Singapore, a self walk day tour

Singapore, the little red dot on the map, our new home for the past 8 months.

Yes, it's small and some say boring. It is an island after all, roughly 2.5 times of Penang island currently (still growing with all the land reclamation). But I think it really depends on what you're looking for. If you have young children like me, Singapore is quite an awesome place.

My cousin, his father, his wife and young son came to stay for a few days. So my daughter and I played tour guides and showed them the must-see sights around Singapore.


#1. Our tour starts at Boat Quay. Boat Quay sits at the mouth of the Singapore River, where the Fullerton Hotel is at. As you go further inland, you will get to Clarke Quay, then Robertson Quay. These are the 3 main quays in Singapore and you can take a river cruise from any of the said quays. The bars facing the river is very touristy, mind you.


#2. Bird by Fernando Botero. Location: Next to UOB Plaza, Boat Quay.

One of the very first things I noticed about Singapore are the various public sculptures. And I mean many many sculptures, so many that there is a public art walking tour that you can go on if you're into this sort of scene. I must mention there is a Dali (a Dali!!) in front of UOB Plaza.


#3. We walked towards Fullerton Hotel and right next to Cavenagh Bridge is First Generation, by Chong Fah Cheong, a local artist. This bronze sculpture is part of the 4 sculptures making up the People of the River sculpture series, but probably the most photographed. The faces of the boys are filled with such joy and the mid-action of reckless abandonment is so strikingly captured. The first boy to jump looks like he's floating in the air. What an amazing work by the artist.

The Cavenagh Bridge is one of the oldest bridges and only suspension bridge in Singapore. It connects the Asian Civilisations Museum to the Fullerton Hotel. Completed in 1869, the structure was built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Singapore (source link). It used to accommodate light vehicles but is only for pedestrians now.


#4. Right outside the lawn of the Empress Place Building, sits several giant mirror balls by Baet Yeok Kuan, also a local artist. It looks very outer spacey and the kids love them!

The Empress Place Building itself was formerly government offices during Sir Stamford Raffles's day. Quick fact: Sir Stamford Raffles is the founding father of modern Singapore. The Empress Place Building now houses the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), which specialises in the history of China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia, basically regions where the ethnic locals has their roots in. The ACM has a family friendly programme on the last Saturday of each month. Actually, most museums in Singapore has some kind of children friendly activities on the weekends (mostly at no charge), so do check out their ongoing events before you visit.


#5. The iconic Esplanade - Theatres by the Bay, also known as the "Durian". They offer guided tours for a small fee, where they also answer the perennial question of "what are the durian spikes for?" This picture was taken along the river promenade heading towards the Esplanade.


#6. Clear view of the CBD, taken near the underpass below Esplanade Drive. Those concrete steps didn't used to be there but I thought they look a nice spot to sit and chill and watch the skies change.


#7. Marina Bay Sands, taken from the Esplanade Bridge. As you walk all the way to the end of the Esplanade Bridge, you will see the infamous....


#8. Merlion. Interestingly, the Merlion was originally at a different location - the mouth of the Singapore River. It was moved when it was blocked by the construction of the Esplanade Bridge.

We had to walk all the way back out to get to Makansutra (hawker stalls, overpriced, crowded, food OK) just next to the Esplanade. In front of the Esplanade is an outdoor theatre, which hosts public music or dance performances. On that Friday, there was a percussion band performance and comedic mime show. There's almost always some performance on Friday to Sunday nights. Sometimes, there are art installations too, such as this...


#9. "Intersections" is a colourful yarn and ribbons geometric work that glows under black light.

Make your way up to the roof of the Esplanade building for a panoramic view of the city and Marina Bay. It's called the Roof Terrace and it's free!

The next day we went to the Gardens by the Bay. It is possible to walk there from the Esplanade but we were running late and would've missed the last Garden Rhapsody by the time we get there. The walk is a nice little loop and if you plan it well (and pray it doesn't rain), you would easily have a half day tour covering the main highlights of Singapore.

The Gardens by the Bay is big-ish park (by Singapore standards where land is scarce) that sits on reclaimed land. In fact, the entire Marina Bay area was created by reclaiming land. Which is why if you're walking down Beach Street today, you'll be wondering why it's called Beach Street when there's no beach in sight. Singapore has a long history of land reclamation. The first land reclamation project started way back in 1822 (source link) with the creation of Boat Quay.

Anyway, at Gardens by the Bay there are 2 main conservatories and several themed gardens. There is a charge for the conservatories and other than this, the rest of the sights are free. There are various sculptures to see around this garden but my absolute favourite has to be the giant floating baby.


#10. Planet by Marc Quinn, which depicts his infant son.


#11. An amazing (and free) water play area that is guaranteed to occupy your kids for a long time. At the foreground is the Fish Fountain, which is very suitable for children aged toddler and below. There's also a sandy playground behind the amphitheater. We usually go there in the evenings as it can get quite blisteringly hot in the afternoon; the whole area is not shaded.

While the Supertree Grove looks quite impressive during the day, by night time it takes on a rather surreal ambiance. I still remember the feeling when I first saw the glowing trees in the dark – it was like stepping into Avatar. And I do think it was also because they played music from Avatar for the light show that time, which enhanced the Avatar feeling. The Garden Rhapsody show comes on twice a night, at 7.45pm and 8.45pm. The songs changes from time to time depending on the theme at the gardens. On Star Wars Day, they played music from Star Wars!


#12. The mushrooms are part of the Children's Festival installation.

There's a handful of restaurants at the Supertree Grove and a few more scattered around the gardens (including a McDonald's). Food is OK but the queues can get pretty long during the weekends and public holidays.


#13. Here is a map of the walk we did, starting at Boat Quay and ending at the Supertree Grove.

Happy walking!

Hanoi 2012: my favourite shops in hanoi

Nagu

From the first moment I laid my eyes on them, the teddy bears in ao dai (Vietnamese traditional costume) and the cutest non la (conical hat), I was hooked. They were beautifully handmade and so came at a price an el cheapo backpacker wouldn't splurge on. But I love them so. Now that I'm less cheap and have evolved into super shopping queen, I bought two teddies! One for each time I was being a cheapo.



Nagu sells good quality gift items such as said teddy bears, passport holders, tissue wallets, bags, etc, mostly made in linen or silk. They also have a small collection of children wear and household accessories (think coasters, not plates) upstairs. I was told they're all handmade so the workmanship is really fine. There's an unmistakable kawaii vibe from the store and its products. For example, a cute Mario mushroom on one of its coasters! This can only mean one thing: the designer is Japanese; an expat living in HCMC to be precise.

Address: 20 Nha Tho. It's just around the corner from St. Joseph's Cathedral.


Tan My

Almost everything in Tan My can be found in the many souvenir shops along Hang Gai. But with just one touch the difference is apparent. The material of the accessories bags, napkins, placemats, etc, is soft and thick, not papery. Like Nagu, the embroidery is fine and neat but I can't be sure whether it's hand sown or machine sown... I forgot to ask.



Nevertheless, if you're looking for gifts that last, this is the place. You'll be paying more, like double more, but you won't regret it.

Address: 66 Hang Gai & 16 Hang Trong.

London 2010: Shopping, dinner

Oxford Street is a shopping street in central London and is probably the best place to head to, for moi at least. It has 3 H&M stores! Three, tiga, san! There could be more though.

Oxford Street starts from the Tottenham Court Rd tube station all the way to Mable Arch tube station. I only got as far as Oxford Circus tube station and that's only halfway. Wish I could've shopped more but my bags were getting really heavy and I promised I would be back round 5pm so we could head out to dinner. In fact I was already running late but I know by now things happen when there's H&M, heh.

Anyway, guess where my hosts took me?


#1. Is it who you think it is? Yes, it's Jamie of Jamie Oliver! I have a couple of his cook books so I guess you can call me a fan.

The place is cozy and super crowded. We didn't make a reservation so we hung out at the bar a bit, chit chatting and taking pictures while waiting for a table. London has a lot of these Michelin star celebrity chef restaurants and Jamie's Italian is one of the more affordable ones. According to Dav, one of the must-try is Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck, where a full dinner course will set you back by at least £180 and you have to make a reservation months in advance.


#2. We had some lovely scallop and squid ink pasta, carbonara with some fat spaghetti, fried squids AND truffle fries. I've heard of truffles a lot and this is the first time I tried anything with truffles in/on it. With all hubbub surrounding truffles, I expected it to blow me away at first bite but I find myself struggling to figure out what they're supposed to taste like. Inferior taste buds, wattudu.


#3. Picture with my hosts, Dav and Steph :)

It was a good dinner. It's kinda like a farewell dinner for me as I'll be flying off tomorrow. Sobs~~ can't believe my holiday is coming to an end already.

Thanks guys, for taking care of me. Love you much!


#4. My haul for the day. The green bag has all the foodstuff from Marks & Spencer, a pile of clothes from H&M and cheap books from Waterstones.

London 2010: Rained-in day

For some reason, wherever I go, lousy weather follows. When I left London for Paris, London was sunny with a cool breeze. When I got into town on Thursday night, the weather was mild enough for me to walk around in just a sweater and windbreaker. Yesterday somehow, when I decided to go walking about town, it rained. And it rained the whole day.

So I went to the National Gallery. There's a free one-hour guided tour but I got bored after 10 minutes. I got myself an audio guide and saw Renoir's The Umbrellas, Seurat's Bathers at Asnières, Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Botticelli's Venus and Mars, van Eyck's The Arnolfini Portrait, one of Monet's not so famous Water Lily and a couple of Degas. The collection's not huge but there are some really good ones. I now have a new-found appreciation for pointillism, first developed by Seurat. It's a very beautiful technique.

The shop at the gallery has some pretty unique memorabilia items along with books on artists and their art. I really love the umbrellas with art prints but they're expensive at 25 pounds for one. Maybe when I'm richer, haha. What I did get was an owl for The BF's friend, coz his wife collects them. I think it's a Christmas trimming.



I had purchased a dinner and show package for Wicked last night. Dinner was a two course at a very nice hotel about 5 blocks away from the Apollo Victoria. It's supposed to start at 6pm but I conveniently didn't read that part and was sort of preoccupied with spending more money at H&M. As a result, I only got to the restaurant at 7pm and wolfed everything down in 15 minutes. It was a nice dinner but I would've enjoyed it more if I don't swallow without chewing. So many tragedies related to H&M, haha.



I absolutely adore Wicked! It's funny and Defying Gravity is so so good. Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz and it puts a new twist to what came to be in the story. The set looks amazing! I'm so happy :)

Paris 2010: Montmartre

I stayed at the delightful Plug Inn Hostel in Montmartre. It's clean, comes with breakfast and free wifi, which is more than enough for me.

Montmartre is a large hill in Paris's 18th arrondissement. It is said the name Montmartre originated from Mont des Martyrs (Mount of Martyrs). There was once an abbot called Saint-Denis who went around preaching the Christian faith to the Gallo-Romans. He was decapitated for that, on the hilltop in 250 AD. He didn't died immediately, as one would expect, but went on to collect his head and carried it all the way to the fontaine Saint-Denis, descended the north slope, and fell down dead! A church was then built in the place formerly called Mont de Mars, which name was then changed to Mont des Martyrs.

Frankly, I didn't do a lot of research before coming here. I just wanted to pop by Paris for a bit since I'm in London, and someone said Montmartre is a nice place. There's a famous Basilica of Sacre-Coeur, one of the must-see in Paris. I decided to walk there and it was a nice surprise when I saw this...


#1. Cobbled streets and a quaint flight of stairs all the way up the hill! Feels so Paris, you know what I mean?


#2. Basilica Sacre-Coeur, about 10-15 minutes walk from the hostel.






#3. Panoramic view of Paris from Sacre-Coeur.

At the bottom of the hill is Boulevard de Clichy, full of kebab shops (cheapest thing to eat around here, as I discovered) and bars and sex shops. Well, it's not all that surprising if you remember that Moulin Rouge is just around the corner. Quartier Pigalle is actually a red light district area; imagine peep shows and pimps. In the day time though, the area looks like a charming village in the olden days and doesn't feel unsafe. You can also find tourist-centric products, like magnets, chopping boards and mugs, all printed with the landmarks in Paris if you're interested in those kind of knick knacks.


#4. Candy store.


#5. So mind boggling. I don't even know what some of them are.


#6. Such beautiful blooms at a florist on the walk to the Metro. There's a Chinese takeaway shop nearby, and I'm starting to miss eating rice.

The rest of my day was spent shopping. There's no need for me to tell you what I bought or how much I spent, but one thing I have to tell you is that VAT refund in Paris is not as good compared to other European countries.

Paris 2010: The city of Paris

So here I am in Paree, the city of love!

The Eurostar is certainly a comfortable and convenient way to get to Paris. It leaves central London from King’s Cross / St. Pancras to Gare du Nord in central Paris. It’s not the cheapest way to get to Paris (fares are cheaper if purchased at least 2 months before) but it’s comfortable and the quickest. Check-in is 30 minutes before the train departs although it’s advisable to be there about an hour before as the customs queue can get quite busy.


#1. St Pancras station, home to Eurostar

I bought a Standard Premier pass, which comes with breakfast, from the Eurostar website here. You get to choose your exact seat (remember to watch out for the direction the seat faces) and the power socket (either UK or European) on the seat. The rail pass costs me £142 (about RM715). Again, if I had planned my trip in advance, it could've been cheaper. Read up The Man in Seat Sixty-One for more info.


#2. My breakfast

I have booked the next 3 nights accommodation at the Plug Inn Hostel, which is just a skip and a hop from the Moulin Rouge.


#3. Le Moulin Rouge

However, navigating my way here from Gare du Nord was a painful ordeal. It's true that the French doesn't like speaking English.

London 2010: Diwali in the city

We spent the entire morning making breakfast (roesti with oven baked bangers) and watching Zoolander. I haven’t seen it before because it was banned in good ol’ Malaysia, which I don’t understand why, because it was thigh-slapping feet-stomping hilarious! OK, maybe I do know. In the show, our PM is a cina ah-pek. So unthinkable hor? The gahmen takes things too seriously sometimes..mehh.

Yesterday the clock was turned back one hour. I didn't know that all digital clocks will adjust automatically. A brother of my friend’s, whom I met for dinner later, forgot about this and was rushing coz he thought he was late, haha. Used to happen to me in Ozzie too.

Anyway, since Deepavali is just around the corner and because there's a huge population of Indians in the UK, it was fitting that there's a Deepavali festival in Trafalgar Square. We were there because Dav secretly wanna be an Indian, according to Steph.


#1. Some bhangra dance happening, I think.


#2. Indian sweets given out at the festival.

The festival is not just a cultural showcase of some sort. It is significant to Londoners. Do you know that the national dish of UK is actually tikka masala? That's how in love they are with Indian food.

In every city, you can always find a small community of likes converging in a particular suburb. That would naturally be the best place for "local" cuisine. In UK, the Indian community more or less converged in East Ham and that was where we went for dinner. There’s even 2 Indian temples there.


#3. Dinner was at Chennai Dosa and I ordered a Butter Panner Masala with chapatti. It was really really good albeit just a tad on the salty side.

My friend's brother, who I mentioned earlier, just moved to London from Luxembourg, and one of the things he had to do at work was attend an orientation on “Living in UK”. In the class, he was taught that it takes a longx6 time for the British people to warm up to you. If you’re lucky, you’d get invited to someone’s home for dinner in 6 months. The British people do not criticize you directly, instead opting to drop hints or beating around the bush (I wonder if they do the same when praising you?). If I kena something like that from a British boss, sure die coz I'm a failure at reading between the lines.

Oh and then, while walking to the train station after dinner, I saw the green laser beam from Greenwich. Yayy! Another item struck off the list :)

London 2010: Borough Market and a ghost tour!

My good old friend and gracious host, Dav, have a soft spot for ferrets. They're this cat-like mouse-like looking creatures that can spray odors when startled, just like a skunk. He has been considering getting one but in the meantime, all he does is talk a lot about ferrets and visiting them at a nearby farm.


#1. Cute and lethal.

Then, I ran a lot. We ran after buses, after trains and more trains. Save for that exercise, we had a very relaxing Saturday. Thank goodness coz I was tired from all that walking in the last 2 days!

The Borough Market is a very interesting makan market. It's a mish mash of everything! You can get mediterranean stuff, chutneys and jams, fresh seafood, barbeque ostrich and kangaroo, chocolates, organic vege, etc. And cheeses, oh my the cheeses. There are cheese with names I've not heard of and one was even aged in a wine barrel (tellingly called drunk cheese, haha). Feel like buying some of them back. We tried a hot apple juice with cinnamon, wild mushroom soup and chocolate mousse, and they're all very good, especially in the cold weather. The market's not very big but it's big on food!


#2. An eclectic mix at the Borough Market.


#3. Halloween pumpkins! Not cheap at 45 pounds @_@

Since it's Halloween and all, we did a Ghost of the Old City Walk with London Walks. Our guide is Shaughan, made up to look pale, hunchback and dressed in a flowing black cape.


#4. Reminds me a bit of Emperor Palpatine.

The walk started at 7:30pm, by which then the sky was already pitch black. I don't think the walk was ever meant to be scary coz the guide was funny, cracking so many jokes here and there. Due to said funniness, the ghost walk is not spooky one bit but was in fact, very informative. Even Dav and Steph said they didn't know some of the places existed. There's a church behind the St Bart's Hospital, which I walked by the other day, that I didn't know was there and it sounded like a place worth checking out.

After that we went back and attempted to watch a scary movie, just to continue on with the theme. We saw Shutter Island...fail max.

London 2010: Greenwich to Westminster

"We are all made of star stuff."

- Carl Sagan


I almost wanted to stay indoors today but luckily I'm stubborn enough to persevere on with my plans to go to Greenwich, coz I had just the most beautiful day!


#1. One Canada Square, the tallest building in UK

It didn't start out that way though. When I got off at Canary Wharf, the wind was biting. My fingers and nose felt like thousands of pins were set upon them. For that few minutes while I was looking for the DLR, I regretted being outdoors.


#2. The Greenwich foot tunnel, linking Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs, crossing beneath the River Thames

I only know I wanted to see the Prime Meridian line and that I didn't mind poking around a bit at the planetarium, so it caught me by surprise when I walked into this huge field surrounded by ancient complexes with tall roman columns. It's the Old Royal Naval College (currently being used by the University of Greenwich) which was constructed by Sir Christopher Wren, the same dude who did St. Paul's.


#3. The Old Royal Naval College

So I was walking around and exploring, and I thought I heard music behind the wall. I turned the corner and saw that it was a chapel. As I went up the steps and came into full view of the chapel, I felt... overwhelmed. The ceiling was ornately decorated with delicate Greek motives. Warm light poured through the windows, turning everything it touches a golden hue. What made the whole experience even more magical was a fantastic flute and harp mini concert from the Trinity Laban, a music and dance university.

As I took a seat at the pew towards the back and flipped through the programme, I realised that the concert will be performed by professionals in their field of study - Anna Noakes, Professor of Flute, and Gabriella Dall'Olio, Head of Harp Studies. Such luck! Anna and Gabriella presented 3 sonatas, lasting about an hour altogether. It was truly an experience of a lifetime.

For that one hour, almost no thoughts went through my head. This is exactly what I need. The opportunity to be lost in a moment, completely and utterly absorbed by something so simple. Bliss.... the best one hour ever spent!


#4. The Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul (no photography is allowed in the chapel so I googled this for your visual pleasure)

Also on the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College is the Painted Hall, one of the western world's finest dining hall.


#5. The Painted Hall with its stunning paintings by Sir James Thornhill

Then it was the hunt for the Royal Observatory, the home of the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and Prime Meridian of the world, Longitude 0° 0' 0''. It was across a big park and up a hill.

The Prime Meridian divides the Earth into the eastern and western hemispheres. All the time zones in the world is measured from GMT, so you're either ahead of GMT or behind. Malaysia is ahead of GMT by 8 hours, which explains the jet lag I'm still experiencing.


#6. A green laser beam projects into the sky from the square opening up there, indicating the Prime Meridian line but it's only visible at night. The digital clock is an atomic clock which is phenomenally accurate to one second in one million years!


#7. Left foot on the Western Hemisphere, right foot on the Eastern Hemisphere


#8. Fish and chips, the quintessential British dish

After lunch, I took a river boat to Embankment. It's brr cold but no visit to London would be complete without a cruise on the River Thames.


#9. I nearly died from chill factor when taking this picture from the Golden Jubilee Bridge

South Bank is an area of London where the arts and culture converge. Here's where you can find the London Eye, Tate Modern, National Theatre...


#10. Street performers, all doing their statue thing (the Golden Jubilee Bridge's in the background)


#11. A room of lights that goes on and off to the beat of the music


#12. And if you walk all the way to Westminster Bridge, you'll get an awesome spot to photograph the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben


#13. Portcullis House, just opposite the Houses of Parliament


#14. To cap off the day, I joined Dav and Steph for the screening of a horror movie. It was sponsored by Jameson whiskey so naturally we get free drinks and some popcorn too! The show's called Quatermass and the Pit, and involve a lot of grasshoppers, some hopping, some not. You just have to watch it!