First Time to Singapore aka SinJiaPor
So many backlogs, so lazy... Yikes!
At the mid of Sept, Hon brought me to Singapore over the weekend as he had a wedding dinner to attend (he attended alone since he RSVP-ed one pax).
Believe it or not, for the first time in my 29 (yeah, officially 29) years, this is the first time I step foot on Singapore land, a country so near yet so far, and a country where Hon spent 7 years of his life there. He told a friend of his about this, and the friend went:"WHAT!??! How is that possible??", and when you know where I come from and where I am now, you would understand.
Thailand is so much nearer, and, comparing to Penang, the bargain is irresistable!!
We opt to driving for our convenience; I flew half way from Northest of the North to KL, then drove from KL to Southest of the South. A little hassle at the immigration because of the Autopass Card problem, spent about 45 minutes there (got one guy lagi kesian, waited for 1 hour++ of same problem), and it kinda amazed me how a 'kiasu' country as Singapore can take so long to settle stuff as simple as settling the card issue and fine.
Once we entered the country, the first thing that make me amazed (in a good way) is the condition of the road, immediately followed by the superb condition of the vehicles, especially the buses, vans and lorries which, in Malaysia, you can see 98% of this kind of vehicles vomited thick black yucky smelly exhaust gas. Hon brought me a tour to his former University, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the thing that surprised me was - the lack of main gate -_- We had lunch in the university.
We stayed in Value Hotel Nice at Balestier Road. I get the first taste of 'lack of parking' in this country, what amazed me is especially the simple design of apartments around Singapore without parking bays, which saves up a lot of space. The room is small, new, nice and cozy, the only difference than those nice small hotels in Malaysia is that, it's very expensive for this size of a room.
Hon felt sorry for leaving me alone at night, so he gave me some pocket money and guided me on how to take buses to various tourist spots like Orchard Road and Novena Plaza.
Having a sudden fear of taking the bus alone and taxi is an expensive option and wanted to 'try' the safeness of this country that everyone's been talking about, I Sygic-ed my walking way from the hotel to the nearest plaza available - Novena Plaza. The distance is about 1km and the time suggestion is 30 minutes. I walked on a very quiet and empty Mandalay Road, passing through an empty institution or something, and I was confused when the GPS led me to a medical centre which it suggested I 'walked through it'!?
Confused, I checked the GPS again, Walked down to Moulmein Road and Jalan Tan Tock Seng, and there it was, Novena Square Shopping Mall. I had my dinner at a ramen restaurant, bought two dresses to impress Hon, and walked my way back to the hotel. This time, I chose the road most traveled - follow the crowd. To my surprise, the routes are linked with one another, and Sygic doesn't make a fun on me. I walked through a building that leads to the hospital, wards and other roads (they have a assigned entrance to enter the hospital), and, Tada~ I was on the road the GPS first led me. Hon has been telling me the success of city planning for the pedestrians, and I experienced it firsthand.
After Hon came back from the wedding reception, he took me out for a car stroll (in my new dress hehe) - the beach and Mount Faber.
The next day, we went to see Marina Bay (from a distance) and Merlion. The morning was crowded with joggers and tourists.
Hon made a brunch reservation at Riders Cafe. The cafe is located at an equestrian club place, and we were clueless there's an event going on at the place. The road was jam-packed with luxurious cars and people, and we almost late for our reservation!
We ordered an Egg Benedict and Riders Burger, and they were yummylicious!
Besides eating, our favorite activity is checking out people around us. Couples eating together but their fingers and head on the phone are way tooooo common, but this time, something else caught our attention - a female server with a peaked bicep! Her arms look toned and masculine, and the shape of her bicep is simply amazing! Few times I wanted to ask her about the workout for the bicep, but the cafe was very busy at that hour and I was shy.
Please let me clarify myself that, this is all Hon's fault lah! I become somewhat obsess to a nicely toned body...
...and that's all~ We headed back KL after the brunch. Missed Pheng though as she went to China family trip that time, we couldn't meet :(
At the mid of Sept, Hon brought me to Singapore over the weekend as he had a wedding dinner to attend (he attended alone since he RSVP-ed one pax).
Believe it or not, for the first time in my 29 (yeah, officially 29) years, this is the first time I step foot on Singapore land, a country so near yet so far, and a country where Hon spent 7 years of his life there. He told a friend of his about this, and the friend went:"WHAT!??! How is that possible??", and when you know where I come from and where I am now, you would understand.
Thailand is so much nearer, and, comparing to Penang, the bargain is irresistable!!
We opt to driving for our convenience; I flew half way from Northest of the North to KL, then drove from KL to Southest of the South. A little hassle at the immigration because of the Autopass Card problem, spent about 45 minutes there (got one guy lagi kesian, waited for 1 hour++ of same problem), and it kinda amazed me how a 'kiasu' country as Singapore can take so long to settle stuff as simple as settling the card issue and fine.
Once we entered the country, the first thing that make me amazed (in a good way) is the condition of the road, immediately followed by the superb condition of the vehicles, especially the buses, vans and lorries which, in Malaysia, you can see 98% of this kind of vehicles vomited thick black yucky smelly exhaust gas. Hon brought me a tour to his former University, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the thing that surprised me was - the lack of main gate -_- We had lunch in the university.
We stayed in Value Hotel Nice at Balestier Road. I get the first taste of 'lack of parking' in this country, what amazed me is especially the simple design of apartments around Singapore without parking bays, which saves up a lot of space. The room is small, new, nice and cozy, the only difference than those nice small hotels in Malaysia is that, it's very expensive for this size of a room.
Hon felt sorry for leaving me alone at night, so he gave me some pocket money and guided me on how to take buses to various tourist spots like Orchard Road and Novena Plaza.
Having a sudden fear of taking the bus alone and taxi is an expensive option and wanted to 'try' the safeness of this country that everyone's been talking about, I Sygic-ed my walking way from the hotel to the nearest plaza available - Novena Plaza. The distance is about 1km and the time suggestion is 30 minutes. I walked on a very quiet and empty Mandalay Road, passing through an empty institution or something, and I was confused when the GPS led me to a medical centre which it suggested I 'walked through it'!?
Confused, I checked the GPS again, Walked down to Moulmein Road and Jalan Tan Tock Seng, and there it was, Novena Square Shopping Mall. I had my dinner at a ramen restaurant, bought two dresses to impress Hon, and walked my way back to the hotel. This time, I chose the road most traveled - follow the crowd. To my surprise, the routes are linked with one another, and Sygic doesn't make a fun on me. I walked through a building that leads to the hospital, wards and other roads (they have a assigned entrance to enter the hospital), and, Tada~ I was on the road the GPS first led me. Hon has been telling me the success of city planning for the pedestrians, and I experienced it firsthand.
After Hon came back from the wedding reception, he took me out for a car stroll (in my new dress hehe) - the beach and Mount Faber.
The next day, we went to see Marina Bay (from a distance) and Merlion. The morning was crowded with joggers and tourists.
Hon made a brunch reservation at Riders Cafe. The cafe is located at an equestrian club place, and we were clueless there's an event going on at the place. The road was jam-packed with luxurious cars and people, and we almost late for our reservation!
We ordered an Egg Benedict and Riders Burger, and they were yummylicious!
Besides eating, our favorite activity is checking out people around us. Couples eating together but their fingers and head on the phone are way tooooo common, but this time, something else caught our attention - a female server with a peaked bicep! Her arms look toned and masculine, and the shape of her bicep is simply amazing! Few times I wanted to ask her about the workout for the bicep, but the cafe was very busy at that hour and I was shy.
Please let me clarify myself that, this is all Hon's fault lah! I become somewhat obsess to a nicely toned body...
...and that's all~ We headed back KL after the brunch. Missed Pheng though as she went to China family trip that time, we couldn't meet :(
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