A Merlion Weekend

The brood and I went to Singapore last weekend.

It was a fun event and we enjoyed ourselves despite it being a short vacation with lots and lots of rain.

Bought Aeroline tickets for Friday at 6.45pm but we were still at home by 5.45pm. Deli called numerous times for a cab to take us to Corus Hotel but couldn’t get any. As the last resort, we walked to the main road with luggage and the Dutchman’s 3 pillows (he bought it for our visit) in tow. Lucky us, we managed to get a cab after mere 5 minutes wait. The journey to Jalan Ampang took forever! The road was badly congested. We reached our destination with a good 10 minutes to spare. Phew!

Ah, but the thrill has yet to end. The Dutchman and Elizabeth were nowhere to be seen. I called Elizabeth to learn that they were stuck in traffic opposite of Ampang Park but they’re getting off the car and walk to Corus hotel. The cabin crew was kind enough to spare those two a couple of minutes before they close the door and leave for Singapore.

The whole journey was interesting to the kids because they have never traveled by bus before. We were served spaghetti for dinner and watched Click before stopping at Pagoh rest area. The Dutchman lend the kids his laptop and they watched Home Alone 3, trying not to laugh so hard and disturb other passengers.

Elizabeth & adik at Pagoh rest area

We reached Singapore at midnight and boarded 2 cabs to the Dutchman’s place. Everyone slept a little past 2am that night.

It rained heavily on Saturday so we stayed in and prayed that it’ll stop raining soon. Well, it didn’t so we decided to go out anyway. Left the house around 12 noon to Faber Hill.

Bought tickets for cable cars and places in Sentosa. Adik was quiet the whole journey and held tight to Deli and the window. No prize in guessing how scared he was. Hahah.

Deli and adik in the cable car to Sentosa

Apparently we bought tickets for tour groups. I always thought tour groups are for old people who’s lost some of their sense of direction. Now I’m one of them!! Wahahah.

The tour guide was a Malay lad and our first stop was the Underwater World. The kids went crazy at the sight of colorful fishes and beautiful corals. They had a tank of sting rays where you could buy a pack of food (no idea what it was) and feed them. I’ve never seen how a sting ray uses its mouth. It’s simply amazing.

There were a lot of interesting creatures in there including white tip sharks and a dugong. Not to mention various kinds of crabs from the smallest of them to gigantic ones that stand as tall as kakak. There was one creature called sea angels and as the name suggests, they are marvelous creatures. You’d be mesmerized just by looking at them.

Posing with the gigantic crab

On the way out of the Underwater World, there were pythons that you could put on your shoulder and take pictures with. Kakak was brave enough to pet the baby python while the rest of us shuddered and stayed as far as we could from the snake booth. Eww.

Kakak petting the baby python

While waiting for the bus, I saw this.




Yup. It’s Ben & Jerry’s. Goodness gracious. It’s been so long since I last had their ice cream. They have it in Cold Storage but it’s damn expensive and the flavors are far from what I fancy.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to buy any because we were rushing to catch the bus. I waved goodbye to Ben & J’s and left with a heavy heart. I made sure that the rest know how disappointed I was to have missed the opportunity to satisfy my cravings for Ben & J’s. Sobs.

The Dutchman and his wife left for the mainland coz the Mrs had a vocal class to attend. The brood, Elizabeth and I stayed on and looked for a place to have lunch. We settled for pizza and to our delight, adik really feasted on the food. He finished his and a piece (or two?) from Elizabeth’s. Way to go adik!! It’s really hard to see him eat that much and in occasion like this, we’re more than happy to accommodate his appetite.

Adik feasting on pizza

We queued for a 3D show but due to some technical glitches, we had to endure 3 opening speeches. Darn. Finally, we get o sit on the simulation units and the show was a total fun! The kids sat with Elizabeth while Deli and I sat in front of them and I could hear them screaming and laughing their hearts out. No amount of money could ever compensate those screams and laughs. I’m just blessed that I’m able to provide them the experience.

They couldn’t stop talking about the show and nobody admitted that they screamed but I know their voices too well. Heheh.

Next stop was the Dolphin Marine but unfortunately the next show was 1.5 hours away. So we boarded the bus (again) and this time we managed to get on a double deck bus and secured seats at the very end of the open top deck.

Elizabeth, adik & kakak on double deck bus

We stopped by Singapore’s famous landmark – the Merlion. Half mermaid and half lion statue stood proud on the island.

We took our time and walked all the way to the Dolphin Marine and still had half an hour to kill. There was an animal show in the amphitheatre so we decided to join the fun while waiting for the dolphin show to start. It turned out ot be one smart decision. We enjoyed the show and brave Deli get to handle a wild eagle with the assistance of the bird keeper. Amazing!




We left half way through the show to catch the dolphin show. It was fun but the place was a bit too crowded with rude people. I managed to catch some pictures and they turned out great. How often do you get to see pink dolphins, right?




So off we went to the cable car station to end one memorable and fun day in Sentosa Island.

Got off at Viva City mall to be greeted by the Dutchman and his wife. We thought we were about to head home but they took us to the Night Safari instead. The kids could not contain their excitement even though they had no idea what was waiting for them in the Night Safari. The cab driver was a bit of a maniac and was definitely at par with KL cab drivers’ F1 performance. Scary!

Bought the tickets and was about to find a place for dinner when I saw the one place that I really, really want to be.

There it was. A Ben & J’s stood in front of me while I stared ‘jakun’ly with saliva dripping out at the corner of my mouth. I think the group had fun toying with me by dragging me away from Ben & J’s to had dinner. A group of man wearing nothing but loin cloth who passed by didn’t ever deter my longing for a cup of Ben & J’s. Saliva still dripping though – both for ice cream and the group of half naked man. Elizabeth was fumbling for her glasses. She didn’t wanna miss the ‘show’ either. Hahahaha.

Somehow the chicken rice tasted like strawberry & kiwi ice cream. I wonder why.

We queued for the tram (still no ice-cream – sobs) and waited for 15 minutes before boarding on one. We traveled in the dark with nothing more than the guide’s voice accompanied by sounds of the jungle. Most of the animals were let loose and you could touch them if you stick your hands out. We get to hear a real life roaring from 2 mighty lions. Amazing!

The whole ride took 40 minutes and we enjoyed every sound, sight and stench. Didn’t get to watch the animal show because it was another long queue and everyone was pretty tired by then. We walked around and took more pictures before they finally led me to the longed for Ben & J’s ice cream parlor.

I was in HEAVEN when I saw strawberry & kiwi ice cream!! Nobody else cared for ice cream so I took my time savoring the flavors before ordering a cup of strawberry & kiwi ice cream and a berry smoothie. Kakak feasted on the smoothie while I had the ice cream. I would have bought a bigger cup or more than a flavor if I wasn’t coughing my lungs out every other minute.

Kakak slurping on berry smoothie

Reached home a little after 11pm feeling all worn out – except for the kids. They still had the energy for a Harry Potter movie before calling it a night. By the way, the Dutchman and Elizabeth were not into Harry Potter and threatened to burn my book when they saw it on my table a couple of days back. I purposely asked the kids to bring Harry Potter movie to annoy those two. If the Dutchman decided to burn his laptop because it was stained by a Harry Potter movie, I want to be there to witness the burning. Hahah.

We left for Vivo City mall the next morning. The Aeroline counter was in the mall as well so we stashed our bags there and scoured the rest of the mall.

We bid goodbye to the rest and left Singapore at 1.30pm. Adik slept right after lunch, all the way to KL. They showed The Devil Wears Prada but none of us really cared. We slept most of the time.

Reached KL at 6.30pm and took a cab home. Everybody was tired but all of us agreed that we had a great time in Singapore.

Many thanks to the host. We will definitely come back for a longer visit.