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

CutiCuti: Singapore Day 1 - Universal Studios Singapore, Sentosa Island

Assalamualaikum. Annyeong.

According to my plan, we were supposed to look around Sentosa Resort before entering USS. Since the theme park opens at 10a. That is; IF the coach departed from Johor as scheduled. But we could only plan, Allah determined everything. 

Nevermind that...I have set my foot upon USS ground, eventually. Be grateful for there are still people who don't get the chance to go. Selamat tiba pun salah satu rahmat...not to forget, the bright sunny day. Alhamdulillah.

 Hollywood zone. The first part to be seen upon entering.

Standing before the Hollywood alley.

Left turn at the end of the Hollywood road. We're greeted by the characters from Madagascar. Didn't take any pictures at this section though. Except the one above. Ngek.

Yippie! The Far Far Away Castle. Finally, beautifully standing before my eyes! It would be super great if we could stay until the Hollywood Dreams Parade...where the castle will be lighted with colorful lights. 

Photoop moment. We were there just in time...Shrek & Princess Fiona went out of the castle to greet their fans. 

At the main door of the castle. We queued for less than ten minutes for the Shrek 3-D film show. 

A little bit of introduction before entering the theater. Reward to those who have seen Ogre? Why Gingerbread looks so sad? Pinocchio locked & chained in a box? What did Shrek do to save his beloved wife & friends? 

The twenty minutes show is indeed entertaining. The physical effects that synchronized with the film make it more enjoyable. Moving chairs. Water sprinkle everytime Donkey sneezes. Wind blows. Spiders crawling at the feet. I enjoyed the show. Bunda was so into the show; reacted to every effects. 

It's time to enter the Ancient Egypt. Ready to meet the Mommies...

But the queue for the Revenge of the Mommy roller coaster ride was ridiculously long...we skipped the idea to ride. And luckily met these fellas. Is that Anck-Su-Namun; Imhotep's long lost love? 

A photo with the trademark at every zone is a must. Albeit the scorching sun, posing perlu maintain senyum lebar.

Sci-Fi zone. Meet my darling Bumble-Bee. Standing so sexy up there. Love love!

Bunda's favorite hero in Transformers. Optimus Prime! It's a robot. It moves & listened to instructions from the staffs. Cool, huh! 

Queuing for more than forty minutes for the Transformers: The Ride. A ride worth my waiting time!  Recommended big time! Seriously! And I didn't complain at all although the line was way too long. 

Brilliant way to entertain the bored us. The path leading to the departure area are filled with Transformers thingy. They made it look like we're in their ship. That's the sparks we have to protect in order to protect the earth. 

We proceeded to the New York zone...and found the Sesame Streets' famous characters were performing in front of the 'library'.

We met so many characters & that made us happy visitors! I never expected I will have the chance to meet Shrek, Fiona, friendly Ernie...let alone Elmo! I didn't care if I have to chase him all evening in order to get a photo together.

Hahaha come to think of it; I was either the first or the second in queue each time a character appeared for photoop session. Buruk perangai; mesti terkinja lari ndak ingat dunia. 

Lights, Camera, Action hosted by Steven Spielberg. The stage is set up to show how special effect in a movie were made. In here, the scene mimics a major hurricane hitting New York City. 

Sold for $3 each. Shedap!

Took out our bakcpacks from the locker...and it's time to bid goodbye to USS. We will visit again soon. Insya Allah. And that time I already know which ride to go first. Definitely the Mummy's ride. Never the Galactica. Be it the Cylon nor the Human ride. Yeah, I am that chicken for such ride! And also what shows to watch. We accidentally skipped quite a few exciting shows. Rugi! But for Lost World, we purposely skip the zone. 

Out from USS, there is this shop selling candies. Most colorful top vision. Varieties of candies decorated the tree outside this shop.

We rode the Sentosa Express from USS to Vivo City Mall. And later rode the MRT to Aljunied; the nearest station to our hotel in Geylang Road.  It is only 10 minutes walking distance to reach the hotel from Aljunied. 

 ****************************************************************************

Surau @ prayer room at Universal Studios Singapore is situated at the Sci Fi section. Near the Battlestar Galactica-Human entrance. Refer picture below; with the yellow box. If u're coming from the Transformers area, it would be on ur left side. U could take ur ablution at the toilet nearby. 

But please keep in mind; the surau has no partition for man & woman. It's rather small too; could only accommodate few people at a time. I didn't perform my solah here as it was a bit crowded when I went there.

As we finished exploring the theme park at 530p & still have few hours more to perform our jama'; thus we decided to straightaway go to our hotel. Since Bunda & Ms A seem to be out of energy; I forgo the idea to stroll around the resort area. Insya Allah, next time I will take my own sweet time to do the leisure walking. 

I also found a passable spot to perform solah in the theme park. The tent where we took picture with Shrek & Fiona; is secluded from the crowds. Not many people pass the pathway. The tent is behind the building situated opposite the Far Away Castle. Next to the small fountain surrounding the frog statue. Maybe there are few other spots but this is the only spot I managed to scanned. And it passed my own piawai. 

eryantierdabdulkarim

CutiCuti: Johor Bahru to USS by Odyssey

Assalamualaikum. Annyeong.

Johor Bahru to Universal Studios Singapore by Odyssey Coach!

We woke up pretty early that morning. Excited for the trip. It's been my wish to visit Universal Studios Singapore. Well at the very least, to take a photo before the infamous revolving globe at the entrance area of the theme park.

Alhamdulillah. Dream came true. And to top it up, I went there with Bunda. Double bliss.

Always fall in love with the morning skies...sunrise never failed to amused me. As Tune Hotel is situated near Danga Bay, the view from the lobby was pretty awesome. 

But Odyssey let me down that morning. Not good for first impression. I didn't know who to blame nor did I know where to put the blame. We were told to gather by 715a in front of the hotel entrance. By 730a, there wasn't any glimpse of coach at all. People started to get bored by 8a. I could hear all sorts of griping & complaining. Bunda started to 'throw her tantrum' as well. I pitied those parents with little kids. Hours of waiting with nothing entertaining; definitely wasn't a great idea for them. 

The buses finally arrived quarter to 9a. Again, silly thing happened. As if they've just started running the business, everything seem too chaotic for me. We were asked to fill in the form for seat booking during the time we exchange the voucher to boarding pass. By logic they should already have the number of people who will board the bus. But two buses weren't enough to accommodate number of people waiting. After so much dillydallied, we finally departed from Johor at 10a. 

Fortunately, the immigration processes at both checkpoints didn't take long. 

For less than twenty minutes, we arrived at Johor Bahru CIQ. The coach driver dropped us here (picture above) & waited us at the exit point. We can just leave our backpacks/foods etc in the coach since we're still in our country; and there's no baggage screening at this point yet. Next time, I would like to try to go to Singapore by car. Insya Allah.

On board the coach; crossing the causeway to Singapore. I can see the city from here already. Adrenaline pumping up more. Poyo!

The driver dropped us once more at the side of the road & we had to walk to Woodlands immigration building. This time, we have to bring whatever things we brought from Malaysia. They will be screened before we left the building thus it is best not to bring any prohibited items with u. 

Everything settled at one go. Down from the escalator, coach is already waiting for us at the parking bay. The upside of taking chartered coach instead of public bus, perhaps. Since we entered Singapore on the weekend, traffic was a bit slow. We only managed to arrived Sentosa World Resort at 11-ish. Despite the hassles earlier, I thanked Allah for we arrived safely. 

Out from the coach. This is how the basement looks like. We got on the escalator pointing to Universal Studios. Anyway, for those going back to Johor on the same day, u will need to be at the parking bay where the driver dropped u during arrival...15 minutes before 7p. 

The escalator will take u to this view. Tadaaaaa...USS' revolving globe before my eyes! Truly a dream came true it is. But first thing first; I warned myself. Before the jumping with joy kinda poses...let's find the most important place. Lockers room! We have super heavy & huge backpacks with us; exploring the park wouldn't be great with them. Yes? And photos will not look good either. 

Typical me, I did my own research where the lockers room is situated before the trip. I downloaded the resort's map; sekian! From the escalator, the lockers room is behind the globe. Next to Hershey's shop & Universal That's A Wrap gift shop. As we have three backpacks, we chose for the big locker. I don't know about the rental fee for the small lockers but for the big ones; it cost us $20 for a day. U can also opt to rent it for two or four hours. Rate is cheaper.

Time to pose...and pose...and pose. Ignoring the grumbling tummy. We only took light breakfast at the hotel hence explain the famished tummy. Cik Err was here! Finally! A photo of mine before the globe.

And another pose...albeit the sea of people, I managed to have my picture taken with no stranger in it. Makaseh Bunda.

A must enter place for hunger people like us. For Muslims, there are only two stalls with Halal sign available. They situated next to one another. From the entrance, take right. The stalls would be on ur left side. I had nasi lemak with chicken for early lunch. While Bunda & Ms A had mutton briyani. Don't question the price; it's in the theme park remember. Tourist spot. 

View from inside the so-called food street. Unique concept with numbers of stall selling variety of foods to choose from. 

Brilliant effort...instead of using polystyrene or plastic material which obviously is non-degradable, Singapore opted for a greener world. It's a biodegradable product! Talk about conserving the environment for future generations. 

Done with our meals...we entered the theme park. Hooray! The awaited moment had arrived. It's weekend thus the crowds. 

Anyhow, it's a wrap for now! Stories & pictures inside USS will be updated in the next entry. Insya Allah.

eryantierdabdulkarim