Said goodbye to Jon & Paula and boarded our Singapore Airlines flight to, where else, Singapore. 8+ hours so glad we decided to upgrade to Premium Economy, might get a little sleep. Settled in to our seats and soon we were feasting on a fantastic meal of rubber chicken and some-kinda-fish. Yum! But we’ll find out later that it beats breakfast…

Caught a few winks, very few, as the flight attendants decided 2 hours out from arrival to serve us breakfast. I know this is only one night in my life but damn, it sucked. No way to get comfortable in those crappy seats, no way. So, breakfast, hopefully will be something good.

Nope, for breakfast they served curry or rubber chicken, again. No eggs, toast, yogurt, just terrible lunch choices. We’ll grab lunch after getting to our hotel. So, landed in Singapore, completed our 9-page e-landing card and zipped right thru customs & immigration. Next hurdle was to get a registered taxi that can cross the border into Malaysia. No Uber or Grab, registered taxi only.

This kinda went well. We took a taxi from the airport to a taxi stand downtown. From there it is a fixed price to cross the border, otherwise it would have cost us close to $200.00. Thanks to the kind lady at the airport taxi stand for the info.

Got to the downtown taxi stand and low and behold, we needed another arrival card to enter Malaysia. Now, I checked all the visa requirements for every country we’re going to and had approved visas for all. But arrival cards are a different animal. Usually, no cost but it takes a bit more info, and proof of sufficient finances to buy an exit airline ticket, airline tickets to leave the country, and a place to stay once they let you in. Only took 1hr to complete in the boiling hot sun with 80+ percent humidity. And to boot, did it on my phone!

All done, approved entry card now off to the border, a quick 1-hour drive. Getting into Malaysia was the most modern check point I’ve ever seen. No one gets out of the car, you just drive through one of 20 open stalls, hand over your passports, get it stamped by Singapore agents, go to the next set of stalls, hand over your passport, get it stamped (this time by Malasia C&I), drive off. Works well when you know the system.

Spent the night across from the train station at the Holiday Inn Express. As a travel agent I got the room for $70USD with breakfast. Man, do I need a shower!!!

Next morning hit the breakfast buffet (I’ll soon learn to hate, absolutely HATE, buffets) then cab to the train station. We had 1^st class tickets for the new non-stop train from Johur Bahru to Kuala Lumpur, 4hr ride.  The 1^st class lounge had a bit to be desired. It was a set of chairs in the main station roped off with a sign saying, “1^st & Business Class Only”. Still, everyone loves that class separation.

I know, this is taking too long, get on with something interesting. Well, I don’t have anything more interesting except I think the train line and Singapore Airlines buy food from the same shitty vendor. We’ll get dinner in KL.

Arrived KL and managed to catch a Grab car to our Airbnb apartment. Nice place, very nice. Gated driveway with security guards inside and outside. I guess that’s a good thing? Two bedroom apartment with a washer & dryer, good views of the city. Just need to unpack and then head for a grocery store. Just so happens the mall attached to our apartment complex has everything we’ll need.