Singapore!

Travel period: August 23 - 26, 2010

Location: Singapore

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Yup! This is the trip that made us wait for six months to carry out. The cheap tickets that we had booked six months in advance brought consequence that we had to wait for that long to fly. :|
My partners for this trip were Loody and Irine who happen to be my workmates. We should have travelled with one more girl, my best friend who's been my partner in crime for nine years, unfortunately she had to withdraw a couple of hours prior to the flight. :(

Singapore sky

The story began with how amazed we were with Changi Airport, Singapore. It was so clean, organised and hi-tech. The facilities made us fall in love with it even more. The journey to the guest house where we were going to stay at was really amusing. We were overconfident with our capability of reading the map at the MRT station till we got lost. After a long walk, we finally managed to get there! "Yes! We're gonna stay here at Ali's Nest!" \:D/

Ali's Nest is a guest house run by a local named Ali. An old house in which he also lives with his family. We stayed in a mixed dorm consists of eight bunks. We shared the room with a French guy, a Canadian couple, a British guy and two Korean guys. Living room next to our dorm is also used as a dining room for his family and the guests who stay there. All guests share two bathrooms, but don't worry they're clean enough.

Ali's family is Chinese but his house is located in an Indian neighborhood called Little India. Inside the house you can smell incense, but when you step out, curry is in the air. A mosque also stands in this area. A 24-hour shopping centre called Mustafa Centre and an MRT station are just a stone's throw away from his house. Such a colourful neighbourhood! :x

Not only a clean and comfy place to stay at, but also an experience of the real life of a Singaporean family. This is what you wouldn't find in a hotel or even a solely commercial hostel. Plus, it's very budget traveler friendly! Give him SGD 13/bunk, he will let you check-in and check-out anytime you like, and yes that's plus  breakfast! Isn't it interesting?! ;;)

our bunks... and Irine with her beauty kit as always :D 

WHERE DID WE GO?

I suggest you to have the correct pronunciation of the name of the place that you're going to visit. We were going to see the Merlion statue and asked a streetwalker to show us the direction, but surprisingly, he didn't know! :-/ 

"Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the most famous landmark in Singapore. There has got to be something wrong with this person, he could be..... an outsider!" :-? 

Next streetwalker please! This guy asked me the spelling of "Merlion" and then voila!* He kindly explained and took us to the mall (initially we asked about the nearest food centre).

We spent our first day walking around, getting lost (it's totally human, isn't it?), enjoying being on MRT, getting trapped outside an MRT station due to the rain, and stopping by Mustafa Centre (OMG! they sell tons of various chocs!).

* Wanna know how I pronounced it? "Mer-leeon" instead of "Mer-lion" (lion as in the lion) :))

a must-see attraction in Singapore!

Not only in Merlion Park, but you can also find the same statue on Sentosa island.

Beautiful Loody in front of Merlion statue, Sentosa Island

The Merlion is located in the CBD. The skyscrapers in this area make Singapore's skyline one of the best in the world.

Me enjoying Singapore skyscrapers

Irine with the the Esplanade behind her

-Sentosa Island-

To reach Sentosa is not difficult (basically Singapore is small so it's easier to go around, besides the public transportation system is excellent). You can take an MRT, get off at HarbourFront Station and there will be signs to direct you to Sentosa. You can use your EZ-link card (smart card used to pay public transportation fares such as MRT and bus) as an entrance fee to enter Sentsosa.

As some attractions are not free, we had to discuss about the attractions that we were going to take since we were still in Jakarta. We decided to try Tiger Sky Tower, an obervation tower that lifts you up to 130 metres above sea level. You can see the view of the entire Sentosa from above and even its neighbouring countries, Malaysia and Indonesia. Forget this one, it was so-so, the view wasn't that spectacular.

We also took Sentosa Cineblast. They will hand you a 4D glasses and you have to fasten your seat belt. There will be a huge projector screen playing 4D movie in front of you, and you have to be ready to get thrown into the ocean, eaten by crocodiles, fall down the mountain, and other interesting adventures. You will feel like you're involved in the movie! My take on it: It was cooooool!! We screamed so loud, probably the loudest among the visitors there. :D

Sentosa island as seen from Tiger Sky Tower

another view from Tiger Sky Tower

To support the visitors' mobilities within the island, Sentosa Island Management provide free internal bus and tram services. It was really fun spending a day there. But, the beaches are not too special. Irine even complained about the  sand texture that made her itch.  

-Clarke Quay-

Clarke Quay- the banks of Singapore river - is best to enjoy at night, it's very beautiful and romantic. Both sides of the river are full of restaurants and night clubs with live shows. Not quite sure about the price but they looked expensive.  Lucky us, there was a free belly dance show in front of a restaurant. Funny thing, a little Japanese kid tried to do the dancer's routines... how cute!! ♥

Riverside Point, opposite Clarke qy, at night

-China Town, Bugis St., Orchard Rd. etc.-

I gather Bugis St. is the best place to buy souvenirs. The prices that they offer are the same as those of around Mustafa Centre and China Town, but they have more stuffs.

And finally, Orchard Road was our last destination to satisfy Irine's thirst for shopping. Our feet were about to fracture for walking around all day long, but she still looked so excited. It was like she had been waiting for ages to go shopping there. While she was shopping, Loody and I sat around in the toilet to fix our legs. ;))

Orchard rd in the afternoon

HOW MUCH DID WE SPEND?

We booked Air Asia return tickets when they had promo at the price of IDR 437,000 or approx. USD 49 (inclusive Changi Airp. tax).

Brought SGD 300 (USD 243) from Jakarta:

• Spent SGD 20 on EZ-link card
• Wasted SGD 10 on mobile prepaid SIM card starter pack (my phone kept dying when I turned it on) #-o
• Local food was so so. Since it was easy to get Indonesian food so we preferred Indonesian food or Burger King to the local food. SGD 3-6 for each meal (5 times x 3-6)
• Ali cost us SGD 39/3 nights (SGD 13 each night)
• Spent SGD 33 on 2 attractions on Sentosa Island
• The rest of it we bought souvenirs for family, relatives and friends. Loody even bought a Samsung MP3 player at SGD 55!
• Left some bucks in my wallet 

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While waiting for our flight back home at 11am, we spent our morning packing our backpacks and talking to other travelers at Ali's. It was such a great trip with lots of unforgettably great moments.

Wish y'all a happy trip! ♥