JB Holiday Day 0: Custom Jam

The kids didnt have to go to school on Friday, which is after the National Day PH. What other reason is needed to make it into a mini holiday across the Causeway? Hehe.

My sil sourced for a nice and decent airbnb apartment. My bro could get off work early and they were on their way before 5pm. Lucky them bcos they would have avoided the jam. Our plan was to head in late, knowing that there would be horrendous jam at the 2nd link. Yes, it was ironical that so many Sgpeans were heading to Malaysia for Sgp National Day.

We waited and waited and waited at home. All the time, checking the SG checkpoint app to see if the jam has eased up. It didnt. T.T

Finally at 10ish, we decided to go join the Q rather than the endless wait at home. The kids claimed that they rather be stuck in the jam than at home. Ok lor.

Whatever mental preparation that we made wasnt enough to prepare us for the real thing. The Q was horrible... it started even before we reached my office at Tuas West road. It was longer that the last horrible jam that we met during THAT CNY, where we were stuck at the custom for 3 bloody hours.

While in the crawling Q, we started contemplating leaving the Q and head home and to re-start the journey early next morning, like 4am. We figured out that if the jam was that bad, staying on would probably mean arriving at the wee hours as well. The difference was between  spending a few hours in the comfy bed or in the jam. There is a last exit to leave the jam.

We eventually did decide to leave, only to realise that the lane to exit is the same way for buses and lorries to head to the custom. That lane was moving even slower than the normal car lanes and we were now stuck between buses and lorries, unable to see what were in front of us. Why like that? *Cries*

Daddy Lim then decided to use the outer of the 2 lanes, which appeared to move slightly faster, only to realise that we couldnt head back to the lane leading to the exit. That meant that we only had 1 choice left - play punk and cut q and try to squeeze back to the car lanes for the custom. We did just that. We cut from the bus/ lorry lane, back to the car lanes, cutting through the motorcycle lanes. Luckily there were not many motorcycles then. They came shortly after and started honking at us. Fortunately, the drivers were kind enough to allow us to cut in. We did feel so bad and guilty and were worried that the Police would catch and fine us. It wasnt something to be proud of but we had really intended to leave the q to begin with.

Bcos of the gangster act, we were able to cut the q time by so much. We were already able to see the checkpoint. Yes, we cut that much of a q! I wouldnt be surprised that the other drivers were cursing at us.

The wait was then reduced to about 15 mins. The jam at the Malaysia checkpoint was a lot merciful and we cleared it in under 30 mins. The remaining drive to the airbnb was uneventful, all thanks to the Malaysia sim card that my bro got for us before the trip. I love goggle map.

The 3Fs were delighted to finally see us, just as I was to finally arrive at the airbnb. Haha. The apartment comes with 4 bedrooms and there was plenty of space to sleep. The kids still found energy to run around and play. I think we didnt go to bed until about 2am. Yawnz.

Mummy Lim