5 things to do in uniquely Singapore. Be a tourist today!

So Singapore has been name as the Number 1 country to visit in 2015 according to the Lonely Planet. Awesome news just in time for our 50 anniversary but HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? I believe most of you will be wondering about this question. So I did a little research and guess what, Lonely Planet has summed up what I thought was the most beautiful description of Singapore while we, the locals has been taking for granted since forever. (Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/singapore/singapore-city)

I love how Cristian Bonetto describes the “sharp and constant contrasts” in our entire neighbourhood where you see a church built beside a temple and a mosque. I have no doubt that many countries would be able to construct such a high level of religion tolerance around the globe.

And like a light that dawned on me, I realised these are all so true, the talk about garden city, food paradise, even more so with the recent cafes popping up in every street, adding a tone of uniqueness in our small little red dot.

For a country jammed packed with activities ranging from Universal Studios to Trick Art Museum, or our world renowned Marina Bay Sands or Sentosa Island, I am proposing 5 other top things to do in Singapore for you to appreciate what we have taken for granted!

       Explore our islands

Yes, you may have heard over and over again Pulau Ubin. But did you appreciate the dying out of our motor boatmen who ferry us from mainland to the island and back? Comb the winding roads in bicycles in the safety of our small country or immerse in the beautiful beaches at Lazarus Island. Otherwise, why not travel to Sister’s island for a relaxing day off. You can even snorkel there!! Talk about cheap thrill. Lol.

Lazarus Island (Credit: http://magazine.tripzilla.com)

        Take a local tour

How much do you know our own history and culture? Funny how tourists are often better at a country’s culture and history (since they’re always the ones who went for tours). Take a heritage tour and pretend to be a tourist while at the comforts of your home country today!

Chinatown (Credits: http://traveldelight.biz/attractions/guided-tours.html) 

Read more: http://www.societyoftouristguides.org.sg/walking.htm

        Photo-taking

To be honest, nothing’s wrong trying to pretend to be a tourist for a day and go around taking photos of our beautiful country. Like what Cristian Bonetto mentioned, head down to Tanjong Pagar to be immersed in the sharp contrast between our premium public housing (HDB) in the backdrop of the conserved shophouses. Or, stroll along the banks of Kallang River to be mesmerised by the night view of our ever stunning Marina Bay Sands and Helix Bridge.

Helix Bridge

        Museum Hopping

As you know, Singapore is really small, imagine travelling from one end to the other in less than 2 hours ride. Go museum hopping in Singapore, you can easily visit 3 museums in a day! From the renowned new ArtScience Museum to the lesser know toy museum and Changi Museum or the Singapore Airforce museum, plan your itinerary now!

Toy Museum

        Café Hopping

Another uniquely Singapore experience, personally I like this one most. It coincides with our nature of being a food lover. Unlike huge coffee chains like Starbucks or The Coffee Bean, which are still beaming with people, take a day or 2 to go around café hopping. Be it a rainbow cake, or a 3D coffee art, you will bound to find something interesting, if not, delicious to surrender to your sinful indulgence.

Shop wonderland (Credits: http://www.burpple.com/shop-wonderland-1)

Read More: http://danielfooddiary.com/2014/09/24/cafesingapore2014/

Visit soon to get ideas for a 1 day itinerary to fight really boring days!!

Puerto Princesa: Home to the Natural Wonders of the World

The motive here was simple. The legendary sub-terranean River. Time has named this place 1 of the 7 natural wonders of the world, despite all the wonders that nature has brought us. I suspect there must be a reason.

So we arrived at Puerto Princesa, by now the small airports don’t surprise us anymore. Funny how fast people get used to things. It was a little dreadful knowing that this would be our final stop before we head back to reality.

With a huge comfortable pickup from the airport, we arrived at the hotel and a light lunch after we unpacked. It totally feels like Phuket here, no idea why but this place gives me the same feeling, maybe because there’re more ang mos* (Caucasians) here than elsewhere.

It was really impromptu but we decided to go for a firefly tour since we have nothing on for our first night. It was the first for my boy and he really enjoyed it. The only other time I went on a firefly tour was years ago and I felt that I enjoyed this a lot more, although a little scary at first.

The entire tour comprised of a buffet dinner, which was fabulous, and a private firefly tour for groups of 2 in their small little boats. And by small, I mean small, it can only take a maximum of 4 people including the navigator, which is why it’s so scary! The width of the boat is only a little wider than my hips! Oh gawd! But the entire tour was actually amazing, we saw how fireflies will light up in sync when you shine red light at them. They light up like a Christmas tree!!! So amazing. Sadly I did not take any photos since it was too dark and I was too engrossed. But nothing can beat the first hand experience in those boats watching the amazing firefly *pun unintended*. Of course there are also little planktons in the water that light up a little when we the boatman paddled.  We already thought this was amazing enough for Mother Nature, but what comes the next morning was even more amazing at the underground river.

Before we even set foot into the underground river, we waited at the port waiting for our ride to come! As we reached the island housing the underground river, there was also another deadly attraction – Monitor Lizards, or what the locals known as Bayawak. And so the tour starts. It was like a cruise in a huge cave and the beauty will only be underrated by the use of words.

As we went back for our buffet lunch then a zipline adventure! The other people said they saw sea turtles whilst zipline. Envy max!!! 

Note: All photos are unedited.

Art of getting tan (Part I)

With one random remark from my daddy, off we go to the sunny island of Langkawi in Malaysia. As Langkawi is a pretty small island, our itinerary is pretty simple.

Day 1: Arrival in Langkawi (10pm)

From a close friend of mine, I was able to get reliable car rental local personnel for our car rental.  It's super cheap. I know because i have a friend who went before and the price is barely half! *whee* As our flight arrives at around 10pm, we were pretty worried that any conventional car rental company may be already closed. Furthermore, as our flight was slightly delayed, I was also very worried that Kelvin (our rental) would have left since we’re late. But thank god, he was very patient and waited until we land. *wheee*

So we just took out our GPS and off to our hotel!

Day 2: Cable Car

We left for the cable car at around 10am after we had the breakfast in hotel. The drive to the cable car station in the oriental village was about 35 minutes, though it should be shorter (because we took our time on our way to admire the scenery)

A yatch club along the way

Finally! The Oriental Village!

This place is quite a picturesque place. However, as it is a tourist attraction nonetheless, the things sold here are what you will expect: touristy stuff. We arrived at about 12pm to a horrendous long queue to buy the tickets, under the hot sun! To double that horror, one of the attraction known as Sky Bridge is closed. *dang dang dang*

The sky bridge is down. :(

They offered a package to top up about 50MYR for an express queue but it costs more than double since the cable car ride only costs us about 30MYR. Since we have loads of time, we decided to queue for the cable car.

But the queue was so damn long. We ended up queuing for about an hour. And UP WE GO!

The view is really breathtaking. Hard to believe this is Malaysia, Truely Asia.....

Who can resist some Ramly Burger!

The beautiful Sky Bridge that closed on us. Pmpft!

Even my dad agrees that the wait was all worthwhile when we reached the peak. The weather was totally different, all cool and windy, unlike the cruel sun nearer to home.

And it is super windy!!

Since we are in Langkawi, we have to visit the beach isn’t it! (I think)

I think one great thing about Langkawi is that their beaches were all actually very clean. Comparable to those in Phuket and Krabi to be honest. Now don’t be deceived by these white sand and blue sand. The sand is SCORCHING HOT! THEY BURN! Really. We ran into the water to prevent our small feet from getting burned.

Day 3: Mangrove tour

We booked our Mangrove tour the previous day from a random group we saw at the beach. And yes, it was rather impromptu. We spent about 300MYR to charter a boat (which I think it’s so damn cheap) and they come and pick us up at our resort (sort of). But because the deal seemed too good to be true, I kept worrying that they do not turn up. But luckily they did!!

Bat Cave

Outside bat cave

The baby monkeys are soooooo cute. But the adult monkeys are all so aggressive I don't dare to go any closer. 

They brought us out into the open sea and I think that wasn’t supposed to be part of the package since only our boat went out. *so much win!!!*

Aw the scorching sun!! It's really really hot if not for the breeze on the boat. 



Eagle Feeding

I really thought we were gonna feed the eagles until i realised they are just throwing chunks of fish meat into the water to bring the eagles down. But it was really damn awesome. I have never see so  much eagles in the sky before. 

The monkey cove* or something. The guide was saying something I couldn't make out. But there's really loads of monkeys as well. This one's super close to our boat. He could almost jump right in. 

Floating village*

Kelong*

At the end of the tour was a short break at the floating village where you can have lunch and look at some of the marine collection* they have. This one is a 20kg ray kept in captivity. I have to say I'm surprised they keep these animals.

Ever since I heard my friend’s story about a pink dolphin rescuing her in the water around here I was so obsessed and was hoping so much that a dolphin will appear. And dolphins are supposed to be rare in these water.

Open sea overlooking the Kilim Geoforest Park

When I came back I saw news that there was a cluster of dolphins swimming through the Penang bridge. Fml.

We came back and went for spa and high tea! Such good life.

The standard tourist photo at the Eagle Square!

                                    
    Some other really nice architectures near the Eagle Square

Day 4: Depart from Langkawi

And we have to say goodbye..

 

PS: we lived right next to the airport, about 10 min drive. So it's really centralised and near to everywhere!