going abroad?

so, where to start?

actually my trip to JB was quite on impulse, or maybe not really so coz it was decided a week beforehand, but the one day travel to Singapore was really a plan on a sudden. once i heard of the idea, i can't help but to get excited over it.

along the 19 years that i've lived, to visit this country neighbouring to mine was the complete first time.

and the plan of what 5 of us(me and my sis and 3 cousins of mine) were going to do over there was made the night before our leave. well, b4 that, what i've ever known about singapore is pretty much only their changi airport. or perhaps i've heard the word 'jurong' when i watched phua chu kang or sth but not even a single idea of what kind of place that may be. to research about the tourist attraction hours before you are going sure makes you indecisive. what more, our budget is sooo limited.

initial plan: snow city(apparently located in jurong) as well as sentosa island

and what happened the next day : we only stepped in singapore when it had reached noon. and we're supposed to be back by dusk.

the revised plan : to just spend the whole day in sentosa, specifically the place they call 'imbiah' coz here lies most of the attractions. and little did we expect of how much the people would flock the place. perhaps we've forgotten it's school holiday.

i could say most of our trip was filled with tremendous waiting. even before we reached the venue, we had to wait multiple times never it was short for each of them. wait for the custom clearing, wait for the bus, wait in the bus, wait in the queue for every attractions, and even from the beginning wait for one of us who forgot the passport at home. but it was nice that we accidentally used the bus after we first arrived to reach the harbourfront (the point b4 u enter sentosa). normally, one would use the mrt coz it's faster but this sorta miss we've done allowed us to sightsee singapore on the road. masyaallah, what a wonder. i mean, i would love to live in a city like that too (if you could just ignore the obvious living cost). i mean, it's sooo lovely and CLEAN. it's just tooo different from what we usually get to see over here. no need to say how organized it looks, u just feel nice in that kind of atmosphere. but somehow, my gut told me it looks sooo organized and uniformed i might eventually get insane if i look at the same sight all the time.

well, the high-end region sure is a different story. for that, no need to be in singapore, practically in any country, the rich never escapes making their residence looks ever more impressive to the point you might ponder as to how much is needed to maintain it even for a day. now, i'm dreaming living in one.

for the activities we did in sentosa, we managed to stick to the plan-the budget one. we rode on the 'luge'(slide+toboggan model originated in NZ-not that i know what toboggan is :P), watched 4D movie(use 3D glasses and they use physical stimuli to add on the experience) and also went in the cineblast (it's like a rollercoaster ride when u actually stay in one place). the sea of people was quite choking but we managed to had fun after all.

our lunch? biscuit and tuna and some breads brought from over here.

indeed there were apparently a lot of locals too for it was school holiday but i could see the abundance of tourists as well. b4, i always hear each time TA comes here, singapore is like their must-go destination. i wonder if nihonjin makes up their major tourists, there are even nihongo signs in singapore. if only the arabs come there often, there would at least be allocated prayer rooms to satiate the demand. now i got a clue how it would be travelling oversea-or nihon specifically coz the muslim community is so minor. we had to find a space-thankfully we found a quiet and a bit secluded one thanks to the help of one of their staff and just pray with our forehead touching the rocky floor. not that it was my first time but it was quite an experience.

and later in the day after we finished having fun at sentosa, on our journey back, my little adventure when searching for the mosque was quite a wacky one. not only it was already night where you naturally feel not as safe, we were also separated too having no clue where the other two-the big sisters had gone to. so, whatever it is, we think it's wiser to solat first right, so the remaining 3 of us, made our way crossing the streets (one thing i really hate is crossing streets), struggling to find a mosque which we though was only a few steps away but ended up to be at the end of the road. just imagine how 'cuak' we were to be stranded in the middle of the city, not even having to passport in case anything happens-we believe those important stuff are better be in our sisters' custody whose location are unknown. thankfully, technology served their purpose at the end.

lastly, we ended the journey by finally using the mrt on the way back to the customs and also buses later. now, i feel inferior when comparing their public transports to ours. in term of the train alone, obviously theirs are better, but one thing i admire is their stations. be it the mrt or bus stations, it's just so clean. no scattered litters or dirt that's just an eyesore. the roads are a joy to ride on too, not as bumpy as the usual you experience here. and also the system is smooth. it's more informative when it's written what's available and the timing and all. perhaps i'm being biased but punctuality does matter. and so far i've seen in a day, the ones in my sight have better manners. that's one thing you'll be so grateful of over here.

so, there goes my long-winded story of what i've seen and done for the day i've spent going abroad XP. singapore sure is one interesting country to visit and even more exciting if you got money to spend more on. there are so much more i want to do, even at the sentosa where i've gone gonna have further attractions to be completed in the future so there're more to look forward to. so, anyone wanna join for any future plan?

oh, happy new year! um, i just missed the first moon eclipse of the year about an hour ago