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| Must-have pic @ USS |
Since Alyssa and Syameer start schooling, school holidays would always be the most anticipated moment, not only by my kiddos but me and my hubby. Without fail, we always plan a getaway either locally or abroad, depending on our travel fund.
Alhamdulillah, with some extra budget, last year we travelled abroad. March 2012, four of us flew to Singapore for 4D3N stay. Then in June 2012, we travelled with a group of our families and friends to Bandung-Jakarta for 4D3N shopping vacation.
Vacation to Singapore was the first flight experience for Alyssa and Syameer via AirAsia, and of course my kiddos were so excited about it.
Day 1
We took off from Penang Airport and arrived at Changi Airport after 1 hour plus flight. Then, we took the MRT from Changi Airport to Hotel Royale @ Queens Street, a stop at E12 Bugis...the trip costs about SGD12 for four of us. The hotel was about 0.5 km walk from the MRT. Despite the 15 minutes walk with our luggage, it was paid off when we checked-in at the cosy and spacious room with modern deco and city view.
After a quick freshen-up, we kicked off our vacation in Singapore with city tour via duck tour, which was inclusive with our package. After we collected the duck tour tickets, we grabbed our lunch at McD Suntech City...and it was an unforgettable moment for me and my hubby with the burger! Hahaha...wasn't it too much? Well, for both of us who appreciate food, vacation is more meaningful with great food. It's the tender and juicy chicken terriyaki burger...which was not served at McD in Malaysia.
Now, back to the duck tour which was basically the sea and land tour across the city. We got to see the botanic garden, helix bridge, National Art Museum, Marina Sands Bay, the floating Louis Vutton boutique, Singapore Flyer, and of course the famous Merlion. At the end of the tour, my kiddos 'added' a duck whistle to their vacation collectables.
Back to the hotel, Syameer was starving....meaning that he needed the Asian staple food which is rice! So I ordered Chinese fried rice which was yummylicios...and he can finished the whole plate! So I didn't mind paying extra for the in-room meal.
We continued our nite tour by MRT to Serangoon and Farrer Park, then headed to Mustaffa Centre...which I would conclude as the more sophisticated version of Mydin Malaysia, selling branded items like Clarks, Nike, Adidas etc, and also jewelleries and watches. It was located at the area called Little India, so we came across mosques and Indian restaurants.
Since we are from Penang, a city known for Indian food i.e. nasi kandar, roti canai, tosai etc, we had our dinner at AB Restaurant. To our surprise, the taste of chicken biryani, curries, dhal, tossai and chutney, can beat Penang Original Kayu Nasi Kandar ! And that was the reason why we went to this restaurant again on the second night for our dinner.
From AB restaurant, we just crossed the road to Mustaffa Centre, opened 24 hours. With the shopping mission, I was quite ambitious to grab a watch for me and my hubby, but I was so frustrated to find that none of the watch selections suite my taste bud. Anyway, my hubby accomplished his mission with his special edition Diesel watch. And of course, my kiddos added their vacation collectables...Alyssa grabbed a donkey plush toy, and Syameer got his army truck. And me ?....Nothing ! But it's okay because I'm not the type of person who will just spend my money for something that doesn't satisfy my taste. I just bought loads of chocolates for our families and friends as souvenirs. We decided to take a cab back to the hotel as everyone especially my kiddos were so tired and to our surprise, travelling by cab was cheaper than the MRT...it costs us about SGD8 at midnight rate compared to SGD14.40 for MRT from our hotel to Farrer Park. So, that ended our Day1 @ Singapore.
Day 2
Day2 @ Singapore was the ultimate highlight...it was Universal Studio Singapore a.k.a USS. We took a cab to Sentosa Island. On our way to collect our pre-booked tickets, we dropped at the chocolate store, and that's where I fell in love with Reese choco bar. Undeniably, it was load of fun, thrill and excitement for the four of us. We kicked off with the ride at Madagascar Adventure then took a lunch break at the Madagascar Cafe. The food was not bad especially Thai beef noodle for me and my hubby. My kids' spaghetti bologna lunch package came with the Madagascar bowl. Hrrmmm...another addition to their collectables ! Then, our excitement continued with Shrek Adventure 3D motion picture.
We then moved on to Jurassic Park Adventure where we had to wear disposable poncho for the wet adventure. Unfortunately, due to bad weather, the adventure was closed, so with frustration after queueing for 1/2 an hour, we threw the disposable poncho and moved on to Sci-Fi City in the drizzles of rain. We had to skip the adult Mummy Adventure and the roller coaster.
And finally, we experienced the Transformers 4D motion ride...and it's worth spending the longest queueing time where we had to entertain Syameer's repeated questions.."Are we there yet, Mama?". We really enjoyed the thrill as if we were in the battlefield with the autobots. My advise to those who plan to discover USS, put this ride as no. 1 in your checklist !
Since we spent longer time queueing for this ride, we checked-out from this ride around 6 plus pm and USS operation was about to close by 7 pm. So we had no opportunity to discover Hollywood...we just enjoyed the closing parade.
Before we passed through the exit gate, I grabbed USS t-shirts for my kiddos with their favourite characters, Melman, Skipper and Alex from the Madagascar. And not forgetting, Syameer's personal collectables...the Bumblebee tumbler which costs us about RM70, and a must-buy item for every vacation, the fridge magnet with USS signature. Checked-out from USS, we dropped at the choco store where I stocked-up my Reese choco bar, which I couldn't get in Malaysian airports. My kiddos had a quick fuel-up with nachos dipped in melted cheese before we left Sentosa Island. We took a cab back to Little India for our dinner at AB restaurant, then back to the hotel.
Day 3
Day3 @ Singapore...we kick-started the day with roti canai, tosai and teh tarik for our breakfast at Little India before we headed back to Sentosa Island. This time we took the MRT from Farrer Park to the Jewel Cable Car station for our fun at the Singapore Underwater World and Butterfly Park. Our vacation package was inclusive of all tickets, which made our vacation hassle-free in terms of queueing for the tickets. Up in the cable car, we can see fantastic sea and land view...we spotted huge Star Cruise and Hard Rock Hotel @ Sentosa Island.
The cable car ride ended at the souvenir shop, so I grabbed the chance to find something for myself. Finally, I found a Singapore signature T-shirt for me and my hubby. Out of the souvenir shop, we went to the Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom. In my opinion, Penang Butterfly Farm is way much better than Singapore Butterfly Park. It has lots more free-range butterfly and insect species.
Then, we took the bus tour to the Underwater World. The Underwater World displayed wide range of aqua species...it was an interactive aquarium where my kiddos can touch and play with the stingray and Alyssa can even put her hands into one of the aquarium. There was also a huge walking tunnel inside. The most anticipated moment was the pink dolphin show and it was a full house show. That was a great moment for us especially my kiddos.
Then, we took the return cable car ride to Harbour Front where we had our dinner at McD. Since I am a hardcore coffee drinker, I was so delighted with McCafe that serves brewed coffee and pastries. I indulged myself with cafe latte and cinnamon melts. At that time, McCafe was not integrated into any McD franchise in Malaysia. Only last year, McCafe was opened at Penang International Airport.Day 4
Last day in Singapore, we checked-out from the hotel for a city tour to the famous shopping haven...Orchard Road. Then we headed to Arab Street and Kampung Glam for our lunch.
We continued with our final tour @ Singapore Toy Museum. The concept of this museum was quite similar to the Penang Toy Museum but the space was quite hip with the cafe, and it displayed classic and antique toys. My kiddos personally preferred the Penang Toy Museum which displays vast collection of toys from the famous characters, where they can relate to their childhood favourites from movies and cartoon characters, and collectables as well.
Finished with the museum tour, we had our tea-break at McD before we took the MRT from Bras Basah to Changi Airport. Since our return flight was around 10 pm, we killed the waiting time with shopping therapy including the must-buy item...chocolates.
Alhamdulillah, we had a sound and safe journey back to Penang International Airport. The next day, we are pretty occupied with our photo-viewing activity. I admitted that me and my hubby love to snap photo, and we raised our kiddos with that 'culture'. Since I created my Facebook account in 2008, I used this social media as my photography journal. And our collections of photo for Singapore 2012 vacation can be viewed at the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/set=a.3631988883454.2169604.1386094128&type=3
That's all about my sharing on our vacation in Singapore. We hope to pay a re-visit to USS to complete our discovery of the Jurassic Park Adventure and Hollywood Adventure. We might consider a day-tour to Singapore alongside with JB tour to Legoland, Hello Kitty Town and JPO next year, Insya Allah.
Thanks and have a nice day...
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