CutiCuti: Johor-Singapore 2013

Assalamualaikum. Annyeong.

For the first time ever; I decided to do this. Pembentangan bajet cuticuti si Err. Few friends asked the budget for the trips I did before but I could only give them the estimated amount. With no breakdown like what u see below. Semua pun based on apa yang aku ingat.

Every time I went for a holiday, I did jot down the moolah I spent each day. But not all; specially part membeli terbelah. This year, the idea to make the budget list in a more proper order popped out. This idea does not originated from  my simple mind of course. Few of the bloggers who travel do this...haruslah aku buat based on blogs yang aku stalk, kan. 

Hence, tersiaplah bajet for the recent trip I went. My first trip for this year. Next time kalau berhajat menjejak kaki ke sana lagi, I could easily refer to this already. 

Ini cuma bajet kasar. Exclude segala makneka yang aku TERbeli; the souvenirs & bajubajan di JPO. For this trip, Bunda & a friend of mine tagged along. So teksi & hotel kami bayar secara kaedah berbahagi. Or what the Sabahan referred as patak². Generally kalau aku solo berjalan masa tu, bajet memang akan kurang sebab si Err akan stay di hostel; sharing room with fellow backpackers. 

Kalau kira² dengan jitu pun, the total damage ndak lah sebegitu figurenya. The budget per person would be less than RM 1k I guess. Tip paling berguna for me so far; beli flight ticket masa promotion. BUT if the promo price cuma beza sikit from the normal price; sila berfikir  panjang & mendalam. Lagi & lagi. Sebab ada possibility, few months after promotion ended normal price ticket akan lebih murah dari promo. 

Erm, this statement harus based on experience sendiri. Because I bought my flight ticket to Incheon during the promo season for RM 800+ sometime last year. Lepas tu cari penyakit hiris hati sendiri kunun few weeks after tu, aku saja belek web AirAsia. Search for the flight to Incheon again. Same date! Sekali gedebak keluar di screen; return ticket is only RM 552! Macam ada rasa mau tumbuk skrin si Asusi pun ada...luckily masa tu waras. Lantas set mood untuk hari tu; to super extreme bad day. Halfday muka aku macam baru dipenyek gajah ok! Sekian.

Anyways, the return ticket from KotaKinabalu to Senai cost me only RM 75.00. Sounded super murah & reasonable enough; hence the impulsive purchase. Siap beli untuk Bunda gitu; tiba² murah hati sebab promo pun. Eh?

eryantierdabdulkarim

CutiCuti: Singapore Day 2 - Sultan Mosque, Bugis Street & Merlion Park

Assalamualaikum. Annyeong.

Our second day in Singapore...also the last day before we departed for Johor that evening. The night before, Bunda told us to check out at 10a because she needed more time to rest. So we resumed our sweet dream after Subuh prayer. And woke up nearly 9a. Gedebuk gedebak; we check-out from the hotel half past 10a. Thirty minutes off-schedule. Kunun!

Hailed a taxi near the hotel to Muscat Street. Or if the taxi driver doesn't know where it is; just mention Sultan Mosque. Make sure the driver used the fare meter. But worry not lah, in Singapore semua taxi memang jujur dengan meter. 

Main reason to go there...mencemar tekak di Restoran Makan Minang; situated just next to the Sultan Mosque. This corner restaurant is quite famous among tourist for their delicious Minang (Indonesian) food. A friend of mine recommended this place & were told to give it's well-known nasi lemak a try. Alas, we came late. A group of twenty people came earlier than us; borong habis nasi lemak di situ. 

Alang² sampai, harus mencemar tekak. The dishes for lunch sudah terhidang; all look scrumptious. Laju jak perut aku berkeriut. Macam mau aku baham semua.

Sultan Mosque situated across this restaurant. Makan dengan penuh selera...facing this view. So peaceful.

Singapore is really a clean city. Even the mosque's ablution-toilet area is super clean. And dry! Aku masuk tanpa rasa geli; unlike most of the mosque's toilets back home. Harus aku berjungkit, jari geli².

Singapore Zam Zam famous for their murtabak spotted at the North Bridge. Turn left from here to Bugis Street.

Walked to the infamous Bugis Street. It was merely 5 minutes walking from the restaurant.

It's been my wish to take & have this picture...selalu tengok gambar orang jak, aku pun harus mau ada simpanan sendiri kan.

I don't really fancy the idea to shop till I drop during any of my trips...but I have to admit, it was quite a regret for this trip. With not much $ in hands; I could only cuci mata along the alleys. Managed to grabbed some souvenirs for cousins & friends. Nothing for myself! Boohoo.

Bugis Junction; currently undergoing renovation at some area situated opposite Bugis Street. We took the train to Raffles Place from Bugis. 

Out from the train in Raffles Place station, we followed the signboard heading to Six Battery Road. Where we took a short walk to Merlion Park! Mesti singgah sini kalau datang Singapore. Landmark paling represent the country.

From Raffles Place station to Merlion Park: 

1. Follow the Battery Road sign on the road. 

2. Make sure the Bank of China building is on ur left side. U could see the Singapore river further ahead.

3. The Fullerton hotel opposite the Bank of China. 

4. Walk ahead & take the stair down on ur left when u see this signboard.

Travelator for the underpass path. Convenience enough. It's air-conditioned too. 

Less than 5 minutes of walking underground...tadaaaaaaa! Terkedu sebentar sebab ndak sangka sampai! Finally, sudah print tapak kaki di Merlion Park. 

After sixteen years, I'm back. Overlooking the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Art Science Museum & Esplanade Theatres. 

Mother-Daughter sun-burning ourselves for the sake of Merlion Park. Poyo gila.

Before heading to Orchard Road, we went to the place behind Fullerton hotel. Singapore river.

Cavenagh Bridge

Super cute cats' statues near the bridge. Kena cari significant between cats & the bridge. Ouh, immediately rindu the Children back home.

Ahli rombongan. Before we left for Orchard. 

We stopped at Orchard Road from Raffles Place. Cari kedai makan di Foodcourt, ION tapi semua ndak memenuhi citarasa. Walked to Wisma Atria; masih ndak da berkenan. Masa tu aku memang sumpah seranah diri sendiri. Apahal lupa yang Ayam Penyet Ria tu di Lucky Plaza. I tried to recall the location of the restaurant but to no avail. Panas & berpeluh itik memang faktor utama kotak memori aku super lembabs that day. 

We were supposed to walk around Chinatown; cuci mata. Tapi ahli lain sudah ndak larat berjalan. Masing² mengangkut backpack super berat. And aku hampa! Ndak pa, next time aku explore sendiri; I slowly calmed myself.

Hence we decided to proceed to Kranji station instead. Mentekedarah di Johor jaklah. From Kranji, we took the Causeway Link-CW1 bus to Larkin Terminal, Johor.

**For the public transportation; the bus won't wait for u at each immigration buildings. But u can ride any CW1 bus from the parking bay provided u keep the bus ticket. No ticket means u have to pay once more**

Luckily for us, traffic was smooth. We arrived Larkin less than 20 minutes. Then we took a super mencekik darah taxi to Tune Hotel, Danga Bay. All the drivers refused to use the meter. Memang hangin. Ni lah kalau Malaysian; ambil kesempatan sepanjang masa. Hisap darah sampai kering! Tiba² emo sebab geram.

Checked-in. Siap itu ini & off we went out for dinner at 7 Spice. Located less than 100 metres from the hotel...superwalkertapaki ke sini. Lapar gila.

Opted for an Indian dishes for dinner. It was on Bunda. Wooot!! Malam tidur awal. Perlu cas tenaga for tomorrow's activity. Sempat lagi tawaf the city of Johor Bahru as our flight will be at 1800. 

Entered the well developed & super clean country on the 23^rd...and left the next day. Bila lagi akan kembali...insya Allah.

eryantierdabdulkarim

CutiCuti: Singapore Day 1 - Gardens by the Bay

Assalamualaikum. Annyeong.

Life's been busy at the cafe these days, I'm totally exhausted the moment I reached home. I wanted to complete my Johor-Singapore trip asap but I ran out of idea everytime I started to scribble something. 

Tonight, I regained the rajin mood hence the new entry. I really hope I could finish this before the laziness attacks. Right...shorten the intro already Bie!

As I've mentioned earlier, we left Sentosa Resort by Sentosa Express. The train service is free within the resort but will need to get a ticket if u're coming from the Vivo City Mall. According to my itinerary, we shall take the train from Waterfront Station (USS) to Sentosa Station (Vivo City Mall, Level 3). From there, we took the mrt Harbour Front Station (Vivo City Mall, Level 1) to Outram Park where we change the line before alighting at Aljunied Station. 

Because we'll be using the train to commute around the city, we decided to buy the EZ-Link card. It's available at every counter at the station for $12.00. Non-refundable $5.00 for the card & $7.00 for top up. This card has the same concept as the Touch&Go in Malaysia. It can be used for the MRT, bus & taxi. 

I booked this hotel through booking.com few months before the trip. Suggested by one of my bestie who had stayed here several of times. She recommended this hotel but reminded me that the area where this hotel is located is considered as the Red District among the local. The area is safe as long as we mind our own business. Hours of walking during the day & night definitely won't spare us extra energy to ruin their normal night activity. What we need the most is a room to refresh & rest. Lantaklah apa ayam-dan-ikan mau buat di luar sana...

One of the many Hotel 81-s in Singapore. The one we stayed at located in Geylang Road; Street 16^th. Hotel 81 Palace. We took merely 10 minutes of walking from the station to reach the hotel. I saw few mamak restaurants along the way. And not only one but two 7-Eleven shops near the hotel. I know I won't starve to death if I suddenly get hungry in the middle of the night. 

Unlike most of the hotels here in KK, this hotel has quite strict rules where one room can ONLY occupied two adults. Any extra guest would be charge. Period. No negotiation. Yes, annoying to the core. Hanya seorang extra ok! Tapi kedekut space ndak da ampun!! So instead of $90.00 per night; we paid another extra of $20 for additional bed-towel-toiletries-mineral water-3in1 drinks sachets-etc-etc.

Anyways, after checking in our room...it's time to refresh. Tea time in the room only. Hotel sikit punya mahal, harus guna semua facilities semaksimumnya, ok. 3in1 drink yang disedikan perlu habis before check-out. Sila jangan membazir. Buns & breads we brought from Johor never tasted that good. Kalau kebulur semua sedap.

After Maghrib, we resumed our journey. Destination is to Gardens by the Bay. Thanks to the travel-blogger who blogged about this place. I immediately fell in love upon seeing the night view of the Garden that she photographed. The beautiful pictures truly captivated my heart & ever since then; I can't wait to have myself standing below the skytrees. We took the train from Aljunied to Bayfront station. The nearest station to reach the Garden. Out from the train, there are already signboard telling which way to go. So no worries of getting lost.

On the bridge...crossing the man-made lake to the skytree groves. Singapore Flyer could be seen from here. 

Dup dap dup dap jantung when I saw this from afar...few more metres to reach the ground where the skytree groves are planted. Sungguh drama!

Few giant canopy structures stand several metres tall. Fascinating indeed. 

The OCBC Skywalk linked the three outer rim structures. One requires a ticket for the entry. 

Gardens by the Bay divided into seven different parks. And I purposely want to only visit the Supertree Grove. Insya Allah murah rezeki next time who knows I might visit the other six parks. 

Alhamdulillah. We arrived just in time for the light show to start. I wasn't sure if the show is up every night but I am glad I got the chance to see by myself the light show performance. Bunda & Ms A enjoyed the show; mesmerized some more. We are three happy tourists. 

In my favourite hue! Love love.

Marina Bay Sands hotel as a stunning backdrop. What a memorable evening. 

The foodcourt situated behind the supertrees. 

Luckily there's one lot with Halal logo...we had our light dinner here. It is similar to KFC but the taste...sedap gila ok. Gravy for the mashed potato is delicious. Bunda said the fried chickens are crispy & juicy. Kah sebab kami lapar maka semua pun nampak bersinar di mata.

Singapore city view at night. Indeed a concrete jungle the city is.

Next, it's the Marina Bay Sands shopping mall. We were supposed to walk upon the bridge connecting the Gardens to Marina Bay Sands hotel; before reaching the mall. But Bunda was too afraid because of the height. I was determined to force her to just walk; and deal with her acrophobia when it suddenly drizzle. Nampak sangat Allah marah sama kau, Bie. 

So we went back to the mrt station & used the underground passage to enter the MBS mall.

It only took little thing to amazed me; most of the times.

MBS mall facing the Merlion Park. Separated by the Singapore River. This we will visit the next day before going back to Johor. 

Can only afford to stand outside this glass building...and verangan. Annyeong!

Lotus building situated outside far end of the mall. Near the Helix Bridge. Ntah kenapa malap jak bridge malam tu. Tujuan lintas MBS was mainly to see the Helix ala-DNA bridge!!! It was supposed to be lighted baru nampak macam spiral DNA tu. Fuh adalah sungguh sebal di situ! Siapa rajin superwalkertapaki, boleh lintas Helix to go to Merlion or Esplanade. 

Frust tertonggeng...we headed back to the mall. And saw Maybank building! lighted in pink! Terubat kesebalan. Masuk mall, walked towards the mrt station....masa untuk pulang. Kaki perlu rehat. If it's only me ndak palah, ni ada dua lagi wanita yang perlu aku fikir kekuatan stamina mereka. Trip non-solo; sila jangan selfish Bie!

eryantierdabdulkarim