Beauty Within

My allergies have been acting up (again) lately probably because I've been lacking sleep. My sleeping routine was changed since my work now starts at 1 in the afternoon as I need to be in calls with the counterpart everyday from 9 to 11 pm. Having bad skin, I started to feel down again until hubby made me see this video. From now on, I promise not to be hard on myself :)

MY-SG with the Family (042013) - Day 4

This was the most exciting part of the tour for me - Universal Studio day. Last time I was here, it was raining when we were at Sentosa so our group decided not to go in anymore. Plus, we didn't book ahead and the park was already full.

We woke up around 7 and were at the Duck ride station 30 minutes before departure. We had breakfast at the stall near the station. I had siopao and milk tea. Milk tea in Singapore is delicious, it's a must try. The tour was basically a combination of the bus tour and river cruise. What was amusing about it was the fact that you're riding an amphibian vehicle and it was fun when we were crossing from land to water. :) 

The bus that will take us to Universal Studios was parked at the same station where our Duck Tour started. The bus ride took 30 minutes to Sentosa. There are a lot of places to visit at Sentosa but we focused only with the candy stores right outside USS. I was actually feeling bad for the parents because they were stuck with Lola (she was already tired from all the walking). I wanted to accompany them so they can go sight seeing but I wanted to experience the rides. Hay. Mama, Papa and Lola were with us in the Transformer (best ride for me) and Madagascar boat ride. Return of the Mummy is also a must try ride. I'm not a fan of roller coasters, but this one is good. :) I prefer it over Battlestar Galactica. 

We had lunch inside USS. I was already expecting it to be expensive but was disappointed with the taste. I ordered pasta with coke and coffee pie (it was a small one, like the one in Tokyo! Tokyo!). I'm not a fan of Italian tasting pasta so I did not enjoy mine. I even ordered lasagna for Papa and he too didn't enjoy it. 

We were supposed to be back at the rental house by 10 because the flight was at 12 midnight. We were out of Sentosa by 7 and even had the time to watch the light show at Marina Bay. Because taxi was expensive, (they have an additional charge at night time) we took the bus home, prepared our bags and arrived at the airport on time. I was too happy with the Singapore leg of the tour, I didn't want to leave. Maybe next time, H and I will go back here for the museums, gardens and another round of USS. :)

Oh and I forgot to mention, the deal that I took from Duck Tours included museum and garden visits but we were not able to do so due to lack of time. *sigh*

MY-SG with the Family (042013) - Day 3

We took the 8:30 am bus ride to Singapore. Last time lasted for 4 hours so I thought that we will be in Singapore a little past lunch time. I didn't factor in the traffic difference, stop overs and how far the house was from the tourist spots. We arrived at the Malaysia-Singapore boundary around 2pm and having no Singapore dollars, we had to get off at the malls to withdraw. Little did I know that our house was nearer to the previous bus stop, so it took us an hour cab ride from the mall to the house. 

We rented the whole 2nd floor of the house. It was expensive at SGD760 for 2 nights but we took it. The rooms were big and clean and the owner was nice. Plus it was near the airport - just a 10 minute cab ride. Bad side though was that we had to take the train going to the tourists spots. Sorry for the unmade beds. I took the photos right before we leave for the tour the next day.

We had a decent meal at the local eatery right beside Simei Train Station. It was already past 4pm and I was anxious the Duck Tour's office would be close even before we get our tickets. We already have e-tickets, but we needed them to give the ones we would use. We arrived at Duck Tours around 5:30 and though they close at 6 I was told we would be able to start our tour the next day which is not ok because we leave for home the next day at midnight. Good thing I asked for them to check again and there was a bus leaving at 6:10. After the bus tour, which I didn't take so as to plan what to do next, we went to ride the Singapore Flyer then took a cab and literally ran off to find the river boat ride which I was told closes at 9. We were sweaty from all the running only to find out that they close at 10. Whew! Though I took the river cruise last time, this was a little different for me because we took it at night. The city was gorgeous with lights! :) 

After the river cruise, we took the train to Chinatown and did some pasalubong shopping at 11pm! Haha. My feet were dead tired but everyone was still up for it. Tita and Mama were able to buy souvenirs and my cousins, shirts. After shopping, we had a very late dinner at a nearby Mcdonald's and went home via bus as there were no trains anymore. 

Next Stop: Wacky Duck and Universal Studios

MY-SG with the Family (042013) - Day 2

The next day was tour day. We still woke up early and had breakfast at Mcdonald's KL Central. Tita Kite wanted to eat at the local shops but our companions are apprehensive they might get stomach ache from lots of curry and chili. We waited a little for the tour bus to arrive. This is the other thing I didn't do with the college friends, take the bus tour. We used to walk a lot then but since we have 3 senior citizens with us, we opted to take the bus around the city. 

We did some pasalubong shopping again at Central Market and had a tasty lunch at Chinatown. We had 5 dishes, Yang Chow and plain rice for RM200. It's around P250 each but it was worth it. 

We capped off the day with dinner at SOGO mall again (haha) because mama had to buy some more chocolates realizing she was a little short of pasalubong to the co-teachers. This concluded the Malaysia leg of our tour. I originally planned that we take the bus going to Singapore this night but because lodging in Malaysia is much cheaper, we stayed for the night in the MY apartment.

Next Day: Bus ride to Singapore, Singapore Flyer, River Cruise, Chinatown

MY-SG with the Family (042013) - Day 1

Tita Kite saw the pictures we had when we took our MY-SG vacation and since then, she asked me to book one for her family. Since mama and papa also wanted to go out of the country but didn't want to go without me (takot ang parents mag-isa hehe), I booked a flight to MY-SG for 10. Yes, 10 - me and my parents, tita kite, lola, 3 cousins and 2 boyfriends. The more, the merrier right? :p

Being OC, all expenses for our 4-day trip (april 13 - 16) were listed in an excel sheet for an easy accounting because everything was charged to our credit card. Everything was set a month before our actual travel date except for where we'd be staying in MY because the original flat I rented had some tenant trouble a week before our reserved date and they had to shut down operations for a bit. Good thing a college friend is working in MY and knew where best to stay for a cheaper price. He was also the one who helped me with all the travel arrangements we needed while in MY. 

The flight to MY is 8pm-ish. We were at the airport around 6 but to our horror the flight was 2 hours delayed. We had a van waiting in MY and since we were late for 2 hours, we were charged extra (which was actually ok, I really thought he'd leave and I was worried how we can get to the apartment by commuting). The MY airport was already closing because we were the last flight for the day. The airport is an hour away from KL so we arrived at the apartment around 3 in the morning.Though the apartment was near a train station, we had a hard time locating it. The owner's sister greeted us at the elevator and showed us the apartment. The apartment itself is clean but the building looked neglected. The parking was bad, the elevator full of vandalism and you have to be careful when you walk as the compound streets are littered with used diapers. 

I had very little sleep because I told my cousins to wake up by 5. Our bus going to Genting Highlands leaves by 8 am, and we have 1 bathroom for 10 people in the apartment so it is needed that we were up early. We had noodles for breakfast and took a 15 minute cab to KL Central to meet my friend for our tickets. 

We were at Genting at 9 am. We did the same thing we did when I was with H and college friends - rode the cable car and tool lots of photos inside Resorts World. The only difference is this time, since we are going to Universal Studios in Singapore, we took the buffet instead of the ride all you can in the theme park. I'm not an adventurous eater so I didn't enjoy the food that much except for a few. 

After Genting, we bought some dried candies at the mall where we waited for the bus that will take us back to KL. While waiting, a van driver offered a ride to this chocolate store 5 minutes away for RM20. We were told that they sell prime chocolate for a cheaper price so we went to buy pasalubong. Too bad we didn't get to take photos but boy it was a small store filled with chocolates. There were free tastes too! I bought 3 pouches of assorted chocolates which cost P1000. It was pricey for me yes but they were really good! :) 

From KL we rode the train going to Batu Caves. I stayed with the parents, Lola and Tita Kite at the foot of the caves sipping Buko Juice while waiting for the cousins to descend from their climb. We took the train back to KL and had dinner at SOGO mall. We also bought some chocolates there which were a lot cheaper than the earlier ones. I bought Old Town coffee and milk tea for H and a bag of chocolates for the officemates. 

It was a tiring day and since I didn't have enough sleep, I was already snoozing at 10 in the evening.

Next Day: KL Bus Tour, Central Market, Petronas Tower and China Town