I cannot believe it took us almost a year to finally cross the border and go to Malaysia! Whenever I would mention to someone that I wanted to drive to Malaysia they would tell horror stories about muggings, car jackings, people trying to swindle you, and being stopped by corrupt police officers. The way they would make it sound was that you had a 50/50 chance of something going wrong if you crossed the border. This perception is perpetuated by Singapore just being one of the safest countries in the world so to them, any crime is A LOT of crime. One of the guys in my group, Keith, lives in Malaysia and invited us all up to a Taiwanese BBQ restaurant and out for Karaoke. It was the perfect reason to just risk it and cross over.
When we started the trip we figured it would take about an hour, maybe just a little more to go from our apartment in the middle of Singapore to his house just a few kilometers into Malaysia. Three hours later, we finally made it there. So what took us so long? First we found out that you must have at least 3/4 tank of gas when you go through Singapore customs or you will be fined $500. Seeing as my car only had 1/4 tank, it was necessary to fill up. It never crossed my mind that there would be a fuel minimum but this is because too many people were filling up their cars on cheaper, less taxed fuel in Malaysia so Singapore had to put a stop to it. Next we had to go through Singapore customs. There was a little bit of a wait but like all Singapore government services, it was relatively quick and efficient.
We crossed the bridge connecting the island of Singapore to Malaysia and then came to a dead stop. We were 3km (1.9 miles) from the Malaysia customs checkpoint and it took us two hours to make it through. At that point I was thankful I filled up my car as we sat there inching forward every few minutes. There were no exits, no stores, no bathrooms, and no turnaround points so all you could do was sit and wait. At that point we started to wonder if we made the right choice to come but once we got to Keith's place and the party started then we knew it was worth it.
We started with dinner at a Taiwanese BBQ restaurant. Derek and I had not done Taiwanese BBQ before but we have tried Korean. Apparently the only difference is the sauce. The concept is your order a ton of meet and then cook it, or as in Derek and my case burn it, yourself.
After dinner we walked across the shopping center to the karaoke venue. Now when everyone wanted to do karaoke we were pretty skeptical. Derek and I are not fans of standing up in front of a bunch of people we don't know and pretending we can sing. Fortunately for us, they do karaoke completely different! In this karaoke bar, there were 25+ private rooms that could be rented by the hour for you and your friends. We were shown to our private lounge, ordered drinks, and began singing the night away. They had a wide selection of Korean pop (K-pop), Japanese, Chinese, and American songs. Everyone passed around the three microphones and took turns singing in various languages. It ended up being a really fun time!ć
We headed back to Singapore just after midnight and breezed through customs. Besides the long trip there, we had no other issues. It was a great night out with friends and another stamp in the passport!
When we started the trip we figured it would take about an hour, maybe just a little more to go from our apartment in the middle of Singapore to his house just a few kilometers into Malaysia. Three hours later, we finally made it there. So what took us so long? First we found out that you must have at least 3/4 tank of gas when you go through Singapore customs or you will be fined $500. Seeing as my car only had 1/4 tank, it was necessary to fill up. It never crossed my mind that there would be a fuel minimum but this is because too many people were filling up their cars on cheaper, less taxed fuel in Malaysia so Singapore had to put a stop to it. Next we had to go through Singapore customs. There was a little bit of a wait but like all Singapore government services, it was relatively quick and efficient.
We crossed the bridge connecting the island of Singapore to Malaysia and then came to a dead stop. We were 3km (1.9 miles) from the Malaysia customs checkpoint and it took us two hours to make it through. At that point I was thankful I filled up my car as we sat there inching forward every few minutes. There were no exits, no stores, no bathrooms, and no turnaround points so all you could do was sit and wait. At that point we started to wonder if we made the right choice to come but once we got to Keith's place and the party started then we knew it was worth it.
We started with dinner at a Taiwanese BBQ restaurant. Derek and I had not done Taiwanese BBQ before but we have tried Korean. Apparently the only difference is the sauce. The concept is your order a ton of meet and then cook it, or as in Derek and my case burn it, yourself.
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| Our selection of meat included SPAM. At the end, we taught them how to properly roast marshmallows. |
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