Johor Bahru

I took an hour flight from Penang to Johor Bahru. I meet my Malaysian friend at the airport. I went for dinner with him and his family. Johor is not a big tourist destination, it is an industrial city. Many people work in Singapore and live in Johor because it is cheaper to live in Malaysia than it is in Singapore. My only goal was to meet my Malaysian friend, it was one of the best times I spent in Malaysia.

The next day we went went downtown, there was so much traffic due to the construction. I was told that downtown area got flooded last year during the rainy season, so they were re-constructing to prevent flooding in the coming rainy season. We drove around and went to see the movie "London has Fallen". We went back home and sat with my friend's family. I enjoyed the conversation with his father as we spoke about business, life in Malaysia, and the life in the US.

We went to Sultan Abu Bakar State mosque, which is Johor Bahru's state mosque. It had a very nice architecture.

Sultan Abu Bakar State mosque cool design

We got together with my friend's friends and his brothers and we played street soccer at night. It was hot during the day so it is impossible to play outside, but even at night it was still hot. I drank about a gallon of water that night. It was awesome experience. We went out together after the game and had smoothies and satay (skewed grilled meat).

after the soccer game

I spent couple of days with my friend and his family and one of the things that I cannot forget is the Karaoke singing we did in the Kong Kong fishing village. My friend loves to sing, so he built his own personal Karaoke house in Kong Kong to sing and practice with his band. We first went for breakfast in Kong Kong, as we were getting served breakfast an old lady asked us when are we going to sing – she was expecting us to do Karaoke and make some noise for the village, I don't think I was as good as my friend when it came to singing, hopefully it was as enjoyable for them as it was for us. Kong Kong is a simple village with humble people. As I was told, times are getting harder for the simple villagers but they were all satisfied and thankful for what they had.

At Kong Kong fishing village.

Karaoke preparation

Among other things we did was a lot of shopping, sunset watching, and to a singing competition on one of the big parks. The singing competition was for the public as an entertainment to enjoy in the warm evenings, we just sat on the grass and watched the competitors sing. We did not stay long but I could tell, the Malay music was very interesting and had a cool sound to it. One of the singers sang "Anggapanmu" by Ziana Zain, which I thought it sounded strong and uplifting even though I understood nothing and had no idea what the song was about.

Sunset in Johor

Bananas growing in someone's front yard, I wish I had bananas in my yard

Johor Bahru state flag from the distance

It was hard to write down the feelings I had during my time in Johor. I can only say that I gained a second family. I hope we will see each other again someday. I was able to live a Malaysian life for couple of days. I learned that one of the biggest gains for me in this backpacking adventure was the friends I made.

On the last day in Johor, I said goodbye to my friend and his family. It was a very sad farewell. He gave me a ride to the bus station as I was ready for Singapore across the border.

Next stop: Singapore