My Travel Adventures Part 2.1 - Singapore

Continuing on with my not so big but meaningful travelling adventures..Part 2 I'll be talking about Universal Studios Singapore because I have been there 3 times and because living in Johor Bahru for 3 years, it is a crime not to go there every year. Haha.

The very first time I went to Singapore was with my family when I was in Standard 4, I think. There wasn't much I can recall from that trip except I remember I was visiting some relatives from my father's side. Now, the very first time I went to Singapore after working in Johor Bahru was in December 2012. I remember this exact month and year because Christmas lights were all up and running in Singapore that time and it was the year I was really stressed out, what with moving away so far from my family for the first time and just starting a really stressful job. So because of the stress I was in, when Yana told me she would be going to Singapore with her family for a short stay and asked me to visit her there, I immediately said yes. 

So I went there. Alone. By car. Without researching first on what documentations I needed to go into Singapore. Or a functioning GPS.

Which, when I think about it now, was a really dumb and careless thing for me to do, but I was stressed and I needed to get out of my apartment and out of JB stat.

The thing is, just because Singapore is nothing foreign to Malaysians and is only divided by a bridge crossing the Straits of Johor (Selat Tebrau), and just because there are hundreds of commuters daily between Johor Bahru and Singapore, it doesn't mean going there is as easy as taking your purse and car keys, driving over to the customs, and BOOM--you're miraculously in the Singapore borders. No, it's not that easy. I learnt it the hard way.

There are a few things you need to know before entering Singapore by car:

1) You need a passport, duh. At least I wasn't too dumb to know this.

2) You need to fill up what the general public calls "borang putih" or in English "white form". It's this small slip of paper where you need to fill up your particulars and passport number and all, where are you coming from, where are you headed to in Singapore, and where are you staying while you are in Singapore, how many days will you be in Singapore, and where is your next destination after Singapore. Yeah, you can't hide from the Singapore customs. They are practically stalking you (I'm joking. Peace.) 

Ideally, fill up this form before arriving at the customs. You can get this form practically at any public transportation outlets in Johor Bahru. And it's free so just take a whole bunch of it and save it for next time you decide to visit Singapore again. You can also get it when you arrive at the custom but it is such a hassle for you to fill it up on the spot while many other cars are waiting patiently (or impatiently) behind you. If you are alone, its still considerable, but imagine if you have a group of 5 people in the car with only one pen. Not everyone is as patient as you think.

So that was my mistake. I didn't know there was such thing as this "borang putih" and thank goodness I was alone so I just had to fill it up very quickly at the customs.

3) If you are going by car, you need an Autopass, which is something like a Singapore version of a Smartag. Without this Autopass, you cannot enter the Singapore borders because the Autopass is the only way to pay tolls in Singapore. Also, in Singapore, ALL parking places are paid by using this Autopass. There is no such thing as paying by cash, like we do in Malaysia. It's not as if they have options like pay using Autopass or by cash, like in Malaysia we have options of either paying by cash or Touch'n'Go. No no no. In Singapore, it's all Autopass.

I didn't have the slightest idea about this. After going through the Malaysian customs and arriving at the Singapore customs, the Singapore custom officer asked me if I had an Autopass. I was like, "A what?" He told me if I didn't have one, I could pull over for a while up in front so I could go into the custom building where they sell the Autopass.

Omg. Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking. The custom officer let me move forward, where I was supposedly supposed to pull over, park my car, and buy the Autopass. But when I reached the front, I kind of panicked because I didn't know where to park my car and I thought, wth, maybe I won't need the Autopass anyway. I'll just be wasting my money if I buy it and I don't use it. I'm only coming here to visit Yana.

So I didn't pull over. And I didn't buy the Autopass.

Stop laughing. Keep in mind, this was the very first time I went into Singapore and I was all alone. Gosh.

Miraculously, I entered Singapore without a problem. I don't know how. I got passed the Singapore customs and into the highway without a problem, just cruising along, totally oblivious with the fact I could have gotten in jail if I was caught. 

So that was my first obstacle. Then came my second obstacle. GPS.

In December 2012, I did not own a smartphone. Yes, I have been working for almost 6 months by then. Yes, it was the era where everyone had a smartphone. The thing was, I previously owned a Samsung smartphone (secondhand from my sister. I forgot the model. I think it was Diamond? If there is such thing as a Samsung Diamond) but one fine day, it fell on the road and the screen broke into millions of pieces and I brought it to the store to fix it, unfortunately, they said it was such an old model that they didn't make the proper screen to replace it with anymore. So instead of buying a new smartphone, like any reasonable person would, I bought a Nokia 1280. Again. What was I thinking???

You see that purple Nokia? Yeah, that was the phone I was using. The other 2 Samsung smartphones were already broken. I took this picture the first time I got my iPhone. Overexcited. Lol.

So back to my story, I did not own a smartphone. Therefore, I did not have Google maps or Waze to help me find my way around in Singapore. I did have a Proton GPS which came as a free gift when I first bought my car (not built-in though). I did not know that this GPS could not be internationally used and was only useful on Malaysian roads.

Basically, I was dead. I did not know my way around Singapore at all and I had the task of finding Orchard Road where Yana was waiting for me. I thought it would be easy. I thought there would be obvious road signs leading the way to Orchard Road. I mean, Orchard Road was a popular tourist destination, right? They should have signs from the Woodlands customs all the way to Orchard Road showing the way, right?

Wrong.

Man, was I lost. Like really, really lost. I did't recognised the names of the highways and the roads and there were so many names. I even got lost all the way until Jurong Bird Park. I think it took me almost four to five hours from Woodlands until I finally made it to Orchard Road. And it was only after I surrendered and stopped at a gas station and asked this one really nice uncle how do I get to Orchard Road and he gave me the names of the highway and roads I should follow until finally I saw a sign that said Orchard Road.

And then came the third obstacle. Miraculously, the four to five hours of my driving trying to find Orchard Road, I passed by numerous roads and highways without an Autopass. Maybe it's because it was my first time there and Singapore has a rule where first time foreign vehicles are free? Or maybe it was the weekend? I'm not so sure. I still am not exactly clear on the rules and regulations of the roads in Singapore. But I do know I was zipping through the Singapore roads smoothly without an Autopass. 

But it became a problem when I wanted to stop my car. Yana told me she and her family were staying at Grand Hyatt Hotel nearby Orchard Road and that I could meet her there. So I planned to park in the Grand Hyatt Hotel parking. Except when I reached the barrier of the parking entrance, I was prepared to take a parking ticket, however there was no button for me to press to expel a ticket. There was only a scanner to scan a card.

S**t. That went through my mind. This guard, this old uncle, came by and asked me do I have an Autopass. When he mentioned it, there was a vague memory running through my mind about a custom officer asking me the same thing earlier on that day. Hahaha.

So I looked innocently at the uncle at said;

"No one told me about an Autopass."

"Not even the custom officer?"

"Nope."

I think luck was a lot on my side that day. I guess the uncle really pitied me and he thought I was some innocent small kid just wanting to have a little fun in Singapore. So he said to me that he will allow me to come inside and park my car near his guardhouse and to be sure I will come back before 11pm to take my car out because 11pm is when his shift ended.

I loved that uncle so much. Really. Singaporean uncles are really, really great people.

So I got to meet with Yana in the end and we hung out and ate dinner at Orchard Road. Since it was a weekend near to Christmas, there were lots of people and the sidewalk was so pretty with Christmas trees and Christmas lights everywhere and I used to have pictures but now I can't find them. The only picture I could find is the one that Yana uploaded on Instagram.

Haha. Don't I look innocent?

So we went to have dinner and did a little shopping around Orchard Road. And then came Obstacle Number 4. Getting back to Johor Bahru.

At least this time wasn't so bad because Yana told her parents about how I did't have a GPS and how I wasn't familiar with my way around Singapore. So her dad drew out a map for me with all the names of the road of which I should take that would lead me back safely to Woodlands and back to JB. 

Unfortunately, I'm not a really good at navigation so I wasn't really good at reading maps. In the end, I still got lost. Which was even scarier this time because it was almost midnight and there were hardly any cars left on the road. Somehow, I ended up near Marina Bay and started crying and thought I was lost for good and I would be stuck in Singapore for the rest of my life and never be able to step foot again in Malaysia.

Drama, much? I know.

And then, taa-daaa! I managed to enter a highway where there were signs and signs of Johor Bahru, so I just followed those road signs and it led me into a very heavy traffic jam at the Woodlands custom but I was just so happy because all around me were Johor-plated cars. Lol. And I made it through the Singapore custom without having to scan an Autopass. Another miracle.

So ever since then, I have never entered Singapore with my car again. I told my friend about it and he scared me and said that my car was probably blacklisted if I ever tried to enter Singapore again so I dared not to until today. Haha. Since then, I have entered Singapore either by bus or somebody else's car but never my own.

I know this entry was suppose to be about Universal Studios Singapore but I guess I got overexcited in telling my story of my first experience being lost in Singapore. Haha. So I will break down this entry into multiple parts instead. So this will be My Travel Adventures Part 2.1 - Singapore. I promise Part 2.2 will be about Universal Studios Singapore. Hehe.