Trip - Visit JB Capyba Cafe

Hi Blog,

Call me naive or noob, because today I was going to take a train from Singapore to JB for the first time! I often hear about this method of transportation to JB from other people, but I haven't had the chance to experience it due to the difficulty in obtaining a ticket.

And after a month plus of planning, we finally got a chance to try it out!

BP helped us book the train tickets on the online portal (link). Based on my testing with the platform, high-demand periods generally occur on weekends; therefore, it is advisable to make advance reservations.

Good weather to start the day, but I can't take my waifu out... I'm so upset... I feel so bad... Next month, I will spend time with her regardless of my availability at weekends.

Usually, most people take buses from the Woodlands Interchange. Considering the average queuing time on Saturday and the bus frequency, it takes about 40 minutes to get on the bus. I am trying a different way to travel to Singapore Woodlands Customs: taking a bus from Woodlands North Station, stopping nearby, and then walking. I spent roughly that amount of time but avoided the long queue; however, the bus frequency isn't great. It is a long journey unless I conduct an experiment (if anyone wants to try it with me).

Tada! Woodlands train!

From this point onwards, I won't be able to take any pictures, so I will describe the process. You need to start queuing on the 2nd floor at the only entrance, 30 minutes before your departure. Please try not to be late, as we will have to wait in line. An MY officer will scan your passport to verify your ticket purchase since printing your tickets is not required. After that, you will go through SG customs, followed by MY customs, before boarding the train. The entire process involves a long walk, so it’s best to arrive well ahead of time rather than at the last minute. You can also search online for guides, as there are better resources available.

Yippee! Train! Oops, I didn't realise there was a no photography zone sign until we had crossed customs, and that’s when I remembered it wasn’t allowed. I apologise for my mistake.

These train cabins are interconnected.

We moved to the far end of the cabin, where we thought seats would be available, and we were right!

Had an anime cabin scene, but it was ruined by this ugly non-anime character.

OOO! There is a toilet in the cabin!

Fulfilled everyone's checklist!

The train started moving!

Cutting through the traffic.

In less than five minutes, we arrived at JB.

We have not even warmed up our seats!

I wonder... Will the train travel to other parts of Malaysia? There are options, but they don't seem very ideal somehow...

Before we started our visit at the cafe...

We had breakfast at a place near 泰国素食小炒 Thai Vegetarian Food.

As vegetarians, especially in a group, we tend to prefer our first meals to be filling and satisfying.

Here is a collection of Thai-style vegetarian dishes.

The vegetarian stall owner was surprised and happy to see a bunch of overseas customers ready to order, so she got her wok heating up!

I ordered Thai fried rice with an omelette. I was happy and egg-Xcited because I had always liked the idea of having an omelette wrapped over the rice, like in Japanese omelette dishes; however, I never got a chance to try it. However, when I cut the omelette with my spoon, I immediately tasted disappointment because the omelette was rather thin, and I wished it were thicker, at least made with two or three eggs.

The highlight of this trip - Capyba Cafe.

Just before we stepped into Capyba Cafe, we spotted a (Google Lens, please help me) Valais Blacknose sheep that had just gotten off the vehicle and was ready to be petted. I wonder when I can be petted too? Wait, why do I receive so many judgemental stares?

Decent and clean cafe, which I thought would smell like coffee beans, but nope, this one doesn't focus on coffee.

When I thought of the capybara cafe, I believed their counter would be filled with capybara plushies, and I was right. However, I somehow feel it's not enough. I need more, like capybaras all over the world!

Ooo, capybara pasty!

Ooo, is that ice cream?

It was a cute pastry, but we didn't have one because we were full.

I noticed that their staff dressed up in capybara-themed shirts. He was there to remind the potential guests to get at least a drink first to meet the animals.

So we ordered beverages. They put capybara stickers on our drinks. We took them off and pasted them on our cards because their stickers are of quite good quality.

Smile, everyone!

Feeling so bloated or fat right now. I don't like to check myself in a mirror. I hate the feeling...

Anyway, it is time to see these animal celebrities! Besides looking forward to meeting capybaras, there are other stars like alpacas.

We went up to the second floor, and it was great to see a bear-shaped window frame welcoming us...

...and a room with a strong smell of animals. After a while, our nose will ignore the smell...

Ooo, I am not sure if I am right... Is this a llama?

(Credit J) So, are you a llama? I really don't know how to differentiate between a llama and an alpaca. Based on appearance, their sizes are different, where llamas are larger than alpacas, and their fur differs too, with alpacas having softer, fluffier fur.

Most people can differentiate between a nerd and a llama. People will prefer the llama.

Check out this alpaca! Its fur is super soft and nice to pet. It’s gotten really chill around me.

Ooo! There was a pair of mini ducks! It feels like a petting zoo here.

(Credit SX) While I petted another alpaca, I witnessed the ducks defecate on the spot, and it was wiped by the staff immediately. One thing is for sure: keeping an animal comes with challenges, one of which is cleaning their waste, and that differentiates humans from animals. And also, salute to the staff who work there every day to manage the smell... Not healthy in the long run.

This brown alpaca seemed to like beautiful people.

It seemed everyone was keen to interact with the ducks more than with other animals. Haha.

Alright, it's time to meet the star of the day - the capybara. It looks like a very chilled animal, as it 'lying flat' like human beings..

Smile! It was too lazy to smile.

Nearby, there is a skunk. This is my first time seeing a skunk so close to me.

When SX was petting the chilled capybara...

The skunk decided to head towards them...

...and made a 'shocked' move to SX and capybara, then ran back to its cage.

Here, there is also a tank of land tortoises. I have always wanted to keep these as pets. I remember when I was younger, and nothing seemed illegal; I was ready to get a star tortoise. Thankfully, I didn't go through with it because my living space wasn't suitable for providing it with a proper home.

In addition to the land tortoises, there is a bearded dragon basking under the heat lamp to warm itself.

Besides the human toilet, there is an alpaca toilet that is rarely used, as their natural call can come at any moment. And that marked our Capyba Cafe tour for the day.

Something random after our Capyba Cafe, we visited GSC Paradigm JB.

I got myself some of my favourite potato chips because nowadays I don't get chips locally. I only get them after I finish the current one and happen to travel to Malaysia, as this packet of chips is only available locally. What's yours??

Meanwhile, we all decided to go for some VR game, but it is limited to four players unless we sign up for a membership to access more player games.

(Credit BZ) We had four VR players for the day, and we were playing a horror shooting game. Wearing an eye mask is for hygiene purposes before we put on our headgear. For this game, we can't move around, and just stand on the spot; it was kind of underwhelming as we expected a movable game environment.

(Credit BZ) Only three of us held the guns like a pros, while J just held it like a cool dude. I got so addicted with vr games, I would love to do it again whether we or I go JB in the future!

One good thing about going out with friends is getting to know some new food venues like this one - Kinsahi Japanese Restaurant

They have a menu just for vegetarians! Swee!

They have a large selection of vegetarian foods even though this restaurant serves meat eaters too.

Yummy! I ordered Japanese omelette curry rice to recover from my morning disappointment, and it didn't disappoint me. Now I fell in love with this.

Lastly, I ended my shopping spree with this durian moon cake for my mother.

I was trying to fight through the crowds at customs for the buses, but luckily it went smoothly somehow. :)

Overall, I loved this JB trip as it was like an exploration of a new place, like the Capyba Cafe, to experience something unique that Singapore doesn't have. Basically, it repurposed my reason for going to JB, so in the future, that's what I am going to do, and play more VR games too! 

Jeff