7:00AM:
Good morning, beautiful world.
Having a great start. I’m feeling all fired up and ready to take on the day.
Today I’m going to take advantage of the cooler weather in the morning and explore the area on foot. Mehmet will meet me later when he wakes up.
Every week I have a scheduled FaceTime call with my mom on Wednesday at (GMT-7) time. I plan on showing her parts of the city while I’m on the call to allow her to vicariously travel through me.
I think she enjoys seeing this side of the world.
7:50AM:
Yesterday I checked into a hostel nearby the water and the location is great. It has a nice common area space, lobby area is nice, and the bed is comfortable to sleep in.
I wished the washrooms on my floor were cleaner and the wifi faster.
The cleanliness of the washrooms are key. If they are unbearable, I’d have to check out. Luckily on the 1st floor, they are better maintained.
But this is life, if I want the atmosphere of a hostel to meet people, I’ll have to put up with some things. Balance.
For safety reasons, I try not to disclose where I’m staying until after I’ve checked out. There are some crazies out there. Just ask the former Japanese Prime Minister – Shinzo Abe.
9:00AM:
I’m going around the core of JB near JB sentral, the station where I’ll be taking a train to Singapore tomorrow.
Spotted a Nepalese restaurant to try later today when Mehmet is around. He tells me Nepal is an underrated country and the food is good, maybe it’s similar here.
But I know the best place to eat Nepalese food is in Nepal. There’s always a fusion in ingredients in another country.
For example, “Thai food” in Malaysia doesn’t have the same look or taste as it does in Thailand. I’ve been keeping my eye out for some good Pad Kaprao.
9:20AM:
Exchanged money at MerchanTrade and the rate is 3.38 to a dollar. It’s pretty good and close to the rate the offer in KL.
11:20AM:
Staying around this area allowed me to tick off a bunch of the “top things to do in Johor Bahru” in quick succession.
I think I’ve seen it all.
The temple is the most notable.
Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam
Murals & Historic Buildings
2:20PM:
I’m looking at all the things to do in Singapore tomorrow and the only thing I really want to see again is Gardens by the Bay. That’ll do me.
Of course I’ll need to visit a hawker centre to eat the food too.
3:00PM:
Mehmet and I finally met up, we’re sitting the common area. The weather outside looks like its about to rain hard, so we’re going to hang inside for a while.
It’s spiritless in the hostel right now. We’ve noticed the travellers in our room all like to stay in their beds throughout the day. Not a lot of mingling happening in the rooms or the common area.
7:00PM:
Stulang Beach
A very tiny beach that I could see as a temporary escape from the city. Neat area.
There’s a KFC right by the waterfront. I think it’s the best one I’ve seen.
9:30PM:
Went inside Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam temple to check it out. A local helped me put on the wrap around my legs, since I had shorts on and my legs need to be covered to enter.
There was a guy who threw a a coconut on the ground and I was startled.
It is auspicious to break a coconut while worshipping. As per Hindu mythology the tradition of breaking coconut was started to stop the culture of animal sacrifice. The outer shell of coconut, which is hard, is compared to human ego while the white and soft inner part is considered as a symbol of peace.
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