Between 2006 and 2007

Thanks to Pris and her parents' generosity, we were invited to her parents' other home in Jalan Indah, Johore, about 30 minutes from the 2nd Link, to spend New Year's Eve. In all, Pris, Galvin, Vincent, QQ, Pei Chiek, Keesiu, Soo Yam, Jinlian, Eugene, Jingkai and myself had a ball of a time, especially when most of us (I believed) were setting firecrackers/fireworks off for our first time.

From Jurong East interchange, we hopped on the yellow Causeway Link bus (SGD$3.50 one way) which took us about 30 minutes to reach the 2nd Link, where clearing immigration was a breeze when we used the "access card" lane with just our old passports and biometric thumbprint scanner. Clearing immigration at the Malaysian side was a different story altogether.

By 7.30pm we arrived at her parents' corner bungalow, and tucked in to a sumptuous dinner prepared/bought by her parents. Thereafter we adjourned to the game which I lugged all across the border, Risk. Lots of laughs, scheming, plotting and psycho-ing later (where by then I had finally conquered Europe, and Soo Yam's rising black army was a force to be reckoned with), we stopped short of midnight to set off firecrackers, mini rockets and fireworks with Pris' family and brothers' friends in her garden before wishing each other a happy new year. Seems other homes nearby were in some "competition" to rival the prowess and loudness of each others' fireworks/firecrackers. This is, after all, Malaysia, where such pyrotechnics are officially, banned. Or so we found out. Below is a picture of her garden and the house per se, which I took the next afternoon before we left for City Square in JB. As if you don't already know, land is abundant in Malaysia.



Flagging down a bus (as with alighting) is pretty convenient as you can do so anywhere, and I mean anywhere. We stood by the roadside and boarded bus 501, paid RM2 per pax, and "enjoyed" the air-conditioned 30 minutes bus ride towards the city centre in JB. (Eugene, Keesiu, Soo Yam and Jinlian had earlier returned to Singapore and didn't join us for the later part of the afternoon). In what everyone agreed as the most gruelling bus rides ever (being the spoilt Singaporeans who enjoy the comfort of SBS all our life), the sealed windows meant wind couldn't get in, nor let the humid stuffy air out. We were practically perspiring throughout the journey, which was barely that of a non-airconditioned 151 bus ride, which at least lets any breeze in.

We finally reached JB and City Square, where I later found out (as predicted by Murphy) has nothing appealing worth my buying. Pris found a nice shoe shop and Galvin was awefully sweet and man-ly enough to assist her trying on shoes.

*Insert thunderous applause here please*

By 6pm, Vincent QQ and myself headed off to look for a cheap dinner, whilst Galvin Pris and her brother headed back to join their parents for dinner. According to Vincent, and by far a good recommendation I'd think, is the back alley between City Square and the checkpoint, where a row of food stalls resided.

Below's a video of the 3 of us walking through the crowded hawker street.