Singapore trip

From all my times of travelling to Singapore, I've used a few modes of transport. Drive, train, fly, bus. Among all those modes, driving into Singapore has been most convenient. Of course you'll need to have a place to stay and buy parking coupons if you choose this option. The first time I drove, we stayed in hotel 81 in Chinatown. There was an open parking closeby to the hotel. Parking overnight doesn't require parking coupons but we had to buy some from 7-11 the very next morning to display them in the car. Of course there is a free ERP entrance at least 10 times in 5 years or something (I can't remember the details now).

Flying into Singapore via budget flights are a good option too. Air Asia has a space in Terminal 1 surprisingly but Fireflyz which is the budget arm of our national carier, MAS is in the budget terminal. I find terminal 1 to be an easier exit compared to the budget terminal as one needs to endure a very long walk from the air site to exit.

This time around, I did this differently, flew in via Air Asia and then took a bus back. I was supposed to take a bus to transit from my different locations : Robinson Rd to Orchard Rd (Takashimaya) to Suntec City (Temasek Boulevard). Unfortunately, due to time constraint, I ended up taking taxis instead.

Taxis here are very efficient. Unlike in Malaysia, there's little haggling and negotiating. You can just get into the cab you've hailed and request to go where you want to go. They'll turn the meter on and off you go. It's very safe to take the taxis at night too. I still recall my experience of taking a bus down and arriving at about 2 am and having to take a bus from Novena to my friends place at Simei.

After all my set appointments, I jumped into my last cab and asked to go to Golden Mile Complex to catch a bus back. I was just in time as there was one bus leaving for KL in the next 5 mins. The fare was about SD25 (i think). Considering that i've not eaten anything since breakfast at 6, I decided to grab a bite, bought a pau and got onto the bus. Being a weekday, the bus was half full. Only the first 5 seats were filled and the entire back rows were empty. So I could sit wherever I wanted. I lowered my seat and slept throughout the journey. From 2:30pm, we arrived in KL at about 7:30. The bus took us to the TBS terminal at Salak South. It's a transit terminal which connects to the Star LRT, ERL which takes you to KLIA and KTM Komuter which takes you to town.

If you are planning to take a flight upon arriving in KL, this' the best option.

It's quite a long walk to the train station from here though. But once you're in the train, you can relax all the way till you reach your destination. Beware of pickpockets though while you're walking and always be aware of your surroundings.

On the theory of planning and conspiracy

Date: 23rd March 2011. Its my 3rd xray check up at Pantai Medical Centre. While waiting for Vj to arrive at 830, i decided to do a few things. Firstly i cut my long nails, read my bible, chat with Mum. There's a girl who is used to parking her Car right in front Of our house. Usually we never see her & the same happens in the evening wen she returns. However, today, by luck she was still in her car putting on her makeup when I spotted her. I told mum casually that the girl who has bought the parking spot on contract has arrived & she's still in her car! Mum was adamant that I should go & talk to her & so I did! Funny and rather sarcastic conversation I had. Anyway she asked for a contract extension till next Tues. & I said ok & came back in. Shortly after, VJ came over & I hopped into his car. Following that were series of un-meaningful events.. Drop off @ lobby, VJ goes to basement to look for parking while I hop to the x-ray dept to register, VJ joins me, I have my x-ray taken, collect result & hop on to have breakfast before doctors appmt at 10am. Then it was English Muffin, Kapitan chicken pie & mocha @ Starbucks & then we were off to the doctors visit. Very brief xray explanation & I was given another 3 weeks of MC!!! Wow now that totals up to 6 weeks of sitting @ home?? Sheesh... I felt funny, mixed emotions & I wasn't sure why because just minutes before going in for consultation, I was hoping for an MC extension! Why? Coz CSC was where I was supposed to go to report for duty on the 24th (tomorrow). Unfortunately, Muhan SMS me the night before & said that they refused to pay for me to go there. This disappointment is what held me back. But another 3 weeks is tight rope too. What if there is no longer a position in PJ office? My heart was no longer with Subang office to go back there. After speaking to Muhan, we agreed that I will inform him on the 28th whether I can join or otherwise.. On another note, I decided to go over to KL office to meet Mel & speak to her directly about the situation. This needs to be done on Friday (Tom). So after appointment events were surrounding us looking for parking at MidValley. VJ who is usually patient had his patience tested to the limit but still endured it. After a painstaking 20mins or so we finally got one spot. First stop was GSC. It was Wednesday! Half price tics!! Unfortunately no nice shows worth watching was playing so movie plan cancelled. Next was Jusco to redeem his birthday gift vouchers. Oh yes, prior to that, I randomly walked into A Cut Above to enquire on the rate for balding. RM115 for any type of restyle. Then I left to follow VJ to jusco. Along the way, vj kept commenting on my funny balding idea & said that i'll look really sick since i was also limping then. He even said tat he will not see me for 3months after if i do cut my hair.. Funnily, while we were walking back to the car VJ suggested we go bald anyway. I was taken aback since by this point I didnt want to do it. I thought I'll drop by another day & get it done since I was totally cashless the whole day! I gave all the money I had for mum to buy gas that morning & the other balance amount was used to buy groceries when I took mum & the kids to Giant on Tuesday. I was supposed to withdraw from the ATM but smartly I left the card in another bag!! As I felt awful to ask VJ to go eat, I suggested we head home instead. He insisted tat I go cut hair instead & I agreed & went! He walked me in & left to wander around. In between I had to decide on the exact length I wanted & if a little short is enough.. Tough calls to make & with the fact tat VJ wasn't next to me, my gut feel was that this is my decision, I shud make the call myself. True enuf he told me the same thing when we met.. Hair turned out fabulous! I began to grow loving it more & more as we kept walking & talking about it. My crowning Glory was chopped, trimmed & shaved off for a cleaner look. A lot of mixed reactions and comments but it didn't matter at all to me. Today, being the 23rd also counts down to my turning 30!! Wow how momentus this moment is... Thanks to VJ for making today happen since if it wasn't for his insistence & my boldness to agree despite all his stupid remarks, today wouldn't have happened! & finally, after cracking my head for so long on what I should plan or do for my birthday, everything fell into place.. So what's the plan you may ask? Well, read on and the answers will unveil itself to u...