Made an excursion into JB today and had some interesting observations/encounters (well, at least to me lah).
- was walking past a chinese coffee shop in Permas Jaya and a noodle stall owner actually greeted me "good morning" (in english) as I crossed his path - and it is not that the place was not busy. Was thinking, when did anybody in a coffee shop stall in Singapore last greet me as I was passed.
- was leaving a restaurant after lunch when the owner, noting that me and my partner were clutching sling/hand-carry bags, gently told us to be careful with our bags when outside due to past snatch theft incidents outside, when he need not have bothered to do so.
- boarded a taxi whose driver spoke excellent English, turned on the meter and even offered advice, in all honesty, on a much cheaper alternative by bus when we told him we wanted to go all the way by taxi to kulai. I have his number if anyone wants to call for his service when in JB (pm me).
- was caught in a jam on jalan skudai when an ambulance with siren blaring approached from behind and in an instant, the traffic on each of the two lanes moved aside left and right allowing the ambulance a breeze through right down the middle. Of course, there were the opportunists who tail gated behind the ambulance to ride on the way opened up by the ambulance!
- visited someone who just moved to kulai from melaka and he told me an electrical shop there recommended by a neighbour to adjust his antenna actually loaned him a brand new 42-inch LCD tv for a 1-week no obligation trial when he said he wished to consider buying a new tv. When I asked if he was asked to sign any paperwork on this to acknowledge receipt of the item etc, he said there was none whatsoever, everything was based on trust!
- then of course there was a frustrated KTM staff who openly grumbled about the slow computer system that made across-the-counter ticketing sales a terribly slow process...
...all in a weekend's visit to JB/iskandar!
- was walking past a chinese coffee shop in Permas Jaya and a noodle stall owner actually greeted me "good morning" (in english) as I crossed his path - and it is not that the place was not busy. Was thinking, when did anybody in a coffee shop stall in Singapore last greet me as I was passed.
- was leaving a restaurant after lunch when the owner, noting that me and my partner were clutching sling/hand-carry bags, gently told us to be careful with our bags when outside due to past snatch theft incidents outside, when he need not have bothered to do so.
- boarded a taxi whose driver spoke excellent English, turned on the meter and even offered advice, in all honesty, on a much cheaper alternative by bus when we told him we wanted to go all the way by taxi to kulai. I have his number if anyone wants to call for his service when in JB (pm me).
- was caught in a jam on jalan skudai when an ambulance with siren blaring approached from behind and in an instant, the traffic on each of the two lanes moved aside left and right allowing the ambulance a breeze through right down the middle. Of course, there were the opportunists who tail gated behind the ambulance to ride on the way opened up by the ambulance!
- visited someone who just moved to kulai from melaka and he told me an electrical shop there recommended by a neighbour to adjust his antenna actually loaned him a brand new 42-inch LCD tv for a 1-week no obligation trial when he said he wished to consider buying a new tv. When I asked if he was asked to sign any paperwork on this to acknowledge receipt of the item etc, he said there was none whatsoever, everything was based on trust!
- then of course there was a frustrated KTM staff who openly grumbled about the slow computer system that made across-the-counter ticketing sales a terribly slow process...
...all in a weekend's visit to JB/iskandar!