Singapore Getaway

We just came back from Singapore yesterday evening. It was a last minute trip for DD and me. DH had known for sometime that he would be attending a course there, and he had pestered me to go along, but I was reluctant to make DD miss school.

Anyway, I made the last minute decision on Friday, barely 2 days before the trip. DD was excited. Flight tickets were expensive, so DD and I travelled by coach to Singapore and by flight on the way back.

We boarded Nice Executive Coach just after 3pm on Sunday. The coach was comfortable. We were given sandwiches, mineral water and hot drinks. But this is Malaysia, and if you expect to get what you pay for, you'll end up feeling disappointed. The stewardess (yes, there's a stewardess) apologetically told us that she couldn't give us blankets and pillows because the coach that we boarded was a bus sementara (temporary bus). For the same reason, we couldn't watch shows on the individual TV screen perched on the seats in front of us.

The first leg of the journey was smooth. The coach moved at a comfortable speed. We were overtaken by other coaches right, left and centre. We stopped at Pagoh at 5.30pm for a 20 minutes break.

The second leg of the journey became more arduous. Traffic moved at turtle's speed (or so it seemed) near Kulai for some unknown reasons.

Clearing immigration on Malaysian side of the border was a breeze. We hopped off the coach, got our passports scanned and hopped on again, all in less than 15 minutes. As we approached Singapore side, I began to understand why other coach drivers were driving at neck-breaking speed. There were so many buses queuing up to approach immigration. Our coach joined the queue and we waited in the coach for about half an hour. Finally we were told to gather all our belongings and enter the immigration check point. There were more queues inside. We got our passports stamped and our belongings scanned. Overall, it took almost 1 hour to clear Singapore immigration. We reached the bus terminal at 9.30 pm, 6 and a half hours after starting our journey. I felt so lucky that DD behaved throughout the entire journey.

Things took a turn for the better afterwards. The next day, I took DD to Sentosa Island, while DH was cooped up in the Conference. We had so much fun at Sentosa. We went there before, in 2006, but DD can't remember any of it now. I have to say though that I've had enough of Seaworld or Underwaterworld or whatever it is called. No more of sea creatures in the future.

Universal Studios is located on Sentosa Island too but we didn't go there. I contemplated taking DD on the following day, but DH was not too happy about letting us having all the fun while he was stuck attending the conference. So I took DD to Science Centre instead. And we had another day of fun.

The hotel that we stayed in was a bit far from MRT stations so we had to take buses and taxis between the hotel and the nearest MRT station. One thing I learnt about Singapore during this trip is how hard it is to flag a taxi if you're not at a Taxi Stand. DD was reduced to tears because she could not take the rejections from taxi drivers refusing to stop for us.

DD and I took Firefly for our return journey. I must say that the budget terminal in Changi is way better than our LCCT. It doesn't have the 'warehouse' feel, the airconditioner works wonderfully, it's not crowded and the departure gates are located close to the departure hall. DD and I had a ball in the Duty Free Shop, trying out all the perfumes. There are crayons and stone templates for kids to trace on.

My diet went out of the window in Singapore. We had McDonalds twice, not because I like it, but because it's convenient. Halal status was of paramount consideration, so during those few days, I stopped worrying about calories. We had the most yummylicous Sundanese food and Turkish fare as well, not to mention roti pratha and toasted bread with kaya for breakfast at the mamak stall.

I didn't get to do any shopping. As DD said it eloquently, kalau nak shopping, boleh shopping di KL. The most important thing is that DD had a good time, and that we certainly had.

Now is payback time for the both of us. DD has to catch up on school work and I have to restart my healthy lifestyle. Ouchh!