Temasek : Day Two

Don't you just wish you could join them for a skinny dippy? LOL

A host of things happened to us for the past week and a half.

My dad was admitted for dengue fever after he got back from Batam (for a holiday with my brother, who was on a working trip, sister) and Pulau Karimun (to attend his cousin's daughter's wedding). Admitted the Monday after we got back from Singapore. But his platelet countl dipped to 15 last Thursday....We panicked and took last Thursday afternoon and Friday off to be with him and we stayed on till Sunday. He was discharged yesterday, Alhamdulillah! And they are off to Bandung this weekend....!

Brother is now hospitalised; initially he was suspected to have dengue but blood results showed that he has Malaria.....He's been travelling to places like Jakarta, Abu Dhabi, Batam etc for his work and could have gotten from one of those places.

Wifey's away in Singapore for work and I have to juggle being dad, mom and Project Manager (supervising my office renovation) which I find it just a wee bit tough......

Just to update on our trip to Singapore, as promised......

Day two in Singapore started with a visit to the much talked-about "Durian" (for the uninitiated, the Esplanade)....! We parked the car there and strolled down to the Merlion Park....My kids had fun there posing "with" Merlion. The weather was sunny and we decided to go on the bumboat riverside cruise. We had hoped to board the boat near the Merlion Park. Unfortunately, the Singapore Army had their National Day practice at Marina Bay and we had to walk all the way to Asian Civilisation Museum instead to go on the boat! It was a nice cruise....and the recorded commentary played throughout the ride was excellent....The wait for a boat was a bit long though. Picture this - four kids complaining of hunger, thirst and heat....I almost gave up waiting for the boat! They enjoyed the boat ride, luckily and behaved very well throughout!

Took a stroll through the park back to the Esplanade this time rather than the Fullerton way which was a delight....Parking was reasonable - $3 for almost three hours. Kids were terribly famished by then and we adjourned to Arab Street for lunch (*I was looking forward to Zam Zam [my grandad and my dad used to bring us to this place during our frequent visits to Singapore - we used to go to Singapore once a week up till I was about 8 years of age] for its briyani and murtabak). Another issue cropped up.....Yusof and Khadijah wanted Lebanese food, Ibraheem and Dad wanted murtabak......wifey, Umar and the maid were indifferent....! Went to a Lebanese restaurant for take-away; lockily their grills and kebab were not ready. Zam Zam restaurant we went! For a meal of 5 adults (Yusof and Khadijah have appetites the size of adults, you see) and 2 kids surprisingly cost us about $55 which was below my estimate!

We prayed at Mesjid Sultan and were very impressed at how the place is well maintained! Walking back to the car, wifey stopped at two fabric shops which she took close to two hours and came back with fabrics enough to last her three years (well it's an exaggeration but she bought a lot.....!).

We adjourned to the DHL balloon ride area whch was less than 5 minutes' drive from Mesjid Sultan. It was about a ten-minute ride up to 150m in height....Only Ibraheem, Umar, Yusof and I took the ride coz the rest chickened out last minute. Fantastic overview of Singapore! I wouldn't have gone on the ride but for the offer to Malaysians during that time...The tickets are priced $23 for an adult and $13 for a child..We paid RM23 for adult and RM13 for a child which I thought was more reasonable!

Last stop was Orchard since the kids wanted to visit Borders at Wheelock Place (I went in December last year - their collection slightly differs from the one here)...It was chaotic in there....kids were all over the place READING (yes you can see this scene at Borders, MPH or Kino here - but not as many...) That indicates the intellectual level of a society, don't you think? We bought about 10 books in total and Yusof started reading his whilst I took a browse at M&S. Wifey concluded the trip by buying a pair of shoes!

We will definitely be back may be for a museum trip/theatre trip..But the kids want to visit the Zoo, Science Centre, Bird Park and Sentosa! We'll see!

Posing at the "Durian"

Dad strolling at Merlion Park. Nice shot by Khadijah...I like the shadow bit!

Not quite...Yusof!

Ib's lion impersonation - he was thrilled he saw the loin roared at the Night Safari the night before.

Umar the docile lion

The Fullerton and tyhe financial district as seen from our boat @ Marina Bay

Nice pre-war shophouses restored at Kampung Glam area

Our Murtabak take-away

The murtabak which tastes the same 10 years back

The poster

Arab Street shops

The helium balloon

During the balloon ride

Mesjid Sultan - a bird's eye view

Waiting for dad and mom

Knackerd after the trip

Temasek : Day One

The causeway - hints of grey clouds got us worried

Firstly, this overdue entry is due to my absolute chaotic life at the moment!!! Posting this entry in between drafting an Agreement which is due first thing tomorrow or rather today since it's past mid night.....is definietly a good break and therapeutic, I can tell you!

Temasek or Singapore as it is known since the 14th Century, was our mid-year school break destination this year. Wifey and I used to visit this slightly nearer than Down Under over X-mas/New Year break regularly...It stopped when our second child arrived since we couldn't cope with two kids over shopping trips!

We braced ourselves this time and thought it'd be easier since our main goal was to get the kids entertained with the attractions which Singapore boasts sans shopping! It was madness for the both of us but worthwhile indeed!!!!

The night before the trip....rushed to Kino, KLCC to get the latest Singapore streetmap since all I knew (I'm wiser now.....) was how to get to Orchard Road/Mandai/Toa Payoh/Arab Street/Woodlands. In fact, being the kiasu me, I got the streetmap plus a Lonely Planet one pager big map of an overview of Singapore ! We had to drive around Singapore - I just couldn't see how we could survive with public transport in Singapore with 4 kids in tow despite the super efficient service!

Traffic was not bad at all...Our trip down was slightly delayed because I only packed our bags about 5.40 am on the day itself. Stopped at McD for breakfast at Sungai Besi and headed down non-stop! Crossed the causeway (quite smooth) at about 11 am after a 45 minute break in JB to drop by my Uncle's.

Started off the day with Orchard Road - managed to do only Paragon and Centrepoint in 5 hours.....It poured cats and dogs when we finished Orchard and headed to Arab Street....- no parking and wifey had to give textile shopping a miss...We decided to head to Night Safari. We were keeping our fingers crossed for good weather as it was still raining heavily.

Got slightly lost as I had made a wrong turn at Upper Thompson and took Moulmein instead which brought us back towards the City....(this was when we received the news that our close friend's mom passed on). BTW....wifey for the life of her can't read maps (Alan Pease is right!) and I had to drive whilst reading the map.

Reached Mandai at about 6.30......queues for the tickets were not long....In fact I was no. 2 in one of the queues. $28 for adults and $14 for kids (inclusive of tram rides - which is highly recommended!). Watched the tribal performance for a bit and rushed to the ampitheatre to get good setas for the 7.30 pm night creature show......! Excellent show..well organised! The scary bit was when they announced......mmm I shall not spoil it for you; you go and experience it yourselves!

Ibraheem really enjoyed himself especially the part when he went face to face (of course tampered glass in between) with a leopard and the part when the lion got up after his nap and roared and roared for a good 10 minutes which we saw from the lion lookout! Fantastic! I don't mind going back there again!

The traffic at Singapore checkpoint - clearnace was a breeze


Khadijah spotted this advert and was persuading me to bring her watch this play....May be next time when the theme is Arts and Culture Holiday....This time is a fun holiday!


Umar knackered...after he got his TMNT figure! I couldn't buy anything for myself although the M&S shirts were going for a steal!

Nursing blistered toes in between shopping......Wifey had her share too!

BREAK time!

Khadijah's ballerina flats purchase

Yusof satisfied with his purchase - find out in the next pic

A Nike ball which cost less in Singapore (after discount, that is)

The tribal performance at Night Safari

Creatures of the night show - featuring a boa, binturong, otters, barn owls etc....Excellent!

Short Break

Kids have been making a lot of noise since they are stuck at home over the school holidays. I have been busy; clocking out 9pm on average and wifey too.....

Planned to go up the highlands in Perak from tomorrow till Sunday but the procrastinator in me took the toll on the supposed trip!

Been wanting to bring the kiddos to the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari and Orchard Road (What a perfect timing - the GSS is on!) for mumsie since eons ago and I have decided to take the day off tomorrow!! Yaeyyy for the kids (and mumsie?).

We are off to Sunny (not what the weather forecast for the weekend though) Singapore early tomorrow. Yup we are driving down. It's no joke travelling with four kids....Definitely not travelling in tow on public transports in Singapore!! H**k, I only know how to get to the Zoo and Orchard Road...Definitely need to buy A-Z Singapore tonight!