It's rude not to visit our neighbours. Hence, after 24 years of living, I visited Singapore in 2010. I was impressed by how organized the country was, and more impressed by their state of cleanliness. I considered Singapore as a better and cleaner KL, because it is a big city with shopping malls, and more shopping malls (i.e Orchard Road).
The opening of Universal Studio Singapore brought me back to the Land of Merlion this year. It was just a weekend getaway and I thought I've seen much of Singapore before; visiting places like Bugis Street, Arab Street, Little India, Clarke Quay and even roller bladed at the East Coast Park the last time I was there.
The Mission:
UNIVERSAL STUDIO SINGAPORE (USS)
The Verdict: USS was fun, as I have never been to any Universal Studio before. The highlights of USS were Steven Spielberg movie set experience, The 4D Shrek Movie, the Underworld live show and the rides (altho there were not many of them).You could easily spend a day there and to avoid queuing (especially on school holidays), it's recommended to get the express boarding pass.
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| My First Universal Studio Trip |
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| We LOVE USS! |
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| With 'Charlie Chaplin' |
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Love the Vintage Car
The mission was accomplished. Was that the end of the trip? Well, not when you were with friends who knew how to have fun! As one of us was celebrating his birthday during the trip,we toured Singapore once again as he barely remembered the last time he went there. We visited the tourist spots once again, but this time with surprises along the way. |
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Eating the famous 1 dollar Ice Cream
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Activity: We Dance
Where, When, How: We were in Esplanade, taking jumping shots and doing silly performance in front of Esplanade. Okay, touristy activities were done. Time to search for foods. As we walked towards the MRT Station, somebody stopped us and asked us to dance with them (something about Rocky Horror Show). I was excited because I thought they're going to do a flashmob but they ended up showing us some moves and asked us to repeat them again. Still fun because I never been stopped and asked to dance by strangers before (I was never the happy feet).
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| Jumping in front of Esplanade |
(No dancing photos as we were busy dancing and the video was too embarassing to show to public.HA HA)
Activity: We Shop but Never Steal Things
Where, When, How : First place that comes in mind for shopping in Singapore must be Orchard Road. Well, we found a different place to shop in Singapore, where we discovered a row of authentic and indie shops selling clothes, shoes and all things custom made and vintage at Haji Lane, nearby Bugis Junction and Bugis MRT Station. They weren't cheap but the feeling of buying things that were not mass produced was satisfying indeed.
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| One of the funky shops on Haji Lane |
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| Indie Inspired |
Activity: We Sing
Where, When, How :After all the walking, dancing and shopping, we decided to eat at this cool place, Wanna'B Cafe situated in Arab Street. The environment were laid back (as we were seated on the cushion, japanese style) and the choice of fusion foods were decent. What made this restaurant unique was the stage with drums, guitars and microphones provided for you to let you have your diva/idol moments (hence the name Wanna'B). That led to the singing part, when we unashamedly sang in front of public as customers got to use the stage and sang three karaoke songs for free.
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| Cool place to hang out with friends |
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| The WannaBs |
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| Feel like a rockstar |
Verdict of Second Singapore Trip: I thought I have seen them all in my first trip, but you'll never know what you could find in store the second time around. This applies to all the other countries as well, hence I'll have to go to every country I went/going to at least twice so I could be surprised again.
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| Awesome friends |
A wise man once said, "To travel is better than to arrive". Well, just to add to that wise saying, "To travel after arriving is even more better!". Plus, it's a major bonus when the people you're with love the travelling part like you. Thus, my Travel Diary for 2011 had commenced successfully (and dramatically, with the singing and dancing).
