The decision to go with a group tour was mostly because of three reasons :
1) I didn't have any time to plan all activities and arrangements prior to the tour date
2) we weren't confident of doing Malaysia on own
3) and finally - to experience first hand on what it is to be part of a group tour outside India. Pros/Cons are known only when we are part of it, which i have listed at the end of this blog.
Day - 1 :
The TigerAir flight departed from Bangalore at 1:40 am - Flight was somewhat bumpy due to some turbulence and hence, filling up the 5 immigration forms on board took more time than anticipated.
Landed at Singapore Changi Airport at 8:45 am. Immigration was smooth and we got a stamp for 30 days stay. After a good wait for an hour for another flight to land , we were herded in a bus to the Hotel Village Bugis on Victoria Street.
Along the Marina bay road we were informed that all that land reaching out to the sea was actually reclaimed land - a reminder of how precious land is. Back home, land is costly - but is available. Here, land isn't just there! Things we take for granted back home are not so in every part of the world..
The check-in would take place by 3 pm and lunch wasn't part of day-1. Hence we just stored all our luggage at the concierge and started to walk towards Little India in hope of finding a good veg place to eat. we faced two problems here - it wasn't as close as i thought it would be and secondly, the pavements weren't wide or good enough for a child stroller. This basically meant that we wouldn't use the stroller again in the trip - good that we realized this soon enough.
We finally reached Murugan Idly shop just opposite Mustafa. Had excellent Idly/Dosas for a total of 32 SGD, which is actually very reasonable compared to other places in Singapore. Especially good was the Ghee Podi Idli.
Not much energy left due to lack of sleep, we tried to walk back to hotel on a round-about path. This turned out to be a wrong decision and with our legs giving way, we finally hired a taxi to get us back to the Hotel. The taxi was Toyota Prius and i especially liked the hybrid vehicle with it's head-unit showing energy savings.
After a good afternoon nap we headed to the Night Safari. Night Safari is the worlds' first safari park for nocturnal animals.we had to wait nearly 45 minutes before the trams started. These take us through animals from 7 zones of the world. The only highlight in this was the wolves howled exactly when we crossed. Except the ant-eater, i didn't see any other special animal which i hadn't seen before.
I wish that our Mysore zoo mimics this concept. we have little idea what we can actually do with what we have - if we bring some discipline and presentation skills, it will be a much bigger attraction than the Night Safari at Singapore !
After this there was an excellent show with friendly animals such as seals, a python over a visitor, interlaced with excellent humor. Excellent presentation skills made it a very lively show. Do not miss this show at Night safari.
The final show was at the entrance - simple acrobatics and dance with fire-rings and music to bring down curtains.
we headed back to the Hotel Bugis for a Indian spread dinner. The area faced had a good view of the sprawling city landmarks and we headed for a much wanted rest for the night.
Day - 2 :
After the breakfast at Hotel Village Bugis, we were ready for the city tour in a bus. The first landmark was the Suntec city fountain - built with Feng Shui in mind. Here, the fountain has water gushing downwards
Next stop was the Singapore Flyer - supposed to be bigger than the London Eye. A really "giant" wheel.
The flyer keeps moving very slowly and the entire circle takes 28 minutes. Here's how you get in it :
Singapore skyscrapers - magnificent view from flyer :
And of the port. Singapore has the busiest harbor in entire Asia !
Next stop was the Singapore River ride. The boats are modeled on the old style boats, but are battery operated. The Singapore river is a man made reservoir and takes us through the picturesque city landmarks starting from the Raffles statue through Boat quay .
The boat ride takes us below numerous bridges.
A different view of the skyline - we can see why Singapore is growing to be the financial hub - check HSBC, Maybank :
The Marina bay sands. The boat design on the rooftop has the famed swimming pool which has entry only to the hotel guests.
we alighted the boat at the Merlion Park.
Gardens by the bay showcases diverse and exotic plant life and a very tall man made indoor waterfalls in the cloud forest in spectacular cooled dome. Singapore has no hills, waterfalls or forests and here we see how they try to recreate these. Only after this could i really value our western ghats, Jog Falls and the abundance of nature that we still have back home !
we descend through the surreal mist-filled cloud and treetop walk.
From here-on, we again made way to the bus which then took us to the Faber station for a ride through the Skyway cable car.
The cable car goes from Faber station -> Harbour-front -> Sentosa Island. Thomas Cook had arranged for a lunch inside the cable car - a privileged dining experience in air. The Indian food wasn't a good idea, but the Skyway experience was awesome. Huge crowds resulted in a long wait time.
In Sentosa, at the Dolphin and Seal show.
The show had to be cut short due to heavy downpour.Thanks to the 2 umbrellas we had carried, we made our way in midst of rain to the inside.
The S.E.A underwater world Oceanarium is a must-see - we exactly appreciate the difference in seeing things live vs. in a Discovery channel. The size and variety of the sea creatures is mind boggling. Sharcs, stingrays, huge fishes jostling past beside and overhead inside the long "tunnel" on the moving travellator is an amazing experience.
we also get to touch the star-fish, sting rays at the entrance of the aquarium. Exotic species such as jelly fish, river horse etc are on display. A must see place in Singapore.
There are way too many activities in Sentosa - including indoor skydiving , many water rides etc which probably can consume 2 full days. we could only do touch and go .
The last show and a must watch is "Wings of time" . It's an amazing laser show which uses jets of water , fire balls and fireworks along with precise, fast moving laser images on the shore. It was drizzling all along and i ran out of battery, so no pics unfortunately.
we were taken to Kailash Parbat restaurant before heading back to Hotel.
Day - 3:
This was the last day in Singapore and the activity was optional , we could choose either Jurong Bird park or the Universal studios. Most of the people in the group chose the latter and for obvious ride-n-thrill reasons, we chose the same.
Here's Niranjan with a good pose at the entrance.
We started at the right, skipped Transformers because of long queues and took Accelerator in the "Sci-fi city". It's a fast swirling twirling merry go round and can sit as one family with small kids also.
Next up, Nachiket and I did the Revenge of the Mummy - a must ride roller coaster with "ride the movie" based on Mummy movie theme. we took turns and Amma/Anupama came back later to do this again, while i was baby sitting.
Colorful characters from Mummy Returns entertain the crowd with their antics
After this, we again went for a ride where the entire family is allowed. "Treasure Hunters" - you go on a jeep on tracks , eminently forgettable considering the wait time of 45 minutes, i recommend you to please skip this one. The only reason people do this is because this you can do with entire family with all age groups.
After this, i did baby sitting and everyone took the Enchanted Airways in Far Far away. This is a junior roller coaster and they enjoyed this.
We then moved to the Shrek 4-D adventure. This is a 4-D film of Shrek - you have to wear 3D glasses and on a seat that moves, water sprinkles and air to give a complete 4D effect. A very large auditorium and highly recommended.
2 pm, hungry and tired of Indian food, we skipped the oasis indian cafe and had pizza at the Louis pizza palace. Long queues again. Requisite Veg pizza slices were not available and i was given a wireless timer device which buzzed when it was ready to come and collect it ! Technology just has invaded everywhere.
After this we had a parade of famous film characters on the path.
Bustling with people :
Lively colorful characters :
At 4:30 pm we went to the Waterworld - the must-not-miss show . Created with all the special effects of shooting, jet skis, acrobatics, drama , including an Aeroplane that drops out - as well as excellent humor at the start, where the front row people get drenched totally . Absolutely jaw dropping and re-creates the exact movie !
The Transformers is the most-visited roller coaster. It's the ride with the highest waiting time of nearly 1.5 hours . It was worth the wait. The roller coaster is gentler than Mummy actually since you don't feel the Gs , but the imagery and action is so realistic - truly a 4D experience !
Before entering the roller coaster, all transformer material and briefing
Nachiket with the transformer in the background :
Similar to Sentosa, to do every ride in Universal studios would need another day. we couldn't do Jurassic park and Madagascar, but extremely happy with what we saw.
we headed to the Indian restaurant Bayview Tandoor near the Flyer with a great night view of the gardens by the bay and the flyer.
Day-4 :
After breakfast at Bugis, we boarded the bus to crossover to Malaysia traveling North. First, we cleared the Singapore immigration and then the Malaysian one. we didn't have to fill any forms this time. we again got a 30 days stamp. Interestingly, they do take our biometrics here - on a random basis.
Due to a host of events - including wrong planning of the occupants of the new buses on the Malaysian side, traffic jam due to accidents on highway we reached Putrajaya late.
Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy. King resides in Kuala lumpur and is elected out of the 9 Sultans. Putrajaya is the adminstrative capital of Malaysia, where we have the Prime Minister's residence. Putrajaya lies in between Kuala Lumpur and International Airport. Putrajaya is a completely planned city and they want to grow this city in the future.
we first stopped at Putra palace restaurant for Indian food. On the back of this, there is a picturesque lake with Prime Minister's office complex in the backdrop.
Prime Minister's office complex - Perdana Putra at Putrajaya. "Perdana Menteri" is what Prime minister called in Malay. Does the origin sound familiar ? Malay has many words derived out of Sanskrit.
Putra Mosque at Putrajaya is the principal mosque next to the complex.
The Seri Wawasan Bridge is one of the main bridges and has very unique architecture. Don't have a pic of that.
After that, we crossed the suburbs of Kuala lumpur and started climbing the Genting hills. Midway, we reached our Hotel - the Awana Golf resort.
Nachiket enjoyed himself thoroughly in the swimming pool. There is also a water slide here.
A fantastic restaurant with lavish spread and live band - it was the right relaxed break to an already hectic journey.
In the night, we travelled to the Genting first world hotel for a visit to the Casino where only adults are allowed in a proper attire. A free shuttle is available every 1 hour from Awana to Genting First world.
Genting Casino was a different experience compared to how it's shown in the movies. Everyone is very silent - including gamblers and operators. Most of the area is smoking zone. People can pay money right at the counter and get the coins. Mostly we saw chinese origin people playing. Many types - Three pictures, Roulette, slotting machines. we can even place the bet on multiple numbers, in between numbers. we see first hand how addictive and indulgent gambling can be. No photos allowed inside the casino.
Came back to Hotel by 00:30 .
Day 5 :
After a good breakfast at Awana, we headed to the Genting highway Cable car station to board the gondolas - a very long skyway, almost 3.5 km.
Genting Highlands outdoor theme park is now closed because it is being renovated for the 20'th century Fox studios theme park and is set to open by 2016. Genting highlands resort was conceptualized by Lim Goh Tung, a chinese immigrant in Malaysia.
we again reached the same Genting First world mall which is one of the largest malls. we first headed to the Snowworld where they have created artifical snow at -6 deg C. we have to wear the jackets/gloves and deposit our luggage in the locker.
The Genting mall has replicas of Venice, London tower and Statue of Liberty. A lot of places for kids of all ages to play, huge bowling alleys, arcade games, shopping and eateries.
Next stop was the Batu caves, which is just on the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur. A giant Murugan statue greets us below.
272 steps lead us to the caves.
The caves have natural stalagmite formation and are huge.
Inside we payed obeisance to the Lord and also got Pongal Prasadam. The lunch was arranged at Rani Buffet. Unhygenic to many in the group, it had excellent South Indian speciality food - we especially liked the Garlic Rasam there. A co-passenger lost their costly camera and baggage here and this held us up for some time.
Next was the King of Malaysia's palace photo stop.
After this was the stop at the National Monument , a war memorial dedicated to soldiers who died in world wars and communist uprising.
Thin Hua Chinese temple was the next destination.
Here i donated some amount and lighted the incense sticks and prayed to Buddha in a kneel down position. Also operated the know your future apparatus where we shake the plastic sticks and check the stick number that stands out tall.
They have a large tortoise pond here. Niranjan enjoyed these !
we were then taken to the Choco Boutique where Malaysian made chocolates are available at good price.
The longest twin towers - Petronas was the last stop.
For Shopping, we were taken to the Sungei wang Plaza, which has most shops at reasonable prices. The shop to must visit is the Parksons which has discounts on famous branded items.
Sungei wang entrance with Mr.Bean car :
If we take the back exit of this , we have the Plaza Low Yat - the electronic items paradise. I bought a 10,000 mAH power bank for 80 Ringitts here.
Hotel Furama is an excellent hotel with Fantastic views. It's also very close to the Mono Rail and city centre shopping complexes. For the go-own-trip, i certainly recommend staying here.
Day 6 :
we checked out of the Hotel at 11:30 am and left all the luggage at the conceirge. we had ~5 hours to kill time since our departure to Airport was at 5 pm.
Nachiket wanted to board the Mono Rail - especially since we missed boarding MRT in Singapore. we took a short ride from Imbi Station to Bukit Bintang station , which connects to the same Sungei wang plaza for more shopping.
we again shopped in Sungei wang - this time bags, toys - including a CX-30 4-channel 6-axis quadcopter drone with 3D flip ( for 99 Ringitts only ! ) and some clothes.
Returned back to Berjaya Times square, which is another big mall.
Had good lunch at Pizza hut inside the mall, before walking back to Furama.
Reached the KLIA-2 terminal, the hub of Air-Asia. we had to rush our way inside, since we were already delayed by the tour operator. Had no time to shop here.They also changed our boarding gate from L05 to L20 - luckily someone else told us this. There was no airline rep at the L05 and i went back to get more people at the old gate - small help to co-travellers.
The free wifi at airport - news about missing AirAsia and bomb blast in Bangalore caused a little anxiety and i didn't share it with anyone with good reason :-)
Landed at Bangalore at 10:30 pm after a safe flight.
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Singapore is a remarkable country and we can clearly see their efforts in re-creating what they miss sorely - mountain, rivers, forests. The birth rate also has declined similar to Japan and they are having to rely on people from outside for labor force. we were told that government steps in to ensure races intermingle, every poor person has shelter - basically a very tight control to ensure basic human rights. Very hard working people - technology is at it's highest here.
Malaysia in contrast is much bigger and has many more natural resources compared to Singapore. The monarchy led government is having it's priorities clear - to get it to a developed nation category. Living is cheaper in Malaysia compared to Singapore. On the cleanliness, friendliness and discipline, it still lags a shade behind Singapore. Safety is almost on par.
Overall, everyone enjoyed what we saw - the happy faces in this selfie are ample proof of that.
Signing off , yours truly.
