Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express Bus from Singapore Grantral Mall MacPherson to KL Plaza Berjaya

Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express is an express bus operator who recently moved over to Grantral Mall MacPherson with the closure of Golden Mile Complex. On this trip around Peninsular Malaysia on the Labour Day long weekend to head up to Hat Yai to catch the KTM MySawasdee train, I decided to take Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express departing from Singapore 1 day before the start of the long weekend, hoping to beat the ham, and if the jam still occurs, to be seated in comfort in the queue.

I booked my Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express ticket in advance on Easybook for the second-last seat on this bus, as I was deciding on my journey to KL, and decided for this direct route in the end.

Tai Seng MRT Station

Grantral Mall Macpherson can be access directly from Tai Seng MRT Station on the Circle Line.

Head out of Tai Seng MRT Station Exit B to Grantral Mall Macpherson.

Grantral Mall Macpherson is just ahead from Tai Seng MRT Station Exit B on the ground level.

Grantral Mall Macpherson

Grantral Mall Macpherson is a new shopping mall just completed in end-2022.

Some express bus operators have moved to Grantral Mall Macpherson ahead of the Golden Mile Complex closure.

Heading to the Super Nice Express office to check-in for my bus trip with my Easybook booking.

A boarding pass was on standby at the counter, and handed over to me, completing the check-in process. No charges are imposed for the boarding pass.

The boarding area for express buses to Malaysia is at the loading bay behind the express bus offices.

Toilets are available at the loading bay.

Heading down the ramp to the bus.

PMJ 1191 would be sending me to KL this early morning at 7.30am.

The driver checks for boarding passes at the bus door before boarding.

On the lower deck, there are 4 seats, 2 singles and 1 pair. This may be comfortable if travelling in a group of 4 if booked early.

The upper deck has 22 seats in a 2+1 configuration.

As I booked my ticket quite late, I was left with the single seat at the very back of the upper deck. However, the seat functions are equal with the other seats, and there is no limited recline at the last row. In fact, I had extra storage space in the aisle beside my seat since it was the last row already.

On first impression, the bus felt a bit dusty.

The legroom on board Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express PMJ 1191 is very generous with a seat pitch of about 1 meter.

A seat pocket is available at the back of the seat in front.

An electric footrest is also available.

However, the seat functions were switched off during boarding so everyone could not adjust the seat just yet.

A blackout blind is installed on each window.

Pulling it up, there is also a curtain and leftover stickers from the horse livery, showing the bus’ age.

Along the window ledge, mushrooms were also growing out of the corner. Clearly cleaning isn’t regularly done on board the bus.

The USB charger at my seat was broken.

It was a full bus this morning, so I definitely couldn’t change my seat, and I was stuck beside the mushrooms for the trip to KL.

My Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express bus departed from Grantral Complex MacPherson at 7.41am – 11 minutes delayed.

Turning out of the loading bay at Grantral Complex MacPherson.

The façade of Grantral Complex MacPherson from MacPherson Road.

Turning right at Paya Lebar Road.

Passing by Oxley BizHub.

Turning onto the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) at Paya Lebar.

The morning jam started already at filtering. A sign of things to come.

Continuing straight away from the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) which I thought the bus would use.

Heading on to the Central Expressway (CTE).

Continuing on to Tuas Second Link via the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).

Passing under the MRT tracks at Gul Circle.

Tuas Checkpoint

My bus arrived outside Tuas Checkpoint at 8.45am.

There was a bus jam when entering Tuas Checkpoint which lasted about half an hour. However, due to the slow bus queue, immigration for passengers inside the departure hall was reasonably empty and fast.

After Singapore immigration at Tuas Checkpoint, a small bottle of water was given out by the driver during re-boarding.

My Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express bus departed from Tuas Checkpoint at 9.20am.

Crossing the Straits of Johor on the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link.

Zooming in at Forest City.

Tanjung Kupang Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ Complex

There was again a bus jam when entering Tanjung Kupang Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ Complex, with about 45 minutes spent in the bus queue.

Buses entered the bus checkpoint at an average of 2 to 3 buses each time, regulated by a ground staff, as the human queue for immigration was overflowing.

My Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express bus arrived at Tanjung Kupang Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ Complex bus checkpoint at 10.17am.

The jam was not over yet as the human queue for immigration now started from the alighting berth itself.

While Singaporeans can use the e-gates (MACS 2.0) at Tanjung Kupang Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ Complex, I was exiting out at Rantau Panjang, which may pose problems for me if I had entered Malaysia by the Autogates without a passport stamp. As such, I had no choice but to continue in the manual counter queue.

I got out of Malaysia immigrations and customs at 10.43am, making it a queue of 26 minutes.

The Point convenience store and money changer beside is in service already.

Lots of express buses were waiting for passengers at immigration.

Re-boarding my Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express bus at Tanjung Kupang Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ Complex.

Upon re-boarding, the seats have been switched on for electronic movement.

My Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express seat in fully reclined position. My calf rest was not working, and my neighbour’s foot rest was not working, once again showing signs of ageing of the bus seat.

On my point of the ageing bus, here’s a Grassland TV advertisement from 2007 when this series of buses were new and the talk of the town, and people were still being influenced by TV ads to go to the office to book bus tickets.

Feeling old yet?

The leg rest was surprisingly comfortable even without the calf rest.

My Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express departed from Tanjung Kupang Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ Complex at 10.54am after all passengers had re-boarded the bus.

And previously I thought catching a 7.30am bus would get me in time to KL for lunch.

Heading through Tanjung Kupang Toll Plaza.

Heading through Senai Toll Plaza to enter the North-South Expressway (PLUS Highway) closed toll system.

300km to go.

My Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express bus made a stop at Shell Hentian Sebelah Kulai Arah Utara for refuelling. Great.

There was a jam when trying to leave Hentian Sebelah Kulai Arah Utara.

Heading out of Yong Peng North Toll Plaza to head to the rest stop.

Turning left to Yong Peng.

Looks like Yong Peng Lucky Garden didn’t survive the pandemic.

Ming Ang Restaurant Yong Peng

Turning into Ming Ang Restaurant for lunch.

Lots of tour buses were parked at Ming Ang Restaurant already.

Turning into the bus bay at Ming Ang Restaurant at 12.35pm. The driver announced that this would be a 30-minute rest stop.

Wow, that has been 5 hours from Singapore to Yong Peng.

Toilets are available behind the food court.

Ming Ang Restaurant is pretty much an expensive Malaysian food court targeting the Singapore market with prices comparable to Singapore Dollars in Malaysian Ringgit.

I ordered a Curry Chicken with Rice for RM12.90 for lunch.

Ming Ang Confectionary beside the food court also sells local pastries and bread.

Re-boarding my Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express bus after lunch.

My Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express bus departed from Ming Ang Restaurant Yong Peng at 1.13pm.

Turning back to the PLUS Highway.

Entering Yong Peng North Toll Plaza.

Heading onto the North-South Expressway (PLUS Highway) again to continue on to KL. There will be more jams ahead at Melaka, Seremban, Bangi, and Nilai.

KL Sungai Besi Toll

The first stop in KL was Sungai Besi Toll itself, arriving at 4.02pm, where 2 passengers alighted. I’m not sure if there’s a place to walk out from here, looking at the fences around on Jalan Utama. But if you can, Serdang Raya Utara MRT Station on the MRT Putrajaya Line is just 350 meters away.

Heading back onto the toll area to exit from Sungai Besi Toll Plaza.

Passing by Serdang Raya Utara MRT Station.

KL Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS)

The second stop in KL would be Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS).

Heading around the bus park to access the arrival berths at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS).

My Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express arrived at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) at 4.18pm.

About half the passengers alighted at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS). I had considered alighting here to truncate my journey since it has already been almost 9 hours on the bus, but the rain subsided and the traffic looked clear into the city, so I remained on board for my booked destination of KL Plaza Berjaya in the city.

Passengers for Plaza Berjaya may also use TBS as a toilet stop, with a toilet in front of the bus on the first lane.

Re-boarding the almost-empty bus at TBS.

Heading out of TBS to head into KL city.

Crossing over the KTM and ERL tracks on the Sungai Besi Expressway.

Heading left to the city on Jalan Sungai Besi.

Meeting the KL Monorail tracks which is a good sign.

Passing through Hang Tuah Monorail and LRT Stations.

Arriving at Plaza Berjaya.

KL Plaza Berjaya

My Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express bus arrived at KL Plaza Berjaya at 4.37pm, making this a journey time from Singapore to KL a whopping 9 hours and 7 minutes, taking into account scheduled departure time.

The Plaza Berjaya bus stop is located just below Imbi Monorail Station Entrance A, opposite Berjaya Times Square.

The Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express ticket counter is under Imbi Monorail Station Entrance A.

Plaza Berjaya is a quiet shopping mall, overshadowed by Berjaya Times Square just opposite. It is not a typo error of Berjaya Times Square.

Here, I continued my journey by KL Monorail Line from Imbi Monorail Station.

Conclusion

It was a long bus ride from Singapore to KL, in the morning 1 day before the Labour Day long weekend. I shudder to think what would the jam be like on Saturday morning itself at the start of the Labour Day long weekend.

The seat product on Super Nice Grassland Zenwan Express was good, but very clearly showing signs of ageing. The legroom is very generous, which saved me some agony on this 9-hour bus ride, but cleanliness needs to be improved for the dusty interior, and the thriving mushrooms growing on the window ledge beside my seat should have been very clearly noticed and cleared out. To have mushrooms growing in the bus, thriving and still not cleared out, is a clear sign of poor cleanliness and moisture.