Down To Merlion-Part 1

Woohoo...just back from my summer vacation- a great singapore tour!
There are too many things I would like to share.
Ehmmm...let's divide into two parts.

1st part-PLACES OF INTEREST

The kick-start of the vacation is Sentosa which I had been wishing since my previous visit to Singapore last year.
We bought packages which includes the Images of Singapore, Fort Siloso Tours, Gogreen, and luge&skyride.
There are many things to be mentioned. So, I just briefly run over the unique part that I experienced at Sentosa.
The gogreen-segway eco adventure which I found challenging. With just two wheels, we had to balance ourselves and adjust our bodies to move or stop the mobility devices.
Another exciting experience was the luge & skyride.
Part go-cart, part toboggan.
I would seek for second time if there is any opportunity!

preparing for the luge with the cute helmets

view from skyride

Gogreen~tried hard to balance ourselves in order to snap this photo =D

The most fruitful experience I have gained through this vacation--guess what??
It's the Da Vinci THE GENIUS inspirational exhibition held at Sciance Centre, The Annexe.
But then, camera is not allowed in the exhibition hall!!! Damn it! Sad...
Anyway, I got two photos before the guide told me it's not allowed.hehe...
The exhibition is just beyond words. Da Vinci is totally a god genius!!
Leonardo da Vinci-inventor, scientist, anatomist, engineer, artist and architect.
I wonder how can god create such a man??!!
You can have a close look at all his inspirational works, including the famous MonaLisa painting. Of course it's not the original one, it's just a copy of the real painting. The original one is at Lourve,Paris. This drives me there... someday!haha...
Well, the exhibition will last till 16th August 09. So, catch up while it still there! [www.davincithegenius.com]
We purchased the tickets of DaVinci Exhibition and Science Centre with $SGD16 each person. There were many things to be explored at Science centre. We didn't have enough time to explore everything as we turned up quite late, at 1pm.

A snap with the genius potrait ^^( shhh....it's prohibited~)

The chinese garden is another place you should explore. It's NICE because it's FREE!hahaha...There are Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden. But thanks to Kalvin, who brought us a big stroll without any sign of the Japanese Garden!!!
Yes!!I blame you I blame you!!haha...
There is a pagoda, but we didn't reach up to the top as we were soooo exhausted after the NO DIRECTIONAL stroll~~ZZzzzz...
The place is a nice place with tranquil ambience. Once you step into the garden, it feels like you're at China.

Serenity at Chinese Garden

A walk to the famous Chinatown, which is similar to the Malaysia Petaling Street. The difference is it's less crowded at Chinatown.
Nice food, cheap sale-this is what I can describe about Chinatown.
The food you really should have a try! (Read the 2nd part =D)
My sister bought a cute mini manjong set with $SGD13~haha...she was overjoyed~

Another venue-Botanic Garden.Again, is free entry,except the orchid garden with surcharge of $SGD5 (adult).
There was damn hot!! The area is large!
By the time you walks through the whole area, you already MELTED!!
We went to the Swam Lake, Garlic Gerden, Bandstand, Visitor Centre. All these are just one quarter of the compound, but it took us about 3 hours!Zzzz...
I was hoping to see some herbs but there were just plants.
I recommend---NOT TO GO!!haha...

Bandstand of Botanic Garden

If you're a shopping addict, I would recommend you the Orchard Road.
There are many shopping malls available, whether it's the cheap sale or the branded stuff, all can be found easily. Or you can choose to go Bugis Street as there have a lot cheap items. Or, the other option is--Changi Airport. Don't think that it's just an airport. You're totally wrong. It's an airport with many shopping lots and cuisine. The visitor centre at there is informative. Better have a visit there before you starts travelling. We got a free luggage tag each in additional!haha...I spotted some unique recycle bins at the aiport. See this:

Aren't that cute?? Do we have this in Malaysia??

Jurong Birdpark--Once again, don't go! haha...
It's said that the park is the largest birdpark in southeast asia, but it's kinda small and has really not much things to be seen.
Only the bird shows are quite interesting.
We got a free pearl for each entry.
The pearl was picked out on the spot from the oyster that I selected randomly. That made my jaw dropped!
I was stunned, that's why I forgot to take photo!!

Haw Par Villa, another attractions you must visit. The Ten Courts of Hell is educational. Get to know what kind of punishment you will get with diffrent sins that you done in your past life. I like the villa. It's colourful with a lot of statues, which I can take many photos!haha...but time was not allowed me to do so.
A snap with Kalvin at the entrance of Haw Par Villa

One of the punishments at the hell court

We went Singapore Flyer for sunset. Romantic uh!! This was recommended by the visitor centre agent at Changi Airport. It's not true. Nightview is better, but we realised it too late. Nevermind, as we had half price promotion, it's still worth. =P

The other great adventure you should experience is the DUCKtours. It's a land & sea amphibious adventure on a Vietnam War Craft. It's an one-hour tour. Tickets can be purchased at Suntec City and there is the place you on board.
We get to see the first casino of Singapore which is still under construction, the esplanade, the merlion, Singapore Flyer and etc.

Singapore Flyer-photo taken during DUCKtours

Clarke Quay - a place of nightime entertainment. That day was Wednesday, which was Ladies Day. With invitation from my buddies, I spent my first time clubbing at there!!haha...
Free admission for lady, $SGD20 for man.
The drink that the bartender prepared for us was tasty mann!! I like that! It costs $SGD50 for one jug.
We entered another two three clubs for a short glance over the sites. Haha...it's free mar, why not?? =D

Scenery at Clarke Quay was so seductive

There are far too many things that I experienced. I had try to share as much as I can, squeezing my brain for the past ten-day-adventure.
Well, I will find another time for the cuisine part.
Good night! @.@

Down To Merlion-Part 2

Part 2-Foods&Beverages
Yay~Foods&Beverages! Is this acceptable??

Haha...please don’t beat me. I really like that cake. That was a birthday cake of Leonard. Who is Leonard? Oohhh...A Singaporean, a friend to my cousin who was celebrating his 21st birthday. That was why my cousin brought us along to his party.

Okay okay, back to the topic. Haha...

There are some delicacies that you should have tried out at Singapore.
As far as I know, Chinatown and Geylang Road have the most number of tasty foods.
Nevertheless, I have never been to Geylang as my friend not dares to bring me there as there have the most number of prostitution. You have to be cautious whenever you’re there (Perhaps just for the girls. Hahaha...). That’s why they call the place “red-light area”.
For ChinaTown, Kalvin brought us to a shop which is well-known for its dessert and cake. We had tried the pumpkin cake, mango ice and "zhi ma hu"(don’t know what’s called in English =P). YES! I like DESSERTS (but I hate STRESSED). The pumpkin cake is delicious with their special chilli sauce. My sister doesn’t like the ‘’zhi ma hu’’ but I like both “zhi ma hu’’ and mango ice.

The pumpkin cake. Sorry for this ugly one. It was snapped after being eaten.

"Zhi ma hu" (the disgusting black glue-like content) & mango ice

The shop

Still at the same ChinaTown Food Street, another thumb up cuisine—Holland Village XO Fish head bee hun. You can get this at a restaurant located at the corner of Chinatown. The soup of the fish head added with XO. Is real XO okay, not just simply a glamour name. But of course won’t get drunken la~=D You can order some additional dishes if you want. But the XO fish head is the main cuisine of that restaurant. We had a medium XO fish head bee hun and other two small dishes for three of us. We ended up with full stomach; NOOO....my stomach was overloaded!!

XO fish head bee hun

We also had a sumptuous meal at The Vines Restaurant located at Novena. The steaks were awesome. I ordered a barbeque chicken set with big prawns which drink, soup and dessert were included. Guess how much was the dinner set? Tata.....$SGD28 =.= kinda expensive right?? Haiz, nevermind...Once in a blue moon mar~~ (Bleeding T.T) Meanwhile, my sister got herself a set of lobster with $SGD30++
The potato was damn nice!! With mayonnaise and don’t know what chips added. The dessert!!! Like it soooo much!!! It was a piece of cheese cake. I have never eaten such a delicious cheese cake! Still missing for that piece of cheese cake now.
We also tried out the blue nun white wine which was recommended by my cousin’s friend. I finished the whole glass of wine. Salute myself. I have to emphasize that...the wine was HORRIBLE!!! Perhaps you’ll like it if you’re a wine-lover. I had tried out the worst white wine at Jogoya Kuala Lumpur. This blue nun white wine was much better than that in Jogoya. I have to conclude that I DON’T LIKE WHITE WINE. They taste B.A.D.

My barbeque steak. It was a huge one.

The cheese cakes.yummy yummy.

Great ambience with great food

Again...another dessert recommendation at Food Anytime. You can find the stalls at Bishan Juntion 8, Hougang Mall, Tiong Bahru Plaza or Anchor Point. The stall is famous for its Snow Ice. We had mango flavour and kiwi flavour. The mango flavour was preferable. Overall, the snow ice was just O.K...but then it used to advertise in papers. I would rather recommend the “Yu Ni” dessert of that stall. That’s nice.

A Turkish ice-cream hawker stall at Clarke Quay is another interesting experience you should have a look. Not only the ice-cream was tasty, the ice-cream man was tricky too. He played with you with the ice-cream before he handing it over to you. That makes you burst into laugh or perhaps you may feel irritated as he keeps fooling you. I picked the Pistachio ice-cream with $SGD3.

Kinkling KinKling~ Ice-cream Ice-cream~

On the day meeting up with my NS buddies, we went Swensens for ice-cream again. Yeah yeah. I know you’re bored with this. Haha...Please bear with me. I am a dessert-lover. See these. Pretty ice-creams make your mood better. Ice can cool you down~ Haha...

Aren't they cool??

Roti prata at Mr.Prata Clementi was nice too. I like the mayonnaise prata. Roti prata is a crispy, crusty South Indian pancake and served with thick curry gravy, which is very similar to roti canai.

Another fast food which is available at Singapore is Popeyes. Thumb up!! They said you’ll never like KFC if you have eaten Popeyes. Do you believe that?? Haha...just try and find it out. Why don’t we have Popeyes at Malaysia? It’s real nice. You can get it at Changi Airport or Singapore Flyer (These are the places I know it’s available)

These are Popeyes. Not the Sailorman.

Have you eaten?? Do I make your mouth water??