I received word today that my ex-coworker and friend, Mischa, passed away from lupus at the tender age of 25. It was just 3 months ago she was getting ready for the Chinese New Year vacation when her body started malfunctioning and her immune system turning on herself. Soon after, she was in a coma and underwent multiple surgeries to address various complications. But in the end, never having the chance to come out of her coma, she lost her battle.
Mischa was a beautiful person inside and out, always putting on a big smile as she manned the front desk at our office. Learning that she has had to ensure so much turmoil in her family, it's amazing that she could always show up to work with so much energy and enthusiasm, and immediately make everyone feel better. She was one of the kindest souls I've had the pleasure of meeting, and she will be missed.
Mischa, rest in peace.
May 19, 2009
April 04, 2009
PHILIPPINES!
Following Singapore, we spent 6 days in the Philippines.
When planning for this trip, personal Filipino consultants CS and RT both said not to bother spending too much time in Manila, and to go to Boracay and Tagaytay instead - so we worked our Filipino visit around that advice.
Jan 30 (Fri): Our 3.5 hr flight brought us to Ninoy Aquino International at 6:25pm. We got special VIP services, having "EdlC", retired Chief of Police where the airport is located, picking us and giving us a ride to our hotel - because he's CS's family friend. In Singapore, we chose to stay in the Red Light District. In Manila, our luck would have it that our hotel was also in the Red Light District of Makati (the financial district of the Philippines). If seeing old fat white guys with two little Filipinas at his side is your cup of tea, you'll fit right at home. I don't want to get into the details of our hotel, I'll just say the photos of Citadel Inn Makati hide its age very well. Not wanting to venture too far from our hotel at night, we just walked around the surrounding area and had dinner at Filipino fast-food roasted chicken chain Andok's.
Jan 31 (Sat): To kill a bit of time in the morning before meeting a friend in the afternoon, we headed to Alaya Center, a huge mall complex in the Makati area - spending most of our time trying and buying filipino foods.
View from Our Hotel Room
In the afternoon, we met with my highschool friend LF who took us to Tagaytay. Tagaytay is city about an hour and some South of Manila, and most famous for its Taal Volcano. With LF being local, we took her on one of her most touristy experiences in the Philippines. We went down to Taal Lake, took a boat across to the volcano, and rode on donkeys up to the end of the volcano's mouth, in which sits another little lake. An expensive round trip, but if you can look past the steep price, it's a fun little excursion. The boat rides there and back get really wet and windy. Getting back to shore, we went to Tagaytay Highlands, which is golf resort and country club where LF's family owns a unit. Tagaytay Highlands gives a great view of Taal Volcano, unfortunately, we arrived late and it was pitch black. After dinner, we returned back to our slummy hotel and retired for the night.
Taal Volcano's Crater
Leaving Taal Volcano
Feb 1 - 4 (Sun - Wed): An early morning 50-min flight put us at Caticlan from where took a boat to Boracay. We checked in at La Carmela de Boracay which is a cozy retreat with a beach out front. Boracay's White Beach is often placed in discussions about the top beaches in the world - and the clear blue-green water is breathtaking when you see it for the first time.
White Sands Beach
For the next 3 days in Boracay, we...
... did a 6-hour boat tour around the island (included some disappointing snorkeling and a decent lunch)
... had massages on the beach every day
... went for strolls along the beach (White Beach)
... got henna tattoos on the beach
... suntanned on the beach
... slept on the beach
... swam
... rented scooters and
... bought local goods
Sunset on Boracay
A lot of our time was spent eating too! Seafood buffets, Mexican food (just a snack), thick flavorful milkshakes (at Jonah's), Nigi Nigi's "Best Burgers on the Beach" (which probably weren't really), great giant prawns and a terrible steak. Sitting at a table on the beach at night with a cool breeze and your feet playing in the sand below really gives that feeling of being on vacation.
Feb 4 (Wed): Back in Manila, EdlC unexpectedly picked us up from the airport again, and took us on a quick city tour of Manila hitting up the Manila Zoo, SM Mall of Asia (2nd largest mall in a country full of malls), Manila Bay, Fort Santiago (drive-by), Manila Cathedral, and San Agustin Church. I also tried balut - boiled duck embryo. The one I ate wasn't all that disgusting looking - like, you couldn't see the half-chick - and it's
We ended our trip with another dinner with LF before calling it a night leading up to our early morning flight.
When planning for this trip, personal Filipino consultants CS and RT both said not to bother spending too much time in Manila, and to go to Boracay and Tagaytay instead - so we worked our Filipino visit around that advice.
Jan 30 (Fri): Our 3.5 hr flight brought us to Ninoy Aquino International at 6:25pm. We got special VIP services, having "EdlC", retired Chief of Police where the airport is located, picking us and giving us a ride to our hotel - because he's CS's family friend. In Singapore, we chose to stay in the Red Light District. In Manila, our luck would have it that our hotel was also in the Red Light District of Makati (the financial district of the Philippines). If seeing old fat white guys with two little Filipinas at his side is your cup of tea, you'll fit right at home. I don't want to get into the details of our hotel, I'll just say the photos of Citadel Inn Makati hide its age very well. Not wanting to venture too far from our hotel at night, we just walked around the surrounding area and had dinner at Filipino fast-food roasted chicken chain Andok's.
Jan 31 (Sat): To kill a bit of time in the morning before meeting a friend in the afternoon, we headed to Alaya Center, a huge mall complex in the Makati area - spending most of our time trying and buying filipino foods.
In the afternoon, we met with my highschool friend LF who took us to Tagaytay. Tagaytay is city about an hour and some South of Manila, and most famous for its Taal Volcano. With LF being local, we took her on one of her most touristy experiences in the Philippines. We went down to Taal Lake, took a boat across to the volcano, and rode on donkeys up to the end of the volcano's mouth, in which sits another little lake. An expensive round trip, but if you can look past the steep price, it's a fun little excursion. The boat rides there and back get really wet and windy. Getting back to shore, we went to Tagaytay Highlands, which is golf resort and country club where LF's family owns a unit. Tagaytay Highlands gives a great view of Taal Volcano, unfortunately, we arrived late and it was pitch black. After dinner, we returned back to our slummy hotel and retired for the night.
Feb 1 - 4 (Sun - Wed): An early morning 50-min flight put us at Caticlan from where took a boat to Boracay. We checked in at La Carmela de Boracay which is a cozy retreat with a beach out front. Boracay's White Beach is often placed in discussions about the top beaches in the world - and the clear blue-green water is breathtaking when you see it for the first time.
For the next 3 days in Boracay, we...
... did a 6-hour boat tour around the island (included some disappointing snorkeling and a decent lunch)
... had massages on the beach every day
... went for strolls along the beach (White Beach)
... got henna tattoos on the beach
... suntanned on the beach
... slept on the beach
... swam
... rented scooters and
... bought local goods
A lot of our time was spent eating too! Seafood buffets, Mexican food (just a snack), thick flavorful milkshakes (at Jonah's), Nigi Nigi's "Best Burgers on the Beach" (which probably weren't really), great giant prawns and a terrible steak. Sitting at a table on the beach at night with a cool breeze and your feet playing in the sand below really gives that feeling of being on vacation.
Feb 4 (Wed): Back in Manila, EdlC unexpectedly picked us up from the airport again, and took us on a quick city tour of Manila hitting up the Manila Zoo, SM Mall of Asia (2nd largest mall in a country full of malls), Manila Bay, Fort Santiago (drive-by), Manila Cathedral, and San Agustin Church. I also tried balut - boiled duck embryo. The one I ate wasn't all that disgusting looking - like, you couldn't see the half-chick - and it's
We ended our trip with another dinner with LF before calling it a night leading up to our early morning flight.
February 24, 2009
Going to Singapore?
Here's my list of resources that can get you started...
My Singapore Map lists a bunch of places we visited as well as my walking routes.
GENERAL SINGAPORE LINKS
SINGAPORE CITY
A list of places to visit or pass by:
LITTLE INDIA
GEYLANG
SENTOSA
SEEING NATURE IN SINGAPORE
OTHER WALKING TOURS
The Inn Crowd has some other resourceful walking tours. You can start from their recommendations and cut out whatever you don't care to see.
OTHERS
Of course, if you want to learn more about Singapore before going, you should get onto some online forums, such as VirtualTourist and TripAdvisor. And if you're ever so lucky as I had been, you might meet someone kind enough to give you a wealth of knowledge. So my last note on Singapore is a big Thank You to my new friend Tania, who spent a lot of time answering my questions in great detail. Thanks bitbit.
My Singapore Map lists a bunch of places we visited as well as my walking routes.
GENERAL SINGAPORE LINKS
SINGAPORE CITY
A list of places to visit or pass by:
- The Art House (1 Old Parliament Lane)
- Botanic Gardens early morning to view orchids
- Chijmes (30 Victoria Street)
- Clarke Quay
- Elgin Bridge for skyline photos
- Esplanade Park
- Fort Canning Park
- Merlion Park
- Orchard Road for shopping
- Raffles Hotel (1 Beach Road)
- Parliament House (1 Parliament Place)
- Peranakan Museum
- Ritz-Carlton Singapore
- St. Andrew's Cathedral (Saint Andrew's Road)
- War Memorial Park
LITTLE INDIA
GEYLANG
- The Inn Crowd's Food Safari at Geylang
- The Inn Crowd's Geylang Serai, Joo Chiat, Marine Parade, and Stadium Cove Walking Tour
SENTOSA
SEEING NATURE IN SINGAPORE
- Sungei Buloh Wetlands Website
- Singapore Night Safari Website
- The Inn Crowd's Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Kranji War Memorial, The Singapore Racecourse & The Night Safari Tour
- Official Pulau Ubin Parks Website
- A Virtual Tour of Chek Jawa
- The Inn Crowd's Pulau Ubin & Changi Village
- Pedal Ubin Guide
- Jurong Bird Park
OTHER WALKING TOURS
The Inn Crowd has some other resourceful walking tours. You can start from their recommendations and cut out whatever you don't care to see.
OTHERS
Of course, if you want to learn more about Singapore before going, you should get onto some online forums, such as VirtualTourist and TripAdvisor. And if you're ever so lucky as I had been, you might meet someone kind enough to give you a wealth of knowledge. So my last note on Singapore is a big Thank You to my new friend Tania, who spent a lot of time answering my questions in great detail. Thanks bitbit.
February 16, 2009
Singapore Impressions
Alright, so my previous post was about what we did in Singapore. Let me randomly share some thoughts and opinions based on our few days there.
- Many people have said that 3 days is plenty to see Singapore. I say those people haven’t researched enough, because I didn’t think 4 days was enough. I guess it has to do with where your interests lie.
- As mentioned, Singapore is a clean city with modern architecture which stands its ground against Hong Kong and Shanghai. As far as cleanliness, Geylang and Little India are a little different.
- Geylang whores are an ugly bunch. I think some might be cross-dressers too. But at least they’re diversified, with Indian, Chinese, and Malay.
- I feel very much that Singapore is a cross between Vancouver and Taipei. In Vancouver, I see wide streets that are clean, and generally not so populated; whereas Geylang and the MRT system remind me of Taipei.
- Not to come off sounding racist, but Chinese and Indian tourists are probably some of the worst I've seen. They’re generally not respectful of (my) common sense, and tend to piss me off a little sometimes. In Chek Jawa, a place where you shouldn’t be touching anything, a group of young Chinese tourists (from China, to distinguish against Taiwanese, but that’s not to say the Taiwanese are exempt) were digging for and picking up crabs, as well as smoking and leaving cigarette butts. As we left Chek Jawa, I did tell the staff on duty, and he looked kind of serious when I told him. So I hope they found those Chinese people and cut off their hands or something. I've encountered a lot of loud Indians in places meant to be kept quite. And a couple of guys with DSLRs were letting their flashes go off over and over trying to take pictures of a leopard, which is blinding to the night animals. I even told one of them to not use his flash, and he stopped; while his friend probably didn’t hear (or pretended not to) and continued. I don’t mean to be a cop, but I have no problems telling people not to do stupid things when it affects others.
- Where are the Indian women? In a few places, like parks, you’ll see a bunch of people congregate at night. And they’re almost all guys! I'm not trying to be disrespectful, it's just a culture I don't understand.
- I thought jaywalking wasn’t allowed in Singapore… but I saw it happening all the time. Not unlike Taiwan really.
- I like the public transit system. It’s complex but comprehensive and very clearly marked. I don’t like how the EZ Link card works however, i.e. you can’t take an MRT if you have less than S$3 credit. In Taiwan, you can use the Taipei EasyCard until you have a negative credit – after which you will be required to top up funds. Way better.
- After all this, I still have a difficult time knowing what “Singaporean culture” is. It seems like it’s an integration of Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, and Peranakan cultures, but not a fusion. For example, the Chinese culture is still Chinese, the Indian culture is still distinctly Indian…
- English is the primary language, but it seems like 60% - 70% of the population don’t speak it or don’t speak it well. Maybe that’s changing with the younger generation.
- Cars are generally kept very clean, and the car wash near my hotel was always busy.
- There are lots of malls. And amazingly, there are more shops and restaurants than in Taiwan, in my opinion.
- Tourist traps Underwater World and the Night Safari are expensive, but still probably worth going to. I hear the Jurong Bird Park is good too.
- When ordering food, you sometimes need to be very clear in specifying quantity. For example, if you’re two people, and you order “mutton masala”, they may decide that you mean two servings because one obviously isn’t enough to serve two people.
February 15, 2009
SINGAPORE!
OK! Here goes my trip report from Singapore. I’ll list my resources in a later post, as well as integrating some of them in my write-up.
Jan 26 (Mon): Arrived in Singapore in the evening via Manila. Arrived late, staying in Geylang, Singapore’s red light district. After dropping off our bags at our hotel, we followed the Geylang Food Safari (also see my Singapore Google Map for "Geylang Food and Red Light District Tour" line). For starters, Geylang should probably never be the first place to see in Singapore for a good first impression – it’d be like seeing East Hastings in Vancouver. The streets are dirty and at night are crowded with men and working girls. But Geylang does have a lot of eateries or “coffee houses”, and the hotels are cheap... and probably all offer by-the-hour room rentals. Anyway, it’s hectic and just takes some getting used to. We settled down at one of the many mini food courts and had a curry fish head, a Singaporean dish. Fairly spicy, but still tolerable even for someone who isn’t big on spicy foods. As a nice mix of fish, eggplant, and other veggies, this was one of the tastier foods we had. There was a lot of eating on this trip, and this was just the start. Durian is a big seller in Geylang, and I kind of regret not eating some – even if there are few foods that smell worse.
Jan 27 (Tues): We started off busing from our hotel to Little India (Map: see "Little India Tour"). Breakfast was mutton masala and chappati, eaten with our fingers of course. In the morning, before getting cluttered with people, Little India’s street are very clean. The buildings there are colorful, and it’s hard to really tell what style they’re based upon. We found the same type of look and feel in Chinatown a few days later. We spent some time walking around Mustafa Center, a huge huge department store that sells everything – but we decided to return at night because we wanted to pick up some Indian spices and curries to bring back to Taiwan. Just walking around Little India all morning was enough for sore feet – and we ended up at Zam Zam Restaurant, famous for their murtabaks (roti prata with eggs, onions, meat, and spices). Unfortunately, ZZ was sort of an anti-climax, because I found murtabaks too similar to the 抓餅s in Taiwan – and it was less flavorful than the mutton masala we had in the morning. But I guess it’s a "been there, done that" kind of thing.
After lunch, we went through Bugis Village and spent a couple of hours at the Singapore Art Museum which had an open house that day and was free to visitors. Score! More walking followed (Map: see Singapore City Tour) taking us past Chijmes (what’s here anyway?), Raffles Hotel, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, the War Memorial Park, the old Parliament building (now called The Art House), the new Parliament House, the Singapore River, Fullerton Hotel, and through to Merlion Park.
Raffles Hotel
War Memorial Park
Downtown Skyline
Parliament Building
Singapore River
Merlion Park
City Skyline
This walking tour through Singapore’s city center really displays what you’d expect going to Singapore: fantastic buildings that bring together European and modern architecture and spotlessly clean streets. It’s great to see so many buildings with unique styles – very unlike Vancouver where not enough money is invested into adding character into architectural design. We had dinner at the large food court Lau Pa Sat and MRTed back to Mustafa Center for Indian foods to take up some luggage space.
This was the day we did the most walking – probably a good 15+ kms, with lots of standing around in between. Tired feet. Tired feet.
Jan 28 (Wed): Having done a lot of city sightseeing, it was time to switch gears. With no tourism originality, we went to Sentosa in the morning to Underwater World.
Underwater World
I should mention that we did the cable cars both to and from Singapore and Sentosa. I read online before going that it was recommend, but I wouldn't recommend it. The S$11 one way or S$12 round trip is better spent elsewhere. But since we had to walk 5 – 10 mins to get to the cable car station before we saw the prices, we still went through with it anyway because it was recommended, and because I didn’t want to walk back to the monorail station, where ever it was. You don’t see much on the cable cars anyway, and the on-going construction at the harbour isn’t very sightly – you’ll have a hard time finding things to take pictures of while you’re up there. At S$23 per head, Underwater World’s not cheap either. But if you’re going to play tourist, you might as well do what tourists do. Following 3.5 hrs in Sentosa for Underwater World and the Dolphin Lagoon, we went to Chinatown (Map: see "Chinatown and Elgin Bridge").
Chinatown Temple
We passed through Clarke Quay (photo) very quickly, and caught a late afternoon bus to the Singapore Night Safari.
Clarke Quay
Again, S$32 per person qualifies the Night Safari as a tourist trap, but it was enjoyable when you ignore the hole in your wallet. Seeing huge flying squirrels and bats up close and personal was kind of neat, but the best part was probably a performance by Borneo tribal troupe which included some of the best fire-blowing I’ve ever seen. We reached the hotel after midnight, but not before getting some mee goreng and a dosai to go.
Jan 29 (Thurs): We had a late start to the morning trying to find a currency exchange, and looking for the No Signboards Seafood Restaurant – whose location I wrongly remembered. We finally settled for some more Indian food and Singaporean pan-fried white radish cake for lunch. Then we took a bus to the Changi Village ferry terminal where we boarded a bumboat taking us to Pulau Ubin. Pulau Ubin is a small island less-visited by tourists unless they’ve done at least a bit of homework. It’s also the home the Chek Jawa conservational wetlands which has a mix of several ecosystems: mangroves, coastal forests, rocky shores, and seagrass lagoons. And it’s free! So, we rented a couple of bikes near the Pulau Ubin ferry terminal and rode 10 – 15 minutes to Chek Jawa. Walking around Chek Jawa, you can see a lot of little creatures in their natural habitat. We saw mud skippers, tiny crabs, medium-sized crabs, horseshoe crabs, a metre-long monitor lizard running in the water, a little snake, wild roosters, and a wild pig (I think it was wild). Very well worth a day trip – it’s too bad we got there so late and didn’t get much of a chance to bike around a little more.
Chek Jawa - see if you can find the snake (top-left)
We got back to Geylang for dinner, finally finding No Signboard Seafood Restaurant. Singaporean chilli crab was the highlight of our dinner – again, even being one who doesn’t eat spicy often, I just couldn’t get enough of the soupy chili sauce, which goes well with steamed or fried buns (mantou / 饅頭). Absolutely brilliant.
Chilli Crab (YUM!)
To cap off our evening, we went to City Space, a nice lounge on the 70th floor of Equinox Complex for some drinks and to enjoy a spectacular view of Singapore.
City Space
Jan 30 (Fri): Running out of time and Singaporean dollars, we spent our morning walking around Fort Canning Park before busing through Orchard Road, the equivalent to Vancouver's Robson Street (Map: see "Orchard Rd and Fort Canning Tour"). It turns out, it was a good decision not to walk Orchard Road because unless you want to do some shopping, there’s nothing there. Back to hotel and then to airport. Singapore… Done.
Fort Canning
Jan 26 (Mon): Arrived in Singapore in the evening via Manila. Arrived late, staying in Geylang, Singapore’s red light district. After dropping off our bags at our hotel, we followed the Geylang Food Safari (also see my Singapore Google Map for "Geylang Food and Red Light District Tour" line). For starters, Geylang should probably never be the first place to see in Singapore for a good first impression – it’d be like seeing East Hastings in Vancouver. The streets are dirty and at night are crowded with men and working girls. But Geylang does have a lot of eateries or “coffee houses”, and the hotels are cheap... and probably all offer by-the-hour room rentals. Anyway, it’s hectic and just takes some getting used to. We settled down at one of the many mini food courts and had a curry fish head, a Singaporean dish. Fairly spicy, but still tolerable even for someone who isn’t big on spicy foods. As a nice mix of fish, eggplant, and other veggies, this was one of the tastier foods we had. There was a lot of eating on this trip, and this was just the start. Durian is a big seller in Geylang, and I kind of regret not eating some – even if there are few foods that smell worse.
Jan 27 (Tues): We started off busing from our hotel to Little India (Map: see "Little India Tour"). Breakfast was mutton masala and chappati, eaten with our fingers of course. In the morning, before getting cluttered with people, Little India’s street are very clean. The buildings there are colorful, and it’s hard to really tell what style they’re based upon. We found the same type of look and feel in Chinatown a few days later. We spent some time walking around Mustafa Center, a huge huge department store that sells everything – but we decided to return at night because we wanted to pick up some Indian spices and curries to bring back to Taiwan. Just walking around Little India all morning was enough for sore feet – and we ended up at Zam Zam Restaurant, famous for their murtabaks (roti prata with eggs, onions, meat, and spices). Unfortunately, ZZ was sort of an anti-climax, because I found murtabaks too similar to the 抓餅s in Taiwan – and it was less flavorful than the mutton masala we had in the morning. But I guess it’s a "been there, done that" kind of thing.
After lunch, we went through Bugis Village and spent a couple of hours at the Singapore Art Museum which had an open house that day and was free to visitors. Score! More walking followed (Map: see Singapore City Tour) taking us past Chijmes (what’s here anyway?), Raffles Hotel, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, the War Memorial Park, the old Parliament building (now called The Art House), the new Parliament House, the Singapore River, Fullerton Hotel, and through to Merlion Park.
This walking tour through Singapore’s city center really displays what you’d expect going to Singapore: fantastic buildings that bring together European and modern architecture and spotlessly clean streets. It’s great to see so many buildings with unique styles – very unlike Vancouver where not enough money is invested into adding character into architectural design. We had dinner at the large food court Lau Pa Sat and MRTed back to Mustafa Center for Indian foods to take up some luggage space.
This was the day we did the most walking – probably a good 15+ kms, with lots of standing around in between. Tired feet. Tired feet.
Jan 28 (Wed): Having done a lot of city sightseeing, it was time to switch gears. With no tourism originality, we went to Sentosa in the morning to Underwater World.
I should mention that we did the cable cars both to and from Singapore and Sentosa. I read online before going that it was recommend, but I wouldn't recommend it. The S$11 one way or S$12 round trip is better spent elsewhere. But since we had to walk 5 – 10 mins to get to the cable car station before we saw the prices, we still went through with it anyway because it was recommended, and because I didn’t want to walk back to the monorail station, where ever it was. You don’t see much on the cable cars anyway, and the on-going construction at the harbour isn’t very sightly – you’ll have a hard time finding things to take pictures of while you’re up there. At S$23 per head, Underwater World’s not cheap either. But if you’re going to play tourist, you might as well do what tourists do. Following 3.5 hrs in Sentosa for Underwater World and the Dolphin Lagoon, we went to Chinatown (Map: see "Chinatown and Elgin Bridge").
We passed through Clarke Quay (photo) very quickly, and caught a late afternoon bus to the Singapore Night Safari.
Again, S$32 per person qualifies the Night Safari as a tourist trap, but it was enjoyable when you ignore the hole in your wallet. Seeing huge flying squirrels and bats up close and personal was kind of neat, but the best part was probably a performance by Borneo tribal troupe which included some of the best fire-blowing I’ve ever seen. We reached the hotel after midnight, but not before getting some mee goreng and a dosai to go.
Jan 29 (Thurs): We had a late start to the morning trying to find a currency exchange, and looking for the No Signboards Seafood Restaurant – whose location I wrongly remembered. We finally settled for some more Indian food and Singaporean pan-fried white radish cake for lunch. Then we took a bus to the Changi Village ferry terminal where we boarded a bumboat taking us to Pulau Ubin. Pulau Ubin is a small island less-visited by tourists unless they’ve done at least a bit of homework. It’s also the home the Chek Jawa conservational wetlands which has a mix of several ecosystems: mangroves, coastal forests, rocky shores, and seagrass lagoons. And it’s free! So, we rented a couple of bikes near the Pulau Ubin ferry terminal and rode 10 – 15 minutes to Chek Jawa. Walking around Chek Jawa, you can see a lot of little creatures in their natural habitat. We saw mud skippers, tiny crabs, medium-sized crabs, horseshoe crabs, a metre-long monitor lizard running in the water, a little snake, wild roosters, and a wild pig (I think it was wild). Very well worth a day trip – it’s too bad we got there so late and didn’t get much of a chance to bike around a little more.
We got back to Geylang for dinner, finally finding No Signboard Seafood Restaurant. Singaporean chilli crab was the highlight of our dinner – again, even being one who doesn’t eat spicy often, I just couldn’t get enough of the soupy chili sauce, which goes well with steamed or fried buns (mantou / 饅頭). Absolutely brilliant.
To cap off our evening, we went to City Space, a nice lounge on the 70th floor of Equinox Complex for some drinks and to enjoy a spectacular view of Singapore.
Jan 30 (Fri): Running out of time and Singaporean dollars, we spent our morning walking around Fort Canning Park before busing through Orchard Road, the equivalent to Vancouver's Robson Street (Map: see "Orchard Rd and Fort Canning Tour"). It turns out, it was a good decision not to walk Orchard Road because unless you want to do some shopping, there’s nothing there. Back to hotel and then to airport. Singapore… Done.
Her Morning Elegance
My sister shared this Oren Lavie video (Her Morning Elegance) with me today. It's one of the more entertaining things I've seen this week (which in itself was a boring week following an eventful vacation).
I’m sitting at a Starbucks right now, typing my Singapore trip blog material. And a guy sitting at a table 2m away from me just let out a terribly loud fart that made my chair rumble. Do you know what it takes to make a fart vibrate through one chair to another?
I’m sitting at a Starbucks right now, typing my Singapore trip blog material. And a guy sitting at a table 2m away from me just let out a terribly loud fart that made my chair rumble. Do you know what it takes to make a fart vibrate through one chair to another?
February 12, 2009
Wanna Meet?
Alright, I'm back from vacation. But I've been stuck in meetings this entire week with virtually no breaks. So I'll try to get some posting about my trip with some photos (which I'm not done going through) this weekend. Busy!
January 14, 2009
Here Kiti Kiti Kiti
Last week, my sister found this Valentine's Day card.It was from me, addressed to my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kitagawa. I know she seemed like she was 100 years old at the time, but apparently age was never an issue for us.
January 11, 2009
Dirty Money
I had an interestingly bizarre though yesterday as I was flushing the toilet. If you accidentally dropped some change into the toilet at home (where no one else would see) after a #2, how much would it have to be for you to stick your hand in to get it? A quarter? A loonie? A toonie?
Obviously, the easy way of doing it would be to get something long to extract the coin(s). But let's assume for the moment you don't have anything but your bare hands, which you're permitted to wash afterwards.
Obviously, the easy way of doing it would be to get something long to extract the coin(s). But let's assume for the moment you don't have anything but your bare hands, which you're permitted to wash afterwards.
January 04, 2009
Traveling Much? (Hotels)
AC and I are planning a trip for the Chinese New Year. Without revealing too many details of the trip yet, here are just a few things I'd like to share that might be useful if you're planning your own trip. Got your own tips? Post a comment.
Hotel Bookings: In the past, I have used HotelTravel.com and have been pleased with their prices and reliability thus far. However, for this trip, I found another site Agoda.com, which is providing even better rates and a rewards program. The prices are better than those I've found for the same hotels on HotelTravel.com. I've also looked at Orbitz.com, but I think the Agoda prices are still better. The rewards are credit (monetary value) towards your next booking. The credit is applied to your account 30 days after you check out from a hotel (and expire after 1 year OR at the end of the calendar year, I'm not sure). So, if you're a repeat traveler, the credit can save you more. Since I don't really travel more than once outside of Taiwan each year, I won't consider the rewards - but the listed hotel prices are already cheaper than a lot of other online sites I've used.
And just on hotel bookings, I found this list informative.
Add to this list:
Hotel Bookings: In the past, I have used HotelTravel.com and have been pleased with their prices and reliability thus far. However, for this trip, I found another site Agoda.com, which is providing even better rates and a rewards program. The prices are better than those I've found for the same hotels on HotelTravel.com. I've also looked at Orbitz.com, but I think the Agoda prices are still better. The rewards are credit (monetary value) towards your next booking. The credit is applied to your account 30 days after you check out from a hotel (and expire after 1 year OR at the end of the calendar year, I'm not sure). So, if you're a repeat traveler, the credit can save you more. Since I don't really travel more than once outside of Taiwan each year, I won't consider the rewards - but the listed hotel prices are already cheaper than a lot of other online sites I've used.
And just on hotel bookings, I found this list informative.
- Special requests. At check-in, ask for a room with a window that can be opened. Cooped up all night with air conditioning or constant heat can be quite confining, and having fresh outside air can often make your stay (except maybe in Beijing). Sometimes a maintenance worker has to be called to open it but the receptionist usually knows which rooms already have adjustable windows.
- Location. Don’t get a room by the elevator or ice machine. You will feel the vibrations all night long. It may not be apparent at first, but, believe me, when the lights are out, it will be. One more thing, if the hotel has a disco, make sure you get a room at least two floors away. I can’t tell you how many nights in South America I tried to sleep to the beat.
- Stop the free show. First thing, go to your window and close the curtains, especially after dark, because the number of unwitting strip shows that I have been privy to and likely that I have provided myself through the years, is plentiful.
- Pass on the cashier. The poorest place to exchange money is at the hotel. Not only will they give you the worst exchange rate possible, they might even charge a commission. Go to the nearest ATM for the rate of the day.
- Do not disturb sign. If your room does not have one, call the concierge or make one out of the hotel stationery paper. Without it, the housekeeping crew will drive you bananas in the morning. I have lost count of amount of times a maid has caught me in a naked stumble for the bathroom.
- Say Hi to hygiene. Take off your bedspread — the hotels probably clean them as much as the airlines clean their seat covers, which is once annually, if at all. Use a sani-wipe or at least a hand towel and wipe off the TV remote control. I shudder to think what the last occupant might have been doing with it. And I am sure most everyone has heard about the special media report on the scant attention the maid service gives to the room’s glassware. Be sure to clean any kitchen item before using, especially glasses.
- Acclimatize the air. Set the air temperature right away, so you can get a feel for it and adjust it accordingly before you call it a night. If you only get to it before you sleep, you could wake to a frosty room or find yourself in a tropical sweat. Either way, your sleep will suffer.
- Check the plumbing. Turn on the shower and flush the toilet. If there is a noticeable change in water temperature, keep your guard up, because hot spikes are probable. The number of times that I have been burned in the hotel shower is shocking, or I should say, scalding
- Avoid room service. It’s expensive, anti-social, anti-cultural and should be reserved for a special occasion or in desperate times, such as romantic interludes, sickness, sunburn or utter exhaustion.
- Television timer. If there is a timer function on the remote control, set it, no matter how alert you feel now. Waking up to a horror or war movie on high volume is a scary experience.
- Double take. When leaving, look around the room for things you might have left behind. Put your towels in the bath-tub and your garbage in the trash bin. Not only does it help the maid but you may re-discover that thingamajig you almost left behind.
- Concierge caution. By all means ask the concierge for directions and recommendations on dining and entertainment, but be aware that many higher priced places offer bribes in exchange for their suggestions. If they tell you to mention their name to the owner, give it a miss.
- Relax. Make some time for yourself. Lie in bed for an extra hour, take an extra long shower, lounge around in your robe. You may miss your family, but I bet you could use a time-out. If you take a break from the daily drama, you will be well rested for your return.
- Take but don’t steal. We all know the things in hotel rooms that are considered okay for taking home, like pens and stationery, but other items like remote control batteries, toilet paper, light bulbs and towels are in fact stealing and can be charged directly to your credit card.
- Earplugs. Yes, my top in-flight tip is also one of my top hotel tips. It’s very important that you get used to wearing them. Put them by the bedside table. Bring a back-up pair, just in case.
Add to this list:
- Water Pressure. Ask for a floor with a water pump. For older buildings, the higher floors might have weaker water pressure.
- Street Noise. Ask for a room that's on a higher floor to avoid hearing street noise from your window. Kind of goes against the previous tip, but if a higher floor has a water pump, perfect.
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