Category: Overseas Travel

Some of the complaints that I hear about Singapore such as:
“there’s nothing to do”
“it’s boring”
“it’s too strict”
more often than not come from expats than natives. Of course, there could be a little bit of the “grass is greener” syndrome happening since I’ve heard the same complaints about Hong Kong and Beijing too.
The timing of this trip has been very good. Shortly before I started my journey, I switched around my destinations, going to Japan first and then to Singapore/Malaysia instead of the other way around, which was my original plan.
Because of this switcharoo, I was able to attend the Koenji Awaodori, my friend’s birthday brunch, the Comex show at the Singapore Expo Hall and the RSAF Open House at Paya Labar Air Base. The latter three were all on the same weekend.

On the path to total geekdom…
The Expo Hall is off the East West Line, close to Changi Airport. It involves a transfer of trains. But no matter if you didn’t know that. All you had to do was follow the big big crowd from the MRT all the way here. Easy!

This is just one part of the hall. Practically the entire Expo Hall was like this
The Comex Show is (from what I’ve been told) is Singapore’s biggest IT/computer event of the year. Lots of vendors and lots of deals. Lots of booth babes too! I wound up picking up a new hp to replace my HTC Blue Angel, AKA “the slab”. But that’s the extent of the geekyness that you’ll find out about me on this blog!
Also this weekend, the RSAF had an open house where you could check out planes and helicopters, pose for pictures, enter a lucky draw for a chance for one of three ride-alongs (wah!) and learn about all the computer and high tech stuff that makes up a big part of a modern airforce.
But at these shows, it’s the hardware that’s the big draw!

An F-16D with extra fuel tanks on the sides of the fuselage

Watch where you’re pointing that finger, you’ll rupture the fuel tank!

RSAF Chinook. They had the rear deck open and an orderly queue so people could walk through it and come out the front.
Besides these representative aircraft, the RSAF also has Apache attack helicopters and Boeing Stratotankers for mid air refueling. They also had some of their former first line aircraft, now regulated to training duty here.

Anyone remember the F5E Tiger II?

“Now don’t press that button, son. That’s the ejector seat..”
So there’s stuff to do on the weekends in Singapore. For the guys, it’s the Comex show with booth babes and new toys computer equipment. And for the families, guys and girls, it’s the Air Show. The guys get to check out the hardware and the girls get to check out the pilots.

Here’s one of my friends having a Sean Penn moment as she explains how to eat a Ya Kun softboiled egg at Far East Plaza, Scotts Road, Singapore.

After your prep the egg, you shoot it like an oyster. She wouldn’t let me film that. Bleah.

Usually it involves a newspaper, a map, a comfortable chair and a hp. And aircon, don’t’ forget the aircon!

Mmmmm. Planning! What to do this weekend?
Oh yeah, lots of beer and some kick ass fish and chips helps too. And lounge music. And great scenery!

the top floor which is lounge-y. First floor is bar and dance floor and 2nd floor which is a hangout mezzanine with big aircon unit to stand in front of…

barbaablackchic
10 Perak Road
Little India, Singapore
6297-9397

Got back to SIN from a whirlwind tour of KL and Malacca VERY late last night. At 0200, I stumbled into my usual guesthouse/hostel. Only to find out this AM that…
THERE’S NO WI FI!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! Used to allow can??? *wails* Broken routers suck.
Have not been online in four days (cuz no wi-fi access in KL) so am rejoining the world now. I’m at a McD’s where there’s free (but pokey) wi-fi access and where my MacBook will wind up smelling like french fries.
MUST CALL AHEAD in future!!

Melaka is a historic town roughly halfway between Singapore and KL. If KL is Malaysia’s Tokyo, Melaka could be seen as Malaysia’s Kyoto, a city that was great in the past and now is seen as a historic town.
One of the draws of Melaka is the famous Christ Church, built by the Dutch in 1753 and is still in use today as a church.

Christ Church at night

There’s a fountain and a companion building next door too

Christ Church is near a river that cuts through the city

It looks like a work in progress…
We met up with Yi-Lin’s cousin who is an architect here. She took us to the best siew yuk hawker stall in the universe.

That’s some siew yuk mein, wontons and some sour plum drink that was pretty good

Here’s a close up. It really was THAT good!
We also learned a lesson in etiquette when YL tried to place our order, she went up to the front of the hawker cart instead of going round to the back. It placed us as outsiders and everyone got a good laugh. We got the last laugh at the end because we got our orders first!! Wahahahahah!
After we visited Christ Church and toured the historic quarter, we were back on the Federal Highway to Singapore. 2 more hours to go…

31 August is Hari Merdeka, the founding of the modern state of Malaysia. I was in KL on 30 August when celebrations into the night welcome in Hari Merdeka.
Kinda like New Year’s Eve parties to welcome in the New Year. People in Malaysia are very patriotic by showing their colors all over the place. Sometimes on buses. Definitely on the streets. Nicely on their persons (complete with bad pun). And sometimes patriotism just spurts out of their cars.

Must’ve driven into a flag storm…

Saw this car at lunch in Klang, on the Road to Singapore.

KL in some ways is an urban planner’s nightmare. The roads aren’t in a grid, thus making navigation a challenge for first time visitors. And the traffic!! The traffic jams are legendary.

This is traffic at 1600. And it’s really not that bad YET!
To help deal with this, KL has several rail lines (LRT and monorail and high speed) running through the city. However, they are all run by different companies and transferring between them is an exercise in patience (and ringgit). If you plan to muck around in KL, it’s best to PLAN PLAN PLAN and to use your map reading skills…
After I finished my Petronas Tower tour, I decided to check out the Bukit Bintang area. This is one of the busy spots in downtown KL with lots of shops, restuarants and bars for expats and upwardly mobile types. Tonight is Merdeka eve; many of the bars were getting ready for evening festivities. It even has its own KL Monorail stop!

It’s really the Coca-Cola stop…

As if you had any doubt about who is sponsoring this staion..
Ah, you’ve probably noticed that it’s a co-branded Monorail stop. Apparently ALL the stations on the KL Monorail have corporate “sponsors” that blanket their respective stations with advertising. It’s useful in a touristy way if you have to give directions. “Take the monorail and get off at the “Coke” station”. Hey, if it keeps fares down and brings in revenue, it’s all good with me!

Can you recognize the companies that have stations here?

THE Malaysian landmark (the one thing that people think “Malaysia” when they see it) is unquestionably the Petronas Towers.

They’re quite tall. And there’s a mall at the bottom!
I was last in KL in 2003 when I was introduced to Tiger Beer with ice, spicy chicken noodle soup, World Union Rugby and the mother of all hangovers. During this lost weekend, we tried to get tickets to the Petronas Towers tour, but got there too late (all gone!). Tickets for the tour are free, but rationed. They are distributed on the same day, from 0800 until they run out.
My first stop after arriving at KL Sentral from KLIA was to the ticket desk to try to get a tour ticket. I arrived there around 1015 and I’ll have to admit, I wasn’t too optimistic. But sometimes things work out. Because I got a ticket for the 1400 tour!

A view of a tall mall

My favourite store in the KLCC!
After lunch, puttering through the mall and an all too brief internet session, I went on the tour. It began with a brief film on the construction and design of the Towers followed by a ride in what seemed to be a freight elevator to the skybridge on the 41st Floor.

Looking down! Note the brace supporting the skybridge

It’s a nice view from 41 stories up

The park that’s adjecent to the KLCC

Detail shot of some of the 65000 square meters of stainless steel cladding used on the Towers
Tower 1 is occupied by the Petronas company and Tower 2 is leased out to commercial tenants. No restaurant or view deck at the top of the towers. Still I wonder who has the highest office in the building?

As this is a corporate headquarters, the usual disclaimer…

Hmmmm. Since I don’t speak Bahasa Malaysia, should I retitle this entry to “Aeroline Basi”?
So after an evening at the Singapore Island Club (because Wild Rocket is closed on Mondays!!) and overnight in the Summer Tavern, I dragged my roller bag toward Waterfront Plaza. Then I gave up and flagged down a taxi and RODE to Waterfront Plaza. A very inconvenient location since there’s no MRT stop nearby. Aeroline has since moved their Singapore terminal to Harbourfront. It’s a good location since all the buses and taxis know the location and it’s the terminus of the NEL.

Get on the bas…
Now why am I riding the basi instead of flying or taking the train, you may ask? Well, taking the train is SLOWER than taking the basi. And taking the basi is hella cheaper than flying and it’s just a few hours longer. See, Singapore and Malaysian Airlines have an arrangement where they monopolize the KL-Singapore route, keeping all others (such as Air Asia, JetStar, Tiger, etc) out. The prices that are charged are expensive for a 40 minute flight. In other words, RIP-OFF! There’s movement to change that, but for now, the basi is your best bet.
And for basi, it’s not that bad. It’s a modern double decker with seating for about 20 upstairs and a lounge area and seating for another 10 or so downstairs. The basi left promptly on time and drove to the Tuas checkpoint. Where we all played the “immigration hokey-pokey” which went something like this:
Get off the basi. Queue up in scary building. Stamp passport. Get on da basi.

Drive across the bridge
Get off the basi. Take your luggage. Queue up in scary building. Stamp passport. Toss luggage into back of basi. Get on da basi.
A bit of a pain, this is. I do understand the need for passport control on proper sides of the border, but geez, still a pain. Kenny Sia wrote about this too and made a neat-o graphic.
Apparently, it’s a special thing if your KL basi has food. From what I’m told, it’s usually a cold sandwich. On Aeroline, you get a bottle of “processed tap water” and a hot lunch.

Hot lunch!

What is this? Looks like chicken…
Besides the mystery meat, the rest of lunch wasn’t too bad. And the ride over was comfortable. The seats were leather (nicer seats than UA), they reclined and there were a couple of movies (Pirates of the Carribean and White Chicks) too. Thankfully, I slept through most of the movies.

The view from my seat
Didn’t really miss much out the window during the 5 hour trip because this is what you see for most of it.

Yep, it’s a lot of rubber trees. Going by pretty fast. That’s all you see for about 5 hours. Then 5.1 hours later, you see this (along with a LOT of traffic)

Petronas Towers at night from the basi
This means we’ve arrived! My frens are here to collect me so this means time for real food!!

Besides the usual accolades about Singapore Changi (home base of SQ, spa, movies, free broadband, cushy chairs, transit hotel, koi pond inside the terminal, hawker centre, great duty-free, yadda yadda), here’s more reasons why Changi is, quite possibly, a destination upon itself.

Free Financial Times!!
And when you get off the plane, you see these every 10 meters, from the gate to immigration.

These are foot massage machines. OK, more like reflexology machines!

You lose your socks and put your feet inside for 10 minutes of pain and bliss. Waaah!

This being Singapore, there are exact instructions so you dun hurt yourself
Both OTO and Osim have different machines on the path to immigration. By the time I finished my session and cleared immigration (the latter taking a whole 3 minutes!), my baggage was already off the belt waiting for me. I was the last one from my flight to leave the airport! Sheesh.