Journey to The Southernmost Part of Asia

*NOTICE: PHOTOS ARE UPLOADED!*

Forgive me twice -
1) for my absence from the blogosphere
&
2) for i am about to bore your eyes with my boring blogpost - once again.

Here goes - a boring, long, useless, whatever-you-call-it rant of my 6 5-day trip to Singapore. (I'll explain the correction later)

Details

Time of departure : 8.00am
Members involved : 6 (Dad, Mum, Me, Pn Ho, Cousin sister and cousin brother)
Vehicle used : KIA Carnival
Destination : Singapore
Duration of Vacation : Stated above. (18 - 23 22 November 2008)

18th November

The first day of our journey.
Woke up with the help of my ear-splitting alarm clock, and i actually laughed out loud as i was gonna "pang pueh kee" for three things at once - Frisbee, volleyball training, and badminton - which were all scheduled for today.
Lol.
No matter, did my last-minute preparations, and we started our journey south-wards, as usual - monotonous driving, bla bla bla..

About where we had our brunch - its the same as last time: Pun Chun Restaurant in Bidor - my dad's personal favourite.
Stopped at Jejantas Sungai Buloh for a washup, and we finally reached KL sharp on 1.00pm. Dropped off Pn Ho and her daughter at the bookfair in Mines, and the rest of us went to have lunch.

"Umm, i'll have a plate of chicken rice please" - Me.
"Sek gai fan ar?" - The one in charge of the stall.
"Yeah, gai fan. Uhh excuse me, do you speak english or chinese?"
*She shakes her head and mumbles a few Cantonese words which i have no idea what they are*
"Oh, okay, whatever. Well, i'll be eating here" *Mimes eating, and points at my table*
And she nodded - guess she understood what i meant.

Moments later - my order came just as i wanted - chicken breastmeat, and no beansprouts. Guess my miming was considered "Okay".

The rest of the noon passed by with nothing much interesting - just smsing with frens in my sister's new flat. Night was spent at Midvalley Megamall - with me hunting for a hairdye - adventurous, eh?

19th November

After having a instant Roti Prata in the nearest Nasi Kandar shop, we went to our next destination - 佛光山 in Jenjarom.

Clarity, peace, serenity (Big Girls Don't Cry anyone?) - that were the few words that fully define the place.


The Bodhisattva statue welcoming us at the entrance..


.. and a big red board, lol.


The gigantic entrance.


And yet, another board! What is it with me and boards?


Buddha's statue sitting in the middle of it all..


.. and the legendary Thousand-handed Goddess.


Look - One, two, three statues! No wait, who's that idiot in the middle?








Mini-cities built using styrofoam - wonder why they don't use clay or bricks..


The hallway of the main temple hall..


.. with yet another cute monk statue outside.

Of course, we did try copying part of the 菜根谭 - by using Chinese ink and brush. Argh, again, i disappointed my late grandpa (who was a great Chinese scholar last time) with my ugly writing. Dad and Pn Ho did pretty well, though - i obviously didn't inherit their calligraphy skills.

Brought our calligraphy writings to the "female-monk-in-charge" there, and she started to "analyze" our characteristcs according to our handwritings.

My results? Lol?

"You are very rebellious, and you don't listen to elders' advices."
WHAT?
No matter, i nodded and nodded, acknowledging everything she said - as if im an oh-so-indisciplined-teen.
Actually i think that what she took note was my hair - which stood at its fullest at Punk-style - spiky, and that kinda defines me as a rebellious punk.

Of course, something she said hit the jackpot too.

"You're too influenced by Western culture."
Oookay, i admit that.
English blogs, English movies, English songs, English books, etcetera, etcetera.
Chinese?
Chinese appearance.
Ahh, thats it.

Her advice was for me to revert to Eastern culture - to be not so outgoing, to be not so adventurous, to be.. not who i am right now. Luckily my dad disapproved, and asked me not to be too Eastern, :P.

Next, we went for a visit to my "grandma's" house
(Actually, i have absolutely no idea how she was related to me - probably not blood-related, just "relationship-related")
Went to the house, and counted.
Oh my god.
3 damn houses in a row.
At least 7 luxury cars that belong to her son and daughter.
Those which caught my eye?
Porsche Cayenne and a Mercedes Benz SL500.
ALL OF THE CARS were having number plates of _ _ _ 6668.
Holy.

Chitchatted for a while at her house, and went back to my sister's flat - to witness Pn Ho pitifully pumping air into the air-bed she brought, only to realise minutes later that she forgot to close up the valve.

20th November

Breakfast was in Seremban.

And we went straight to Singapore through the Second Link - with help from sis's GPS, of course. Journey was uneventful, the imigration affairs was uninteresting too, unless you count us meeting an officer who was from Sungai Petani, Kedah too.

*Fast-forwards*

Looked to the left - a Mazda RX-8.
Looked to the right - a Mercedes taxi.
Looked back in front - a Nissan GTR.
Holy moly.
During our entire drive towards our hotel, we were greeted by several cars - that are considered "rare" in Malaysia, unless you're in KL.
BMWs, Mazdas, Mercedeses, what more?
One thing i have to note - Singaporeans park their BMWs just as we would park our Proton Sagas - simply by the roadside, without any protection or whatever.

Arrived at our hotel - Lai Ming Cosmoland Hotel, which was at the heart of Geylang, Singapore.
Those who've been to Singapore might know what i mean.
For those who haven't, however..
Here comes an explanation, please close your eyes! Lol..

Quoted from Wikipedia

"Geylang is also the red-light district of Singapore. It is the only area in the city-state where prostitution is legal. Thousands of Asian prostitutes (mostly from China) from other countries work in Geylang, and visitors and locals alike flock to the area each evening. The district is home to hundreds of brothels. Some are regulated, while others operate behind the scenes illegally."

Just to clarify - I'D NEVER GOT INVOLVED IN THOSE THINGS! NOR DID MY FAMILY WHILE WE WERE THERE!

Thanks for understanding.

Heard from my sister in KL that the roads there were actually systematic -
Odd number streets for food (1, 3, 5, 7, etc)
And..
Even number streets for prostitutes (2, 4, 6, 8 etc).

*Fast-forwards*

Woo! I love the MRT system! User-friendly, fast, efficient, dot-dot-dot.

Boarded a train and a Mercedes van (which costed S$35 per head) to reach the Night Safari. The atmosphere in the van was quite light - with Germans, Americans, and us Malaysians talking and ice-breaking.

And our Night Safari trip wasn't as interesting as i expected, just that i bought a glow-in-the-dark flying-squirrel keychain as my souvenir, that's all.

21st November

Second day in Singapore.
Big deal! o.o||

Had our breakfast - 油条 (What dyou call it in english? Oil sticks lol?) with soybean milk at a restaurant which is famed for the delicacy, before boarding an MRT and shuttlebus to Sentosa Island.


The famed Merlion statue - the landmark of Singapore.

Sentosa Island, Sentosa Island.. How do i describe it?
Ahhh, "Beach" might be the word.
Due to lack of time again, we simply browsed the island (走马观花 style) on a "tour tram". Saw people on the beach playing frisbee! And of course we saw the training of players for the International Beachball Singapore Team too.




Siloso Beach..


A work of art! lol!

Back to Harbourfront, and we went to the legendary VivoCity - probably called the "Smart City" by some? - just to kill time. And oh i forgot, the only Malaysian car i saw in Singapore - Perodua Savvy - was parked outside VivoCity.


HarbourFront top outdoor floor.


Pure joy..


.. and happiness.


Animals up for hire!


Lower floor - still outdoor though.




The awesome sight.


A StarCruise named "Virgo" harboured there.


Captured the Chrismas Tree, Santa's sled, and the mast of StarCruise Virgo.


VivoCity interior!

Well, after seeing VivoCity, i concluded that Singapore was sooo similar to KL - just minus the Malays (no offence meant, i dun wanna be caught by the ISA!) and plus so many imported cars, mwahahaha.

Night was spent at Suntec City Mall - dad wanted to shop for a pair of new sportshoes for me.

Nike.. Adidas.. New Balance.. Fila.. Diesel..

Brands keep flashing past my eyes. And dad was going:
"This one would tear off after a few wears"..
"We could get that for the same price at Malaysia"..
"They don't have our size"..

Till we finally settled down for a pair of Fila running shoes - good-qualitied, and cheap (S$38.90, converts to around RM98, which is a GREAT deal for the quality).
Spent a total of two hours browsing for shoes.
Weird, i've never been such long at shopping.
Uhh, i mean, i don't shop.

Ookay, and i started ransacking every sports shop for a new Discraft - sadly none of the shops seem to sell them. Kinda disappointed, but no matter - at least i got a new pair of running shoes.

Bugis street - dinner! Actually had to walk a distance from Suntec Mall before reaching Bugis street, but it was worth it - the food were awesome! The average price for each food - around S$4 was every percent worth the food itself, which was warm, steaming, fragrant, yummy and delicious! I settled for a Nasi Briyani set, and it was just soo cool!

22nd November

Third, and last morning in Singapore.

Had a simple breakfast - bread and soya milk - in our hotel room, got prepared, and asked for help from Pn Ho to dye my hair - using a temporary dye that she bought for me yesterday.

The result?



Purple hair? Yuck wait does it suit me? Nevermind, i think it looks quite okay.

*Fast-forwards*

Went past the imigration in Singapore and Johor, and we were back in Malaysia by 8am! Finally got a chance to reply all those SMSes and calls which i ignored during my stay in Singapore - how could i reply them with every SMSes costing RM1 and calls costing RM5 per minute?

Contacted Teoh for frisbee affairs, but didn't work out - he didnt get a chance to meet Jyn for the discs yet. Nvm, i'll settle for a MyDisc from his sister back in SP first, and i'll get the Discraft from him later when he comes back for his holidays.

We were supposed to stay in KL for a night, and go back by 23rd night, but dad changed his mind - so we went home straight, and here i am, safely back at home by 2100hrs, 22nd November.

*Looks at the time now*

Ooh my, its already 2.16AM. Gotta go, frisbee tomorrow!

*** Summary of Singapore ***
- The people there are friendly and helpful.
- One could survive there with a firm grasp of two languages (Chinese and English).
- Food were quite nice, but expensive.
- BMWs own the roads.