JOHOR BAHRU – SINGAPŪRA

This is what we need because in the morning this control point is not that attentive. At 8AM we join the crowd on its way to Singapore. It’s going all fine at the passport control, very friendly and no questions. However, there is also adrenaline sitting with us on the backseats. Now customs officers are stopping people randomly. The moment when we pass by they are busy with the other ones and we get in with the loud yay! which nobody hears in the helmet. There are twenty more kilometers to drive to get to the centre and there are paying terminals every now and then. In fact, we should be paying for using the road but we can’t do it since we aren’t registered. I don’t really mind paying for it, yet there is something wrong with the entire procedure of using the bikes in this country. But after the win there comes a loss: we find out that the ferry from Georgetown to Medan we hoped for is not leaving on Thurday as we planned, but only on Monday. There are no other options either since the political state in the Malacca Straight has stopped all the shipping there. 

Singapore: 642 square meters of the land and four millions of inhabitants, all of the different nations and religions. This is also the cleanest city in the world. In 1965 when Singapore got separated from Malaysia and was officially adjured as an independent state, it had to invent the severe laws to habituate the Chinese to tidiness. Warnings are everywhere, on the streets, in the stores, in the underground: 500 Singaporean dollars (300 US dollars) penalty for eating and drinking in the public transport; 1000 SD for smoking and so on. There are even cash machines where one can pay their fine. On the other hand, so far this is the most interesting and attractive capital of Southeastern Asia we’ve seen.