Friday, December 28, 2007
Swinging Around Singapore
Now that I've stopped (sort of) excitedly jumping on people, grabbing them by the shoulders and shaking the bejesus out of them to tell them how awesome a time I had in Singapore, I'm finally blogging about it!!
Singapore was aweeesssoommmeeeee!!! *wild bimbotic fanning of hands* I was there from the 19th to 21st, and I might be a tad biased and overexcited about how much fun I had, since it was my first time out of the country and you could have tossed me over any random international border and I'd still say it was aaawwweeeessoommmeeee.
Day 1
The bus ride from Pudu was uneventful (albeit being surrounded by dodgy people at the station), although half the day was wasted since we got to Singapore at around 5pm.
We had to stop and get our bags checked at customs! Wow.. *stares wide-eyed at customs officer*
I suppose customs officers are trained to handle jakun Malaysians invading their country for the first time as the officer flipped through my brand new, virgin passport and with the cock of an eyebrow asked, "First time in Singapore?"
"First time anywhere?" would have been a more appropriate question.
My ridiculously jakun grin and excited reply of "Yes!" was met with a bored stare that reeked of one too many encounters with international n00bs and repetitive passport stamping. I half expected someone to go "Hey Jim, we got another one over here!" and unseen hands will drag me from the customs counter, dangle me upside down and smack the jakun out of me.
No such luck. I waltzed into Singapore with my jakun-o-meter intact.
And was pleasantly not surprised. Because my first impression of the lion city was that it..
Looked. Just. Like. Home. Really. If I'd fallen asleep on the bus and we'd passed the border and no one told me that we were in Singapore yet, I'd still think that we were in Malaysia. How disappointing.
Must have been all those expectations that my friends kept piling up on me about how nice Singapore is. I was probably subconsciously expecting flying cars, steel pavements and self-cleaning toilets around every corner.
We got out at Lavender bus station, completely and utterly lost. We dragged our wheelie luggage bags across the parking lot and peered at the shiny cars with their foreign number plates and different, yet somehow familiar surroundings.
Some enquiries and lots of nervous laughter later, we were bundled into a cab and off to our hostel which was a few minutes away.
In Geylang. Yes, I am very much aware of the images that the name Geylang conjures. Ladies walking around with ripped fishnet stockings groping unsuspecting men into dark alleys and used (ugh) condoms littering the streets.
To clear things up, our hostel is located in Lorong Geylang 1. Our local informants told us that Lorong Geylang 6 and beyond is where the fun starts. Well, now you know.
City Backpackers was the name of our hostel, and it was a pretty decent place. It was really affordable, sans the dodgy surroundings and ancient facilities that usually comes with affordable accomodation. It was clean, simple and quite comfy too. We stayed in a mixed dorm with bunk beds and a locker each. Yes, you read right. Mixed dorms. Boys and girls sleeping in the same room without any parental supervision. All those religious bigots must be having a fit now.
There were a bunch of really hot white guys in our dorm, that first evening. Phwoar.. *nose bleed* I was doing *coughs* all I could not to trip over my bags and fall flat on my face. Staying in a hostel is pretty fun because it allows for plenty of opportunities for err.. Spontaneous and random interaction ;) We got to talk to plenty of travellers and backpackers from all over who come and go, since most of them only stayed for one night.
We also met up with Eugene - a friend of Skyler's who was staying at the same hostel for a night. And we were all terribly late for our meet-up with Skyler at Suntec for a free movie! Hahah how cool is that? First night in Singapore and the first thing we do is watch a movie.
It was pretty good! Despite the fact that we missed the first half of the movie because we were so late and got horribly lost in that maze of a mall they call Suntec. Sorry skylight.
Outside the mall in my bright blue dress. A dress! See what being in a foreign country does to me? Thats Gik Mun btw. Chloe's friend.
At least they could never lose me in a crowd.
We had donuts (wtf? as if we dont already have enough in malaysia) from Donut Factory (affectionately known as DF) in Suntec for a snack. They're much more creative with their flavours, I'll give them that. And cheaper too (if you dont convert it, which unfortunately i did. constantly).
And they were so honest!! Ok now let me tell you of my very first encounter with Singaporean niceness and honesty that we are so lacking back home and I am so not used to. I wanted a donut set which came with 2 donuts and a coffee for about 5sgd. I'm a fan of plain glazed donuts, so I chose some random chocolate donut and a glazed donut. When cashier lady rang me up, she told me that since I chose a plain glazed donut, my bill would be cheaper than the price stated for the donut set.
"Er.. Cheaper? Because I took a plain donut? You're actually telling me this? Wow. Okaaayyy... Gosh, thanks."
I saved money! Thank you donut lady for being so nice to me! *big shiny eyes*
Would our local food vendors tell you that your bill is supposed to be cheaper because you took something else? Pfft..
We moved on to Clarke Quay after waiting around a bit for Skyler to handle her luggage transportation issues -____-"
I must say, Clarke Quay is a really nice place to hang out at night. Its like an area where a ton of bars, clubs and restaurants are centrally gathered within walking distance of each other, with beautifully decorated walkways adorned with shiny sparkly lights and the odd art sculpture or two. And a cool fountain right in the middle of it all. There are no cars or motorcycles driving around trying to kill you, so everyone is walking at their own leisure, people watching or taking loads of pictures everywhere.
The central fountain.
I like dark pictures. So you can see the lights on the ground! >_<
We decided to have a drink at one of the more interesting bars along Clarke Quay - The Clinic. (check out their website. creepy)
The theme was what sealed the deal for us. True to its name, The Clinic is modelled after a hospital/doctor's office where you go to get drinks instead of medicine.
Each table with sofas is separated by a screen. The sort that you use in hospitals. Very cool! =D
Oh, and the way they serve their cocktails (the expensive ones) are really cool too! Since its a clinic/hospital themed bar, their cocktails come in IV drip bags! Complete with the tube thingies and its hanging from that err.. Metal pole thingy (hello my medical student friends, can someone please correct me before i further embarass myself here?).
Like this!! Gimme my medicine! Sex on a Drip wtf.
So instead of sticking it into your arm, you just err.. Stick it into your mouth and drink.
And their shots (how punny) are served in test-tubes!
Then we switched tables for better photo ops. Because at some of the tables, they used wheelchairs instead of chairs! So sick and twisted!! I like!!
Hahahaa my retarded wheelchair face.
Really, how often can you sit in a real, fully functioning wheelchair to take a picture and not get glares/curses? The wheelchair really works ok. We were going round and round, back and forth with a lot of excited squeals. And you can pull the brakes on it too =D
Wheelchair ladies.
We couldnt afford the cool cocktails =(
Sitting in my wheelchair.. Drinking.. Sipping.. Dum de dum..
I likes spoiling pics.
The Clinic is so morbid. I love it T__T
Somehow, Klinik doesnt quite have a nice ring to it.
After we got sick of rolling around in our wheelchairs, we hopped over to Attica for our first clubbing experience in Singapore. No pictures unfortunately. But it was not bad. The crowd was a little too old for my taste, and Skyler swore she overheard an SPG whisper (as soft as whispers can be in a noisy club) "I wanna fuck you," to some random white guy who was syok-sendiri-ing by himself in a corner.
And then he apparently replied, "Raawwwrrr.."
-________-
Cabbies in Singapore are really anal about rules. They absolutely refuse to take more than 4 passengers, even though the taxis have more leg-room than an SUV and there is room for 1 person in front. Us 4 girls were comfortably seated in the backseat (really comfy) and as Eugene opened the front door to get in, the cabbie waved him off!
We were flabbergasted. "But there's room for one more.." we cooed. No can do. Poor Eugene had to take a cab alone. In comparison, we once managed to fit my whole family into a taxi. Dad, mum, sisters and all. Did I hear any complaints or refusal from the cabbie? Nope.
We got back to the hostel pretty late, with our feet a few steps away from dropping off.
Day 2
It was time to hit the malls!!!
We headed to Orchard road, where the entire stretch of road was just shopping mall after shopping mall! I thought I heard a choir break into song when I first saw it.
Skyler immediately dragged me to Far East Plaza for a delicacy so odd, I'd never imagine it existed.
Fried Mars bars!!! OMG!! My two great loves - chocolate and deep fried food - combined!! The mini Mars bars are coated in batter, deep-fried and served with ice cream and chocolate sauce drizzled all over it!! I almost passed out from sheer happiness. I could have died happy T__T
It was delicious! First you get the sharp coldness of the ice cream as you pop a spoonful into your mouth. Then you experience the heat of the just-fried crispy batter coating the Mars bars and you chew on it with a satisfying crunch crunch crunch. Then, the orgasmic explosion of semi-melted Mars bars oozing with caramel and chocolate hits you with such force, that you are reduced to a bumbling idiot who can only go "Mmmmmmmmm..." with various facial expressions and a heart-attack waiting to happen. I think I clogged a few arteries with that meal.
Out of this world, I tell you.
Far East Plaza was reminiscent of Sungai Wang back home, with its small shops and haphazard layout.
Taking a breather at Starbucks in one of the malls.
I'm her resident colour expert *smug look*
Somewhere along Orchard road.
It was drizzling at the time, as evident by the shoppers hurrying past under their umbrellas. But we're Malaysian! Brollies? Pfft.. Wimps.
Pretty pillars.
We went into one of the malls to check out HMV which is their equivalent of Tower Records. I went nuts in there!!
I was hyperventilating when I saw row upon row of cd's of most of my favourite bands that no one in Malaysia have ever heard of, let alone find those cd's in our local stores!!! And they were cheap too, by Singaoprean standards!! If they priced cd's like that over here, I'd go all original in an instant. I was just grabbing cd after cd off the racks and staring forlornly at them, miserably converting it back to RM and trying to decide which one I'd buy.
I couldnt decide there and then, so I went back the next day and after standing there for about 45 minutes with 10 cd's in my hand, I bought 2.
An album by Sigur Ros.
And Voxtrot. The availability of this one really caught me by surprise.
Please dont ask/remind me of how much they cost. I'm trying not to think about it. It pained me so to put the other cd's back. But they were far too expensive. *sigh*
Then we had lunch at the best burger joint I've ever been to!
MOS Burger!! Even the thought of it is making me drool now. They're hamburgers with a Japanese twist!
Like unagi rice burgers, teriyaki burgers and really cute apple pies!
Oh gawd.. *licks screen*
The burgers are served in cute little baskets that we wished we'd dared to steal.
Chloe downing liquid aspartame.
If they had this in Malaysia, I'd eat it everyday. Ok, maybe a few times a week.
Which phone! Which line! Hahaa I was trying to text a friend back home. I tried using Chloe's phone, but couldnt. So my message was saved there which I was trying to rewrite using Skyler's phone and checking my friend's phone number in my phone. Whew.
Their apple pies are too cute too.
Our next destination was Vivo City (did i get that right?), which I think was a relatively new mall that reminded me of Midvalley. Our main aim? A shop that sold everything for 2sgd. Kinda like our Hinode shop here that sells everything for rm5. Only, its Singaporean counterpart had twice as much things to ogle at.
The cool thing about Vivo was that one of the higher floors opened out into a courtyard with a garden, fountain and mini-lake right in the middle of it all.
This isnt on the lowest ground or anything. Its on one of the top floors. Like the rainforest in 1Utama, only cooler.
Everything was slightly damp from the rain, but there were loads of people walking around and kids splashing in the water. Like the stupid children in KLCC's park.
It was all very nicely done. I wanted to sit on the grass and take a picture, but it was too wet. Boo.. =(
There it is! The 2sgd shop! Daiso! Haha we included a view of the store in this picture on purpose.
We hurried back to our hostel to freshen up because Skyler's local friends were taking us out for dinner.
They were guys. With cars ^_^
We had dinner at an open air foodcourt-ish sort of place. Something like Asia Cafe in SS15, only cleaner. Much cleaner. Another score for Singapore. The food was pretty good, though they ordered so many chicken wings, we didnt know what to do.
After dinner, it was off to Clarke Quay to soak up more of the night life on our last night there!! And I crossed off one of the things on my to-do-list while in Singapore - go clubbing at Ministry of Sound (MOS)!
Only because everyone else says its really nice. And I hardly (if ever) go clubbing in Malaysia, so what happens in Singapore, stays in Singapore. Might as well. Heheh..
One of Skyler's friends got us in for free (free! my favourite word!) and we got a goodie bag too. We were pretty early, so we decided to walk around Clarke Quay first and take loads of pictures in MOS' really swanky bathroom.
Yeap, thats me in a dress again!
My first online buy btw! From Clothesbucket! Do check em out. Gorgeous stuff.
Must document such a rare ocassion. Me in a dress in a club!
The toilets were really really clean. So clean in fact, that we were perfectly happy to hang out there!
You try hanging out in a toilet here. See if you can remember your name and stop twitching when you come crawling out.
We still had loads more time, so we explored the club upstairs and on the way down, found a most delightfully coloured staircase!
I dont think red really is my colour.
I like big butts..
Chloe and moi.
Random Italian guy who's friends volunteered to help us take a picture of all of us and he jumped right in. They offered to buy us drinks after that ;)
You cant really see it, but this is the dancefloor before they opened it up. Thats a huge discoball on the left which would be lifted up later.
When the clock struck 12am, things started to heat up. I have never seen so many cute guys in one building before in my life!!! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG *gushes* I would have been perfectly happy to just sit there and stare my eyes out!! It was a neverending stream of eye candy of the most delectable kind.. Yummeh..
Lots of dancing and mingling ensued. The music was really good, and the crowd was great. At last, I've had a proper clubbing experience! *glee*
By the time we got back to the hostel, we couldnt feel our feet! I had cramps in all my toes and I couldnt twitch or move them in any way! We were literally hobbling and dragging ourselves up the stairs to our hostel! Now I remember why I hardly ever wear heels.
A corridor in our hostel. The stuff of nightmares.
Primary location for shooting of iconic scary Japanese horror movie scenes, methinks.
Day 3
Since our bus back to KL was at 8pm, we had plenty of time to squeeze in more shopping before heading back home.
The common area outside our rooms where we talked to a lot of different people as they walk in and out.
Bye bye hostel.
We went to Bugis Street, where everyone says is the place to go for cheap buys. But first, Skyler and I had another MOS burger meal at one of the malls, to build up our strength.
Then off to Bugis Street!
Culture shock moment : cars actually stopped to let us cross the street at every zebra crossing we came to! We were quite a sight as we reluctantly jerked back and forth at the zebra crossings, unsure as to whether or not the cars would let us pass. Would they? Would they not? And they did! They didnt try to kill us/run us over/honk us to death!
Our instant reaction back home is to stop and wait till the road is completely empty, with not a car in sight, before crossing the road. And we're still paranoid. We're pre-programmed to be terrified of crossing streets. Its like we flinch every time we see a car heading towards us -_____-"
Bugis Street is basically a nicer and cleaner (and less dodgier) version of Petaling Street. The upside was that all the little stalls were located inside a sort of market-ish building, which meant that we werent walking under the sun and it was much more bearable.
Every single thing I bought was not more than 10sgd! I was on a tight budget ok. And I personally felt that anything more than that was not worth it and could be bought cheaper back home. Clothes, handbags, watches and shoes, oh my!
Skyler seems to have many friends in Singapore. Estee, a (hot and happening wtf) Singaporean blogger joined us as we shopped in Bugis and we went back to Orchard again for more shopping and.. More MOS Burger!!!! XD I almost teared up when it finally sunk in that it'd be the last time I'll be eating MOS Burger (in awhile i hope). *sniffs*
8pm. Board bus. See ya Singapore. End.
I want to go back there!! T_____T
Anyway, I had a ton of fun there. Didnt exactly get to do/see as much as I would have liked due to time and financial constraints (bummer), but at least I got some shopping done =D I've never been more happy to be broke in my life. The slight culture shock was hilarious and I'm gonna save up so I can go back there and spend more money asap.
And wear more dresses.
I've so many new clothes, I cant wait to wear them all! Quick! Somebody ask me out so I have an excuse to wear them!
10 comments
