Singapore

It costs significantly less to fly into Senai airport in Johor Bharu, Malaysia than directly into Changi Airport in Singapore. Johor is just across the straights for SIN so I figured this would be an easy cost saver. It turns out that Senai airport is actually about 50km from Singapore. The entire ride takes 3 hours, but all in all it was worth it for me. First you take a bus from the airport to Larkin, which is about 30km for $2.5 US. On my trip back to the airport, a couple of days later, I took a very local bus that went all around the town of Senai which cost $1. From Larkin you switch to the Causeway Link Smiling Yellow Bus for another $1 for the rest of the trip. The Causeway is a bridge that connects Peninsular Malaysia to the island of Singapore. The Causeway link takes you across the bridge but has to navigate the customs checks. Larkin to the bridge is about 20km. At the bridge you disembark to go through Malaysians exit customs. On the other side you pick up the yellow bus again which will then take you across the bridge to Singapore customs, where you disembark again. You pick the bus up again on the other side of customs, now in Singapore. The bus can then take you to the Kranji MRT Station. The MRT is Singapore’s mass transit system. It’s cheap, clean, frequent. The trains are made up of many train sections but unlike any train I’ve seen before, there are no doors between the segments, it’s one long open space down the whole way.

Leng, one of the founders of SealNet shares an apartment in Singapore with a couple in Chau Chu Kang in the northwest. Unfortunately, Leng was back in SF but their roommates welcomed us with open arms. Doug and Christie took us on a tour of Singapore that night through downtown, then Chinatown and Little India. The first thing I noticed were the housing projects, everywhere. But these weren’t the projects, they were apartment blocks. Huge buildings ten to fifteen floors high
9 identical buildings per complex, probably a thousand units in each complex. And there was complex after complex. The majority population is Chinese, followed by Malay and Indian. Singaporeans work very long hours, rush hour doesn’t start until at least 6:30 to 8PM. This is a place founded by Chinese and Indian immigrants who came here to work and make money so working hard is ingrained in the psyche. The mall culture is even more intense here than in KL, all life here seems to happen at the malls or at work. Little India is full of life at night. There are restaurants; jewelry shops are open very late. Despite being just a few degrees north of the equator, Singapore is freezing. Like in LA, everyone cranks up the air-conditioning to arctic levels.