Singapore 2010 : part 3 : city tour

Before going to Night Safari, we occupied the day with city tour by Ducktour service. We got the Sightseeing Pass which includes city tour, heritage tour & river cruise. There are plenty other packages to chose from, ofcourse. This pass is good for 2 days. If you got yours, remember not to chuck the tickets the first day.



Enjoy some pics before my narration.






upon arriving in Spore on Friday afternoon.

Checking in to Marina Hotel, Orchard Road.

We got to wait some time for the rooms to be ready.

Well, a lot of time really. 3 hours. We went off to dinner. Came back, not ready. Went off shopping. Came back still not ready. It was past 9pm before we were handed the precious keys.

I let the kids goofed around in the lobby.

Ducktour - double decker topless bus.

Sudah juga aku cerita ni dulu kan. Hop on, hop off bus. We repeated the experience for the sake of the children. This time, hopping off place we have not been before. Like Bugis Street.

Bugis Street. Tapi tiada bugis pun. Cina juga.

Ini macam Petaling Street lah gitu. Biasa biasa.

After that, the heritage tour. Going through historical sites around town. Just like our last trip. We were supposed to continue with river cruise but we missed the station and decided at 4pm, we might be too late for Night Safari later so all trooped back to hotel. The kids were happy enough to be left in the room watching TV while hubby and I checked out what's left in Takashimaya on the last day of Great Singapore Sale. Wajib lah merembat sikit-sikit kan.

Last day in Singapore, after checking out. Our flight is 5.50 pm. But we checked out 10 am so we could make the river cruise.

Malas aku semua gambar2 malar kabur. Bikin panas. Payah2 saja aku posing dengan baju baru yang dibeli di Takashimaya.

Ini tempat, Clark Quay. Tempat jeti river cruise.

Cantik bah ini tempat. Selalu di adakan persembahan/acara bila ada festival dsb.

Ngam2 bot yang kami dapat, kosong. Cuma kami dan satu Filipino. Good.

Ok, let me story about our cruise.

Ini bangunan hanya nampak dengan jelas melalui river cruise. Dalam tour bus, susah sikit.

Namanya Marina Bay Sands. Hotel 5 bintang baru. Itu 3 tower adalah hotelnya. Yang di atas macam surf board itu sky garden. Open to public on a certain fee. Dia juga memuatkan sebuah swimming pool olympic size. Not open to public, only hotel guests. Beautiful kan?

Next to it is a new casino shaped like a lotus flower. Seems the casino business taking off. They need to add more.

Apa lagi yang boleh dinampak dari river? Aku cerita saja la kan. Biar kamu boring. Ini hotel 6 bintang, the Fullerton Hotel. Sering menempatkan delegasi2 penting dari luar negara.

Dari tebing sungai boleh kelihatan ini structure. Dinamakan, 'the first kids of Singapore'.

This is copying Sydney Opera. Fungsi nya samalah, tempat persembahan opera diadakan (betul ka tidak aku ni).

Setiap river cruise harus lah singgah ke tempat ini. The Merlion. Mercu tanda bagi Kota Singa.

Cantik ka baju aku tu? (sekali lagi baru beli).

This is showing the mix of old and new structures in the city.

This is the largest pre-war building, prominent with colourful windows. It used to be the first Police Department building. Nowadays it's the office for Ministry of Information.

The spot for bungee jumping.

After the cruise and some browsing in the mall, we were off to the airport. Goodbye Singapore.

Ini apa kes? Haih...apa lagi..flight delay.

Nasib baik budak2 ni tidak terlampau meragam..they found things to amuse themselves.

Ini anak..muka dia saja memenuhkan kamera..

Well, that's all folks!

See ya!

Singapore 2010 part 2: Night Safari

Yup. We went to Night Safari the next day.

Is it World's Greatest ? I don't know. Never been to any before.

Trying to read the map while q-ing. Susah. Gelap gelita tempat ni. Berabis aku kasi terang semua pics ni pakai photoscape.

Hampir sampai giliran. Itulah transport yang dinaiki. Tram. Boleh muat 50 orang sekali naik. Ada la live commentary dari guide di depan. Tapi suara halusnya tenggelam oleh kebisingan passengers semua. Ramai budak2 kan..excited nampak itu ini. Aku takut juga harimau terkejut dengar bunyi teriak-teriak ..tapi tidak la.

Once the ride starts, no flash photography allowed. It's a 40 min ride on a trail weaving through 8 geographical regions of animals in their natural habitat. From Himalayan to African. Macam2 lah bah binatang yang ada (tapi tiada ular..syukur). Kecuali singa dan hyiena yang lazy-lazy saja mengeliat dan menjilat badan, binatang2 lain agak aktif di waktu malam. Tapir berjalan2 dekat tram kami. (tidak di benarkan mengeluarkan tangan untuk menyentuh atau mengelus dengan kaki..matilah palui! ). Gajah, zirafah dan seladang makan dan makan dan makan saja kerjanya. Hippo mandi manda dalam lopak. Looking just like Gloria.

Ada satu hippo yang terbesar dalam park tu ngam2 dia berdiri....o-m-g..punya besarrr..berat dia 2 tan. Kalau kamu ada kamera bagus yang boleh capture dalam gelap tanpa flash sila la bawa. Sayang juga nda dapat ambil gambar kan.

There are walking trails too. You are allowed to hop off the tram and follow on foot to observe the animals close-up. You can catch the tram again at the designated stop-over. Ada yang termenung tengok giraffe lama2 situ. Maybe he's doing research. But be sure to check your watch. Although the safari closes at 12pm, the tram service ends at 11pm. Kalau tertinggal tram, ada karang sesat.

If you plan to walk, you need to allocate at least 4 hours here.

Habis tram ride, kami balik ke tempat entrance untuk menengok show. Ada live performance.

Sambil tu bergambar2 dulu.

Untuk makan/minum sini ada Ulu2 Restaurant (asian & indian), ada Bongo Burgers, ada Ben&Jerry's ice cream dan Z'bar (alcoholic drinks).

Thumbuakar Performance. Daily show 7pm, 8pm and 9pm.

Ini show memang best. Lelaki2 seksi (oopss) doing tribal dances and fire-eating.

Boleh tahan dorang punya stunts.

Semakin rancak muzik, semakin ligat dorang menari. It's a feat they didn't burn each other.

Terlampau laju last2 jadi blur saja.

Sesiapa yang ada asthma, jangan terlampau dekat stage, kuat asap dan bau gasolin.

If you plan to come here, try to get Friday or Saturday. Besides Thumbuakar, you can catch Creatures of the Night show. Unlike Thumbuakar, this is not held daily, but on Fri, Sat and eve of public holiday only.

It's about 30 min show of animals and their tricks. We didn't catch this. This info not highlighted in the website when we purchased the tickets online.

Night Safari is at Mandai Lake Road, next to Singapore Zoo. The joke is, the animals work extra hours doing night shifts here after their day job at the zoo. ha-ha-ha.

So to get here, take a cab from the city direct to the park. You will alight at the big car park infront of the main gate. From orchard road, its 35 minutes and $15. The entrance fee is $22 (A) , $11 (C). The tram fee is additional at $10(A), $5(C). You may want to have a raincoat handy here. We were lucky we missed the heavy rain 5 min after getting in the cab for the ride home. Kalau tidak, kehujanan la menunggu di taxi stand.

Another attraction is also nearby, the Jurong Bird Park. So there are Park Hopper Specials for those who would like to bundle all 3 sites in their visit. Consult the website. However from feedback we gathered the favourites are Night Safari and Bird Park only. Singapore Zoo is boring.

We didn't have enough days for bird park but we enjoyed Night Safari. It was great experience.

So I'll be back with next tale after I get some photos sorted, k.

Bye now!