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2D1N Trip from Singapore to Johor Bahru

Prior to the trip, we already had purchased one of those deals with one of the hotels in the Bukit Indah area: Princeton Hotel. Located very near the Jusco, Tesco, and Giant, it's also along the path of the Causeway Link bus CW3 and CW6  to and from Singapore. It's a great "staging area" for the trip to Legoland and Puteri Harbour Park.

Just to sum it up, the itinerary would be like this:

Day 1:
-> Jurong East Bus Interchange. CW3 (SGD 4.00)
-> CW3: Jurong East -> Singapore Checkpoint -> Malaysia Checkpoint -> Jusco
-> Princeton Hotel (checkin; deposit required)
-> Legoland (Taxi: ~MYR 15.00)
-> Princeton Hotel

Day 2:
-> Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park ( ~MYR 17.00)
-> Hello Kitty, Thomas and Friends, etc
-> Princeton Hotel (Taxi: ~MYR 30.00 )
-> Jusco (Lunch, shopping galore)
-> CW3/CW6: Jusco -> Malaysia Checkpoint -> Singapore Checkpoint -> Jurong East/Boon Lay Interchange (MYR 4.00)

Here's some more details about that:

Day 1, 08:30 AM:
Already at Jurong East Bus Interchange at the queue for the Causeway Link bus. The fare was S$4.00. By 8:35AM, we're already in, and we're off to the next stop to the Singapore Immigration at the Tuas Checkpoint (also known to some as the 2nd Link).

Day 1, 09:15 AM:
We missed the original bus we rode on (very long queue at the Malaysian Immigration.) Going to Bukit Indah, you can ride either CW3 (from Jurong East) or CW6 (from Boon Lay). Point of origin doesn't matter, as from this point forward, trip is the same. Waited for the next CW bus to come along (in our case, it was CW6) and we enjoyed the ride.

Day 1, 10:00 AM:
After the Jusco bus stop, we signaled the bus to stop just after Princeton Hotel. At the hotel, since it's waaaaaay too early (our family room was still occupied; checkout time was 1:00 PM), we just left our deposit, had breakfast at Login next door (I like their bee hoon), got our tickets, then booked a taxi to Legoland.

Day 1, 11:30 AM - 07:30 PM
Taxi driver chatted us up on our way to Legoland. Said he was an ambassador for Legoland and that you can purchase some tickets from him at discounted rates. Meter rate was around MYR 15.00. Never had the opportunity to confirm since we already had our tickets. Taxi dropped us in front of a mall, which serves like a foyer to Legoland. Lot's of shops and restaurants at this area. At Legoland, we spent the rest of the day taking the rides, taking pictures, and checking out the stores.

Around noon until around 2PM, the heat was very intense. It was really, really, really hot. We spent most of the time indoors. Lunchtime anyway. :) To get your blood pumping, I recommend Project X (Technic), Dragon Coaster (Kingdoms) and Aquazone Wave Racer.

Day 1, 07:30 PM
Just outside Legoland, we had dinner at Pancake House. After that we got a ride back to the hotel.

Day 2, 09:45 AM
We booked a taxi for the Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park. The taxi we rode got lost a few times. (Sigh.) Total fare amounted to MYR 17.00.

The location was fairly new as there are buildings being constructed near it. Not much else worth noting at this time, so the place is kind of isolated.

Day 2, 10.00 AM to 01:00 PM
The first floor is  the souvenir shop, ticket sellers, and the LAT's Place restaurant. The second floor is the Sanrio Hello Kitty Town. The third floor is the entrance to the Little Big Club. The fourth floor is the Little Big Club's Thomas and Friends area.

The Thomas and Friends ride is where I had the most fun with the family. We were able to ride everything except for the Bumper cars (required age is 6). Downstairs there's several shows scheduled on stage every 30 minutes or so. And there's tons of play areas where kids can have fun.

Skipped several shows and attractions, as we we needed to get back to the hotel to check out. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if we extended a bit longer, nice people that they are. But I really couldn't. Just wasn't wired that way I guess.

Day 2, 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Got back to the hotel just in time to check out. The hotel staff suggested we go back to Puteri Harbour Park, as we purchased the 2 Park Day Pass, so we could return anytime. They also offered to look after our luggage while we go back to the park. See? Really nice staff. Had to decline though, as we really wanted to check out Jusco nearby.

The heat was a killer. If Jusco wasn't very near, we would have booked a taxi.

Had our late lunch there at Nando's. After that we explored Jusco. Nice place. Affordable merchandise, much cheaper than in Singapore. We loved it. We immediately made plans of going back in the near future to do some whole day grocery shopping. I remember a bought 2 months supply of hair gel. I saved SGD2.00  for each. :)

Also saw one gaming store at one of the upper floors. Can't remember which floor, or the name of the store. But I remember it because on it's window, there's a lot of the old gaming consoles. The original, good old Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). All of a sudden, I go UP-UP-DOWN-DOWN-LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT-RIGHT-B-A-B-A-Start. Aaaah, memories....

Day 2, 04:30 PM to 06:00 PM
After finishing up, we went back to the bus stop in front of Jusco. We're waiting for the CW3 or CW6 Singapore-bound buses. First bus that arrived, we skipped, as the bus was relatively full. Big mistake on our part. Weather suddenly turned for the worse and started pouring heavily. At the same time, more Singapore-bound passengers are crowding the bus stop. And I'm carrying my son who finally fell asleep.The next bus arrived, fare was MYR 4.00, literally clawed my way through the crowd to get on. People don't seem to be kind to anyone, even if you're obviously carrying a kid. Oh well. :( Guess the rain brought out the worst in everyone.

Day 2, 06:00 PM to 06:30 PM
Back at the Tuas Checkpoints. First on the Malaysian end. Rode the same CW bus to get to the other checkpoint. On the Singapore end, we got delayed as my mother-in-law didn't have the disembarkation (DE) card.

Only then that I realized what happened. When we exited Singapore the previous day, the SG immigration officer obviously took the DE card. Now that we' re going back, she needs to fill up another immigration form, which we did right then and there. After we passed through, she now has her new DE card attached to her passport.

We went to the CW berth where there are two queues: one for CW3 bound for Jurong East, and CW6 bound for Boon Lay. Jurong East was closer to us so we queued up that way.

Rain hasn't stopped. Explains the terrible heat through out the day, I guess. My son finally woke up while we are on our way to the Jurong East interchange, unaware of the trials we went through to get from Jusco to Jurong East. :)

In conclusion:

• Princeton Hotel in the Bukit Indah area is an ideal, because of it's proximity to the bus route, Jusco, and easy access to taxi ride to Legoland or Puteri Harbour Park.
• Legoland is vast with lots of open spaces, and your experience will be largely affected by the weather conditions. Outside of Legoland, there is a lot of amenities.
• Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park is relatively smaller and compact, but is well built and airconditioned. Outside of it, not much, as the area is still being developed (as of this writing).
• Jusco is a nice place to do shopping. :)
• 2 days is enough to cover both attractions plus some shopping. Just depends on how long you want to spend on each one.
• If you have a person who is on Social Visit Pass (aka a tourist), it would be nice if you have extra copies of the Singapore immigration form (the one with the disembarkation card that will be "attached" to your passport.)
• Causeway Link bus is a convenient way of going from Singapore to Johor Bahru and vice versa. And, as far as I know, the cheapest method as well. (SGD4.00  from Singapore, MYR4.00 from JB.)

Proof that kids grow in the blink of an eye

Here's our proof that kids can grow quickly in a few short weeks.