But I surprised myself today for taking leave and going on a half-day shopping trip to JB. It was, believe it or not, my first trip in more than 10 years to JB and it's all thanks to MJM, a colleague of mine. You see, MJM is a regular in JB and swears by all things MIM (Made In Malaysia, not to be confused with MJM). Why, he even drives a MIM car, the Proton Waja, something I would not be caught dead driving. I tried getting Victor to tag along. But he refused, for reason I suspected is quite similar to mine.
MJM told me he needed to make an urgent trip to JB today to replenish the fresh milk, fruit juice and other groceries for his wife and 三千金 (his three daughters). It's a trip that he makes almost every week. Never mind the long jams at times (well, most of the times) on the way back to Singapore from the Causeway, MJM is mostly motivated by the cheap price of petrol in JB despite the 3/4 full-tank ruling by our Singapore government. I've always wondered how much one can really save and if it's worth the trouble of having to go through the traffic jam. Well, I don't have to wait long to find out the answer.
And so, at his insistence and promise that he would fetch me back to the office to collect my car (I refused vehemently to drive to JB), I gave in and found myself the front-seat passenger in the Proton Waja, heading to JB at 12 noon.
Everything was a breeze, despite the persistent drizzle. We reached the custom by 12.45pm and by 1pm, we were at a quaint coffee-shop near Plaza Pelangi, having laksa for lunch. The laksa, at RM3.50, was nothing to shout about, even though MJM has earlier raved and ranted about how fabulous it was and the generous amount of cockles that came with it.
Because of the drizzle, I was in no mood to roam about the streets. But the whole area around Plaza Pelangi has a very 60s-70s feel, like what it was in old Singapore with a variety of shops on what one would called 五脚街 or "5-foot path". In a span of 15 minutes, I spotted a bridle shop, car-servicing workshop, shops specializing in pewter and of course massage parlour. Too bad I didn't snap any photo of it, other than the laksa seller. Why, she's not even a SYT! What was I thinking?
Then, we were off to Giant, a shopping complex housing, of course, Giant the Supermarket, and many other retailers and restaurants. That was when MJM went into turbo mode, picking up fruit juice, vitagen and fresh milk off the shelves into the shopping cart. I too did some shopping and we were done by 3pm.
Well, shopping can really make you hungry. So we decided to take a bite at another coffer-shop a stone's throw away from Giant at the recommendation of MJM, no less. There is nothing extraordinary about the "mee-kiah" soup really. In fact I was disappointed to find that there was only ONE fishball in the soup, which was too salty for my liking. I discovered, to my chagrin, that MJM actually rates his food according to price. His philosophy seems to be - if it's cheap; then the food must be good! That's when I came to the conclusion that MJM can never make his mark as a food-critic.
So how much can we stretch our dollars doing our groceries shopping in JB? Quite a fair bit, I must admit. Considering my expenses in JB within the three hours I was there:
That's about $30 in Singapore currency. I'm convinced. Must ask MJM when's the next trip.... But then again maybe not. The trip back home was a torture. We didn't expect to be caught in a jam at 4.30pm, but we did, probably because of the school holidays. By the time I reached home, it was 6.30pm. Next time, I'll get MJM to do the groceries for me. Ha.
7 comments:
I have a friend who lives in JB and works in Spore. Plus his sons studies here. Sometimes he has to make multiple trips a day.
As for shopping in JB - I think we shd not do it too often. Many Spore shops are bleeding from poor biz. I always go to the HDB shops. Nowadays, becos of the bad biz and tough competition, the service has improved a great deal. Just my personal view only.
Ahh, you've learnt how to use the word 'chagrin' just like I've learnt how to use the word 'pomposity'.
I've not driven across for more than 5 years now. On most occasions that I've driven across, I didn't have very good 'interactions' with their 'Uncles Samsuddin'. They seemed to have a propensity to look out for Singapore cars. To be fair, the situation might've changed somewhat today. I heard from the news that they now wear badges proclaiming that they support 'anti-charity'. But what's on their chests may still be very different from what's in their hearts. Despite of this, I believe that they basically have a good heart because getting you into trouble with the law is the last thing on their minds. For each of the occasions that I had experienced before, I managed to vindicate myself just by making a small 'voluntary contribution' into the pocket that now lies behind that badge.
Are you sure that the subject of your photo was the laksa lady and not the SYT on the right whose back was turned towards your camera?
I'm sure that Chun See and the gang (ok that includes me, happy?) loved the photo of the coffeeshop. Notice the familiar wooden electrical switchboard behind the lady? Such a switchboard was common in our homes in the olden days. Even the price of that bowl of laksa with added 'harm' also brings back old Singapore memories (RM3.50 < S$2.00). Now you've revived my sense of nostalgia which I've been consciously trying so hard to put away recently, thank you. (Talking about that, I wonder when will Chun See blog about yesteryear's food.)
And what's the 'A' sign doing on the wall? You mean that they also have a food hygiene certification system just like ours? Ah yes I remember now - they've a known tendency to emulate our good systems, without a need for any pomposity on our part.
Wow - Victor certainly has very sharp eyes. I didn't notice a single item that he mentioned. Maybe still chow-tar for last week's nightmarish assignments.
Anyway, I would like to share my experience about driving in Msia - which I do a great deal being married to an Ipoh girl for nearly 20 years. Every year for the past 18 years, I have been driving up to Ipoh for the year-end family re-unions. Of course we divert to many other places for our holdidays. In the old days, before the NS highway was built, it was a 2-day journey becos of the young kids and all. My job also used to take me frequently to places like Port Dickson, KL, Bangi, Malacca etc in the 90's.
In all my year's of driving in Msia, I only had 1 encounter with the 'Uncle Samsuddins' that Victor mentioned. This means either I am very lucky, or the problem is confined only to JB where they know many Sporeans like to contribute to the Msian economy.
Chun See, I didn't know you have an Ipoh wife. Luckily I didn't think I was overboard in the way I described Malaysia, otherwise it might just spark off another round of cross-border tensions.
Before this comment of yours, Chris and I were wondering why you never mentioned about your wife while we have mentioned about ours a few times in our blogs.
Being married to a girl who lives hundreds of miles away again proves my earlier observation that you are indeed a very sociable person. So you married at about 33. Hey that's the age I was married too. Quite late hor. That is yet another point in common between the two of us. :)
Victor - you sure have amazing observation. You're not made our consultant for nothing!(looking at you with full admiration!) Wooden electrical switchboard? What's that and was there one in the pic? You mean the "cupboard" that's holding all the cigarettes? There weren't any SYT at the kopitiam at that point in time. Serious. If so, I would have taken their pic. If I've known that half-hidden gal in the pic is your definition of a SYT, I would have risked breaking an arm and leg to snap a full length pic for you. What are friends for anyway?
Your experiences with Uncle Samsuddin tell me that your charm didn't quite work as well as it has in Singapore. Remember the free wanton? The "pay-whatever you liked" at Biopolis? Maybe you should make a trip to JB to see if your charm ticks in Malaysia. Uncle Samsuddin told me to convey to you how much they've missed you. Hee. BTW, I learned how to use "chagrin" way back when I was in K2, OK? Ha.
Chun See - I certainly hope you've passed your chow-tar stage. Welcome back to the Blogosphere. Wah, you're an old hand at travelling to Malaysia. I've never drivern up there and I don't think I ever want to, what with horrible stories reported in the papers and which I don't think I should repeat them here. When my brother got married (yes, he too married a Malaysian girl), I also didn't drive up. About how biz in Singapore is bleeding and why we should shop locally, really it's a matter of different strokes for different folks. We can't deny that the standard and cost of living in Singapore is quite high these days... To those who choose to shop in JB, it's their way of stretching their dollars. Can't really blame them. As for service standard,well, I beg to differ. That's another story altogther which I'll be blogging in my next entry.
I didn't travel hundreds of miles to court her if that's what you are thinking. She spent most of her adult life in Spore; studying at NUS and then working here. Its all 'yuan-fen' don't you think?
Actually if you factor in all the time and hassle plus the risk of meeting some unfriendly locals (yes I too hear horror stories about deliberate accidents in JB)the net savings may not be very much. But I suspect, people just want the opportunity to have a change of environment.
BTW,did you know that my JB friend actually does quite a bit of his shopping here!
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