Singapore to JB

Those who know me might be surprised that my local coffee shop is opening too late for it to provide my first coffee of the day, which is why I’ve been going to foodcourts. On weekdays, it all changes: Muro Coffee opens at 8, rather than 10. It’s great to come here and start the day, maybe with a pastry. I came here last time I stayed in Singapore, although it was then called Rough Guys - they moved out and took their eccentirc octagonal furniture with them. I am amused one morning: a guy is bragging about how long he has spent travelling and how many places he’s been, but asks for advice about where he might be able to hang out and see the locals. It’s Singapore! It’s crowded, people are everywhere, most are locals.

My last day in Singapore, I decide it’s time to hit the big one - Maxwell Food Centre. It’s the one with the famous guests - Anthony Bourdain seems to have sparked off the trend - and recognition from Michelin. It’s actually going to be celebrating its centenary in 2028. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much. There are three rows of stalls with round tables in between: it’s by far the busiest hawker centre I’ve been to.

The plan is to go in and have a coffee, as I’m actually heading somewhere else for lunch, but I see a place selling beer before I find one selling coffee. While relaxing and looking about, I see a dumpling place nearby - they’re delicious. There’s only one place with any sort of serious queue - Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice - the place visited by Bourdain in 2008. Gordon Ramsay has been along as well. There may have even been a US President. It’s a bit of a cliche to come here, so I’m not surprised to see in their Wikipedia page that NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been in.

Going outside, I explore the very close Duxton Hill and Duxton Road area - it’s really nice, and I even find some very quiet streets. The place is lined with good looking restaurants, coffee shops (I visit three!) and a couple of English language bookstores. This is Duxton Road.

And now Duxton Hill Road.

I have been in Singapore several times now, spent six weeks here on sabbatical once, so I’ve seen most of its tourist sites. One comes up that’s a little intriguing because it’s not what most would see as a touristic place of interest (and I don’t spot any here). It’s Singapore’s first social housing development, Tiong Bahru, which got under way in 1936 and has expanded somewhat since then. Essentially, it’s an area of lowrise apartment buildings (many have ground floor retail) built around a big food court. This is the original, now known as Block 55.

Of course, I have come across the name Tiong Bahru already - the bakery. This, I presume, is where it all started, They have some delicious food - I have a blackberry and lemon curd brioche.

The foodcourt is a triangle with a hollow centre - very light and airy, but not that many people (I’m still quite early) so about half the stalls aren’t open. I have a not very good pad kra pao.

I could easily stay much longer in Singapore and continue my wandering, but I don’t like the hostel enough to extend my stay, so I head north. It’s not a major journey - first I take the MRT from Chinatown to Steven station. There, I’m a bit peckish after my long (30 minute) journey, but am dismayed to find only a McDonalds. Oh well, needs must and all that. But then I see Ritual beside it - a modern café - and have a tasty “Spicy Chicken Arrabiata Penne” for lunch.

Then it’s the good old #170 bus, which takes me to the checkpoint at Woodlands. It, or another bus, takes me across the Causeway to Johor Bahru, and I’m in Malaysia. Both borders have e-gates, and plenty of them, so there’s no waiting. Train purists would turn up their nose at the bus, because there is a train across the causeway, but it’s heavily booked and involves a long wait time. Instead, later on, I sit in a bar in JB, watch the train and look back at Singapore.

JB is rather dominated by its big central mall, the JB Sentral Railway Station and the CIQ building (where they do border control. To the east of that, there’s another mall, not very lively, and a number of high rise apartment buildings. To the east, the other side of the mall, is the original city centre - just a few blocks. This is where my hotel is - it’s a very plain room, but the welcome is warm (“The Flash! Come in.”).

First things first: coffee. There are so many coffee shops around JB, it’s hard to choose so I just go for the closest, Alley and Daisy. I don’t think I came here when I stopped in JB a couple of years ago.

In the evening, I head to another coffee shop for dinner. It’s a bit of a palaver, as the city is on the move - a metro is being bult that will connect to Singapore, and the roads are being rerouted, so my bus stop is not where it should be. I have to deal with the chaos of the central bus station, but it’s worth it - Nimmies Pastry Café does a nice duck aglio olio. It’s a dry café so I have a blood orange sparkling drink. It’s fairly quiet when I turn up at just after 8, but is bustling by the time I go.

My hotel is above a KK 24 hour shop, so I can pop down to get a beer at any time it seems: the latest I try is at 1:30 a.m. The streets are still pretty busy at this time - guys on motorbikes posing for pictures, people eating, others hanging about with no apparent purpose. From the corner outside the hotel, I spot three cellphone shops still open, two with customers.

Cheers!