Exiting Malaysia and Entering Singapore

I started out from Johor Bahru after a good breakfast for Singapore at about 9.30am with a plan to get to RAM Racing Engineering for crating the bike by about 1pm. I literally only had to travel less than 40 kms, with an estimated drive time of around 45 minutes, but this failed to take into account any potential stops due to the carnet and the Australian motorcycle. I knew it would not take 45 minutes, but I didn't expect it to take as long as it did.

Buddhist temple

I chose to head across the Johor Bahru - Woodlands checkpoint and the Causeway, which is the primary surface transport transit point between Singapore and Malaysia. The previous day, I had undertaken a bus trip across and back to sort my insurance and driving permit with the Automobile Association of Singapore, which took me about three hours, including using the MRT and busses to get myself around.

Finding the correct lanes at the checkpoint out of Malaysia ended up being relatively easy with the icons for trucks, cars and motorcycles. The difference of lane size was also a giveaway. Approaching the causeway, I took the closest window to stamp my passport and asked where the customs place was to get the carnet stamped. Although this took about an hour, the chap in charge simply accepted I knew what I was doing and agreed to follow my instructions, even though he claimed he had never seen anything like it. He even offered me a chocolate while I waited.

Once stopped, I found it difficult to get myself back out into the motorcycle traffic passing through the checkpoint and I would be wary of wider bikes or bikes that were lower to the ground. I scraped the base of my BMW GS650 on the large speed bumps on my way out. At about 11.30am, I joined the other motorcyclists in a steady stream across the bridge.

The trip across the causeway only took about five minutes, crossing the Johor Strait. It is certainly nowhere near as pretty as the Tuas-Johor checkpoint crossing, which is a graceful bridge and took quite some time to cross. At first there were motorcycle only lanes on the far left of the road, but about half way these lanes merge into the common traffic. Or I should say, the common traffic lanes merge into the motorcycle lane. A short distance later, the motorcycle lane starts again on entry into the Woodlands Checkpoint.

Singapore's bay

Here, I found complete madness when I expected Singapore authorities to be far more organised and less officious. How wrong I was!

It started with my autopass card failing at the immigration point, which caused no end of grief. Then I found out I needed to fill out a card on entry because I was not Malaysian. I should have remembered this because exactly the same thing happened to me the previous day when I entered on foot.

Meanwhile, a steadily growing irate line of Malaysian and Singaporean motorcyclists were patiently waiting for me to move on as I had effectively blocked the first bay. As the line grew, I started to block all the bays and no one could move. That is when they started to yell at me from behind and I cannot blame them. I would probably have yelled at the stupid foreigner who had caused such trouble.

Once all my cards had been completed and I had it explained to me where I needed to go to find an official to correct my autopass card failure, the chap who was talking to me was replaced by another guy who needed a brief on what I was doing. This took another fifteen minutes as handover took place and computer logins were re-established. The line behind me grew angry.

Finally, I had a green light to go and I put my helmet back on. I turned to the guys behind me to apologise for the delay, but they yelled at me, "Just go!". I checked my watch - nearly 1pm.

Then I had to stop at customs to declare the bike and sort out the Carnet. After all this time and effort, the sweat dripping off me and sure I had lost a few kilos in the heat of the transit across the causeway, a Singaporean customs officer escorted me into a very well air conditioned office where a rough gentleman knew exactly what a carnet was and finalised it within a few minutes. The other fellows who were being detained were nowhere near as friendly and it dawned on me that some of these guys might have legitimate reasons to have been detained by Singapore Customs.

Singapore's bay

I spent half an hour sorting my autopass card out with various phone calls to relevant authorities to confirm my identity and I was glad I had done everything legitimately. Finally, I was cautioned about driving on the expressway without an In-Vehicle Unit (IVU) because I would be charged significantly if I passed a charge boom.

Waved out of the customs bay my bike had been parked in, the road to RAM Racing Engineering stood only 100 meters beyond a green light and a dozen cars. Approached by one Singaporean police officer, he asked me if I had been seen by Singaporean Customs, which I answered in the positive. I felt relieved that English was common here.

The 100 meters became 50 meters and suddenly, surrounding me, were a dozen Singaporean police, waving me into a car sized garage at the right of the exit road. They asked me to disembark and turn the bike off, which I obeyed. A garage door closed behind me with a clang. They quizzed me on where I had come from and my destination.  Then we walked around the bike as interrogated me about what each section held. After writing all my responses down, they demanded I open all my panniers, and bags, undo my tarpaulin covered backpack and pull all my gear out onto the floor of the garage, filthy clothes and all.

Satisfied I had no contraband, they lightened up and started making jokes as I packed it all back up. I didn't feel particularly friendly after being violated in such a manner, but at least I didn't get a rubber glove and I was under no illusion they could have requested a cavity search if they had a reason. The elderly gentleman in charge, interested in the bike, asked me what speed I had got it up to in Malaysia. My response, "I did not exceed the speed limit" raised some eyebrows and even got some laughs. They wished me all the best on my trip and opened the garage door, stopping the traffic to give me clear passage out to the green light and the freedom of Singapore.

My GPS gave me directions along the freeway and although I had been warned of the cost I might incur if I were to travel down the freeway without appropriate vehicle mounted systems, I chose to take the risk. I was fairly sure, given it was now after 2pm, that I would not be going under any of the operational gangways. It took about another thirty minutes to make the haven of RAM Racing Engineering, where I was welcomed and given food and drink and wonderful company.

I had finally made it to Singapore. The 45 minute trip had taken me about five hours and I felt wrecked.

Toy Museum - Penang

A place that claimed to be the largest toy museum in the world caught my eye on the tourist maps while I tried to identify places I would visit while I stayed on Penang in George Town. I think the place has moved since many of the tourist maps were printed as I managed to get myself to the exact location depicted on the maps and described by various tourist publications only to find that the giant Ninja Turtle expected to be welcoming me had been removed.

The local swimming club guys were nice enough to give me fresh directions for another 10-15kms north. An adventure followed with many loops before I managed to find it only 30 minutes before it closed, through Batu Feringgi to the village of Teluk Bahang. If you get to the Telok Bahang Dam, you have gone too far, although the drive is wonderful. The museum is roughly a few hundred meters east of the mosque near the school, but up a dirt driveway and behind some buildings. It was not easy to find, but well worth it.

On arrival, a school group were departing, so I had a bunch of munchkins flocking around for a few minutes while I purchased my ticket. On seeing the Australian number plate, the managers told me they were staying open an extra half an hour to let me view the display. Take photos, the told me. So, I did. Here are just a few of the life-sized statues housed in perspex display cases - walls and walls and walls of them.

It looked to me as if the place had been transported from an original location and remained in the shipping crates. On discussion with one of the staff, it seems I could have been correct as some of these were going to be removed and set up around the place. They even had plans to allow people to be able to play with some of the toys once they were set up. If it wasn't already heaven for a geek like me, that would have sold it.

Not only were there life-sized statues of many icons of comics and games, but there were many shelves with heaps of different toys from various themes and television shows. Some I had never even dreamed could exist, like Mars Attacks or Nightmare Before Christmas toys. There were racks and racks of Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, and other collections. Here is a very small taste of what I found.