To Singapore, we drove alone.

We’ve sat in other people’s cars before, and have taken bus, taxi, train and plane rides in and out of Singapore too, but DH and I have never driven ourselves across the causeway. So on a Saturday during the long Hari Raya weekend, we made our way from JB to SG and back by private car, aided by a Garmin gps navigator.

Entering Bukit Chagar CIQ

Setting off at 1pm from our home, we were greeted by a traffic jam at Bukit Chagar CIQ a half hour later. The bumper to bumper traffic crawled slowly through customs, with the worse standstill jams happening along the bridge to Singapore.

Massive traffic jam on the way to Singapore and back

Usually on Monday mornings and Friday nights, the jams can reach this state but we didn’t think it would be quite this bad on a public holiday. In fact, we expected Singaporeans to come out of Singapore, not Johorians to go in!

Whomever has a name like Lovely has a lot to live up to

Well, it did give me some time to take in my surroundings and what do you know, this ad caught my eye. Calling yourself by an adjective seems to be all the rage – Joker, Wonderful and now Lovely… what’s next? Simply Irresistable Lee? It used to be bad when they named themselves Strawberry, Rainbow, Alfalfa and Vanilla. *shudders*

Woodlands Command seen from the causeway bridge

So, after about an hour in the car, we were still on the bridge. Woodlands Command could be seen, so near yet so far. *sigh* Began noticing Singaporean cars with curtains… what’s up with that?

Entering Woodlands Command

Finally, another half hour later, we entered Woodlands Command. Through immigration we went, and were told that since we did not have an Autopass, we had to stop at a layby to get it. An officer verified our road tax and gave me a slip of paper which I took to this office to apply for an autopass. I had to fill out a form with my personal details before I was issued the pass. Each Autopass is specifically made for a particular car and you cannot use them interchangeably. The whole procedure cost me SGD10 with the advice to top-up my card at any 7-11 stores nationwide before I leave Singapore.

By the time I reached Tiong Bahru for lunch, it was already 3.30 in the afternoon! After dropping off some stuff at my flat, we made our way to Suntec for dinner with my SIL and NIL. Got myself a Tefal Oven (love it love it ♥♥♥ it) and DH got himself an LED monitor. Waited for more than an hour to be seated at Tony Roma’s -read my review here, we enjoyed the feast but left immediately after dinner for JB at 10pm.

The going out wasn’t quite as smooth as the coming in for the GPS got us hopelessly lost. We ended up driving round and round in circles around Suntec. *grumbles* We had wanted to drop off SIL at Bugis first but the GPS just couldn’t get us there. So they took a taxi instead, and we managed to turn into Bugis immediately after they left. Oh well, we must have been fated not to send them back!

Bye bye Singapore, Hello Johor Bahru

We still experienced heavy traffic at the causeway around 10.30pm, with loads of Malaysian cars crossing back across the border after their day trip, but JB was absolutely clear. We made good time and got home at 11pm. An adventure at last! I’m happy.