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singapore
Few Hours Before Leaving Singapore
August 23, 2017
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| Meet the famous Merlion. |
Done with the tour at about 12pm. Some of the tour mates need to leave for other plans or to catch any flights. After saying goodbye to each other, only about 7 people stayed with Dani to listen to more stories and finally we had lunch together.
1. Amoy Street Food Center
Dani brought us here. It is like a food court with varieties of food (at least affordable one for me). Halal Muslim food is located in the first 2 rows and the rest is Chinese food.
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| It was lunch hour - expect many customers yea |
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| Kuewtiaw Tomyam. |
The tomyam costs S$ 4 and I bought fruit juice for S$ 2.
Here, I learned that Singaporeans also reserve seats (we called it 'chop meja') like the Malaysians. HAHA. They will put some invaluable items on the table to show that someone is reserving the seat - it can be cards, tissues etc.
It is a bit funny to be the only one who can understand Malay as Dani can share some inside jokes in Malay and I can relate it. She said that Singaporeans learned many trending words from us.
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| Lovely Dani and I :D |
After lunch, I requested Dani to show the nearest MRT station so that I could proceed with my plan which was to see Merlion, Esplanade and Helix Bridge. I was lucky enough that Dani offered to walk with me to those places. Ya Allah, terharunya rasaaaa.
I am thankful to meet this girl so much. Thank you Dani for taking me around and sharing the stories behind these attractions. :)
2. Merlion
Lion's head with the tail of fish. It was introduced by Singapore Tourism. Why Merlion? We can relate it to the name of Singapore and previous name of it.
Mer - means sea. Singapore was once a fishing village called Temasek.
Lion - comes from the name Singapore = lion city.
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| Merlion's back. |
Singapore loves feng shui a lot. It means to harmonize everyone with the environment. Merlion is positioned facing Marina Bay Sands with lots of merchants buildings at the back - it is believed that continuous flowing of money between these buildings will keep the economy grow.
3. Esplanade - Theaters on the Bay
Marina Bay is where we can expect most of attractions in Singapore. The same goes to this Esplanade. Although the building honestly looks like a durian, but it is actually the shape of microphone.
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| Esplanade |
I asked Dani if we can go inside. And she said, she was actually planning to take me inside. Not to the concert hall, of course. Just to the observation deck to enjoy the view of Marina Bay from a higher place.
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| There you go :) |
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| This plant attracted Dani so much. Hehe. |
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| The smallest banknote for Singapore is S$ 2. There was banknote for S$ 1 before. but it was totally changed into coins (with this 8 edges shape). |
4. Bugis Street
Done with these two places, it was time for me to go back to my hostel and pick up my backpack to return to Johor Bahru. Dani was really nice to accompany me around Bugis Street to catch few last-minute fridge magnets and even sent me off to Arab Street - where my hostel is located.
Ya Allah, thank you so much for introducing me to this kind lady. :D :D <3
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| Welcome to my cafe :D - haha we found this on our way back. |
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| Bugis street - where you can find all souvenirs at cheaper price. I can see few offers like 24 keychains = S$ 10, 4 T-shirt = S$ 10, 6 fridge magnets = S$ 10. Walk around, I am sure you can get the better offers :) This can be a reference price. |
5. Masjid Sultan
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| Azan can be heard on the street as well. |
Masjid Sultan is not the oldest mosque here (maybe second or third). Located very close to Kampong Glam makes it the famous landmark there. It was once demolished and reconstructed to occupy the increasing number of Muslims. During the war, it became a shelter to people with different religions.
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| The clean ablution area for women. |
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| The praying area for men. |
The mosque is open for visitors (I can compare this to mosques in Malaysia like Putrajaya or any masjid negeri). I had the chance to pray there twice as it is very close to the hostel. Very comfortable and my mum would love this mosque!
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| In front of Masjid Sultan is this famous restaurant. I was full when I passed it. So, can't say much about the food as I did not try it. |
6. Bussorah Street | Kampong Glam
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| Bussorah street with Masjid Sultan at the back. |
It is named after a place in Iraq and now becomes a pedestrian mall. We can see restaurants serving international cuisines here - especially Lebanese, Turkish, Arab food.
7. Singapore-Johore Express Terminal
It was finally the time to leave Singapore for Johor Bahru. Since I had to catch a bus back to Amanjaya, Ipoh at 11pm... I estimated 3-4hours for the journey to cross the border.
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| The bus terminal. |
Through out my journey around the city center, I used EZ-link card (that works exactly like our Touch n Go) for all public transportation. I have surveyed few alternatives to go to JB and decided to try the cheaper route (take MRT to Kranji --> then Bus 170 all the way to Larkin Terminal = cost less than S$ 3. But, Dani recommended Causeway Link 2 bus for few reasons - more convenient, faster, more buses. It costs S$ 3.30.
It was good enough as I had about S$ 3.60 in my EZ-link card so I can use all money inside before leaving this country. :)
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| I can see many public houses along the way. |
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| CW2 bus - here in this terminal, we need to queue up before buying tickets and walk straight into the bus. The queue was long enough as it was peak time - people from Singapore were going back to JB. |
Here, I met a kind girl, Somala... she lives in Tampoi and works part time in Singapore. She helps me a lot to cross the border. I found it so cute when she shared the moments she teased her family on her future plan. Take care, sweet girl :)
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| Goodbye Singapore, till we meet again :) |
Alhamdulillah for all kind people I've met through out my journey in Singapore. Even in Larkin Terminal, thank you so much for those people who help me a lot for directions and thank you for the free food.
I would love to go to Singapore again. So, officially my Asia's trip started with this Singapore trip :D Where's next?
p/s - I really need to plan well to cut costs everywhere. Jobless right now. Haha
p/s/s - And I need to complete writing posts of Europe Trip 2.0. T__T
p/s/s - And I need to complete writing posts of Europe Trip 2.0. T__T
SS, Perak, Malaysia
170818
Part 3!
11. Sacred tooth.
This new temple is know as Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. It works as museum as well.
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| Temple surrounded by giant concrete buldings |
Relic = physical remains of a saint (in this place, it is a tooth).
It is said that Singapore is given this sacred tooth from Myanmar and the temple was built to house the tooth relic. Outside this temple, I've been approached by a Singaporean Chinese uncle and he said it is uncommon to see a Muslim girl with hijab entering a temple.
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| The other entrance. |
Yep, it is uncommon.
Some people said it is haram to enter these places. I once watched Ustaz Azhar Idrus's video on this and he said you can enter but never do anything like they do to worship the idols. Since the tour is explaining about the temple, I grab this chance to listen and to see with my own eyes how it looks like inside. Always remember the verses in Surah Al-Kafirun, one of them is:
"For you is your religion, and for me is my religion." - 109:6
I've been to all those places, but alhamdulillah seeing them myself makes me more grateful with my own faith, my belief to Allah.
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| Chinese love continuous flowing water like this. |
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| They also believe crystal as a good source of inner energy. |
12. Clan Association
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| The 'office'. |
It was originally founded to help immigrants from China. Well, just imagine you are in a new place, somehow you may need help to settle down there - in terms of places to stay and jobs. Nowadays, other than helping for social welfare, this place also helps Chinese to send items to their family back in China and also to trace the family root.
13. Singapore's Last Water Well
Before the mountains were cleared for land reclamation, people in Singapore relied on water well as a source of clean water. The clean water was kind of limited, but people back then was clever enough to find underground water. This well was used to provide water around Chinatown and transferred with the help of bullock-drawn carts.
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| The other wells need to be abolished for development. This one remained there for the sake of history for younger generations. |
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| It is located at Ann Siang Hill Park. |
As most of us know, water in Singapore is imported from Malaysia. There is a contract between these two countries but it seems like the agreement will end in 2061. Singapore is now a global water research to find solutions for failed negotiations for 2062 and beyond.
Right now, there are 4 sources of water there:
- Mostly from rainfall - collected in artificial reservoirs (like Marina Bay - if you study the map of Singapore, you can see a lot of reservoirs)
- 30% imported from Malaysia
- Reclaimed water - recycle water from wastewater
- Seawater desalination
14. Malay is the national language.
Honestly I did not expect this as I thought the national language is Chinese or English.
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| All four languages are used widely there. Even on any announcements so far that I can remember. |
To Singapore, Malay is always the lingua franca especially when it is surrounded by Malay-speaking countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei. :)
15. Interactive wall mural.
The wall is brought alive via an application called LocoMole. There are steps shown on the wall and we can aim the phone on the wall for more surprises. They can be footnotes and even videos.
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| Painted by Yip Yew Chong (13 April 2017) |
The mural shows the history back then on how immigrants left their countries for Singapore (as it was a new trade center) by ships and boats, waving goodbyes to their families. Basically this wall tells you stories about most of things I have shared earlier :)
16. Telok Ayer and Land Reclamation.
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| Telok Ayer Street. |
Telok Ayer Street was named after Telok Ayer (Water Bay in English).
On this street, we can see Thian Hock Keng temple - one of the first temple built as the seafarers and immigrants arrived to Singapore. This temple was originally located very close to the coastline (means the water of the sea was just few meters from the temple). After few years later, land reclamation started to begin (that makes Singapore a bit bigger than before).
Land reclamation by British was done by clearing all mountains. So, Singapore does not have any mountains left. For this reason, Lee Kuan Yew wanted all buildings to have nature plan inside. Every meter square of land used for construction, the architect need to make sure the nature is replaced in the buildings (horizontally). When I was there, I can say there are huge trees almost everywhere - very helpful to provide shades.
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| Dani and our tour-mates. |
Chinatown has been declared as heritage sites and cannot be abolished. It is said that Singapore only has 200 years worth-histories so at least with the conserved and preserved Chinatown, it helps to bring back history to Singapore. Otherwise, the only things we can see there are concrete sky-scraping buildings.
In conclusion, I believe I made the right decision of joining this free walking tour. Instead of just taking pictures of buildings with no ideas of what they are, this tour helped to enlighten me the history of Singapore... basically a bit of history about my own country as well. Malaysia and Singapore was together before we separated in 1965.
I am thinking of joining any free walking tour in Malaysia very soon. :) InsyAllah.
SS, Perak, Malaysia
170818
Let's continue with Part 2 :)
6. Coolies
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| Kuli = coolie - a statue at one end of Smith St. |
Birthday treat for myself :)
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| Tour around Chinatown, Singapore |
A Day of Adrenaline Rush in Universal Studio Singapore (USS)
August 18, 2017
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| The famous place to have a photo of yourselves in USS. |
I was on my Europe Trip with my parents when I received an invitation from a good friend of mine to USS. :D Well, a good friend whom I can share problems with even though we rarely meet each other, 4 times so far I think? Oh, she was the one who spent time with me in Scotland, last time. :)
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| I went into Sentosa island by bus, direct from JB. |
Adrenaline rush, that is the main thing I can think of every time I came across the word 'theme park'. I have been to theme parks in Genting Highlands and Disneyland Paris, so I can say this USS is kind of similar. Maybe the characters are different as I did not see any Mickey Mouse and friends in USS but... you got what I meant.
I was not expecting much, but I was a bit looking forward for the rides. I felt like I really want to scream out loud recently. Just that's not me, not my style even though sometimes my heart is itching to do so.
And now, I have a reason to scream. HAHA.
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| The ticket for USS. |
1. USS Tickets.
I booked a USS ticket from a travel agency in JB. It was RM 230 that covers:
- a 1-day ticket to USS
- a S$ 5 food / drinks discount voucher (with minimum spending of S$ 10)
- a S$ 5 retail discount voucher (with minimum spending of S$ 35)
- return bus JB-USS-JB
If you buy the ticket directly from Resort World Sentosa, the price for an adult ticket is S$ 76 which is similar to the one I bought but you will just get the ticket :) But, I am sure there are some agencies out there that have more interesting offers (I just don't have much time to read more).
Trust me, please buy the tickets in advanced / online! Do not waste your time waiting in queue for the tickets at the counter.
Then, check if the date you are going is within the summer break / school holidays or not. If yes, I would highly recommend you to buy the EXPRESS ticket. :D You can save at least 30-60 minutes at every ride compared to normal ticket. If not, you don't have to worry as the waiting time can be just 15 minutes or less. So, choose your date wisely. :) In my case, unfortunately yes, it is summer break sobssss!
2. Crossing the border of Malaysia-Singapore.
It was my first time in Singapore so I have no idea how busy is the immigration and the processes are just... wow, speechless.
To get into Singapore, we need to pass the Malaysia immigration (Johor Bahru Checkpoint) and then Singapore immigration (Woodlands Checkpoint) - this sentence means, once we arrived at JB Checkpoint, we need to drop off from the bus --> pass through the passport control / customs --> queue for the bus to Woodlands Checkpoint. Then, repeat the same thing for that checkpoint.
The queue was not a joke okay?
It maybe be different if you are crossing by car or train. I don't know much.
Haha, I have huge salute for people who stay in JB and work in Singapore. How can these people do all these procedures every single day... both in the morning and evening? Fuhhh.
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| The Mummy. |
3. The rides.
Of course, my friend and I had no chance to complete every single ride. So, we aimed for the thrilling ones:
- Battlestar Galactica: Cylon - thrill ride that you will move in different direction in the air.
- Transformers The Ride - it is a 3D thrilling indoor battle.
- Revenge of the Mummy - indoor roller coaster.
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| Battlestar Galactica - Human / Cylon - 14-storey tall |
And we waited at least an hour for each of them. T_T.
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| This is another place a lot of people recommended :D just I did not feel like getting wet that time. T_T |
4. The lockers.
I would encourage you to store your big luggage at your accommodation or simply enter USS with a small backpack / bag. In my case, I went straight from JB to USS and planned to stay a night in Singapore. So, I had a backpack of clothes etc and another small bag for all other important items. In my head, I planned to store my backpack at the locker and go around USS with that small bag. But to my surprise, it was quite expensive. A small locker costs around S$ 15 for one day that I would rather spend it on food. T_T
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| It was so hectic! |
Another point to note is that most of the thrilling rides require you to go without any loose items like hats, sunglasses etc. For this case, usually just beside the rides there will be lockers that you can store your small bag for free for 45-70 minutes (it depends). So, put everything inside.
You can walk inside with your spectacles, just when it is your turn to ride, they will ask you to put the glasses at the rack provided.
5. Velociraptor
This is the name of the dinosaur in the picture below.
We were on our way leaving Sci-Fi City to Far Far Away zone. Then suddenly this dinosaur appeared. :p We spent some time to listen to the volunteer about this velociraptor.
- It is about 2 meters tall.
- It has 60 teeth and eat meats.
- ...... I forgot.
6. Get hydrated.
You can bring outside food 'quietly'. For water, you don't have to worry as there are a lot of water fountains that you can always refill your bottle. Make sure you drink a lot, USS can be scorching hot that you may need a cap / hat or even an umbrella. :)
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| Slush. |
7. A glimpse of Europe.I can not deny the fact that I miss Czech. I miss the town of Hradec Kralove. But I know I need to move on and adapt with the idea of I am settling down in my own country. :)
USS brought back memories of my life in Czech and I totally love it - with the castle, buildings, cars etc.
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| Castle in Far Far Away zone. |
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| The walls with brick patterns. |
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| Somewhere in Hollywood zone. |
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| You can expect this view and the huge crowds. |
8. Prayer room.
I was really happy to know that USS provide praying room for Muslims. It is a small block of building that has two separate rooms for male and female. For female praying area, it is enough to fit approximately 10 people at one time.
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| The prayer room |
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| The prayer room for female - with 1 pipe for ablution. |
9. Sentosa Boardwalk.Do you know that we can just walk between the main island of Singapore to Sentosa Island (that has all those parks)?
And another point to note is that, the boardwalk is FREE to use till the end of 2017! You can walk on a roofed pathway, with beautiful scenery of both islands. Oh yea, you can see the cable car as well. :)
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| Open 24hours. |
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| I chose to walk just because the queue for Sentosa monorail was too long. The estimated time to get to my turn was 60 minutes (as mentioned there). |
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| The sunset from Sentosa Boardwalk :D |
Ways to get to Sentosa Islands that I read:
- cable car
- bus
- taxi
- Sentosa monorail
10. Goodbye, USS :)
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| With Haziqah :D |
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| Minionssss. |
All in all, it is a nice place to go and experience all these adrenaline rush rides, all these characters. It will be nicer to go on off peak season, I am not sure when... but June, July, December maybe the busiest one.
To go again? Maybe. But not definitely.
Good articles to read:
1. https://www.havehalalwilltravel.com/blog/8-insider-tips-for-an-awesome-day-at-universal-studios-singapore/
2. https://trevallog.com/2016/08/27/travel-singapore-johor-bahru-jb-public-transport-bus/
3. http://azyhazy.blogspot.my/2017/05/travelog-singapore-universal-studios.html
SS, Perak, Malaysia
170816
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