Spontaneously Singapore! Part 2

My 2nd day in Singapore was another spontaneous journey! We didnt plan anything except meeting my Indonesian friend who currently resides and studies there. So I got half of the day with mom following "The Four Winds" (the old Singapore word refers to The Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian influence to the country) and the other half with my lovely friend walking (yes, literally walking and killing my feet) around the central.

So, these are 10 Unplanned Things to do in Singapore through my poladroids camera :P

1. Catch the first wind: The Malay

When you travel with my mom, get ready to have the Mosque tour. Yes, she loves mosques and so do I. So we started the day with dhuha prayer in Sultan Mosque, Kampong Glam.

2. Race for the 2nd wind: The Chinese

This is where to SHOP. If you are looking for the souvenirs, here is the cheapest place you can find in this merlion planet. Random things: I drank 2 cans of A&W root beer here not because it was really hot but because it's cheap and um... the shopping nuance made me wanna spend even the single cents i had :P

3. Hunt the 3rd wind: The Indian

I wanted to go inside! But i had to pay SGD 6 to enter and take pictures, so I just stole the pic from outside. Indian temple never fail to amaze me, and this one I found was so beautiful and mystical. Heaven!

4. Hot day choice: ICE CREAM

I LOVE MAGNUM. However, in Indonesia we dont have Magnum Gold. So when I saw this in Singapore, I just grabbed it. But people, it's expensive :(

5. Local Time!

Yes, exactly! When mom and I dont know where to go, it's time to grab a local and kindly beg him to bring you INSIDE those buildings behind! Including the Marina Bay Sands, the one of largest shopping malls in Singapore. However, always remember that a local will make you WALK. Thanks to Mr. Prima Aulia Gusta, my dearie high school mate, my feet are dead and my shoes are in the trash bin :P

But I love the walk!

6. River tour

Fellow Indonesians, who reside in Jakarta should take this 30 mins boat tour. Because it will end up making us demand the same one for Ciliwung River. Geesh, it was a dirty and smelly river before, with trash and people swimming. Just like our beloved river in Jakarta. It took Singapore 10 years to make it tour-able like now. So yes, 10 years from now on, can we have our "Ciliwung River Tour" dear governor?

7. Must-visit Photo Spot

Thanks to my friend, I gained enough courage to take this picture. It is located in front of the extremely high-class hotel, Fullerton, and recognized as one of the icon of Singapore river. During the previous boat tour, when the guide explained about this spot everyone looked and took picture of the statue. Thus, taking picture with this 5 naked boys (who were jumping into the river, showing us how was the river in the old days) will certainly make me the center of attention. Hahaha.

But I did anyway, and Mr. Gusta :p took a great picture, thanks da boy!

So all of those attention-seeker, try this one in Singapore!

8. Must-visit Icon

The doorman of Raffles Hotel.

Raffles Hotel itself is an iconic hotel of Singapore. Michael Jackson was once stayed there during his visit to Singapore. Its doorman, the big indian guy, is a very iconic man indeed. His face is even there, on the fridge-magnets, sold in a shop in Chinatown. Taking picture with him is listed as one of 20 unique thing to do in Singapore. Well, that left me with another 19 things! :)

9. Must-eat cuisine: CHILI CRAB

All seafood lovers, I STRONGLY recommend you to try this Singaporean cuisine in the street vendor. Not in the big and expensive seafood restaurant. The one i went was right in front of my hotel in Orchard Road and the waiter have the nicest smile ever! That will surely make the night.

Try it! But remember, the street vendor one :)

10. JUMP SHOT

I always do a jump shot. So in Singapore, I picked The Esplanade (the durian-shaped building) to be the background. JUMP!

Credit goes to my amazing photographer, Mr. Prima Aulia Gusta

Makasih ya dabooyyy :)

That was my 2nd day in Singapore. My friend dragged me to many places which made my shoes gave up. I wore my friend's slipper and let him walk barefeet until we find the slipper shop. However, it was a veeeeeery nice unplanned day.

I ended up with lots of pictures taken and stories to be told

Thank you Singapore, see you soon lah :*

Spontaneously Singapore!

Part One: The Unplanned Sentosa

Yes, I did a spontaneous trip to Singapore with my mom last week. She came to my room and asked me to book air ticket. I was very surprised why so sudden, but I logged in to airasia.com and luckily found cheap tickets for both of us. Everything is unplanned. Everything is spontaneous. We tried to book a hotel the day before our flight, but there was technical problem so our booking was cancelled. That makes me and mom looked for the “Hotel Reservation” sign the first thing we arrived.

These 2 homeless ladies finally found a great and not so expensive hotel in Orchard road. However after we put our luggage inside the room, we asked ourselves, what do we wanna do today? It was 2 pm and we didn’t know where to go. Great. I expected mom who’ve been here before to be my tour guide, because I know nothing about this Merlion City. Then mom’s spontaneous brain worked. She went to the tour desk in the lobby and asked about the 1 day tour to Sentosa Island. We planned to go around the city today and go to Sentosa Island. However, the tour lady answered, “The bus to Sentosa will depart in 15 minutes. How about you go now and go to city tomorrow?”

What? Wowow. Plan changed? Just like that?? I looked at mom and she nodded. “Okay, we’ll take it!”

So here we are, on the spontaneous bus ride with our funny tour guide, Mr. Chin. He was wearing pink shirt, as pink as the dolphin we are about to see in Sentosa Island. The tour is charged for SGD 86 per person. It is included the cable ride to the island from Mount Faber Station. It is nice for us, who didn’t know where to go to sit on a tour and let the guide bring us everywhere :P

Here are the places we went during our trip in Sentosa:

1. Underwater World

I love aquarium, and here we can touch big manta rays and sharks. So I was dying with happiness. Here’s also we can watch the pink dolphin attraction. It’s short, only 15 minutes. Because Mr. Chin said many people protested the aquarium staffs gave pressure to the dolphin if the show takes longer time. Yeah, remind me of the Cove.

2. Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom Museum

One thing I adore from this attraction is how they organize the exhibit. They have outdoor park and indoor museum with collection of butterflies from around the world. It is clean and creatively arranged. Also, the museum is air conditioned! So after a sunny trip in the park, the museum is surely a must-go destination.

3. 4D Movie: Pirates

One thing to say about this: My little brothers will love it SO MUCH.

4. Museum of Singapore

I love museum. This is a wax museum where they explain the mix-culture of Singapore. “The Four Winds” show at the entrance explained how Singapore became a country of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian. After a visit to this museum, I dream of making one in Indonesia. An Image of Indonesia, a museum of 300 ethnicities.

5. Sky ride to the venue of Songs of the Sea

This is the best part. We took a sky ride (air floating chairs like the one in ski arena) to the beach. Because on the beach that night, we will watch a show called Songs of The Sea. It is a musical laser/fireworks show whom everyone should not miss.

The best part is, because we were early, we got the best seat on the front! Yeah!

That was the unplanned Sentosa trip which was closed with a Indian-dinner in Mustafa street, Little India, Singapore. We didn’t plan the trip today but it ended up as a tiring but amazingly fun journey! With mom, the spontaneously Singapore will still continue J

Stick around!