EuCHO0.NET - (^(0o)^) The Pigatory

08^th Feb 2008

on the 2^nd day of CNY.. my brother S and good friend JH and i planned a single day tour of JB.. our route went something like this..

we had thought the causeway would be jammed, packed.. it turned out that the lanes heading towards JB were relatively clear (sad to say that the M'sians heading towards Singapore were not having such luck in the opposite direction).. but we still decided to cross on foot anyways.. turned out that the causeway crossing part became the most fun and memorable segment of this single day trip..

along the bridge.. we sighted a couple of komodo dragons (small ones) prodding lazily along the rocky causeway sidelines.. one of them swam away into the sea when it noticed our approach..

nearer the JB checkpoint.. we saw a few fishing lines set along the rocky shores.. there were three rods in position and all of them had fishes caught at the end of the lines.. the poor fishes were desperately and hopelessly swimming in circles tugging at the lines.. apparently no one was manning the lines at the moment.. probably went off to lunch or something.. if these were in Singapore we would probably have went down to cut the lines.. but since we were in unfamiliar territory.. i thought it best to leave them alone..

enough of nature sight-seeing.. next we observed the road signs guiding the Malaysia-bound travelers.. how idiot proof.. but JH commented that the human figure looked like a big-foot monster.. we continued on the way into the checkpoint.. there are no proper walkways to lead the pedestrians into the checkpoint center.. unlike the walkways at the Singapore checkpoint which was much more traveler-friendly.. so we had to skip our way across the various drive-through lanes into the central checkpoint..

finally crossed the customs.. we headed first to City Square shopping complex.. appeared to be a decent shopping mall.. not too crowded because of the new year.. but the Cathay cinema was rather packed.. had wanted to watch CJ7 but decided against it since they likely do not have chinese translation for the movie there.. so we continued walking around the mall.. thinking of what to eat for our vegetarian friend.. JH set his mind on A&W and so we were on the hunt for A&W again.. as always when we visit M'sia..

next stop.. Komtar tower which was 5 minutes walk away.. alas it seemed to be out of business as the whole building was sealed.. so we made a U-turn and headed towards Plaza Kotaraya.. had to move along the crowded streets of Jalan Wong Ah Fook which was rather daunting.. lots of stalls and people along this stretch.. just looked straight ahead and moved fast through the crowd.. along the way was a quick stop at the oldest chinese temple in JB (indeed rather old) before finally reaching Plaza Kotaraya.. realized that this shopping centre was more for Muslim clothes and accessories.. no A&W too.. so did not really explore the place much.. it was lunch time so we entered the Pizza Hut restaurant at the ground floor for a small meal before we continue our search for the A&W.. they were serving the "Golden Crown" pizza there for the CNY.. wanted to order that but too bad they did not agree to change it to vegetarian toppings.. i am sure back in Singapore such changes are allowed.. ended up ordering a large Veggie-Lover pizza and a pitcher of Pepsi.. one interesting thing there was that they provided a sheet of games at the table.. including Sudoku, maze, spot the differences puzzles etc.. i thought we had fun solving the Sudoku puzzle together

next plan was to visit Best World Plaza.. which according to an online article i read appeared to be packed with fun.. up north we reached a huge nine-storey building that according to our intuition should have been the so called Best World Plaza.. but the name on the building suggested otherwise.. we spent much time circling the area around the building to re-orientate ourselves and to decide the next best course.. we entered a nearby mini-settlement.. where JH inquired about the location of the Best World Plaza.. turned out that the huge building was indeed the old Best World Plaza.. apparently the article that i read about Best World Plaza was rather ancient.. we seemed to have hit a wall at the moment and did not know for sure which way to continue.. JH suggested we continued up north towards Larkin bus terminal.. seemed like a good idea.. if we found nothing to do over there.. at least we could take the shuttle bus back to the causeway..

continued north along Jalan Tun Abdul Razak on our number 11s.. bumped into a street map of JB along the road.. confirmed that we were on the correct path towards Larkin.. also noticed a Courts Superstore along the way too.. which seemed to be a convenient stop along the way.. a proper place to rest our tired feet.. from here on the roads were getting larger and more open with less defined footpaths.. had to cross the busy highways near a bent and forked road.. Courts was not too far away by then.. but a couple of taxis horned at us.. apparently it was rather conspicuous of us to be walking along these roads.. any local or normal person would have been traveling in a vehicle around these areas.. anyway.. made it to Courts superstore (not labeled on our map but indicated by the small fork in our route).. went in to enjoy their fresh air-conditioning and toilets.. it was a 3-storey high store.. first floor displaying living room furnitures, accessories and electronics.. second floor were mainly beds, dressing tables and cupboards.. and the third floor displayed gym equipments.. nothing much for us here but at least it was a nice place to chill for a while.. soon we exited the building and had some roadside indian chendol dessert..

further up the road from here.. the path became even more inaccessible.. there was practically no more footway for pedestrians to travel on.. only grassy slopes along the highway with uneven ground and tall weeds.. so i really felt we were out of place traveling this road.. why in the world are 3 idiots trying to cross JB on foot.. eventually arrived at a large obstacle to our route.. a huge cross-junction (shaped like a butterfly to me..) which we had to cross to the opposide side.. by some form of devil's luck.. we actually did cross it successfully.. and safely.. i reckoned this road was actually less busy than usual due to the CNY holiday.. which perhaps aided in our successful crossing.. i would never have attempted to cross a highway junction back in Singapore.. was in fact rather fun and exciting..

after this particular ordeal.. the Larkin bus terminal was not too far away.. it appeared to be a busy bus interchange which also serves as a convenient central market square.. we were searching for an A&W restaurant again.. there were MacDonald's and even Dunkin' Donuts.. but definitely no A&W.. seemed like the whole purpose of this trip was to look for an A&W wasn't it?? so we settled for a drink at the third floor food center instead.. the environment there was rather poor so we were back on our way soon.. with the bus interchange so conveniently located here.. we took the Singapore bus 170 back down to the causeway..

this time we returned south basically along the same road we came up.. though this time in the comfort of a bus.. looking out into the streets.. it really felt insane to have came up this same route on foot.. thinking back we had walked for nearly 3 hours since the meal back at Pizza Hut.. anyway.. nearer to the causeway near Komtar.. the traffic began to jam up as many roads leading towards Singapore converge.. was the exact same type of jam we were caught in when returning from Melaka a month ago.. so knowing that it was going to be a long wait.. dozed off for a short nap..

at the customs.. it was decided that we would not easily find a decent place to eat around here.. and it was getting dark soon.. not too safe anymore.. so we decided to cross the causeway back to Singapore for dinner..

again we crossed the causeway on foot.. and again it seemed to be the most interesting part of this mini-tour.. one thing to take special note is the lack of proper pedestrian crossing from the customs complex to the causeway.. it was a rather crazy dash across the multi-lane (only god knows how many lanes) road leading into the checkpoint.. but i guess we were only one of the few crazy bunch of people who would even bother to cross the causeway on foot.. so i understand why the M'sian authorities never bothered to fix this problem..

back the same way we came.. the fishes at the end of the fishing lines were already gone.. probably kept in a dark container somewhere waiting to be chopped up for food.. well at least its suffering would be coming to an end soon.. the tide has gone down at this time and the rocky shores could be seen more clearly.. did not manage to spot any more Komodo dragons this time.. they were all probably back in their cozy nests elsewhere to turn off for the night.. along the bridge JH came up with a hypothesis that the Komodo dragons on one side of the causeway would be highly genetically different from those on the other side.. reason because there was no way the Komodo dragons could get to the other side without crossing the main roads.. which results in a high probability of getting squished by vehicles traveling between Singapore and M'sia.. therefore there is very little chance of cross-breeding between the Komodo dragons living on the two opposite sides of the causeway.. what an interesting thought.. wonder does this causeway actually have an adverse effect on the eco-system along the gulf of M'sia..

summary to this tour..

• we failed in finding the elusive A&W restaurant in JB.. guess it would be quite some time before we get to enjoy the A&W's root beer float again..
• the streets are not as dangerous as we were made to believe.. a nearly uneventful day for us in terms of security.. to my understanding probably due to us being a group of 3 guys.. who in the right mind would want to try conning or robbing us without expecting a tough fight.. also we were mainly traveling along unconventional routes where tourist traffic is low.. any intelligent up-to-no-gooder would know better to instead lie in wait along the busy tourishy streets to pick on the high influx of easy targets.. and also we left JB before the sunset.. after which the streets should become much more dangerous than it seems.. must find a chance to experience the night streets of of JB one of these days..
• the roads of JB are not designed for pedestrians as there are no proper footpaths along the road sides.. crossing the roads are also a big problem with hardly any traffic-control lights..
• lastly.. it was more fun walking the causeway than actually walking the streets of JB.. of course there are probably more interesting places to visit.. just that we have not found them yet.. so for now i believe this would not be my last visit to our friendly neighboring state..