Singpore City ~ Part 2

After like one month, baru aku ade courage untuk up kan second entry for SG trip..so, sekarang perlu refer gambar and last entri post untuk up kan entri ni...perlu reminiscing with photos taken, thanks to my lil but tough compact camera..tips: if u'r doing travelogue, it is good to capture the places names, in case u have entri tertunggak seperti saye..

Oh, baru sampai di Queenstown rupenye cerite aku..jauh lagi perjalanan..banyak lagi activity yang dibuat yg pelu diceritakan...oohhhh...*gigih..gigih..

Ok. we're still in 26th November 2011, arrived in Queenstown at about 5pm. After 5 mins walking to Bugis MRT Station, we were facing some difficulties to understand the MRT systems and route..but, no worries, once u mastered the system, MRT would be your best option to maneuver around the city...and believe me, it'll take little time for you to understand it..maybe few minutes plus communication skill to ask around if you are super genius..

but since we dun have that much communication skill..but still, genius *tangan kat bahu mata ke atas* we end up mingle around the station wondering. which brought us sesat di Bugis Junction. Bagus juge coz later on, we dun even have the time to step foot in here again. Bugis Junction is a shopping mall, where the Bugis Station located just below it. How cool it is, all u have to do just go up on escalator, and naahhh....u r in a shopping mall with lots of ppl and shops. I found it amazing, anyway...

Christmas deco was up one month before the celebration

water fountain @ Bugis Junction

We walked in circle and back to the MRT Station. The initial plan is just to buy 3-day Pass for MRT which will cost us about SGD24, but instead, we found it was not worth it, since we were already there late in the evening, plus our plan for 2nd day is Sentosa Island, where the pass is not needed. But there's always option for only 1 day pass for SGD8 or 2 day pass for SGD16. So, we decided to just buy the standard ticket, which the fare is varies at different station. Tips: you'll always need to pay extra SGD1 for the ticket deposit which u can collect back at your destination via the ticket machine. Jadi naik MRT akan membuat anda penuh syiling SGD1..haha...penuh poket...

Since we hadn't make any hotel booking..ni kes nak main redah je dengan hati penuh harapan dapat hotel yang decent dan murah..we had to act fast and look for hotel room. Eventhough we decided untuk main redah jer..tapi we did decide to stay around chinatown since, as referring to travelogues, Chinatown is the most convenient budgeted area, where you can get budgeted hotel room with MRT station in walking distance and at the heart of SG where every attraction place is just nearby (less cost for train fares) . Just what we need for the stay. Unfortunate for us, the "budgeted" hotel room is beyond our budget. Haha. Caution peeps: if you decide to spent the night in SG, do allocate extra budget for hotel room. If you are not willing to spend more in accommodation, better stays in JB and go back and forth to SG, and i tell you, cost for staying in hotel in SG may be equal to your stay in JB + travelling cost JB-SG..so, make your choice. You also got other option where you may cut some cost for accommodation in SG if u're willing to stay in dormitory room in backpackers hotel. One of the famous budget hotel in SG is Hotel 81, and they have it at most attraction places. But do ready to spend SGD100-300 per night. Yes, if u convert to RM, u'll get at least 4 star hotel in JB...'__'

After walking more than 2 km in search for the hotel room *rase nak tercabut kaki*...we ended up in a super budget hotel, which cost us SGD90 per night. But it is SUPER BUDGET. The hotel have attached shower but no attached bathroom. Bunyik pelikkan...? Haha..at least if in dormitory we know we gonna have shared bathroom & shower. But this hotel, and i think similar to other super budget hotel room, it is like a room with a queen bed with a box of shower attached. We called  it hotel 'kongkek'..haha..enough said.

Since rase x larat nak dok hotel tu for 2 nights, we decided to switch to  a more decent hotel the next day, which of course costs us more. We'll get there in the next entry...

So, after had a 'great' shower experience in the, i would like to call it shower box in the bedroom, we decided to not waste any precious time. So, that night, after a brief walk around Chinatown, we straight away headed to the our first attraction place, The Esplanade. From Chinatown MRT Station, we traveled to City Hall Station via Outram Park Station, where we need to switch the train. Tips: Please wear your flats or snickers when traveling in SG. You won't need your heels at all because you gonna do your walking cardio all the time. The definition of near the Singaporean is walking for 1km. So, imagine yourself. You'll do lots and lots of walking in SG.

night view of Chinatown

From City Hall Station, we walked again to the Espalanade Theater on the Bay to have a good view of the famous Marina Bay Sand Hotel on our north side, Singapore City on our east side and Singapore Flyer on our west side. Lepak kejap situ sambil berangan dan tgk view yang cantik dan cam whoring. So, mari layan gambar hasil percubaan mengambil gambar yang cantik menggunakan compact camera yang tak berapa nak canggih ditambah pule tak reti nak manual setting kasik cantik..rase loser gila pasal org2 yang lepak amek gambo situ gune DSLR camera dengan lense canggih 88inci..heh..

Christmas deco @Esplanade Theater

 

inside the deco..ko hado? hehehe...

The theater

inside the theater

Marina Bay Sands Hotel...ohhhh..hanya boleh berangan...nk dok situ x mampu..

Night view of Singapore..cantek punye location Maybank

After penat meluahkan skill mengambil gambo gune camera x berapa canggih di Esplanade Theater On Bay..we decided to walk to another attraction place, which is The Merlion..bile tgk dari esplanade tu macam x jauh..tapi..benonye jauh juge kene berjalan.

So, we walked along the side of Esplanade Drive to The Merlion. The view of The Merlion during night time is so much better.

basah akibat disiram Merlion (padahal lenjun peluh akibat berjalan kaki)

percubaan melakukan aksi tidak senonoh dengan Merlion

On the way to Merlion tu sempat juge meng-capture ini..

i loooiikeee..nggeeee.....

Dan kami terjumpa ini ketika on the way back to City Hall Station...

Ice cream with waffle..heaven ok..

Before we went back to hotel kongkek, we decided to do another stop. We hop off the train at Clarke Quay Station instead of Chinatown Station. Clarke Quay is another tourist attraction area. This area is quite famous as this is where tourist and locals go for club night out. You'll see lotsa open bar along the river. And there were lots of people lepak on groups by the river. We sat down by the river for people watching. It was fun though...

@ Clarke Quay

extreme activity offered @Clarke Quay

open night club

simplest open bar ever! hehe..ok, tipu..simplest open bar aku penah tgk..

 We were then headed back to our room. But instead of taking train, we decided to have a night walk from Clarke Quay to Chinatown. It was a nice walk in the initial, but after few mins, i wasn't anymore..we were extremely tired since it was about more than 1 km walk from Clarke Quay to China Town. Glad that i did my cardio for the day anyway..worth it since i lost 1kg during the trip..tapi lepas tu gain back berkilo2...sekian..

It was a night to remember..did lots of cardio that night alone. Let alone sleeping uncomfortably in chilly kongkek room with no selimut at all..pakai tuale je..haih..x tahan akuu..esoknye kompem tuka hotel..

Ok, next attraction place is definitely The Sentosa Island. We'll get there in the next entry ya...Soon, i hope..

p.s: Wahhhh...berjaya put up entry in one night! hehe..nice!

Singapore City ~ Part 1

Salam peeps..

Been postponing this travelogue since forever..hahaha....dun be mad..just finished my GC entry though..plus..nak up kan entry ni pon kene ade mood..and kene reminiscing pics dan korek otak untuk ingat balik pasal trip nie..tapi insyaAllah..sume masih segar lagi dalam ingatan..

Eh, tak buat entri penutup pasal GC lagilah..alamak, den lupo! xpe..xpe..jangan risau..nnti akan dibuat jugak..budget tu x lari ke mane..ade dalam notes aku...kooottt!! (peh, mano den lotak eh?!)

ok, balik pada cerita Singapore...it happened during long weekend due to celebration of 1st Muharram, new year of Muslim Calendar, 1433 Hijrah. (bagus, time tu kau g trip singapore! *mode insaf*)..but its a long weekend. So, i decided to take this opportunity to cross border to have a getaway at neighboring country, Singapore. This time, i had Nairus a.k.a Cik Neyu as a travel partner. It was a blessed when she suddenly called me and asked for a trip during the long weekend. Coincidentally, i planned to go to Singapore weeks earlier but didn't manage to get partner to go along the trip. So, it was like 'seperti orang mengantuk disorongkan bantal'...terus semangat berkobar2 nak g trip Singapore sebab ade teman...klu cik neyu xder, nekad dah aku travel solo.

FYI, it was my first time to step foot in our neighboring country. It's a shame since i went as far as europe but yet yang sekangkang kera ni aku x jejak lagi. That's why i was dying to go to Singapore. Plus, my first attempt to reach there failed (due to inevitable reason). So i was so determined to set my foot there up to the extend i was willing to travel alone. But, luckily, i had Neyu to accompany me during this trip. So, tidaklah saye kembara sendiri. Selamat!!

We started our journey on Saturday, the 26th November 2011 morning (ngam2 aku dapat gaji time tuh..selamat lagik!). We traveled to JB by Neyu's Myvi. It was just a mere 4 hour road trip to JB, stopped at Hentian Nilai for big breakfast and bumped into several heavy traffic along the way especially at Seremban and Malacca exit. It was a long weekend though. I believe many people took the chance to have trips within it. Waktu hujung minggu yang panjang cam ni, bina lapan lane highway pon confirm jammed jugak.

aktiviti menghilangkan kebosanan ketika memandu dalam jammed! (mode perasan diva)

We reached JB at almost 1.30pm. Had some trouble to find ways to Stesen Bas Larkin, since none of us familiar with the road. But, thanks to the technology of smartphones, we manage to reach there safely with the help of google map. We planned to park the car at the station and taking the bus ride crossing the border, but, we didn't know exactly which parking that offers RM5/day flat rate. So, we parked at the station's Metro parking first to just drop by at the terminal and asked for the exact location of the said parking. Metro parking would cost more indeed. Plus, i needed to change some RM to SGD. Tips: please do your money exchange in KL, you'll get better bargain than in the terminal itself even though the difference would be only 0.02, but if you change RM1k, it'll bring much different.

Ok, another tips : the location of the RM5/day flat rate parking is opposite Pasar Larkin. See map below :-

haaa kau...semangat aku google map dan edit di paint...heh...xpaham jugek,sile tampo muke sndirik!

Kalau korang jumpe jejambat menghubung ke pasar larkin tu, maknenye anda di parking yang betul. Sile simpan tiket masuk parking dengan selamat. Kalau tak, rate nye dah jadi lain akibat denda kehilangan tiket.  Dan make sure kete anda termasuk stereng, gear, and etc di lock dengan kemas ye cause its park at your own risk.

Ok, sambung...we had our late lunch at Food Court, Pasar Larkin. It is located at the topmost floor of the market. The lunch was so-so since I was expecting delicious Johor dishes, i had Asam Pedas Ikan Kembung with white rice and Neyu had Ayam Penyet (oh, kalau nak makan ayam penyet sedap kat JB, sile pegi ke restoran Banafee berhadapan dengan New York Hotel - exact location : sila google..ekekeke).

Lepas lunch...kitorg bergerak ke stesen bas untuk cari bas ke Singapore. Since it was first time for both of us, tercangak-cangak juge mencari tempat jual tiket bas. Di sini penting ye skill komunikasi dengan masyarakat. Bak kate pepatah, malu bertanye sesat jalan. So, we asked around. Rupenye senang jer nak cari bas ke Singapore. Cari platform yang ujung2 dekat2 dengan bakeri ape tah..ade berjenis-jenis bas ekspres yang boleh bawa cross border dan salah satunye adelah SJE (Singapore-JB Ekspress)...other express bus, Causewaylink and SBS...ade jugak intercity bus..all u have to do is just ask around. There are lots of options but different bus will have different stop. So, u just have to be careful with the destination u chose.

SJE bus..that took us from Woodland to Queenstown

The fare cost us RM3.30. Cheap aite? The bus brought us from Stesen Bas Larkin to Queenstown in Singapore via Woodland, where the cross-border checking takes place. It was so easy to cross border. Asalkan ko x nampak macam penjenayah, it shud be smooth and easy. The bus will stop at our Kompleks Imigresen, and all the passanger together with their luggage have to go down, walk up the elevator/escalator to the checkpoint where the Malaysian Imigration Officer will check our passport. It was easier and shorter queue in automatic-passport-checking machine. So, i suggest those with little carriage opt for this one.

We were then, go down to the platforms where the bus awaited us..then the bus took us along the bridge of Tambak Johor, cross the border and straight to Woodlands, the Singapore Imigration Complex. Here, you'll need more time to fill up some forms and checking the passport. The officer will definitely ask you several questions on the purpose of the trip and where you're going to stay in their country. But we didn't experience any abnormal situation during the trip through and fro. God bless us.

while waiting for SJE bus to come @Woodland..motip makan rambut sndiri? nan tauuu!! lapo mungken?!

Cume, since there were more time taken during the checking, the bus left us which led us to wait another coming SJE bus. That's how it goes when u traveled by bus. That is why it is important for you to keep the bus ticket regardless how small any easy-to-slip they are (caution! if you loose the ticket, u might need to pay extra fare. Cause the amount RM3.30 shud take u up to the Queenstown). Tapi tunggu tak lama. Dalam 10 min kemudian bas SJE sampai and we were safely arrived at Queenstown.

From Queenstown, we walked about 5 mins to the nearest MRT station namely Bugis Station. From there, we continued with the rest of the journey for the day which, will be continued in the next entry...

...bersambung....

p.s: entri ni dah lame gile dalam draft aku..cume x cukup masa nak sudahkannye...so..nah! skarang perlu di sambung2 sebab aku kene ingat balik every step of my trip in SG.

Gold Coast ~ Part 6

Sambung update trip GC..fuh..fuh..fuh...

Ok, now we are on my 5th day of the trip, or the last day in GC. Setelah ape yang berlaku the day before (yang mane korang leh bace kat sini..) aku dan fae meneruskan aktiviti trip kami mengikut ape yang telah dirancang malam tadi ketika mandi di heated pool apartment sewaan kami.

Jadi, aktiviti kami ari ni dimulakan seawal 8 pagi..gile awal bangun pagi ni..kol 7.30 pg dah siap2 keluar dari apartment sbb kitorg decide untuk jalan slow2 sambil strolling along the park depan apartment kami. Park ni mengadap laut dan adelah sepanjang Marine Parade Road. Setelah meng-google map, baru aku tau name park ni adelah Leonrd Fox Park. Seronok jalan pagi2 time matahari belum panas betul lagi. Ramai mat salleh yang jogging or bawak pet diorg berjalan pagi-pagi kat sini. That is one of best in their culture, which, they always make the morning jog before working hour started as a routine. How i wish i can do that..actually, boleh jer nak buat..cume bontot je berat nak bangun dari katil, sarung kasut pegi jog keliling apartment aku ni ha..x gitu? heh...

Since it was still early in the morning, we walked at our own paced while enjoying the scenery of the beach. Sedar x sedar kitrorg dah jalan about lebih 700m dari our apartment menuju ke Harley Park. Kat Harley Park ni terdapat beberapa camp site yang mane visitor boleh park their caravan dan camping. Ade disediakan kemudahan bilik air dan lain-lain untuk org camping. Kalau petang2 ramai la datang untuk lepak tepi pantai sambil buat aktiviti seperti volleyball or frisbee game.

view of surfers paradise town, the heart of GC, from the park in front of our apartment

the beach

Leonrd Fox Park

the morning walk

beach in front of Harley Park

Harley Park

So, dari Harley Park ni, we crossed the road untuk tunggu bas ke Harbour Town. We wanted to do our last minute shopping since fae still got few stuffs she wanted to buy for friends and family. The bus ride tu x lame pon, just 5 minutes, but since we were crossing the bus zone, maka still kene bayar. Remember dalam entry lepas i did mentioned that we bought our free pass bus ride? Unfortunately, we forgot to take our pass from Liza and Yan who was then in Canberra, so, the journey today was paid by cash. Sayang..sayang..membazir pass aku untuk satu hari. Haish!

We arrived at Harbour Town at 8.50am, just in time for the shops to open at 9am. We did our 3 hours shopping and had our lunch at KofteBurgers in Harbour Town. This fast food is Halal and owned by Arabian.
Ok jugak la makan sini, bolehlah kalau nak merasa daging burger australia. Macam biasa, i chose my fav, lamb burger with chips and drinks. We were having our lunch in rush, since we had to catch the 12.30pm bus to Helensvale train station where we take another bus to Movie World.

Lamb burger @Kofteburgers

barang yang sempat dibeli hasil last minute shoping di Harbour Town. FYI, top from Ralph Lauren tu i xpenah pakai lagi. Sayang nak pakai. Sekian. Hehe.

Its not easy walking with shopping stuff in hand. But we manage to rearrange all the shopping bags at the station while waiting for the next bus. Plus, it was quite hustling time since we were trying to buy plane ticket for Liza and Yan. Oh, story bout that. Let me rewind a bit. Since Liza has lost her passport, both Liza n Yan had to traveled down to Canberra for new temporary traveling document from Malaysian Consulate. Due to that, they decided to extend their stay in GC. That is why both me and fae need to help them buying new plane tickets since fae got the proper Visa Maybank Debit Card. Tips : Yes people, you have to have a Visa or at least MasterCard Debit Card or Credit Card when traveling abroad. Easier option for cash money when you are facing with emergency situation like this. And please make sure you have sufficient amount of credit in the card for emergency purposes. It is better to have it from a widely used banks i.e Maybank or Citibank since they were most acceptable in many countries. They were very handy for situation like this.

We reached Movie World at 1.15pm, but since there were slight problem while purchasing online plane ticket (We faced the difficulty to find an internet hub as buying plane ticket using mobile apps was close to impossible when there were no WiFi and 3G reception was not so good in the theme park), we only manage to appreciate the theme park at 2.45. So, left us only about less than one hour to stroll around the park before the parade started at 3.30pm.

Plan asalnye kitorg nak the Paradise Country untuk bermesra dengan kangaroo dan koala bear. Tapi mase sangat x mengizinkan. Jadi, we have to sacrifice this one. I was devastated. Sebab this is one of the place that i really wish to visit since from the day we started to plan the itinerary. Meeting these animals either in Currumbin Wildlife Park or Paradise Country is my biggest desire in this trip. But i didnt fulfill any of them. Itulah punca aku tak puas dengan GC trip kali ni. Tapi bak kata orang, no trip is a perfect trip. Mesti ade slack here and there. Mesti ade something that doesnt turned out the way we planned. Mesti ade something out of the planned itenerary. Takpe kite kene redha dan bersyukur. Sekurang-kurangnya ade juga rezeki aku jejak di bumi GC dan segala ape yang berlaku dalam trip ni adelah satu pengalaman dan adventure yang tak akan boleh lupe sampai bila-bila. InsyaAllah. *mode insap..air mata bergenang di kelopak*..oh...harus plan trip ke either Sydney or Melbourne pule! Sape nak hekot??? Haha

Ape pon...mari layan gamba di sekitar Movie World by Warner Brothers, Gold Coast, Australia.

the main street

long queue for cinema show

big screen @ the main street

WB studio

China town

Harry Potter shop

the Superman escape ride

The parade...

Bugs bunny

Tom the pussy cat

tweety bird, my fav childhood character. Dulu mase Form 1 aku ade beg tweety wane maroon. Sayang gile kat beg tu. Pakai smpai da  bertaik lalat

Scooby Doo and the gang

Joker

ni aku da lupe character ape..haha

Cat woman

Justice League Gang

Fae dan kereta idamannye..kete batman..kete je tinggal, batman nye tah ke mane

Ok, meh nak cite sket beza antara 2 theme park yang aku dah pegi, satu, Movie World ni dan satu lagi Disneyland di Paris. There are huge different between them. Disneyland adelah saaangat besar. Its been developed in acres of land. Tahap jalan satu hari tak cukup. Kurang-kurang kene jalan 2, 3 hari baru leh cover semua parks. Structure kat dalam Disneyland lebih menarik, maybe Disney dah pon established beratus tahun dan bile masuk Disneyland memang korang rase korang in the character because of the environment in the park itself. Dengan replica bangunan nye yang memang macam dalam cartoon, dengan landscape nye yang sangat cantik. It's like you are living in the disney centuries. It's like a dream world inside there. Everything in the cartoon been duplicated in the real life size within the whole park.That's why its been called Disney Land, which consist of Disney Park, Disney Studio and Disney Village. More of it in here.

Movie World, on the other hand, is more to theme park. The park is comparatively small and the structures is not as in the character like what in the Disney Park. There are extreme rides and Studios as well. But the attraction is quite good. I would say Movie World is just like Disney Studio as its portrays characters in movies as well. Macam Disneyland, Disney Park focuses on cartoons, and Disney Studio focuses on characters in movies. But surely, Movie World tidak menghampakan. It is a must visit place if you are in GC.

pop corn dan strawberry smoothies yang tak bape nak sedap. Sile rujuk muke fae untuk mengetahui tahap ketidak sedapannye itu

spot wajib amek gamba

the front

Jadi setelah selesai berjalan di Movie World kira-kira jam 5.00ptg, kami tunggu bas balik ke town and since the sun has not set yet, we decided to drop off for the last time at Surfers Paradise. Plus, Fae wanted to drop by at Hard Rock Shop again. It's a good decision by the way. Glad we did that. At least we've got the chance to stroll at Surfer's Paradise Beach during daylight. Hadn't got the chance so far.

So, after bought some stuff at Hard Rock Shop, we walked towards the beach and had a long walk and talk and cam-whoring along the beach. We were then decided to have our dinner at a Fish & Chips restaurant by the beach. But it was surely not as good as what we had in Brisbane. But still, offers some thing to remember.

At Hard Rock Shop

The walking and talking along the Surfer's Paradise Beach

 

the diner

Oh ye..added story..mase jalan2 kat beach surfer's paradise ni..kitorg selambe je tinggalkan barang2 shopingan kitorang kat tepi dinding walkway yang dibina. Takde satu patah haram manusia pon yang nak amek kat sini. Ade tu siap tinggal stroller tepi siap ngn beg2 dan handbag nye skali. Betape selamatnye barang2 anda. Kalau kat malaysia, tah, malas la nak cakap. Eh, bukan niat aku nak buruk negara sendiri, tapi just nak mention berbezaan culture. Remember, we are still developing. Bukan macam diorg yang dah developed dari segala segi. So, kite masih ade ruang nak baiki.

OK, before we reached the bus stop, we manage to empty the purse with AUD buying some stuffs at one of the beach shop at Surfer's Paradise. Got myself a Mooloola shoes and sling bag. A treat to the broken heart. Haha. Alasan!

On the way back to our apartment, bumped into Liza n Yan at the Australia Fair's bus stop and at last the four of us were back together again. Cewah..bunyik macam ending love strory jek. Sempat gak aku bli kebab dekat salah satu kedai di Australia Fair for supper. Peh, byk btol makan ari ni.

Malam tu..not much to do. We were packing for departure tomorrow and share stories pasal journey Liza and Yan ke Canberra. Since both of them were extending their stay, only me and fae will go back tomorrow. That is why Liza n Yan manage to go to Wet n Wild Theme Park and also Paradise Country (ok, ini sangat jeles tau!)

The next morning, is the last day we set foot in GC (for this trip!). The free shuttle coach took us to GC Airport. This free airport transfer is actually inclusive in the free pass that we bought earlier. Eh, jadi its not free lah..haha..Liza dan Yan hantar sampai pintu bas..dan kitorg berpisah di situ.

Nothing special during the journey home. Not so many people in the flight and we had the stretch of three empty seat for both of us. Tido dan borak je during the journey.

Sampai di airport, nobody waited for us. Huhu..sedey! Jadi aku dan fae take our ride masing-masing. Fae took bus from LCCT to KL Sentral while i took bus from LCCT to Salak Selatan KLIA Transit Station, then took the transit to Putrajaya Station and lastly took a cab home which the fare took me RM33. Cis, mahal nak mampus.

Jadi, begitulah endnye trip GC kali ni...

Warrgghhh...akhernya...ok, di part yang last mungken aku kan concludekan berape kos (approximately) yang terlibat sepanjang trip ni. Yang ni kene sit together ngan fae, liza dan yan untuk track down balik perbelanjaan di sane...aku cube buat sehabes baik ye...mane tau leh bantu trip korang plak nanti.

As for conclusion, 5 malam adalah tidak mencukupi untuk buat segala aktiviti di GC. Banyak lagi tempat tak sempat nak jejak. Maybe sebab too much of shopping apart of itinerary yang dah kacu bilau. Tapi takpe. We learned from mistake. There will always be another trip, but the experience and memories of me, fae, liza and yan being togehter in GC  will stay with us forever and that is the thing that i cherish most.