Visiting Singapore - The Lion City!
Dec 22 - Dec 30, 2014
This is one of those trips that was on 'Planning' mode for a very long time. Finally, the stars came together and things started materializing slowly.
The greatest risk for this trip was obviously Ruchir's age and at 1 year and 8 months, we really were not sure if he was ready to take on the hardships of a 6 day international travel. So we really had to think it through many times before we were confident that he was ready for the challenge.
We spent a lot of time first contemplating if we wanted to do Singapore alone or if it could be paired along with a day tour to Kuala Lumpur. While the logical mind pushed us to go for SGP and KL together, our hearts were into doing only Singapore. Finally the heart took over the mind and we zeroed in on Singapore alone.
We booked our flight tickets some time in the first week of September. Even though the deals with Tiger Airways were enticing, the fact that they did not allow any refunds in case of cancellation or change of plans made us to choose Air India - the closest that was to the ideal price point of Tiger Airways. Just that we had to go via Chennai or Mumbai to Singapore as there was no direct flight from Bangalore.
On the day of booking, found that the flights via Chennai was closed for booking and so we had to take the Mumbai route, if we wanted to do Singapore!. In a way, this option worked out for us it would have ensure that we have a longer time (5 hours) between Mumbai and Singapore (midnight), which meant, Ruchir could sleep the night through, without having to wake up early or having a broken sleep. Ruchir getting a good sleep was critical to the success of our plans!
So the dates of our trip finally arrived and the following passages gives a long and detailed sojourn of Singapore.
You could quickly jump to seeing the Pictures and Videos below or read our story if you have the time! (Mind you, it is going to be long ;-) )
Day 0: 22nd Dec, 2014 - Monday:
Departed Bangalore by Air India evening flight to Mumbai. We had a brief stop over for about 3 hours there before our Singapore flight. There was some nervousness in Bangalore as there was a delay in departure from Bangalore by 40 minutes, but it still worked out. On reaching Mumbai's new T2 terminal, we were pleasantly surprised with the ambiance, convenience and the posh design of the Terminal. Loved it.
Didn't realize that the transfer between Domestic (1A) to International Terminal(T2) takes close to 30 minutes over the complimentary Shuttle Service provided at the airport. And the walk from the point the shuttle dropped off at T2 to the Boarding gate took another 20 minutes!!!
We were delighted when we got to know that we would be flying to Singapore on the new Boeing 'Dreamliner - 787' aircraft!. Apparently AI has started Dreamliners to Singapore only via Mumbai and Delhi routes. Had we taken the Chennai route, we would have missed it!. So really happy that we did not get tickets through Chennai !!!
Flying on a Dreamliner was a pure experience by itself. Economy seats had TVs for the personal infotainment, super wide and quite a happy leg room. The aircraft was mint fresh, food served was quite tasted and truly Indian (our choice of meal) and the Air-hostess'es were quite impressive as well. Overall, very satisfied flying with Air India and not sure if I could ask for anything more from AI. Keep up the good work, AI.
Day 1: 23rd Dec, 2014, Tuesday:
Landed in Singapore by 7:30 AM SG Time. We chose not to not to see much of Changi Airport, and picked up a taxi and headed straight to Shubha's house. We were in her house (Waterfront Waves Condo in Bedok Reservoir Street) by 10 AM. Freshened ourselves, had a quick breakfast and went out to Sudhee's aparments, (which was in the next building), for some directions.
Sudhee guided us with the planning our trips during our stay and helped us setup our communication coordinates. I had purchased a 7 day Singtel SIM Card with data package, so that we could be reachable by all.
Since it was almost 11:30 AM, it made sense to cover the only the Singapore Zoo for the day. So we took a Taxi and went straight to the Zoo.
Singapore Zoo - Despite the Christmas / Holiday season rush, it was quite bearable. The rush was way less compared to what we had seen during the first day first show of Amir Khan's PK, back in Bangalore !. We purchased the tickets to the Zoo as well as for the Jurong Bird Park in a Combo Offer.
The Animals looked lively, arrangements were top class, well maintained and we say many animals that we never had seen earlier. I was particularly impressed with Kangaroos, Polar Bears, Sea Lions, Orangutans , Baboons, and Pygmy Hippos and the Ibex. We gave the Elephants and the Snakes a skip.
The Sea Lion Water Splash show at the Amphitheater was brilliant and loved every stunt that 'Pedro' (A Californian Sea Lion) amused us with. Outstanding performance and couldn't have been better.
Overall Singapore Zoo was an amazing place and it took us close to 6 hours to cover the most important places. Singapore zoo was quite huge! Probably same or even bigger than Mysore Zoo.
Wish we had drinking water taps at convenient locations. With so much of humidity, we were dehydrating at a fast pace it would have been very helpful for all those who visit the zoo.
The humid temperature really bogged us down and we were sweating like fountains the whole day. Pooja enjoyed the days proceedings while Ruchir chose to beat the heat in his Stroller. The sudden change of weather was quite taxing on him.
We took the Bus to 'Ang Mo Kio' and took the Red line MRT to 'City Hall' and then took the Green Line to Bedok (Bus Interchange) and then the bus to Reservoir Street!. This was quite a daunting feat for the freshly arrived 'us' having very little about the mechanics of travel in Singapore. Combine this with a Cranky little kid, A hungry elder one, Ruchir's Stroller, 2 heavy backpacks, completely depleted battery on Mobile phone and lack of overnight sleep, the last leg commute really killed us. Somehow we managed to reach Bedok bus interchange and surprisingly, none of the folks we asked in the bus stand knew which bus could take us to the Reservoir Road! Some told we had to take the bus from the 2nd floor of Bedok Mall and some told to catch it downstairs. So we did 2 rounds of going up and down the mall to figure out where we need to catch the bus! Finally approached some folks of Indian Origin to help us and they too struggled but told us to catch the 228 to Reservoir road from the Bus Interchange on the 2nd floor. Thanks to them, we got hold of the bus back to home.
Finally, an eventful first day and a lot of leanings. We were happy to be back at our nest on the 12th floor. Souji prepared Maggi and those little noodles that did not get much respect back in Bangalore, suddenly was the most heavenly 4 course meal we ever had.
Our legs had become logs and we slept like one!
Day 2: 24th Dec, 2014: Wednesday:
Got up early and had a wonderful breakfast of Puliyogare. The plan was to complete Sentosa Island Resorts. Now that we knew what to expect during travel, we were very well prepared. We took the 228 bus to Bedok, the North East Green line to Outram Park and then took the Purple line to Harbour front. We did the ticketing to Sentosa Resorts at the Harbour Front counter. We took the Unlimited Cable Car option to reach Sentosa, SEA Aquarium and Universal Studios in one shot.
We went up the lift to the 15th floor at Harbour Front Tower 2 and there, we got our first experience of riding on a Cable car! What an outstanding ride it was!.
Awesome experience! Soujanya, Pooja were overjoyed as this was really special for us. We took the Mt.Faber route once and then back to Harbour Front and then to Sentosa and did the trip atleast twice - just for the heck of it! Enjoying every ride, it was a great feeling to watch the busy world underneath! The view of the Sentosa Island, Harbour Ports, Sky Scrapers, Highway Roads, Mount Faber - What a lovely ride! It felt that the whole trip's paisa was vasooled with just this ride :-).
We did a small pit-stop at Mount Faber and went around for some quick snaps but nothing much here other than 'Nothing' :-). We were more happy to get on to the cable car again and do the ride (Unlimited rides!!!) and then finally got down at Sentosa station.
We entered the main entrance, walked leisurely around, walked past the snake charmers and past the parrot keepers. Here one could take photos with colourful Macaws sitting on ones shoulders. Next we walked up to the huge Merlion statue and went around this structure for some time. We moved on towards the Sentosa World Resorts Area and located the SEA Aquarium which we really wanted to see.
Located the 'Armadillo' framed structure that holds the SEA Aquarium and got inside. This aquarium showcases the best of the marine life forms in all its glory as you walk through in their habitat through the glass enclosure. First the colourful fishes, followed by the big ones, the jelly fishes, star fishes, Sea Anemones, Sea Horses, and 100 different varieties of them. The Aquarium is probably the best one that we have visited till date and a must see for any body who visits Singapore. The last was the tube where you walk in surrounded by sharks! It was breathtaking to see these predators swimming past us at sniffing distance. Awesome stuff.
Had some quick munch and we were ready to move onto the 'Dolphin show @ Underwater World'. We purchased the tickets at the concourse and took the bus ride to this place that was 5 minutes away. We got settled into the Amphitheater of sorts with a huge pool in front, with cheering crowds.
Pink Dolphins swam and greeted everybody and did some great stunt moves. Sea Lions joined them and did a few more tricks like catching the rings and other swimming stuff. Most of it was a repeat show of what we saw at the Singapore Zoo. To our surprise, in about 20 minutes the show was over!!! Not a great deal I must say considering that there was very little of the Dolphins and more of the Sea Lions. Infact, the Sea Lions that performed the stunts in the Singapore Zoo was much bigger and better and the show came Free with the Zoo tickets. We were expecting a lot more from this show, but should say that it was just okay considering the fact that we saw some Pink Dolphins we had never seen before.
The humidity was taking a toll on us for the 2nd successive day and we had been dehydrated very badly. Even after guzzling liters of drinking water, we felt drained and our heels were aching pretty badly. We went to the much talked about 'Luge' and inquired about the ticket and rules. Ruchir was not allowed and Pooja had to be escorted. Considering that our energy levels were close to zero and neither Pooja nor Souji was keen to do this ride and so we skipped.
We hopped back into the the cable car and did another trip now with the sun setting down. We could see an approaching thunderstorm in the overcast sky and that made up a beautiful scenery to watch from the cable car.
We exited Sentosa and thought we will cover Orchards Street (via Dhoby Ghaut MRT). But we realized it would be too late to start another big visiting point after doing so much at Sentosa, so directly went to Little India and did some walking around Serangoon Road, Buffalo Road and Race Course Road. Our bellies were crying foul with hardly any fuel inside and what better place to be than in Little India at such times. We saw the 'Pure Vegetarian' board for the fist time in Singapore and later read 'Komal Vilas' on Buffalo Road. That was just enough for us to jump in and attack. For the first time we were served with Water in Singapore and what a relief to see free water for drinking ;-).
The food was Authentic Unlimited South-Indian Thali on a Plantain leaf, and worth every cent. It gave some rest to our aching heels as well. Once fully reloaded, we walked for a few minutes to 'Mustaffa' the store that has it all! And it really had everything in its 5 floors!. Huge one, and fully stacked from floor to the ceiling, this was a place where every Indian would feel at home for shopping purposes. But we were not here for shopping, but just to see how this giant of a machine works. Souji did pick up some souvenirs from here though.
We were dead tired and couldn't complete all the levels at Mustaffa. We hurried back to the Park MRT and then took the interchange at Outram park to Bedok and back home, not realizing it could have been easier to go home by a Bus instead of over the MRT.
Day 3: 25th Dec, 2014: Thursday - Christmas!
Sudheendra and Meera had invited us for Breakfast and we had sumptuous Masala Dosas and Hot Sajjige!. A super duper coffee made it the best breakfast we had in Singapore.
The plan for the day was to keep the schedule light so that we could relax well before we get to Universal Studios planned for the next day. So we wanted to do 'Jurong Bird Park', 'Orchards Road' and 'Raffles'.
Got to know that Jurong Bird Park was quite far Bedok, but easy to reach. The most important show over there was the 11 AM show with birds that could not be missed and in order to make it on-time, we took the Taxi straight from home to the Bird Park. The taxi ride gave us the glimpse of many other areas of Singapore we had not seen and took us close to 45 minutes to reach the park. We were in the park by 10:15 AM and did the Hop-in Hop-off ride first and hopped out of the first stop.
The 'Lory Loft' was a complete treasure house of Lories, showing off their tropical colours in full view.The walk through enclosure holds a piece of the tropical rainforest-like environment and this was a big win for us as well as birds to be able to see them in their natural habitat. The bright red, yellow, green, blue hues on their bosoms made it a wonderful sight. Heaven for photographers.
The birds are so used to people visiting, walking close to them and taking photographs, that they are least bothered by the presence of visitors and this gave us a lot of time for taking some good pictures with them.
We also saw Scarlet Ibis, Flamingos, Penguins from Africa and Antarctica, Toucans, Ostriches, Cassowaries, The Eagles, Vultures, and many others.
We walked down the hill and reached the Amphitheater which was already full to the brim, but we managed to get a decent place for the big show. Out came the Macaws flying from their enclosures and sat on the MC's hand, listening to her every command. Some 20 flamingos came walking onto the stage again after some fun fare. Same with the Cockatoos and Toucans. They all did their wonderfully choreographed stunts. 2 Cockatoos did competed against each other on which one would put the little golf balls into the bag first. Then there were these Macaws that flew into the stands in circles, where we sat and squeezed through the rings held by some volunteers. The crowd went ballistic with the kind of display those birds put up. Awesome show by these birds.
We had never seen penguins and we were glad to see them there and spend some time watching them. We did another round on the tram and saw a few other enclosures but we had seen some of those birds many times over in other aviaries elsewhere, so we gave the skip.
We were done with the Bird Park by about 1 PM and took the 5 minute bus ride to 'Boon Lay' MRT. From there we took the green line to Outram Park and switched to the Purple line to Orchards Road.
We came out of the MRT and found probably the whole of Singapore's youth on 1 single street. The road side was fully decked up for Christmas, the surrounding malls looked spectacular, one better than the other and the Main Orchard Road was closed for vehicular traffic.
Folks were walking up and down the road endlessly, slurping off Ice Candy in their hand. We were surprised to see that all of these candies were of the same make and colour and were wondering how could that be possible, only to find out that it was being given free to everybody at one of the malls as a Christmas gift. And so we got into the queue too and got one for ourselves. The Walls Super Jumbo Ice Candy (Made in Ireland)! A perfect example of 'great things comes in small packages'!
We stepped inside 'Takashimaya' mall and roamed around the floors for sometime and then moved to the next one. We walked around the Orchard Street area with a million people around and it was nice to be here on Orchard road on the Christmas Day. On our way back we saw Mandarin Orchards, NGee Ann City, Tang Plaza, Wisma Atria, The Marriott, Crown Plaza, Robinsons, and many others. By the end of our walk we already had reached the 'Somerset' MRT station and our next destination was the Raffles place, so we took the red line to Raffles.
We got down at Raffles, and came out of a myriad of towering skyscrapers. Each one taller than the other. An amazing sight to see. We crossed over to the other side of the road and saw the Singapore River (Not sure if this is a river!) but that is what the locals told me. The majestic towers across the bridge made a great picture and we spent quite a time taking snaps. A leisurely walk in the park, looking at the high-rises, walking past the boats at the Quays, we walked towards the Durian building and then crossed over the bridge to Singapore's iconic Merlion statue overlooking the Marina Bay Sands. This place is one place that should not be missed. It really feels special being here. We spent quite some time before the sunset and an hour after the lights fully came out. This place turned magical under lights and is a feast for all. This place is definitely the poster-perfect point for anybody visiting Singapore.
We took the MRT back from Raffles straight to Bedok and took the bus back to home. Earlier in the day, we thought that we would keep the day short to be ready to take on the Universal Studios, but the around of walking, and moving around we did, it was 10:00 when we reached home. We had a quick dinner and then hit the sacks.
Day 4: 26th Dec, 2014: Friday:
Souji prepared a quick breakfast of Puliogare and Curd rice and we were all set for the day. It had rained overnight and the sky was dark and cloudy. We took the MRT to Harbour Front via Outram Park and took the Sentosa Express via the Tram. Due to the holiday season, there were huge crowds at the Vivo City where we were to catch the Sentosa Express to Universal Studios. Thanks to Ruchir and his stroller, we got into the Priority Queue and short circuited the long queue. The Tram ride was good as we had not done this ride during our visit to Sentosa couple of days back.
We got off the tram and walked to the Universal Studios and saw the trademarked globe with 'Universal Studios' circling under a misty fog. Another Landmark and Iconic point in our Singapore things-to-do list.
We got into the Studioes along with huge number of visitors and the queues for every other ride was getting longer and longer. Ruchir being an infant, couldn't go on any rides, while Pooja could go for some and not all, while Souji could do all.
Souji and Pooja first did the 'Madagascar Ride' and it took close to an hour for them to be back. Ruchir peacefully slept while they were away. Next we did the 'Donkey show' at the 'Far Far Away' lands of Shrek. All of us were able to join this as it was a theatrical entertainment show. We took some snaps with the Characters of Madagascar and Shrek as well.
Just when we thought we were chugging along fine, it started to rain and pour. It rained so heavily that all the folks went for cover. It rained relentlessly and everyone had to buy a raincoat from all the stores. The colorfully clad dresses now went undercover! The folks had a horrendous time managing kids, rain, food and long waiting times of up to 90 minutes for each ride! But people had paid a ransom to be at Universal Studios and they had no option but to manage the situation at hand.
The day looked like a wash out as we had to even cover our Stroller through a raincoat!. With all those, Souji was able to do the 'Revenge of the Mummy' ride. Later we strolled towards the Lost World, Jurassic Park, Cyclone, Accelerator and finally the Transformer Ride. The Transformer ride was the chosen one and both Sudheendra and Meera insisted we do this ride. But again the waiting time was 120 minutes and this let us down very badly, doubled by the fact that it was pouring outside. The express pass was too pricey at 60 bucks and did not make any sense for us. So we saw a few other things on the way, also did the Sesame Street Show as well as the 'Santa's soldiers'. It was already about 5:30 PM by now and it was still pouring. We had completed one full circle of the Universal Studios, having dearly missed Transformers. It was getting darker and we could see loads of people moving out the studios. We took this opportunity to do one more round of the studios to cover those which we had missed out. To our surprise the waiting times had reduced drastically to less than 10 minutes. So we quickly did some Merry-go-round rides which Ruchir enjoyed and many others in a jiffy.
Next we also did the Lost World and Jurassic Park visits and quickly walked back to the Transformers Arena at the Sci-Fi park. The wait time had reduced to 40 minutes and Ruchir was almost ready to sleep again! Souji and Pooja jumped on the presenting opportunity and ran into the queue. They came back after doing the Transformer ride in about 45 minutes and could see why this ride is so 'must-do' by the huge smile they had on their faces. The second round trip really helped us salvage all the rides we had missed on our first circuit. We did some purchases and souvenirs in the stores and it was almost 8 PM when we checked our watches. We were dead tired after a long, tiring, rainy, but wonderful visit to the Universal Studios.
We took the tram ride back to Vivo City via the Sentosa Express and had a quick dinner at Subway. Later we took the MRT back to Bedok via Outram Park. We were home by 10 PM and that is the last thing my mind can register for that day.
Day 5: 27th Dec, 2014: Saturday:
The day was dedicated to spending time in the city and doing some shopping and Sudhee suggested we visit Vivo City Mall as there were some Christmas and New Year Sales happening there. So we set out early and did the Vivo City Mall. Next we took the MRT to City Hall as I wanted to visit the 'Funan Digital Life Mall'. I was in search of a good deal for a Nikon 50 mm prime lens for my DSLR. In India it costs about INR 8.5K close to SGD 200. I checked out at about 5 or 6 shops at Funan IT mall, only to find the prices were atleast SGD 80 excess of what I could get here in Bangalore. Amazon.in was offering this for INR 8.5K, so there was no point continuing searching any further here in the mall, and decided I would rather buy it out in India itself. There was not much of a deal here.
It was noon and I really wanted to have the Plantain Leaf Lunch again at Little India, so took the Taxi ride straight to 'Komal Vilas' on Buffalo Road. Fully loaded and satisfied, we then took the taxi straight to IKEA Mall at Tampines.
Sudhee and Meera suggested we shop here as we could get a lot of good things around Home accessories and furnishings. And we were really BLOWN AWAY with what we saw over there. Outstanding quality, great range and great value for money. Souji went ballistic with her shopping basket and often had to reminded to be cognizant of the weight of our luggage that we can carry back to Bangalore :-). (Which obviously fell on deaf ears). But we thoroughly enjoyed our shopping there. IKEA is a good place to visit especially when we don't have this here in India yet.
By the time we were done with IKEA it was already 8 PM and Sudheendra and Meera had invited us again over Dinner. So we took the taxi straight to home, dumped all the things, freshened up and then visited Sudhee, Meera and Shruthi at their home.
Pooja and Shruthi had become great friends in Singapore and the moment they met each other, both of them locked themselves in the room and till the time we were about to leave, we didn't see them around at all!
The Mysore Rasam that Meera had prepared was a killer and 'out of the world'. The 'Avarekai Sambhar', Gorikaay Palya were a super hit as well. After a couple of hours of Chit-Chatting, Sudheendra prepared an Ice Cream Desert with Mangoes from Australia! We were pampered with some really outstanding food that night.
We also discussed on what else to do the first half of the remaining next day, before we headed back to Bangalore the next day.
Day 6: 28th Dec, 2014: Sunday.
Last day of our trip at Singapore. Our flights were at 7 PM. So we had a half day that we could use for shopping or we could do another point of interest and the unanimous choice was to cover the Orchid Park at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. We took the Bus in front of Waterfront Waves/Keys to McPherson Road and from there we took the Circle line MRT to Botanical Gardens.
We reached Botanic Gardens quite early and did the 1.5 KM walk to Orchid Gardens. The Botanic Gardens may be a little larger or the same size as that of Lal Bagh gardens at Bangalore. We purchased the tickets at the Orchid Garden counter and got into the park. The Park hosted exotic varieties of Orchids in all hues and colours. The overnight rain delicately installed little drops of dew on all those flowers that were glistening in the bright sun, and that made a wonderful picture and a Photographer's paradise. We saw about 50 to 60 different varieties of Orchids and the range of colours they had were as vibrant as that of the birds that we saw in Lory Loft at the Jurong Bird Park. Outstanding stuff.
We were done with that Orchids Garden in about 3 hours and took the Circle line to McPherson. Later we decided we will check out the Bedok Mall as well. So instead of getting down at McPherson, we went to Paya Lebar, where we switched to the green line and went to Bedok station where the Mall was situated. The other day, we had seen some great plastic Orchid plants and Souji really wanted to buy them. We went to the store to pick it up but we found that the stalks were 5 feet long and it would be a problem squeezing it into any of the luggage bags we had. We did not do any thing else there and took the bus back to home.
We packed the bags, checked our flight tickets and then moved out of the house by 3 PM. We left the luggage at the security and made a quick visit to Sudheendra and Meera's house on Waterfront Keys. We said bye to the wonderful family for taking such good care of us in Singapore. They even booked a taxi for us to get to the Airport.
We left our home-away-from-home to Changi and reached there by 4 PM. We particularly wanted to get to Changi earlier, so that we could see the airport itself which would take close to 2 hours. We checked in our luggage and then went around all the shops. Bought some chocolates and souvenirs at duty free shops. Our flight back to Mumbai departed on time and the journey was peaceful.
With all the constant running we did the whole day, we did not find the time to have some decent food till the time the Air Hostess served piping hot dinner for us. With Ruchir and Souji tired and asleep, watched some movies on the personal TV console.
We landed in Mumbai at 10:30 PM and were done with the Baggage claim, Customs and exited in the next 1 hour. We rechecked-in our luggage for the domestic flight to Bangalore and then took the bus that would transfer us to the Domestic Terminal. Our flight to Bangalore was at 6 AM in the morning, a layover of 8 hours. The kids went to sleep, but Souji and I had a tough time sleeping while sitting. Somehow we endured it. By day break, we freshened up and took our flight to Bangalore. Landed in Bangalore at 9 AM and we were home by 10:30 AM.
Overall Experience of our trip:
This trip gave Souji and Pooja an international experience and was a great learning for all of us. We are greatly awed by the Cleanliness, Discipline and the overall Standard of Living in Singapore. The roads were Wide, Less traffic, Super Public Transportation, Vast Lung Spaces inside and outside the City, Well placed maintained public infrastructure, Tourism and Travel, Outstanding Public Transportation be it MRT, Bus, Taxi etc..., High Speed Internet and Telephony Facilities and overall Proud Citizens. I was personally impressed by the discipline the when they offered their seats to Soujanya while carrying Ruchir. It was instantaneous and was like almost reflexive. A lot to learn from them in these areas.
I also observed a few things that were a little different. Over the MRTs, we saw folks who are always hooked and 'digitally connected' via their mobile devices and that looked pretty robotic. Did not see many conversations between fellow travelers, no exchange of smiles when eye meets eye. Social interactions were scarce. This probably is true to most 'Forward' countries, especially when such infrastructure has evolved leaps and bounds and this phenomenon may not be only with Singapore.
All said, we loved every minute we spent in Singapore and we had a blast! Our tour of 6 days made us feel we spent a lot longer than that. Undoubtedly, this has been one of the long pending trips that we wanted to do from a long time, but that got materialized only this time.
Thanks!
Shubha and Jayanth:
Words can't express the favours we have received from you. Our stay at your house was a home away from home. If not for this, we could not have had been able to manage Ruchir and Pooja and story would have been very different. Many Thanks to you folks for this.
Shruthi, Meera and Sudhee:
Without any formalities, thanks so much for taking such good care of us while we were out there. Your recommendations for us on the Transformers ride at Universal Studios, Orchid Gardens and IKEA proved too valuable for us.
Meera - The taste of the 'Mysore Rasam' you prepared will linger on our taste buds for a long time to come. Fellow BMS'ites, you know what to ask Meera to prepare when we meet up next :-)
Shruthi - Pooja loved your company and even though you folks were together for a very short time, there has not been a day that has passed since she came back, where she has not spoken of the wonderful time she had with you. Thanks so much for this.
With that, a wonderful and a memorable journey comes to an end. Here are some pictures and videos that were taken during our travel and hope you like them. If you are seeing this, then there is a chance that you have read the whole blog! Hope you like it.
This is one of those trips that was on 'Planning' mode for a very long time. Finally, the stars came together and things started materializing slowly.
The greatest risk for this trip was obviously Ruchir's age and at 1 year and 8 months, we really were not sure if he was ready to take on the hardships of a 6 day international travel. So we really had to think it through many times before we were confident that he was ready for the challenge.
We spent a lot of time first contemplating if we wanted to do Singapore alone or if it could be paired along with a day tour to Kuala Lumpur. While the logical mind pushed us to go for SGP and KL together, our hearts were into doing only Singapore. Finally the heart took over the mind and we zeroed in on Singapore alone.
We booked our flight tickets some time in the first week of September. Even though the deals with Tiger Airways were enticing, the fact that they did not allow any refunds in case of cancellation or change of plans made us to choose Air India - the closest that was to the ideal price point of Tiger Airways. Just that we had to go via Chennai or Mumbai to Singapore as there was no direct flight from Bangalore.
On the day of booking, found that the flights via Chennai was closed for booking and so we had to take the Mumbai route, if we wanted to do Singapore!. In a way, this option worked out for us it would have ensure that we have a longer time (5 hours) between Mumbai and Singapore (midnight), which meant, Ruchir could sleep the night through, without having to wake up early or having a broken sleep. Ruchir getting a good sleep was critical to the success of our plans!
So the dates of our trip finally arrived and the following passages gives a long and detailed sojourn of Singapore.
You could quickly jump to seeing the Pictures and Videos below or read our story if you have the time! (Mind you, it is going to be long ;-) )
Day 0: 22nd Dec, 2014 - Monday:
Departed Bangalore by Air India evening flight to Mumbai. We had a brief stop over for about 3 hours there before our Singapore flight. There was some nervousness in Bangalore as there was a delay in departure from Bangalore by 40 minutes, but it still worked out. On reaching Mumbai's new T2 terminal, we were pleasantly surprised with the ambiance, convenience and the posh design of the Terminal. Loved it.
Didn't realize that the transfer between Domestic (1A) to International Terminal(T2) takes close to 30 minutes over the complimentary Shuttle Service provided at the airport. And the walk from the point the shuttle dropped off at T2 to the Boarding gate took another 20 minutes!!!
We were delighted when we got to know that we would be flying to Singapore on the new Boeing 'Dreamliner - 787' aircraft!. Apparently AI has started Dreamliners to Singapore only via Mumbai and Delhi routes. Had we taken the Chennai route, we would have missed it!. So really happy that we did not get tickets through Chennai !!!
Flying on a Dreamliner was a pure experience by itself. Economy seats had TVs for the personal infotainment, super wide and quite a happy leg room. The aircraft was mint fresh, food served was quite tasted and truly Indian (our choice of meal) and the Air-hostess'es were quite impressive as well. Overall, very satisfied flying with Air India and not sure if I could ask for anything more from AI. Keep up the good work, AI.
Day 1: 23rd Dec, 2014, Tuesday:
Landed in Singapore by 7:30 AM SG Time. We chose not to not to see much of Changi Airport, and picked up a taxi and headed straight to Shubha's house. We were in her house (Waterfront Waves Condo in Bedok Reservoir Street) by 10 AM. Freshened ourselves, had a quick breakfast and went out to Sudhee's aparments, (which was in the next building), for some directions.
Sudhee guided us with the planning our trips during our stay and helped us setup our communication coordinates. I had purchased a 7 day Singtel SIM Card with data package, so that we could be reachable by all.
Since it was almost 11:30 AM, it made sense to cover the only the Singapore Zoo for the day. So we took a Taxi and went straight to the Zoo.
Singapore Zoo - Despite the Christmas / Holiday season rush, it was quite bearable. The rush was way less compared to what we had seen during the first day first show of Amir Khan's PK, back in Bangalore !. We purchased the tickets to the Zoo as well as for the Jurong Bird Park in a Combo Offer.
The Animals looked lively, arrangements were top class, well maintained and we say many animals that we never had seen earlier. I was particularly impressed with Kangaroos, Polar Bears, Sea Lions, Orangutans , Baboons, and Pygmy Hippos and the Ibex. We gave the Elephants and the Snakes a skip.
The Sea Lion Water Splash show at the Amphitheater was brilliant and loved every stunt that 'Pedro' (A Californian Sea Lion) amused us with. Outstanding performance and couldn't have been better.
Overall Singapore Zoo was an amazing place and it took us close to 6 hours to cover the most important places. Singapore zoo was quite huge! Probably same or even bigger than Mysore Zoo.
Wish we had drinking water taps at convenient locations. With so much of humidity, we were dehydrating at a fast pace it would have been very helpful for all those who visit the zoo.
The humid temperature really bogged us down and we were sweating like fountains the whole day. Pooja enjoyed the days proceedings while Ruchir chose to beat the heat in his Stroller. The sudden change of weather was quite taxing on him.
We took the Bus to 'Ang Mo Kio' and took the Red line MRT to 'City Hall' and then took the Green Line to Bedok (Bus Interchange) and then the bus to Reservoir Street!. This was quite a daunting feat for the freshly arrived 'us' having very little about the mechanics of travel in Singapore. Combine this with a Cranky little kid, A hungry elder one, Ruchir's Stroller, 2 heavy backpacks, completely depleted battery on Mobile phone and lack of overnight sleep, the last leg commute really killed us. Somehow we managed to reach Bedok bus interchange and surprisingly, none of the folks we asked in the bus stand knew which bus could take us to the Reservoir Road! Some told we had to take the bus from the 2nd floor of Bedok Mall and some told to catch it downstairs. So we did 2 rounds of going up and down the mall to figure out where we need to catch the bus! Finally approached some folks of Indian Origin to help us and they too struggled but told us to catch the 228 to Reservoir road from the Bus Interchange on the 2nd floor. Thanks to them, we got hold of the bus back to home.
Finally, an eventful first day and a lot of leanings. We were happy to be back at our nest on the 12th floor. Souji prepared Maggi and those little noodles that did not get much respect back in Bangalore, suddenly was the most heavenly 4 course meal we ever had.
Our legs had become logs and we slept like one!
Day 2: 24th Dec, 2014: Wednesday:
Got up early and had a wonderful breakfast of Puliyogare. The plan was to complete Sentosa Island Resorts. Now that we knew what to expect during travel, we were very well prepared. We took the 228 bus to Bedok, the North East Green line to Outram Park and then took the Purple line to Harbour front. We did the ticketing to Sentosa Resorts at the Harbour Front counter. We took the Unlimited Cable Car option to reach Sentosa, SEA Aquarium and Universal Studios in one shot.
We went up the lift to the 15th floor at Harbour Front Tower 2 and there, we got our first experience of riding on a Cable car! What an outstanding ride it was!.
Awesome experience! Soujanya, Pooja were overjoyed as this was really special for us. We took the Mt.Faber route once and then back to Harbour Front and then to Sentosa and did the trip atleast twice - just for the heck of it! Enjoying every ride, it was a great feeling to watch the busy world underneath! The view of the Sentosa Island, Harbour Ports, Sky Scrapers, Highway Roads, Mount Faber - What a lovely ride! It felt that the whole trip's paisa was vasooled with just this ride :-).
We did a small pit-stop at Mount Faber and went around for some quick snaps but nothing much here other than 'Nothing' :-). We were more happy to get on to the cable car again and do the ride (Unlimited rides!!!) and then finally got down at Sentosa station.
We entered the main entrance, walked leisurely around, walked past the snake charmers and past the parrot keepers. Here one could take photos with colourful Macaws sitting on ones shoulders. Next we walked up to the huge Merlion statue and went around this structure for some time. We moved on towards the Sentosa World Resorts Area and located the SEA Aquarium which we really wanted to see.
Located the 'Armadillo' framed structure that holds the SEA Aquarium and got inside. This aquarium showcases the best of the marine life forms in all its glory as you walk through in their habitat through the glass enclosure. First the colourful fishes, followed by the big ones, the jelly fishes, star fishes, Sea Anemones, Sea Horses, and 100 different varieties of them. The Aquarium is probably the best one that we have visited till date and a must see for any body who visits Singapore. The last was the tube where you walk in surrounded by sharks! It was breathtaking to see these predators swimming past us at sniffing distance. Awesome stuff.
Had some quick munch and we were ready to move onto the 'Dolphin show @ Underwater World'. We purchased the tickets at the concourse and took the bus ride to this place that was 5 minutes away. We got settled into the Amphitheater of sorts with a huge pool in front, with cheering crowds.
Pink Dolphins swam and greeted everybody and did some great stunt moves. Sea Lions joined them and did a few more tricks like catching the rings and other swimming stuff. Most of it was a repeat show of what we saw at the Singapore Zoo. To our surprise, in about 20 minutes the show was over!!! Not a great deal I must say considering that there was very little of the Dolphins and more of the Sea Lions. Infact, the Sea Lions that performed the stunts in the Singapore Zoo was much bigger and better and the show came Free with the Zoo tickets. We were expecting a lot more from this show, but should say that it was just okay considering the fact that we saw some Pink Dolphins we had never seen before.
The humidity was taking a toll on us for the 2nd successive day and we had been dehydrated very badly. Even after guzzling liters of drinking water, we felt drained and our heels were aching pretty badly. We went to the much talked about 'Luge' and inquired about the ticket and rules. Ruchir was not allowed and Pooja had to be escorted. Considering that our energy levels were close to zero and neither Pooja nor Souji was keen to do this ride and so we skipped.
We hopped back into the the cable car and did another trip now with the sun setting down. We could see an approaching thunderstorm in the overcast sky and that made up a beautiful scenery to watch from the cable car.
We exited Sentosa and thought we will cover Orchards Street (via Dhoby Ghaut MRT). But we realized it would be too late to start another big visiting point after doing so much at Sentosa, so directly went to Little India and did some walking around Serangoon Road, Buffalo Road and Race Course Road. Our bellies were crying foul with hardly any fuel inside and what better place to be than in Little India at such times. We saw the 'Pure Vegetarian' board for the fist time in Singapore and later read 'Komal Vilas' on Buffalo Road. That was just enough for us to jump in and attack. For the first time we were served with Water in Singapore and what a relief to see free water for drinking ;-).
The food was Authentic Unlimited South-Indian Thali on a Plantain leaf, and worth every cent. It gave some rest to our aching heels as well. Once fully reloaded, we walked for a few minutes to 'Mustaffa' the store that has it all! And it really had everything in its 5 floors!. Huge one, and fully stacked from floor to the ceiling, this was a place where every Indian would feel at home for shopping purposes. But we were not here for shopping, but just to see how this giant of a machine works. Souji did pick up some souvenirs from here though.
We were dead tired and couldn't complete all the levels at Mustaffa. We hurried back to the Park MRT and then took the interchange at Outram park to Bedok and back home, not realizing it could have been easier to go home by a Bus instead of over the MRT.
Day 3: 25th Dec, 2014: Thursday - Christmas!
Sudheendra and Meera had invited us for Breakfast and we had sumptuous Masala Dosas and Hot Sajjige!. A super duper coffee made it the best breakfast we had in Singapore.
The plan for the day was to keep the schedule light so that we could relax well before we get to Universal Studios planned for the next day. So we wanted to do 'Jurong Bird Park', 'Orchards Road' and 'Raffles'.
Got to know that Jurong Bird Park was quite far Bedok, but easy to reach. The most important show over there was the 11 AM show with birds that could not be missed and in order to make it on-time, we took the Taxi straight from home to the Bird Park. The taxi ride gave us the glimpse of many other areas of Singapore we had not seen and took us close to 45 minutes to reach the park. We were in the park by 10:15 AM and did the Hop-in Hop-off ride first and hopped out of the first stop.
The 'Lory Loft' was a complete treasure house of Lories, showing off their tropical colours in full view.The walk through enclosure holds a piece of the tropical rainforest-like environment and this was a big win for us as well as birds to be able to see them in their natural habitat. The bright red, yellow, green, blue hues on their bosoms made it a wonderful sight. Heaven for photographers.
The birds are so used to people visiting, walking close to them and taking photographs, that they are least bothered by the presence of visitors and this gave us a lot of time for taking some good pictures with them.
We also saw Scarlet Ibis, Flamingos, Penguins from Africa and Antarctica, Toucans, Ostriches, Cassowaries, The Eagles, Vultures, and many others.
We walked down the hill and reached the Amphitheater which was already full to the brim, but we managed to get a decent place for the big show. Out came the Macaws flying from their enclosures and sat on the MC's hand, listening to her every command. Some 20 flamingos came walking onto the stage again after some fun fare. Same with the Cockatoos and Toucans. They all did their wonderfully choreographed stunts. 2 Cockatoos did competed against each other on which one would put the little golf balls into the bag first. Then there were these Macaws that flew into the stands in circles, where we sat and squeezed through the rings held by some volunteers. The crowd went ballistic with the kind of display those birds put up. Awesome show by these birds.
We had never seen penguins and we were glad to see them there and spend some time watching them. We did another round on the tram and saw a few other enclosures but we had seen some of those birds many times over in other aviaries elsewhere, so we gave the skip.
We were done with the Bird Park by about 1 PM and took the 5 minute bus ride to 'Boon Lay' MRT. From there we took the green line to Outram Park and switched to the Purple line to Orchards Road.
We came out of the MRT and found probably the whole of Singapore's youth on 1 single street. The road side was fully decked up for Christmas, the surrounding malls looked spectacular, one better than the other and the Main Orchard Road was closed for vehicular traffic.
Folks were walking up and down the road endlessly, slurping off Ice Candy in their hand. We were surprised to see that all of these candies were of the same make and colour and were wondering how could that be possible, only to find out that it was being given free to everybody at one of the malls as a Christmas gift. And so we got into the queue too and got one for ourselves. The Walls Super Jumbo Ice Candy (Made in Ireland)! A perfect example of 'great things comes in small packages'!
We stepped inside 'Takashimaya' mall and roamed around the floors for sometime and then moved to the next one. We walked around the Orchard Street area with a million people around and it was nice to be here on Orchard road on the Christmas Day. On our way back we saw Mandarin Orchards, NGee Ann City, Tang Plaza, Wisma Atria, The Marriott, Crown Plaza, Robinsons, and many others. By the end of our walk we already had reached the 'Somerset' MRT station and our next destination was the Raffles place, so we took the red line to Raffles.
We got down at Raffles, and came out of a myriad of towering skyscrapers. Each one taller than the other. An amazing sight to see. We crossed over to the other side of the road and saw the Singapore River (Not sure if this is a river!) but that is what the locals told me. The majestic towers across the bridge made a great picture and we spent quite a time taking snaps. A leisurely walk in the park, looking at the high-rises, walking past the boats at the Quays, we walked towards the Durian building and then crossed over the bridge to Singapore's iconic Merlion statue overlooking the Marina Bay Sands. This place is one place that should not be missed. It really feels special being here. We spent quite some time before the sunset and an hour after the lights fully came out. This place turned magical under lights and is a feast for all. This place is definitely the poster-perfect point for anybody visiting Singapore.
We took the MRT back from Raffles straight to Bedok and took the bus back to home. Earlier in the day, we thought that we would keep the day short to be ready to take on the Universal Studios, but the around of walking, and moving around we did, it was 10:00 when we reached home. We had a quick dinner and then hit the sacks.
Day 4: 26th Dec, 2014: Friday:
Souji prepared a quick breakfast of Puliogare and Curd rice and we were all set for the day. It had rained overnight and the sky was dark and cloudy. We took the MRT to Harbour Front via Outram Park and took the Sentosa Express via the Tram. Due to the holiday season, there were huge crowds at the Vivo City where we were to catch the Sentosa Express to Universal Studios. Thanks to Ruchir and his stroller, we got into the Priority Queue and short circuited the long queue. The Tram ride was good as we had not done this ride during our visit to Sentosa couple of days back.
We got off the tram and walked to the Universal Studios and saw the trademarked globe with 'Universal Studios' circling under a misty fog. Another Landmark and Iconic point in our Singapore things-to-do list.
We got into the Studioes along with huge number of visitors and the queues for every other ride was getting longer and longer. Ruchir being an infant, couldn't go on any rides, while Pooja could go for some and not all, while Souji could do all.
Souji and Pooja first did the 'Madagascar Ride' and it took close to an hour for them to be back. Ruchir peacefully slept while they were away. Next we did the 'Donkey show' at the 'Far Far Away' lands of Shrek. All of us were able to join this as it was a theatrical entertainment show. We took some snaps with the Characters of Madagascar and Shrek as well.
Just when we thought we were chugging along fine, it started to rain and pour. It rained so heavily that all the folks went for cover. It rained relentlessly and everyone had to buy a raincoat from all the stores. The colorfully clad dresses now went undercover! The folks had a horrendous time managing kids, rain, food and long waiting times of up to 90 minutes for each ride! But people had paid a ransom to be at Universal Studios and they had no option but to manage the situation at hand.
The day looked like a wash out as we had to even cover our Stroller through a raincoat!. With all those, Souji was able to do the 'Revenge of the Mummy' ride. Later we strolled towards the Lost World, Jurassic Park, Cyclone, Accelerator and finally the Transformer Ride. The Transformer ride was the chosen one and both Sudheendra and Meera insisted we do this ride. But again the waiting time was 120 minutes and this let us down very badly, doubled by the fact that it was pouring outside. The express pass was too pricey at 60 bucks and did not make any sense for us. So we saw a few other things on the way, also did the Sesame Street Show as well as the 'Santa's soldiers'. It was already about 5:30 PM by now and it was still pouring. We had completed one full circle of the Universal Studios, having dearly missed Transformers. It was getting darker and we could see loads of people moving out the studios. We took this opportunity to do one more round of the studios to cover those which we had missed out. To our surprise the waiting times had reduced drastically to less than 10 minutes. So we quickly did some Merry-go-round rides which Ruchir enjoyed and many others in a jiffy.
Next we also did the Lost World and Jurassic Park visits and quickly walked back to the Transformers Arena at the Sci-Fi park. The wait time had reduced to 40 minutes and Ruchir was almost ready to sleep again! Souji and Pooja jumped on the presenting opportunity and ran into the queue. They came back after doing the Transformer ride in about 45 minutes and could see why this ride is so 'must-do' by the huge smile they had on their faces. The second round trip really helped us salvage all the rides we had missed on our first circuit. We did some purchases and souvenirs in the stores and it was almost 8 PM when we checked our watches. We were dead tired after a long, tiring, rainy, but wonderful visit to the Universal Studios.
We took the tram ride back to Vivo City via the Sentosa Express and had a quick dinner at Subway. Later we took the MRT back to Bedok via Outram Park. We were home by 10 PM and that is the last thing my mind can register for that day.
Day 5: 27th Dec, 2014: Saturday:
The day was dedicated to spending time in the city and doing some shopping and Sudhee suggested we visit Vivo City Mall as there were some Christmas and New Year Sales happening there. So we set out early and did the Vivo City Mall. Next we took the MRT to City Hall as I wanted to visit the 'Funan Digital Life Mall'. I was in search of a good deal for a Nikon 50 mm prime lens for my DSLR. In India it costs about INR 8.5K close to SGD 200. I checked out at about 5 or 6 shops at Funan IT mall, only to find the prices were atleast SGD 80 excess of what I could get here in Bangalore. Amazon.in was offering this for INR 8.5K, so there was no point continuing searching any further here in the mall, and decided I would rather buy it out in India itself. There was not much of a deal here.
It was noon and I really wanted to have the Plantain Leaf Lunch again at Little India, so took the Taxi ride straight to 'Komal Vilas' on Buffalo Road. Fully loaded and satisfied, we then took the taxi straight to IKEA Mall at Tampines.
Sudhee and Meera suggested we shop here as we could get a lot of good things around Home accessories and furnishings. And we were really BLOWN AWAY with what we saw over there. Outstanding quality, great range and great value for money. Souji went ballistic with her shopping basket and often had to reminded to be cognizant of the weight of our luggage that we can carry back to Bangalore :-). (Which obviously fell on deaf ears). But we thoroughly enjoyed our shopping there. IKEA is a good place to visit especially when we don't have this here in India yet.
By the time we were done with IKEA it was already 8 PM and Sudheendra and Meera had invited us again over Dinner. So we took the taxi straight to home, dumped all the things, freshened up and then visited Sudhee, Meera and Shruthi at their home.
Pooja and Shruthi had become great friends in Singapore and the moment they met each other, both of them locked themselves in the room and till the time we were about to leave, we didn't see them around at all!
The Mysore Rasam that Meera had prepared was a killer and 'out of the world'. The 'Avarekai Sambhar', Gorikaay Palya were a super hit as well. After a couple of hours of Chit-Chatting, Sudheendra prepared an Ice Cream Desert with Mangoes from Australia! We were pampered with some really outstanding food that night.
We also discussed on what else to do the first half of the remaining next day, before we headed back to Bangalore the next day.
Day 6: 28th Dec, 2014: Sunday.
Last day of our trip at Singapore. Our flights were at 7 PM. So we had a half day that we could use for shopping or we could do another point of interest and the unanimous choice was to cover the Orchid Park at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. We took the Bus in front of Waterfront Waves/Keys to McPherson Road and from there we took the Circle line MRT to Botanical Gardens.
We reached Botanic Gardens quite early and did the 1.5 KM walk to Orchid Gardens. The Botanic Gardens may be a little larger or the same size as that of Lal Bagh gardens at Bangalore. We purchased the tickets at the Orchid Garden counter and got into the park. The Park hosted exotic varieties of Orchids in all hues and colours. The overnight rain delicately installed little drops of dew on all those flowers that were glistening in the bright sun, and that made a wonderful picture and a Photographer's paradise. We saw about 50 to 60 different varieties of Orchids and the range of colours they had were as vibrant as that of the birds that we saw in Lory Loft at the Jurong Bird Park. Outstanding stuff.
We were done with that Orchids Garden in about 3 hours and took the Circle line to McPherson. Later we decided we will check out the Bedok Mall as well. So instead of getting down at McPherson, we went to Paya Lebar, where we switched to the green line and went to Bedok station where the Mall was situated. The other day, we had seen some great plastic Orchid plants and Souji really wanted to buy them. We went to the store to pick it up but we found that the stalks were 5 feet long and it would be a problem squeezing it into any of the luggage bags we had. We did not do any thing else there and took the bus back to home.
We packed the bags, checked our flight tickets and then moved out of the house by 3 PM. We left the luggage at the security and made a quick visit to Sudheendra and Meera's house on Waterfront Keys. We said bye to the wonderful family for taking such good care of us in Singapore. They even booked a taxi for us to get to the Airport.
We left our home-away-from-home to Changi and reached there by 4 PM. We particularly wanted to get to Changi earlier, so that we could see the airport itself which would take close to 2 hours. We checked in our luggage and then went around all the shops. Bought some chocolates and souvenirs at duty free shops. Our flight back to Mumbai departed on time and the journey was peaceful.
With all the constant running we did the whole day, we did not find the time to have some decent food till the time the Air Hostess served piping hot dinner for us. With Ruchir and Souji tired and asleep, watched some movies on the personal TV console.
We landed in Mumbai at 10:30 PM and were done with the Baggage claim, Customs and exited in the next 1 hour. We rechecked-in our luggage for the domestic flight to Bangalore and then took the bus that would transfer us to the Domestic Terminal. Our flight to Bangalore was at 6 AM in the morning, a layover of 8 hours. The kids went to sleep, but Souji and I had a tough time sleeping while sitting. Somehow we endured it. By day break, we freshened up and took our flight to Bangalore. Landed in Bangalore at 9 AM and we were home by 10:30 AM.
Overall Experience of our trip:
This trip gave Souji and Pooja an international experience and was a great learning for all of us. We are greatly awed by the Cleanliness, Discipline and the overall Standard of Living in Singapore. The roads were Wide, Less traffic, Super Public Transportation, Vast Lung Spaces inside and outside the City, Well placed maintained public infrastructure, Tourism and Travel, Outstanding Public Transportation be it MRT, Bus, Taxi etc..., High Speed Internet and Telephony Facilities and overall Proud Citizens. I was personally impressed by the discipline the when they offered their seats to Soujanya while carrying Ruchir. It was instantaneous and was like almost reflexive. A lot to learn from them in these areas.
I also observed a few things that were a little different. Over the MRTs, we saw folks who are always hooked and 'digitally connected' via their mobile devices and that looked pretty robotic. Did not see many conversations between fellow travelers, no exchange of smiles when eye meets eye. Social interactions were scarce. This probably is true to most 'Forward' countries, especially when such infrastructure has evolved leaps and bounds and this phenomenon may not be only with Singapore.
All said, we loved every minute we spent in Singapore and we had a blast! Our tour of 6 days made us feel we spent a lot longer than that. Undoubtedly, this has been one of the long pending trips that we wanted to do from a long time, but that got materialized only this time.
Thanks!
Shubha and Jayanth:
Words can't express the favours we have received from you. Our stay at your house was a home away from home. If not for this, we could not have had been able to manage Ruchir and Pooja and story would have been very different. Many Thanks to you folks for this.
Shruthi, Meera and Sudhee:
Without any formalities, thanks so much for taking such good care of us while we were out there. Your recommendations for us on the Transformers ride at Universal Studios, Orchid Gardens and IKEA proved too valuable for us.
Meera - The taste of the 'Mysore Rasam' you prepared will linger on our taste buds for a long time to come. Fellow BMS'ites, you know what to ask Meera to prepare when we meet up next :-)
Shruthi - Pooja loved your company and even though you folks were together for a very short time, there has not been a day that has passed since she came back, where she has not spoken of the wonderful time she had with you. Thanks so much for this.
With that, a wonderful and a memorable journey comes to an end. Here are some pictures and videos that were taken during our travel and hope you like them. If you are seeing this, then there is a chance that you have read the whole blog! Hope you like it.
posted by Vinay @ 11:37 PM
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