous.
There were unblocked city sceneries from the windows of
the rooms.
The curved zebra crossing was artistic and unique though we didn’t
have to walk in the same manner as it was drawn on the road. It was difficult
to cross the one-way Jalan Wong Ah Fook where there was a non-stop vehicular
flow all the time.
We had to brave ourselves by raising our hands to signal the
on-coming cars to give way to us, each time we crossed the road there. A
sumptuous dinner gave us new energy to keep walking from shop to shop. Shopping
in the night was a good experience because most of the time we chose to return
home before 6 pm to beat the traffic. This time, we had a chance to shop until
the shop closed at 10 pm. We also satisfied
ourselves by touring different types of hotel rooms before we returned to our
respective rooms. After a good night’s rest in the Hotel, the breakfast was
very relaxed and long. Many cuisines of various types catering to the multi-racial
guests were laid out for us to enjoy the morning in the dining hall. We went
around touring various facilities within the Hotel after our breakfast. We went
back to the rooms to prepare for check-out at 12 noon but left our belongings
at the Hotel Lobby until we returned to collect them at 7:30 pm for our
returning journey back home. In the afternoon, we strolled leisurely along Jalan
Wong Ah Fook by the new pavement that catered to the pedestrians.
We reached
end of the road near the Immigration Office before we turned back to our
beloved City Square Shopping Mall for our shopping pleasure. The MPV we booked
in advance came to pick us up at 7:00 pm. The driver, Mr Lim drove us through
the Customs jam free all the way to our respective homes. Have a nice memory of
the visit and overnight stay in Johor till we meet again.
