“How to live in a bus? Go for a long overnight bus ride?” That was my response when my wife asked me if I wanted to live in a bus for a staycation.
The Bus Collective retrofitted (or more green words like recycled, reused, repurposed) 20 retired SBS buses into hotel rooms, and parked them along Changi River next to the hawker centre.
Each bus is a hotel room of around 45 square metres, with a tasteful and beautiful interior. As you walk in the entrance via the usual bus exit door, the right-hand side is the bedroom with a circular bed and a long bath. In front of the entrance is the shower, and next to it is the toilet and wash basin. On the left-hand side is the couch cum sofa bed, counter with hot water boiler/cups/saucers, TV, and a tiny refrigerator.
We expected the toilet and bathroom to be very cramped given the narrowness of the bus, but it was surprisingly very spacious. The two air-conditioning units were very efficient which made the interior very cool and comfortable during the hot daytime.
The previous occupant did not log out of his Netflix, so we got to enjoy some shows during our stay. The bus only has free-to-view Singapore TV channels.
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Did we use the bathtub? Our eleven-year-old granddaughter remarked that it is great jumping from the bathtub to the bed. So did we do that? I am not telling!!
The features that most impressed my wife were the circular bed and the curtains with magnets to close the gaps between the curtains!
Image courtesy of Jeffrey Yang
I would like to mention here that the circular bed looked interesting, and even romantic and kinky, but totally impractical. Imagine both having to sleep shoulder-to-shoulder in the middle of the bed (OK lah, can be quite romantic) but try moving a bit to the side, and your head and feet are dangling off the bed!! And the pillow keeps falling off the bed!! And only one person can sit up and read at the middle of the bed.
Image courtesy of Jeffrey Yang
They kept the bus captain’s compartment intact with the suspension seat, steering wheel, gear stick, brake and accelerator pedals, speedometer, etc. This gave it a very authentic feeling.
I had to jump onto the bus captain’s seat to take a photo. Also from here, we could see the aeroplanes landing at Changi Airport every 10 minutes or so.
The whole bus is linked to the normal electricity grid, water supply and sewerage. The buses were spaced quite a distance apart to give us some privacy from the other occupants.
Image courtesy of Jeffrey Yang
Outside the bus was a raised timber platform with a huge outdoor umbrella with LED lights for night use, a picnic table, bench, two chairs, barbeque pit and a wash basin.
We did explore the possibly of having a barbeque for dinner and the food outlet at the premises had a BBQ package for about $70 for 2 persons. But that was a lot of food for two 70-year-olds, and my wife liked the cooler bag more than the food.
Our final decision? Wife said she was on a staycation and refused to cook!!
Image courtesy of Jeffrey Yang
The surrounding looked like a bus interchange with 20 buses parked there, and a bus stop for people to wait for their private hire vehicle or taxi. There is a food outlet called BusKing for meals and booze, and they also sell packages for self-barbeque at your own bus.
It has a carpark for only three cars, and they charge guests $20 a day for parking. Apart from the road in and the carpark, the entire area is turfed or covered with gravel, which made it very wheelchair-unfriendly.
It has three pedestrian gates with tap-card locks opening to the hawker centre, the Tekong Seafood Restaurant/Little Island Brewery, and to the river/sea, which made it very convenient.
There are no other onsite facilities. However, there are lots to do just outside!
Staycation at Changi: hawker food
Image courtesy of Jeffrey Yang
The Changi Village Hawker Centre is famous for its nasi lemak. Long queues can usually be seen at Mizzy’s Corner, but with success comes impolite service. I usually patronize Changi Famous Nasi Lemak opposite Mizzy’s. Food is just as good, and service with a smile.
Glory fried banana has chempedak and pisang rajah, which is unusual and very good.
There is also a stall called Dao Xiang that sells petai cooked Nyonya style with sambal and prawns, or fried with rice. We ate there twice in two days, and did a take-away on the third day when we checked out.
Changi V. Dessert House sells the best chendol with thick gula melaka, coconut cream and nice strips of pandan jelly. It sure beats the shophouse opposite the hawker centre which sells Melaka Chendol using diluted santan (coconut milk).
Then there is the Ipoh Hor Fun, beef noodles with thick gravy, Thai food, King Grouper fish soup, Soon Lee Heng satay, 2 cooked seafood stalls with fierce dragon ladies, etc.
There is also Charlie’s Corner for a nice beer.
The next building houses the market and some hawker food. This was the place I ate my first ayam penyet some 20 to 30 years ago. There is also the Olden Stall Bak Kut Teh which sells seafood.
This stall is nicely decorated with a lighted model of a huge crab, and they have a fruit and herb garden in front of it, and a koi pond where the water with all its natural organic nutrients is used to water and fertilize the garden.
Outside hawker food
Take a walk along the main road where the shophouses are, and you will find lots of restaurants selling cooked seafood, oxtail, halal food, prata shop, Thai restaurant, chocolate shop, Kung Fu JB Pau which was probably the first pau shop that sold Amy Yip pau!!
To share a side story, I brought my 95-year-old mother there some 10 years ago, and introduced her to the Amy Yip pau. You should see the cheeky look on her face when she ordered and ate it. “Ït is huge!” she commented and giggled as she ate it.
Then she bought another to take home. It seems that she called her friend the next day to tell the friend that she ate Amy Yip pau, and giggled like a schoolgirl, and said, “Of course I bought TWO!”
Two places worth mentioning are Canopy at the Civil Service Club which has a beautiful view over-looking the mouth of the Changi River, and The Sea Grill right at the sea front. But their entrées are at the $30+ range.
Other than food
Morning walks and evening walks are beautiful. Do you know you can see sunrise and sunset at Changi? Serious.
Image courtesy of Jeffrey Yang
Take a morning walk along Changi beach. Watch the sunrise. See the white cockatoos. See the river mouth with the bumboats leaving with passengers to Pulau Ubin. See the smaller boats of fishermen from the fish farms unloading the fish to be transported to the market. See the otters frolic near the beach.
Evening walk is at the other direction. You can walk along the Ubin ferry terminal to a path along the beach to the front of the Civil Service Club and SAF chalets, but you have to turn back after that because that portion is closed for upgrading works (since before COVID!!). You may be able to spot hornbills near the ferry terminal.
You can also walk along the road in front of the Civil Service Club and turn into the Changi Sailing Club. Then continue walking in front of the Sailing Club to admire the yachts, and continue on the boardwalk till the Changi Beach Club, and continue in front of this to the end, called “Sunset Walk” and you can actually see the sunset on a good day. But be prepared that this route takes about 45 minutes one way.
Walking is fine in the mornings and evenings, but what do you do between these 2 times and between meals? It is usually very hot.
We decided to catch a bus number 29 (air-conditioned, of course) from Changi Village to the old Changi Road where we saw the Selarang Camp, DRC (Drug Rehabilitation Centre) Prison Complex, Halfway House, Changi Prison before turning to the Old Tampines Road and on to Tampines Interchange where the shops there were more interesting than the shopping centres.
Memories flood back. I used to drive up Old Tampines Road with commercial fish ponds where I used to fish, then they flattened the hills to be used for Changi Airport reclamation.
I used to go to Selarang Camp on Saturday nights when my friend had to stay in during our National Service days, and we would play billiards at the Sergeant’s Mess. Then there was the Tanah Merah Road next to Changi Prison, leading to Changi beach, where there were bungalows at Wing Loong Road, and the old private bungalows where we would get on a boat and head out to a kelong to stay for a few nights. Wow. 50 years has just gone by in a flash!!
Bicycle rental is available at the Bus Collective and at a kiosk on the beach next to The Sea Grill. You can also do intertidal walk along the beach during low tide or watching aeroplanes land every few minutes. I would like to mention here that the bus was completely soundproof and you cannot hear the aeroplanes at all! (Phew!)
Conclusion
My Changi staycation had a bus with no engine, but it brought me back 50 years. Do try it. It is a most unusual experience.
Note: My staycation was not sponsored.
