This is the video of my bus journey from Penang to Singapore with Grassland Express. I decided to try out the overnight bus because it departs from Penang just after 9pm and gave me the impression that it will arrive just in time for breakfast in Singapore. I booked my ticket through Easybook and paid a fare of RM143, which was higher than usual because I was travelling the day before Hari Raya, a major public holiday. For your information, a ticket costs between RM65 and RM70 outside holiday periods.

My bus was supposed to depart from the Prangin Mall in the centre of Georgetown, but the shop of the bus company was rather difficult to find. I eventually discovered that all bus companies are based in a row a shops next to the McDonald’s, so that is where you should go if you are confused. I checked in with Grassland, got a boarding pass of sorts, and the bus arrived a few minutes later.

I sat on the upper deck of the bus in the front row. The bus was fully packed with fellow Chinese tourists and it was a struggle to get to my seat. I settled down and the bus set off just past 9:15pm and headed south, out of Georgetown.

We stopped at the Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal, which is the main bus station serving the island of Penang, to pick up more passengers, before crossing the Second Penang Bridge, also known as the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge. There was a toll plaza back on the mainland, followed by the North South Expressway, or the Lebuhraya Utara Selatan.

We stopped at a service station shortly after entering the Expressway, just after 10pm. People got off to stretch their legs, use the restroom and buy drinks and snacks while the driver filled the bus up with petrol. I quickly bought a bottle of mineral water from the shop before rushing back to the bus, because the driver did not tell us how long we would be stopping there for. We ended up staying for 15 minutes. In fact, there will be quite a number of breaks during this long journey, most of them lasting for 15 minutes. The prices in the shop are more than reasonable, with the mineral water costing only RM1.50.

Blankets were given out shortly afterwards. I tried to sleep, but was woken up by the jerking motion of the bus outside Ipoh an hour later. There had been an accident on the road which took out the left lane, so we were stuck in stop start traffic for a short time.

I tried going to sleep again, only to be woken up just before 1am. The bus had stopped at a lay by area for a toilet break. I decided to get off and use the restroom like most passengers. This was an awful time for a toilet break because most people would have been in deep sleep.

We entered Kuala Lumpur just after 2am. The bus went right through the city centre via Jalan Damansara, which was right between the Perdana Botanical Gardens and the KL Sentral Development Area. We left the capital city through the southern end and continued south. This was when things started to go wrong.

The bus kept stopping here and there for 2 hours or so, before getting off the Expressway for a town called Alor Gajah in Malacca. The bus parked somewhere in the town centre and stayed there for another hour before returning to the Expressway. I thought there was a breakdown, but one of the drivers told me they were taking a break.

We stopped at a lay-by kampung at the crack of dawn for a second toilet break, before entering the state of Johor at around 7am. Johor is a huge state, so there was still a long way to go. We stopped at a town called Yong Peng at 7:45am for breakfast. We stayed there for over half an hour, which gave me ample time to enjoy my kaya toast and coffee set.

This bus service enters Singapore through the original Woodlands checkpoint as opposed to the newer Second Link at Tuas. We entered the city of Johor Bahru, dropped off some passengers at the Larkin Bus Terminal, before arriving at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, or Sultan Iskandar Building, at 10am to clear Malaysian immigration. I cleared immigration in only a minute before boarding the bus and heading out to the Johor-Singapore Causeway.

It was the morning of Hari Raya, the end of Ramadan. As a result, there was a huge traffic jam on the Causeway. It took us over 11 minutes to get to the other side where the Woodlands Checkpoint is located. There was a long queue at immigration though, I had to wait an hour for my turn. After getting my baggage X-rayed by Customs, I got back on my bus, which headed for the city centre just before noon. Traffic in Singapore was very smooth, and I ended my journey at the Golden Mile Complex at the eastern end of the city centre at 12:23pm. In the end, my journey had taken over 15 hours!

In conclusion, I will not recommend taking the bus from Penang to Singapore unless you are really desperate to save the cost of a night’s stay at the hotel. If you really must travel by bus, please avoid travelling during public holidays so as to save time at immigration.