Went to Singapore for the first time in my life recently.
Big thanks to Syafiq & his family in Bandar Baru Uda, JB for accepting us (our family, my BIL and hubby's Singaporean uncle, Pak Long Majid) as their guests for a night. The same goes to Abang Mouri, Kak Bedah and family for taking us in the next night.
Jazakumullahu khairan kathira and may Allah bless...
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Friday/Saturday (21/22 Nov)- arrived at Syafiq's place at around midnight. Syafiq just went to visit us in Kampung Tunku a few days before, so it was a "kunjung balas" of sort, but Syafiq went a step further by providing us a place to spend the night. Initially we thought of spending the night in Kota Tinggi, at one SIL's place. Turned out, MIL and FIL also decided to spend the weekend visiting SIL, so we changed our plan and only visited SIL after we returned from Singapore. Syafiq bought "the best otak-otak in JB" especially for us, so we cleaned one plateful of otak-otak that midnight before we hit the sack. Or at least when most of us hit the sack - hubby and Syafiq chit-chatted until around 3.00 a.m.
###Saturday (22 Nov) - right after breakfast, left for Kampung Melayu Majidee. Allahyarham Ustaz Dato' Ali just passed away the day before, so hubby and BIL wanted to visit his family and made some doa for him at his house.
After that we made our way to Tuas, using the SecondLink expressway as advised by Pak Long Majid. Although Tambak Johor is nearer to Kampung Melayu Majidee, Pak Long anticipated a longer queue there, and since it was almost mid-day, it could be quite a torture for the kids to wait under the hot sun. The queue in Tuas area was not that long - I guess most users could possibly be turned off by the high rate of tolls charged for SecondLink users. The immigration and custom checks were not that long, but the immigration officer reminded me to change my and Humaidi's old-fashioned passports (issued by the Malaysian Embassy in Tokyo) to new ones with chips.
Pak Long Majid helped with the car registration, making Autopass card and all once we passed the immigration check in Singapore. Not a lengthy process if one brought along all the necessary documents - copies of geran kereta, proof of car insurance, and I'm glad that Pak Long Majid had advised us in advance.
Our first stop in Singapore was Makam Habib Noh. Just as hubby & Pak Long finished making doa for the reknown ulamak, the azan for Zohor was called out, so we prayed jama' Zohor and Asar there. The masjid is rather small, but its toilets were very clean and the telekongs provided in the ladies section were clean too, which is a lot more than I can say for many small masjids in Malaysia.
Next - makan time! Pak Long took us to near Arab Street/Masjid Sultan area, where we had our lunch at Sabar Menanti Nasi Padang restaurant. Pak Long Majid's treat because the rest of us - hubby, BIL and I - had not yet changed our money into Singapore dollar. When Pak Long ordered 'nasi tambah' for us and the girl who brought the rice to our place asked for "50 cent", we all looked at each other before BIL asked the girl to claim the payment from "Pak Aji" (Pak Long had his lunch at another table because ours were already full). It was an awkward moment - not that we did not have any money, but we did not have any in Singaporean currency yet, not even 50 cent. "50 sen Malaysia adalah. Nak RM1 pun boleh. Nak RM2 pun boleh, tapi 50 cent Singapore tak ada..."
Spent some moment relaxing around Istana Kampung Gelam after lunch - Huzaifah and Humaidi had fun chasing each other around the water fountain in front of the Istana despite me calling after them not to run there since it was rather slippery and I was afraid that they might fall and hurt themselves. Good thing we didn't spend very long there.
Next, Pak Long took us (or at least acted as a tourist guide of sort as it was BIL who drove the Myvi, since Singaporeans are prohibited from driving Malaysian-registered car in Singapore ) sightseeing around Marina area, Changi, Bedok and I don't know where else. One thing that amazed me was the realization that there are so many masjids/suraus in Singapore. My guess is - it's easier to find a masjid in Singapore than in KL. Seriously!
We then visited another family friend in Tempinis, but turned out Mak Rahmah was not in, so we were entertained by her daughter and grand-daughter instead. There was a cultural performance going on the next apartment block. Hubby went to sneak a peek and found out that there was a kuda kepang show going on right then. And it was viewed by all kind of races - not mainly Malays as is the norms in Malaysia. Hmm... interesting.
It was already Asar by then, so Pak Long Majid guided us to Masjid Kassim, where Abang Mouri waited for us. From there, using his bike, Abang Mouri guided us to his apartment not far from Hou Gang Mall.
It was my first time meeting up with Abang Mouri, Kak Bedah and their children, or at least the first time I'm aware of meeting them up. (They came to our kenduri in Seremban, but there were so many guests at the kenduri that I couldn't remember). Kak Bedah told me that they have first met hubby when he acted as their tourist guide in Egypt/Syria many years ago, back when he was still a student of Al-Azhar University and their kids were still small (Helwa, the eldest is already 20 this year, Mas'ud 19 and their youngest son is about 16 if I'm not mistaken). They seemed genuinely pleased to receive us as their guests - providing yummy dinner and breakfast and taking us out for the night to view the light show along Orchard Road. The christmas lights and decorations remind me of similar presentations in Leeds, but according to Kak Bedah and Abang Mouri, this year, the christmas lights and decorations are not that spectacular due to economic downturn in Singapore.
We passed by China town, the Esplanade, the Merlion, the Singapore Flyer (a ferris wheel not that much different from Eye on Malaysia), and Abang Mouri pointed out the up and coming project of a'la Las Vegas casino in the Marina area. There is another similar project going on in Sentosa area, developed by the Genting group, but according to Abang Mouri, the one in Marina area is going slower than projected due to some financial problem/bankcruptcy of their branch in Macau.
Kak Bedah wanted to take us to Mustafa Singapore, a shopping bazaar, but by then hubby was already snoring and both Huzaifah and Humaidi too had already dozed off, so we returned back to their apartment. "Mustafa is for Singaporean what Mydin is for Malaysian, or sort of," explained Kak Bedah. Except that it is open 24/7, and grander in term of variety of stocks and the shop itself. Still, it is a lot cheaper to shop there than elsewhere in Singapore, that is why Kak Bedah thought I might want to go there and check things out for myself. By then, we already had some Singaporean dollar in hand (changed the money after lunch in Arab Street area), but since hubby was already fast asleep, maybe next time...
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Sunday (23 Nov) - Kak Bedah told me after subuh that we almost got fined for not displaying a parking ticket in the car last night. Abang Mouri wanted to buy one midnight parking ticket, but after we returned from makan angin the previous night he forgot all about it.
Their son, Mas'ud alerted them about the presence of some 'parking offence inspectors', as he saw them upon returning home (after his shift as part-time worker at Coffee Bean was over). "Kereta Abang Amin yang mana satu? Ada tiket tak?"
Abang Mouri quickly made use of some readily available parking tickets to cover a few hours parking. Once it's Sunday morning, the parking is free in that area. Alhamdulillah we were saved from getting fined... (Singapore indeed is a 'fine' city...)
After breakfast - all of us left the house, the Malaysian rombongan to explore Singapore a bit more while the host family wanted to visit a respected tok guru who had been admitted in Seremban Specialist Hospital. The drivers exchanged notes on how to get to their respective destinations.
First stop after we left Hou Gang was Fort Canning Park. Personally I think it's a far more interesting park compared to any public park found in KL (like Lake Garden or Titiwangsa), what with its educational signboards along the 14th Century walk. It's green, it's peaceful, kids and adults get to learn some interesting botanical and historical stuff along the walk. Oh - and there's a tomb right inside the park - said to belong to Raja Iskandar Syah, a Malay ruler who might or might not have been Parameswara, the 'founder' of Melaka.
Next - Sentosa!
We decided to "cross over" to Sentosa island by taking the Sentosa Express monorail, which is sort of a treat for Huzaifah who's been missing his 'densya' a lot since we returned to Malaysia. Parked the car at HarbourFront (previously known as World Trade Center), walked to VivoCity, currently the largest shopping mall in Singapore and boarded the monorail at the Sentosa station located on L3 of VivoCity.
Stopped at Beach Station - the whole train trip took less than 5 minutes - and then took a Blue Line bus to Underwater World. We had a quick brunch (our breakfast's left over plus some biscuits) before entering the oceanarium.
Our verdict of Underwater World?
Interesting in that it offered interactive feeding pool, interactive stingray pool and it has a travelator.
But it's waaaay too pricey.
We had to pay S$22.90 for entry to both the oceanarium and dolphin lagoon. But having been to Kamogawa Sea World, I can testify that the Underwater World was more 'indah khabar dari rupa'. (Sabah - if I'd said Hakkejima Sea Paradise was a let down - this one was a bigger let down) We finished touring the whole oceanarium in about an hour, and found ourselves asking "eh, ini je ke?". Kamogawa Sea World offers better and more variety of exhibits. Oh, and more sealife shows too.
We had to catch a Red Line bus to the Dolphin Lagoon, but we arrived there about an hour before the next show was scheduled to begin, so hubby took Huzaifah and Humaidi to play on Palawan beach right next to it. BIL walked further down, crossing a suspension bridge to a small islet said to be the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia (well, at least Malaysia has Tanjung Piai, the Southernmost Point of Mainland Asia).
It was obvious that both Huzaifah and Humaidi had fun playing at Palawan beach, even when I did not let them wet themselves. I guess there's something magical about white sandy beach and salty air, inviting all to frolic in the beach...
Next - the show in Dolphin Lagoon. The difference from the dolphin shows in Kamogawa and Hakkejima? The dolphins were pink and gray, rather than black and white or gray and white. The only pink dolphin show in the world, or so claimed the commentator at the show. I would rate the show as so-so, but it's kind of difference because it was held in a 'lagoon', not in a stadium. Oh, by the way, Huzaifah was busy paying more attention to the white sand in the lagoon than the dolphins.
We decided to snap some photos at the giant Merlion, so we boarded a beach tram to the Beach Station and took the monorail to Imbiah Station. There are several attractions near Imbiah Station, with additional fees, so we just took some photos and by then Huzaifah and Humaidi both had started to get cranky and I knew they needed their nap. Thus we headed back to VivoCity.
Just as we arrived in VivoCity, hubby realised that he had forgotten his glasses, back in Imbiah Station. So he returned to look for it while the rest of us had a rest in VivoCity. Hubby approached us emptyhanded, so Pak Long Majid took him to a Sentosa management office next to the monorail station, where hubby filled up a lost-and-found form. We were asked to wait for a while, but after waiting for about 30 minutes, the guy in charge came to us and informed that there was no glasses of hubby's description found near or in any of the gents in Imbiah Station. But they will let us know if anything came up.
By then it was raining and almost 6.00 p.m., so we decided to stop and pray jamak Zohor/Asar at Masjid Teluk Blangah, which is just a stone throw away from VivoCity. After praying, we started to head back to Tuas. We crossed over to Malaysia just after Maghrib - prayed jamak Maghrib/Isyak at Gelang Patah R&R and had a quick meal there. (By then I had problem with too much 'angin', which caused me to 'sendawa' non-stop)
Stopped by at Syafiq's place to retrieve my Swatch and then we started our journey to Kota Tinggi, to visit SIL, as we earlier promised. It was Pak Long Majid's first visit to SIL's house too. Pak Long Majid insisted on going back the very night since he has to send Mak Long to the airport the next day. He said it's okay if the rest of us want to spend the night at SIL's house while he returns to Seremban by bus. But MIL already gave a stern warning to both hubby and BIL - not to, in any circumstances, let Pak Long return to Seremban by bus. Even without MIL's warning, we did not have the heart to go separate way with Pak Long after all his help in Singapore, thus we returned to Seremban that very midnight (this time around, it was my turn falling asleep on the couch before we started our journey back).
We had a good time in Singapore, alhamdulillah. It would probably be better if I get to meet up with Lina, Rudy and their lovely kids. Unfortunately Lina didn't reply my email, so we could not make plan to see each other then. Maybe next time, insya Allah...
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