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Friday 18 January 2013

Travelling on the First Coach to Singapore

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We went down to Singapore over the Christmas break for a short family getaway.  Since we decided on this trip pretty much at the last minute, going by air was out of the question as fares were exhorbitant.  We decided to take the coach, and since First Coach departs from Subang Parade (which is nearby our house), that seemed the best option. 
 

Despite the peak season, ticket prices were very reasonable - adult fare was RM$50 one way and child RM$38; much cheaper than Aeroline.  

Since the journey takes about 5 hours, we took the earliest coach which departs at 7.45am, reaching the Singaporean custom checkpoint at 12.15pm.  We reached the Plaza on Beach Road at about 1pm.  The coach was in tip top, spanking clean condition.  Looking at the number plate, it's probably brand new.  
 
 
 
Seats are comfortable and spacious, with extended leg rest and foot rest.  They also provide a bottle of mineral water and some snacks for each passenger.  There was also a disposable plastic bag in each seat netting, which i thought was very thoughful, and certainly helps minimise mess in the coach.  Total number of seats is only about 25, so you are not cramming into a sardine can.   In fact, the space between your seat and the front seat is unusually long, perfect for those 6footer.  My feet can barely touch the footrest when i sit upright. 
 
 
 
 

 
My little guy settling himself in comfortably :)
 
I normally do not like long distance coach travel, but this time the journey was made much more pleasant with this...


 
Yeah, an on-board video entertainment system, one person to his own screen. Mind you, its a very decent ipad size screen.  There are plenty of choices - movies (6 genres including comedy, action, drama, chinese movies, animation, romance), games, music, and some other options.  The movies are also pretty current - they even have Casino Royale and Slumdog Millionaire.  Its all touch screen and pretty snazzy. Stick in a pair of headphones and you're good to go.
 
The only bummer is they DO NOT provide free headphones.  Yup, you have to buy them, at RM 15 a pair.  I noticed  some passengers brought their own, so i guess they must have travelled on the coach before or others have told them about this.  We were kiamsiap, so we didnt buy.  Instead, hubby's brother (whom we stayed with in Singapore) gave us some used headphones so we used them on the return journey. 
 
 


So now you can potentially have a movie marathon throughout the entire journey, which was what my son did!  He watched three of his favourite movies - Ice Age 2 and 3, and Despicable Me.  Then he watched them again on the return journey.  Between this and two packs of the Shell petrol racing car Lego sets (which we bought for him in anticipation of the long journey), it kept him well entertained.  

There are no toilets at the Subang Parade ticketing office cum waiting area, but the journey had two pitstops.  One was a lightning stop 10min into the journey at a petrol station, and the other a 20min stop at the Pagoh rest area halfway through the journey.  Most long distance coaches also make their pitstop here so the place was teeming with people. The foodcourt comprises all Malay stalls, with tummy rumbling aromas of mee rebus, lontong, ayam goreng and loads of steaming paus, crackers and cut fruits.  We bought some curry puffs, they were only 70cents a piece, decent size, chocked full of fluffy potatoes and fiery hot!   
 
Many coaches also have their pitstop at the Pagoh rest area

 
Overall, it was a very pleasant, relaxing and comfortable journey, much to my relief.  The coach departed on time and reached its destination within reasonable time too.  Ticket prices are reasonable.  Arrival point at the Plaza is also convenient for taking taxis to your final destination on the island.  

 
Saw this new coach at the Singaporean custom checkpoint
 
 
With wi-fi on board ...get connected everywhere
 

23 comments:

  1. I never ride on this type of bus services until when we went to Argentina in October. Their long distance buses look exactly like this one. One sitter on one side and two sitter on the other side. It is really comfortable. I don't mind riding on it again.

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    1. Yea, i was pretty impressed, our long distance coach services has come a long way :)

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    2. Same as ICook4Fun, I had my first taste of quality long distance buses in Argentina (those were double deckers), and I'm going to try one of these soon to KL! So looking forward. Those in Argentina had built in toilets though; I guess their super long distances (ever done a 23-hour journey) warranted that.

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  2. Hi Esther... You should have contacted me when you were in town... I could be your host... a very good one! :)

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    1. Thanks in advance Alvin! I will claim this raincheck on my next trip down heehee.

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    2. You do that, Esther! Then you can taste Alvin's sous vide fine dining food and not forgetting his fine collection of wine. And then you can blog about it and make us all jealous. Hee..hee...

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  3. Good morning.. I too travelled down to Singapore on their coach from Bangsar in December- but the video was out of order otherwise it was a pleasant trip.

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    1. Oh..on our return journey, my video screen wasnt starting so I asked the driver, and he reset the entire system and then it worked fine.

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    2. Lost count of numerous occasions when I made the journey without any videos to watch : could not or do not know how to reset or "reserve" bus with no video screens .... these days it takes ages to watch a movie, hangs after every 15 or 30 seconds that I wonder at their gall in misrepresenting on their web-site "Individual screen – Video On Demand (VOD) with on-board entertainment featuring music and movies." Feed-back has been relayed to the management as per Novena counter staff. Guess business is good so no need to bother about upgrading their servers or ISP providers.

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  4. Wow,pretty good services! Next time I will consider this coach to s'pore too. Good sharing, Esther :)

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    1. No worries, Esther. yes this is a good alternative.

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  5. Ah can consider this the next time we go to SG, usually we take a flight and it's so expensive!

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    1. definitely a good option if you don't mind the longer travelling hours.

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  6. Esther, the bus does look spacious and comfortable. But I am not a good traveller, I get giddy after 2 hours on the road hah! hah! That's why I prefer to fly not that I go anywhere much.

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  7. Can't believe you actually wrote a review about them :) We like First Coach, very reliable, clean, on time and cheap. We do the BU - Novena route , BU ticketing office has a seating area, cafe and toilet facilities and free wifi :) Sometimes, we just decide to go back to SG last minute, we'll just take a cab there and buy tix for the next bus and sit at the cafe with our laptops. Novena is right at the MRT so it's very convenient.

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    1. Heehee! i think this blog is morphing into more lifestyle instead of just strictly recipes :) Wa, the BU office is so much more happening than the tiny one at Subang Parade. next time we will leave from BU.

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  8. Looks pretty good, that is how I should go to KL next time!

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  9. It seems like malaysia bus service has improve so much. I still remember I use to sit on the old type of bus with 4 seat in a row with no tv no drink, and occasionally you get one with malfunction aircond, depend on your luck. Now they are improved!

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    1. Remember those buses where there's one big TV right at the front, and they blast the volume to torture our ears?! Too bad for those who do not want to watch the show :P

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  10. It seems to be a good service. Thanks for sharing the same.

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  11. Just read your blog on First Coach. Unfortunately the bus has become older and is not maintained properly. Just took a First Coach up to KL and the aircon system is not working properly as half the journey the bus became warm and stuffy at the back. Moreover, journey hours has become 6 and half hour (on a Monday non-peak period!), so can you imagine what it will be like during the peak season. After complaining to the office, they say that I can only write in to them. Totally no service recovery! Forget it, I will stop taking First Coach. Makes more sense to pay a little more to take flights to KL.

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