Singapore and Malaysia — what actually worked

A dismantled light aircraft lies among the building materials in the village (19.08.).

2026-08-19T10:34:14+00:00

✓ A dismantled light aircraft lies among the building materials in the village (19.08.). White with a dark blue trim line, the word Cirrus on the tail, the registration 9M-ZWP on the fuselage — 9M is Malaysia. The cabin is stripped, doors and side windows are gone, the canopy is still there, one wing lies broken off beside it. The whole thing rests on a stack of black plastic pipes and steel beams, with a backhoe loader next to it and a red-tiled shell of a house behind. No fence, no tape, no sign: it lies there like the rest of the building material.

A white cat with two differently coloured eyes (19.08.).

2026-08-19T10:34:14+00:00

✓ A white cat with two differently coloured eyes (19.08.). One eye blue, the other amber, and a blue collar with a bell — she belongs to someone, and she is stretched out on the artificial turf. The fourth cat of this trip after the three in Mersing, and the first one that gets out of nobody's way.

The duty-free shop in Tekek sells cognac in three-litre bottles — and it costs more than at home in Germany (19 Aug).

2026-08-19T08:30:14+00:00

✓ The duty-free shop in Tekek sells cognac in three-litre bottles — and it costs more than at home in Germany (19 Aug). Three three-litre bottles stand side by side on the counter, with shelves of Johnnie Walker, Chivas, Dewar's and more Martell behind them. The yellow price tags carry the shop's name, Star Glory: Martell XO 3 l at RM 3,980, Hennessy XO 3 l at RM 4,775, Martell Cordon Bleu 3 l at RM 3,300. At the 18 Aug rate (RM 1 = €0.2128) that is €847, €1,016 and €702, or €282, €339 and €234 per litre. German retail asks €154, €178.50 and €122.89 for the same three brands in the 0.7-litre bottle — €220, €255 and €176 per litre. The duty-free bottle is therefore 28 to 33 per cent more expensive than the same brand at home. One caveat belongs with it: three-litre bottles are a special format in Germany too and carry their own premium, and the comparison here runs against the ordinary 0.7-litre size. That does not change the direction.

The breakfast pancake is a rolled crêpe with banana (19.08.).

2026-08-19T03:53:20+00:00

✓ The breakfast pancake is a rolled crêpe with banana (19.08.). Not a stack of American pancakes but a thin sheet of batter, rolled up, dusted with icing sugar and topped with three slices of banana. The filling is pale brown and coarse; the photo does not say what it is. With it comes coffee in a glass mug and a bottle of amber syrup or honey on the table. Nothing savoury is on the plate — no egg, no toast, no bacon. Whether you can ask for that, we did not ask.

The bay is not one continuous beach, and late in the morning it is empty (19.08.).

2026-08-19T03:53:20+00:00

✓ The bay is not one continuous beach, and late in the morning it is empty (19.08.). One stretch of the shore is armoured with a bank of pale boulders, several metres wide — anyone expecting a single unbroken sweep of sand is wrong at that spot. Next to it the sand starts and runs in a shallow curve along the bay to a wooded point, where a pavilion with an orange tiled roof stands on yellow-painted posts. Far out beyond the bay lies a small wooded rock island. Along the tree line a few things sit in the sand: a black net, an old sack, a pale sheet of metal — nothing here is raked. Just before twelve local time there was not a single person on the beach.

The place is called Coral Reef Holiday Resort, and breakfast is served on the sand (19.08.).

2026-08-19T03:30:20+00:00

✓ The place is called Coral Reef Holiday Resort, and breakfast is served on the sand (19.08.). Until now the name stood here as "Coral Beach or something" — that is settled. The tables stand outdoors between the palms and the waterline, white cloths, black plastic chairs, a parasol among them. Behind the tables runs a line of pale boulders as a breakwater, and behind that the turquoise water of the bay. Breakfast came with two tall glasses of fruit drink, one magenta from dragon fruit, one pale yellow. Whether they are included or paid for separately is not measured here — breakfast itself is included according to the booking.

Flying foxes hang in the needle trees along the shore in Tekek, dozens of them (18 Aug).

2026-08-18T10:37:34+00:00

✓ Flying foxes hang in the needle trees along the shore in Tekek, dozens of them (18 Aug). Just before half past six in the evening, a good hour before sunset, they are still there: dark bundles on the thin branches, head down, each wrapped in its own wings, three or four side by side on some boughs. More than sixty can be counted individually in the enlarged crops; where they hang densely they merge into one another, so the colony is larger. The strip of trees stands between the concrete path and the sand, with the beach behind it. From the path you only see them if you look up — from below they are shadows in the branches.

A board on the waterfront in Tekek sorts the whole island at a glance (18 Aug).

2026-08-18T10:24:29+00:00

✓ A board on the waterfront in Tekek sorts the whole island at a glance (18 Aug). A blue frame with "Pulau Tioman" down the side in large letters, holding a drawn map with one box per village. Tekek: the marina, the marine park centre, a golf course, the jungle path across the island to Juara, and a zip line at Keluang. Salang in the far north: a whale rock sculpture and the forest track over from Panuba. Juara on the east side, the only village facing the open sea: two waterfalls, a viewpoint, a surf school. Nipah and Mukut in the south: a cave, kayaking, the Asah waterfall and a via ferrata on Gunung Nenek Semukut. Between the villages lie the dive islands — Chebeh, Tulai, Labas, Sepoi, Soyak, Renggis, Jahat — each marked with a diver or snorkel symbol. Whether any of it holds up goes here once we have seen it ourselves.

The rainforest starts right behind the houses of Tekek (18.08.).

2026-08-18T10:07:06+00:00

✓ The rainforest starts right behind the houses of Tekek (18.08.). Behind the row of houses at the edge of the village the slope rises straight away, densely overgrown up to the ridge, with single tall trees standing out above the canopy. Between the last roof and the forest there is neither a field nor a garden. Stand on the village road and you have corrugated iron roofs on one side and the forest on the other.

The village road in Tekek is a concrete strip, and not much drives along it (18.08.).

2026-08-18T10:07:06+00:00

✓ The village road in Tekek is a concrete strip, and not much drives along it (18.08.). One lane wide, orange and white plastic barriers along the edges, small shops under metal roofs between them, a blue gazebo with a chest freezer in front of it and a bridge with a white railing. On the road: one scooter, a goat crossing it, and a single pickup with a company decal on the door. Malaysian flags hang from poles and fences.

The place we stay sits directly on the sand (18.08.).

2026-08-18T07:03:23+00:00

✓ The place we stay sits directly on the sand (18.08.). Not a hotel building but a row of white cabins side by side, each with its own door onto the beach. Between the bottom step and the water there are a few paces of sand and no road. Kayaks lie in front of the doors for guests, and hand-painted signs on a tree point towards breakfast and showers. Anyone expecting a lobby and a reception desk will look in vain: the door of the cabin is the entrance.

The bay is shallow and calm, and the jetty at the far end is in sight (18.08.).

2026-08-18T07:03:23+00:00

✓ The bay is shallow and calm, and the jetty at the far end is in sight (18.08.). Bright water without waves, clear a long way out, forested hills running down to the shore behind it. A hammock hangs between two posts at the waterline. Just before 3 pm local time the beach was empty. At the far end of the bay stands a long jetty with a few roofs in front of it — from here that is all one can make out.

The waiting hall is an open pavilion, not a building (18.08.).

2026-08-18T03:41:11+00:00

✓ The waiting hall is an open pavilion, not a building (18.08.). A tiled roof on posts, open at the sides, ceiling fans overhead, fixed rows of seats, two screens with the departures. There is no air conditioning here and there cannot be — anyone counting on a cooled hall is dressed wrong for the midday wait. The shade is the whole offer, and it is enough.

You board from the pontoon, right alongside the hull (18.08.).

2026-08-18T03:41:11+00:00

✓ You board from the pontoon, right alongside the hull (18.08.). The queue stands under a canopy, everyone still carrying their own luggage. The boat is a catamaran and the operator is Cataferry — the name is painted in large letters on the side, so you can tell from the pontoon whether you are standing at the right boat.

You travel in an enclosed cabin, not on deck (18.08.).

2026-08-18T03:41:11+00:00

✓ You travel in an enclosed cabin, not on deck (18.08.). Airline-style seating, screens on the bulkhead, a board on the wall listing the forbidden items. A safety video about the life jackets runs before departure. Whatever you need during the crossing therefore belongs in the bag at your seat, not in the luggage you hand over as you board. At 11:32 local time we were in our seats, with departure scheduled for 11:30 — the timings in the table below held all the way to the seat.

Only the marine park fee was charged (18 Aug).

2026-08-18T02:39:10+00:00

✓ Only the marine park fee was charged (18 Aug). That settles the question the sources disagree about in the paragraph above: at the office by the jetty the marine park fee was the only thing collected — no second amount and no second counter. The author of the guide who wrote that he never met the Johor fee in practice turns out to be right. We would still carry it in cash: one Tuesday morning in August does not overturn a published schedule of fees, it only shows that on that day, at that spot, nobody collected it. What the marine park fee came to in the end goes here as soon as it is reported.

The fees are not collected in the terminal but in an office near the jetty (18.08.).

2026-08-18T02:16:53+00:00

✓ The fees are not collected in the terminal but in an office near the jetty (18.08.). Jens reported it on the morning of the crossing: the office sits away from the terminal building, with a pavilion in front of it — that is how you find it. So the boarding passes come from one place and the fees are paid at another. That is an extra walk, and it was not in our plan further down. Which fee is charged there is two paragraphs on; the amount is still open.

A mamak stall in Mersing charges RM 6.50 to RM 11.00 for a full plate, and RM 3.50 for breakfast (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T11:42:46+00:00

✓ A mamak stall in Mersing charges RM 6.50 to RM 11.00 for a full plate, and RM 3.50 for breakfast (17 Aug). Figures off the menu board, not estimated: nasi goreng, mee goreng, kuey teow goreng and mehoon goreng are RM 6.50 each; with chicken RM 10.00, with beef RM 10.50, with mutton RM 11.50. Plain rice RM 2.50, vegetables RM 2.00, a fried egg RM 1.50. Roti canai RM 1.50, tosai RM 2.00, capati RM 2.50. Drinks run RM 1.50 to RM 3.50, teh tarik RM 2.00 hot and RM 2.50 cold — cold costs 50 sen more here, across the board. So breakfast of roti canai and teh tarik is RM 3.50 (about €0.70), and dinner for four with a plate and a drink each is RM 34 to RM 54 (€7 to €11). Takeaway adds 20 sen per box; that is the only footnote on the board.

The Singapore eSIM does work in Malaysia — the table was right, not the small print (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T11:02:11+00:00

✓ The Singapore eSIM does work in Malaysia — the table was right, not the small print (17 Aug). The plan is Singtel hi!Tourist eSIM, S$15 (about 10 euros), 30 days, 500 GB, and the country list on the sales page names Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong alongside Singapore. That was exactly the open question: the same terms say under 2.3 only "local calls, local SMS, local data" — a Singapore-only card, in other words. The country table is what holds. You buy and activate it online before the trip and install it by QR code; it is registered against your passport, and one passport takes no more than three.

In the late afternoon the town happens on the seafront promenade (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T10:38:12+00:00

✓ In the late afternoon the town happens on the seafront promenade (17 Aug). A paved path between coconut palms and the sea, pavilions to sit in, playground equipment, and behind it the road with the parking spaces. In the photo families are walking, children are cycling, and the flags for Merdeka are already up on the masts. If you are waiting for the ferry in Mersing and do not know where to go: here — this is where everyone is in the evening. (Read off the picture, not reported by us.)

And this is what it looks like (17 Aug, 18:20 local).

2026-08-17T10:38:12+00:00

✓ And this is what it looks like (17 Aug, 18:20 local). On the evening before the crossing the small boats on the far bank were sitting in the mud while the two larger boats at the pontoon were still afloat. That is not storm damage and not a bad day — it is the ordinary tidal range, and it is the reason the departure time in Mersing is different every day. Once you have seen it, the timetable explains itself.

Garden Rhapsody in the Supertree Grove — free, no ticket, and you simply stand underneath it (16 Aug).

2026-08-17T09:50:10+00:00

✓ Garden Rhapsody in the Supertree Grove — free, no ticket, and you simply stand underneath it (16 Aug). No barriers, no rows, no admission: the audience spreads across the plaza between the trees and a lot of people lie flat on their backs, because the show plays upwards. You need no particular spot for a photograph — you need distance, because up close a single Supertree fills the entire frame. In the wide shot below a good number of umbrellas are up in the crowd, so the show carries on in the rain. (That is read off the picture, not something we reported.)

There are CCTV cameras in the coach, and the complaints number is stuck to the windscreen (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T09:50:10+00:00

✓ There are CCTV cameras in the coach, and the complaints number is stuck to the windscreen (17 Aug). Two dome cameras in the ceiling above the aisle, plus a sticker from the Malaysian transport ministry reading "Talian Aduan MOT" with a freephone number and a QR code. If you are wondering how regulated Malaysian long-distance coach travel is: regulated enough that the supervising authority puts its complaints desk in every passenger's line of sight. For a traveller that reads as reassuring rather than bureaucratic.

The town is full of cats (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T09:40:10+00:00

✓ The town is full of cats (17 Aug). Jens's message about it was one sentence: "we love all the cats". The photographs show three different animals in three places in the town centre, all well fed, none of them running away: a black one in the shade under a market cart, a ginger-and-white one stretched out asleep across a tiled floor, a black-and-white one glancing over as it walks past. This is not a quirk of the day — it is what a small Malaysian town looks like.

The BSN cash machine in Mersing paid out, on a travel credit card and with no fee (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T09:40:10+00:00

✓ The BSN cash machine in Mersing paid out, on a travel credit card and with no fee (17 Aug). This is the most useful line in the section, and it contradicts what we had assumed beforehand (see "Paying"): the card was not refused, no foreign-card fee was charged — and it happened at the very bank we had warned against. Anyone carrying a travel credit card without a foreign transaction charge needs no money changer for Mersing and does not have to stock up on cash in Johor Bahru.

RM500 was the amount, and that is tighter than it sounds (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T09:40:10+00:00

✓ RM500 was the amount, and that is tighter than it sounds (17 Aug). RM165 of it is already committed: RM105 marine park fee at the ferry counter in Mersing and RM60 tourist tax at the accommodation on Tioman. That leaves RM335 for four people across three island days — breakfast is included at the guesthouse, boat rides between the bays and a snorkelling trip are not. We had budgeted RM800–1,200 for those, but that figure is an estimate and carries no source. Anyone who would rather not find out tops up in Mersing while five banks still stand side by side; on the island there is exactly one machine, and an island machine can be empty.

From the border to the ferry terminal in Mersing: a good four hours (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T08:17:39+00:00

✓ From the border to the ferry terminal in Mersing: a good four hours (17 Aug). Measured between "we're through the control" at 12:01 local time and the photo of the ferry terminal at 16:11 — that covers everything: the way to Larkin, the waiting and the ride itself. If you want to catch the ferry to Tioman on the same day, budget half a day for this leg.

Malaysian long-distance buses have a USB socket at the seat (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T06:38:03+00:00

✓ Malaysian long-distance buses have a USB socket at the seat (17 Aug). Two USB-A ports, set into the side panel under the armrest, so below seat level and not at eye height — you only find them if you go looking. Which means your own cable belongs in your hand luggage and not in the suitcase in the hold. The socket was reported with a photo from a bus leaving Larkin Sentral; exactly which line it was is not established.

On a Monday morning we were through on the Malaysian side by about 12:00 local time (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T05:46:51+00:00

✓ On a Monday morning we were through on the Malaysian side by about 12:00 local time (17 Aug). We set off from Little India. How long the control itself took is not recorded — other people's experience is that almost all of the time goes on queueing rather than on the distance; the Causeway is a good kilometre long.

The signage in the border hall is already there.

2026-08-17T05:46:51+00:00

✓ The signage in the border hall is already there. After the control you stand in front of signs reading ↑ JB Sentral. JB Sentral is the station directly next to the border building and the place everything continues from — bus, taxi, train, all of it there. You do not have to ask anyone.

A bus runs from JB Sentral to Larkin, and it is the easiest way (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T05:46:51+00:00

✓ A bus runs from JB Sentral to Larkin, and it is the easiest way (17 Aug). Larkin Sentral is the long-distance bus station from which you go on into the country — about 5 kilometres from the border building. The bus from JB Sentral takes contactless cards and Google Pay, see “Paying” below. What you will usually be recommended is a Grab for around RM20; the bus does the same thing for a fraction of it.

On the bus from JB Sentral to Larkin you can pay contactless, by credit card and with Google Pay (17 Aug).

2026-08-17T05:46:51+00:00

✓ On the bus from JB Sentral to Larkin you can pay contactless, by credit card and with Google Pay (17 Aug). Both were accepted, with no preparation and no local transit card. That is the practically most useful thing we learned that day: for the stretch from the border building to the long-distance bus station you need neither ringgit in cash nor an app, and the bus is far cheaper than the taxi you will otherwise be steered towards.