Tuesday 18 December 2007

It was a good trip

Adam and Heikal... raring to go



The Aeroline, the bus which took us to Singapore. It is very comfortable, clean and provides good service. It is punctual too. I like that.

Front row, Syaira, Adel, Adam and Heikal together with Afizuddin, Amalina and Sara back row waiting to board the bus. At 8.00 am sharp, we departed for Singapore.

After a journey of 2 1/2 hours we made a 20-minute stop-over at the recently-renovated PLUS's R&R in Pagoh. It's very pretty and clean...

... with rows of stalls selling fresh local and imported fruits

Just arrived and waiting to check in at York Hotel

On our first night (Fri, Dec 14), we went on the "must see" Nite Safari. Seen queuing up to board the tram/train for the 45-minute ride are from L-R: Syaira, Sara, Liyana and Amalina. Towering over them at the back is Adel.


Nuraina, the photographer clicking away...

Lalin and three of her children, (from left, Sofia, Soraya and Sonia) Adam, Nina and Sara (partly hidden) waiting to board the tram. The Night Safari is said to be the world's first wildlife park with a night view.

"Abang" Haris and his two loyal fans, Adam and Heikal.

All smiles and ready for the fancy tram ride covering a distance of 3.2km to catch sight of rhinos, elephants, giraffes, tapirs, tigers, lions along with a variety of birds in their "natural" habitat. The ride takes you along two loops that cover terrain ranging from the rocky Himalayan foothills to the grassy plains of Equatorial Africa. L-R, Sonia, Soraya, Sofia (hidden) and Cik ton aka Tok Mommy

These are tiger cubs. They are among the 900 noctural animals of 130 species inhabiting 40 hectares of dense forest located near the Upper Seletar Reservoir. The forest is bathed in shadowy half-light so that the animals are largely oblivious to our presence. We aren't allowed to take pictures of these animals in case the flash frightens them. This picture is taken from the Night Safari pamphlet.

The awe-inspiring tribal performers from the rainforests of Borneo demonstrating their fire-eating...

...acrobatic and blowpipe skills

Lalin and the children having fish and chips at the Bongo Bongo


Nuraina and Adel

Tok Mommy and Haris

Syaira, Amalina, Liyana and Mia (Raja Amylea)

Sofia, Sara and Tante Nina having breakfast on the 2nd day at York Hotel

Abang flanked by his fans during breakfast

A walk down Orchard Road after breakfast before visiting "Nek Busu" (on the 2nd day).

Takng a rest...near Tang's

A lone Chinese musician


On the 2nd & last night (Sat, Dec 15) in Singapore we went down to Orchard Road which is about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. We simply love the Xmas trees in all the shops along the road.

Just have to take more...

One for the road...with my cousin, Linda, (and her two children beside her) who called on us just before we checked out.

In front of the hotel's beautifully-decorated Xmas tree minutes before we checked out and headed for the Harbourfront to catch our Aeroline bus. We left for home at 3pm.

Read nuraina's Oh Singapura here and
Balik Kampung: here

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice pictures kak ton. Other than a visit to Night Safari, tak pergi tempat lain ke?

.. said...

only one thing to say la....what a happy bunch you guys are :)

Rockybru said...

Kak Ton, thanks for the lovely mi rebus, again.

When we were there three weeks ago, Rusdi wanted so much to go to the Night Safari. He also wanted a ride in the cable car to Sentosa. We didn't get to do either. But we had pizza in Orchard, used a hotel loo, had 1-or-2 at Faber, found a House of Prata in Ponggol, had Satay near Robinson's, got stuck in the worst traffic at Changi Airport, and got my new lap top at Queensway.

Heh.

J.T. said...

Each picture speaks a thousand words. :)

I enjoyed my time at the Night Safari when I visited it early this year. It is amazing (actually it should come as no surprise) how well-maintained that place is.

Anonymous said...

Hello, you all look alike a group of lovely ladies :-)

Anonymous said...

Nice pictures, and it's always enjoyable to see kids and adults having a wonderful time. Cheers.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Dear Adik,

We had a tight schedule. And anyway our main aim was to see my dad's youngest sister, who is our only surviving aunt.

The visit to the Night Safari was meant for the kids... sort of a bonus for them since we were alraedy in Singapore.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi marykate,

Sure happy to balik jumpa saudara-mara.

:)

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Rocky,

Don't need to naik cable to go to sentosa-lah. Boleh terus naik MRT (Dont mean Mee Rebus Tuesday). That's what I was told and that's where we intentd to go to next year during our annual holidays there.

You sure covered a lot of eating places there. Why didnt you recommend us those places?

We had a hard time looking for placess to eat unless, of course, we go to Geylang & Teluk Kurau area which is out of the way.

Hmm , now I know why Rusdi bought the lap top from you. You got a new one.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

j.t,

That's something I admire about Singapore. An island with not much natural resources, but it makes the best of whatever little it has.

That Night Safari, for example. I mean, we have the real thing here; space, jungle, the animals, etc.

But it takes that little red dot of an island to showcase what we have.

Very resourceful & imaginative. Yes, the place is well managed & well oraganised.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

anonymous 3.19 pm,

Thank you maam/sir.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi nstman,

Most of the time, we, the adults, tumpang the simple fun the kids are having.

And, it doesnt take much to make them happy.

Thanks for visiting.

zaitgha said...

Kak Ton,

From the pictures can see that all of you had a grand time there...


Selamat Hari Raya to you and your family and to your readers too...

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

hi zaitgha,

It was very seronok. But too short a time. The kids were very happy - they enjoyed especially the tram ride. Their excitement rubbed on us.

Like I told a commentator here, it doesnt take much to make them happy. Kita tumpang kegembiraan mereka.

Selamat menyambut Aidil Adha to you and your family.

Thanks for visiting, zaitgha.

Pi Bani said...

It's always nice to go for a family trip sampai hampir penuh satu bas... bila dah gang semua masing-masing I bet buat perangai macam kat rumah sendiri...

The last and only time I went to Singapore was about 15 years ago I think... drove there all the way from KL with a few of my friends. Masa tu tengah muda and masih seronok driving...

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Hi pi,

Memang biasalah, kalau member2 ada, perangai di rumah dibawa sama.

Terpekik terpekau, berlari sana berlari sini.

Pi, you mean youv'e ve been to Singapore only that one time, 15 years ago? In 1992? That was a looong time ago.

But its ok. Kalau you tak minat shopping, you 're not missing anything. Lagi pun, di Malaysia dah banyak shopping malls yang besar.

My relatives love to spend their holidays here.

In terms of places of interest, I think we have more to offer to tourists.

We go to Singapore bukan nak shopping sangat,tapi nak jumpa saudara mara.

Pi Bani said...

Spot on Kak Ton, I memang tak minat shopping. I only shop when I have to... I don't have relatives or close friends staying in Singapore, so memang tak jumpa sebab to make it a point to go there. Workwise pun, so far the companies I've worked with had no dealings whatsoever with any Singapore counterpart.

Malaysia pun tak habis round lagi ni!

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Pi,

Right. Nak jelajah serata Malaysia pun tak habis lagi.

I've been to all states here but have never been to Sabah. Itu pun connected with work.

For one thing, the air fare to Sabah is prohibitive. Mahal.

But, I suppose now with Air Asia covering domestic destinations, the fare is affordable.

After the "Night Safari expedition", my sister Nina says we should visit Sarawak to see "the real thing (the long house, the dance, etc, jungle trekking."

Lol!!

Pak Zawi said...

Kak Ton,
It is a tad sad that when you balik kampong there is nothing there to remind you or show the jungle generation the environment of old that you used to have. The same is happening everywhere now. So we all miss it but that is the price we have to pay for development.
When I was in Johore we used to go to the pasar malam at woodlands just to buy cheap lychees and apples way back in 1973. Of course they are not there anymore.
Thanks for the interesting story of the trip to Singapore.

maria a samad (kak ton) said...

Zawi,

I didnt know that you once lived in JB. I was Bernama JB Bureau Chief from 1980-1982. I used to got to Woodlands to buy fruits and some household items, like pots & pans. Then the exchange rate was like RM1.00:S1.00. Woodlands used to be the shopping "paradise" for those living in JB.

But not any more. In fact, now the Singaporeans are the ones who come to JB to do their weekly shopping, especially for fresh vegies, at the local pasars tani in Larkin.