Crossed over into Johor Bahru, Malaysia and off the beaten tourist path. I was honestly surprised to be the only backpacker and probably the only english speaker, on the bus. The process was pretty simple and efficient. The confusion started on arrival in JB. I came out of Singapore with very little money and was thinking since I was arriving at a transportation hub, there would be an ATM close by. My experience with money changers hasn't been all that favorable so far, it's much better to just get cash from an ATM. After wandering around in a massive shopping mall for an hour or so, I finally found a bank with a row of ATMs. After waiting in line, the ATM rejected my card and I was starting to worry. Luckily the bank across the street had one that accepted my transaction. Then it was a matter of negotiating the mall maze back to JB Sentral so I could purchase a train ticket to Kuala Lumpur. The train is super cheap (about $8 US for an 8 hour journey) - I hope it's a reasonably fun experience.
With my first two goals achieved, it was time to make my way to the hostel. They had sent me directions that involved taking a completely different way out of Singapore and would have made the trek to the hostel pretty straightforward, but I wanted to get my train ticket bought and as near as I could tell, the only way was to show up at the ticket counter at JB Sentral. So after stumbling around for awhile, I found my way downstairs to a noisy, busy area where buses were coming and going. After studying the system map for some time I realized it was hopeless and was toying with the idea of getting a taxi. I'd read some nightmare tales about taxi ripoffs in JB and was reluctant to go there just yet. So I started walking and saying "Nusa Bestari?" - a shopping mall next to the hostel - if I could get close, google maps would take me there (best thing since the invention of the internet!). After boarding 2 wrong buses, I got on one that claimed that was where he was going and started praying and following along on google maps. Some 30 mins later I jumped off pretty close to the hostel and was hit by overwhelming joy as I walked through the door. I'm booked in for 3 nights and wishing it was just 2. There isn't much to see or do here as far as I can tell and no one speaks enough english to be able to ask and understand the answer. It will give me some time to make plans and get rested up after many exhausting days in Singapore so is probably a good thing.
I asked both at the departure desk from Singapore and the entry desk into Malaysia if I would be able to re-enter the respective country and they both indicated it wouldn't be a problem. I had thought this to be the case but couldn't find it definitively on line and wanted to confirm. This clears the way for a round trip sojourn to Bali from Kuala Lumpur!
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