Hits and misses: Day trip to Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Cross the border, eat good food, and cuddle with cute doggos.

This year, covid has seemed to stabilised in many countries and Singapore and other countries are opening up their borders for travel again. Thus, I decided to travel to Johor Bahru for a day trip with my friend! We were really excited for the trip since we had never travelled on our own before. In this article, I will cover our itinerary for the trip.

Taking the train

This was my first time taking the train to JB. The train ride costed $6 and the immigration queue was so fast and efficient and we were out of customs in no time since we cleared both Malaysia and Singapore customs in Singapore. Overall, it made for a very pleasant experience as we did not need to worry about the jam that the bus sometimes faces.

Gimcheng Dimsum

What is a trip to Johor without a good breakfast? We decided to head to Gim Cheng Dimsum restaurant. While the ordering system was a little complex, we got the hang of it after all. The dimsum is nothing to shout about and felt mediocre. If you are considering to visit this place, I'd say you can give it a miss 🤭.

Shiba Cafe

We then headed to the shiba cafe after our breakfast. I made reservations through their Whatsapp number since I had heard that it would get crowded. I am glad that I did so as many people soon filled up the place after I came. This place is a dog lover's paradise. For just 10RM, you could stay at the cafe for an unlimited time, but you would have to give your table to someone else and play with the dogs at the floor 😂. They also provided a small cup of coke for us, included in the 10 RM. For a cafe with a name "Shiba cafe", there were plenty of other dog breeds. Huskies, german shepherds, corgis, cats, it felt like a dog buffet. Highly recommend this place if you love dogs!

One of the cute huskies stretching

Paradigm Mall

Next, you may wish to head to one of the newest malls in JB, Paradigm Mall! This place is huge, and there are plenty of shops to shop at. Just roaming around felt like an exercise and you can easily spend hours here.

Not to mention, we also returned to our childhood at did some glass art for a cheap price of 10 RM.

Pasar Malam next to KSL Mall

Easily one of the highlights of our trips, the pasar malam here offers a wide variety of street food like fried chicken chops, and many shops.

I managed to try soya bean from one of the stalls and #OMG, it was the best soya milk I've had in a long time. Just the right amount of sweetness and it tasted so fresh.

I also ordered carrot cake and this tasted really good. It was charred and the carrot cake was soft and had huge pieces.

I highly recommend the carrot cake

Getting around

With the rise of the popularity of Grab in southeast asian countries, it was really easy to get around JB with the use of Grab. I was surprised by how affordable the rides were. The convenience of Grab has definitely made travelling in JB easier.

Conclusion

If you are thinking of heading down to JB, take a train and head down! Travelling to JB is also really easy now as Malaysia government no longer requires travellers to fill in the MySejahtera application. Malaysia is one of my favourite countries and I'm glad we can just cross the border and be open to a whole new world of food and experiences 😁.