Just came back from a quickie 3D 2N hols in Singapore courtesy of "The Funder" (the term coined by my blogger-twitterer BIL for my MIL! Heheh...). Coordinated by dear hubby "The Crown Prince" (a term coined by my boss, Pn. Susi), my MIL saw her wish materialized - to have one big holiday with her beloved sons, grandchildren and daughters-in-law (in that particular order :P).Day 1
The Shaharuddin siblings started their journey separately. MIL and my family took the flight from KLIA. My BIL, Kruel and wife were tasked to ferry my paraplegic FIL from Seremban to Singapore. Another BIL, Shahrul (MIL's blue-eyed boy :P), had checked-in with his family the day before, since they're almost local (they live in JB). We stayed at the Golden Landmark Hotel in Arab Street so that my FIL could easily get his fix - teh tarik and Singapore Murtabak at Zam Zam Restaurant.
Zam Zam & Victory Restaurant along Arab Street.
Besides the legendary Singapore Murtabak, the place is famous for its textile collection. They have their very own "Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman" (Jln TAR) minus the traffic. Although the shops have impressive stocks of textile, they weren't really cheap despite the SALE. Anyway, bought a few materials for those back at home.
After Maghrib prayers, went by the van-load to Orchard Road. The shopping complexes were overflowed with people dashing madly for items on sale. Sure, there was a variety of handbags and shoes on sale but the loads of people betul2 potong stim! So much for my retail therapy...
Shoppers thronged Orchard Road like there's no recession...
The Tangs Sale
The lion, the moon and the Tang's Mandarin roof...
Kampung Gelam became Glam overnight
Day 2
After a less than appealing breakfast of Singapore Nasi Lemak, I babysitted the children at the pool. Those noisy rowdy kids raised quite a few eyebrows. Trust the kids for making themselves completely at home in a foreign land :D.
The boys and the birds at the pool
In the afternoon, took the MRT to Orchard Road. My target: a DSLR to reward myself for my "achievements" (whatever that may be! Ha! Ha!). Am now the proud owner of the Nikon D5000. How cheap was it? Well, my D5000 which came with a lense kit was only Sing 1100 after a feeble attempt at haggling (I'm one lousy haggler :D). Multiply that with 2.4 and you get the price in Ringgit = 2640. The price quoted in the Digital Camera mag was RM 3xxx. But of course, the clever uncle managed to make me part with a few dollars more for some accessories. Still, I got back 7% of GST at the Changi airport before leaving the country. So I would still say that the camera was a catch . Even my BIL Kruel who's not one to be taken-in by the sale gimmick couldn't resist a low-priced digital compact. My BIL Shahrul further acknowledged that electrical items were indeed cheaper in Singapore than Malaysia.
Anyway, the price of other items were not really cheap. Yeah, I saw a branded kids tee going for Sing 10. Multiply by 2.4, heck, the same tee that I saw on sale in Subang Jaya was only RM 20.00. The real bargain of the Great Singapore Sale, however, was this: designs which have yet to reach our shores were already on sale in Singapore.
Night time: off we went to the Singapore Night Safari. The kids were so excited to see the animals as I was -to try out my D5000! Heheh... Bad decision, though. Missed many golden opportunities to snap the animals in their natural dimly-lit surroundings due to my unfamiliarity with the camera settings. Luckily all was not lost and I managed to snap some photos.
How was the night safari? Well, it was exactly how it was supposed to be... DARK. I think the wagon ride would have been more enjoyable had we gone during the day. Tipah tertipu... So, I was one of those 'blur' people who said "Where? Where?" when the guide feigned excitement at seeing some exotic animal passing by "on your left" and "on your right". Kah! Kah! I was also busy fiddling with my gadget in the dark to make sure that I wouldn't be one of the mangkuks who flashed a light or two (which is the safari's cardinal sin) towards the animals.
How do I rate the Night Safari? Okeylah. I'm full of admiration for the Singapore zoo authorities for their effort. Malaysia with its abundance of vegetation could have done better but just look at the sorry state of our zoo negara...
Day 3
Final day. After a quick mamak-style breakfast, hubby and me (actually more me :P) rushed to the redemption kiosk in Orchard Road. My SIL Nani informed us that we could redeem taxi coupons and a free Charles & Keith bag with minimum purchase receipts of Sing 300.
Loved the catchy bag tag! My first Charles & Keith and it's FREE! (Don't care if you call me Cheapo... I can live with that! :P)
Then it was a dash to the airport and before you know it, we're back in familiar territory.
1 comment:
Nice post this, especially manage to catch the 'spirit' of the reason we were there...
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