Feb 7, 2009

Singapore: Day One

I have to say this first, "It feels good to be back in Singapore!".. :) And entries about my stay in Singapore would be at least 3 days late.. :p

Took the night coach from Taiping (which cost me RM120!!) and arrived at Lavender Station around 5am.. Actually we reached the new Malaysian immigration and custom building (the so-called white elephant without the crooked bridge) before 4am.. the bus was very early because it didn't stop along the journey for snack breaks. The only break we had was a short toilet break which lasted about 30 minutes. But no complains from me since we managed to avoid the working crowd from Malaysia who will be swamping the place in the morning..

Since I had forgotten to bring my mp3 player, I was not able to 'escape' into my own little world, but had to constantly listen to all kinds of conversations and noise.. Shall comment on this in a separate blog entry.

Because of such early arrival, I had to find a place to wait till the check in time for my hostel, which is 7.30am. So I went to the Lavender Food Court along the road to my hostel. There is only 1 stall selling drinks and 1 stall selling 肉脞面 (minced pork noodles). So I first ordered a glass of Milo, followed by a bowl of 肉脞面. And time passed by ever so slowly.. I left the food court and went to another coffee shop to drink a cup of tea.

When I finally get into the hostel, I had to wait 30 min for the person in-charge to be ready.. The earliest I could check-in was 12pm, so I decided to go get freshen up and then go to the Buddhist Temple that I had been visiting very faithfully.. There were some Koreans in the lounge area.. I checked my emails there too.

Stayed at the Buddhist Temple till almost 11am.. then I went back to the hostel to check in.. They provided me with a twin room (shared toilet and bathroom) at a discounted price, so for 7 nights I am paying less than SGD300.. which is actually a bargain in my opinion, since I only need a place to keep my things and sleep.. I would be out most of the day so no point staying in a posh hotel.. Took a bath before going out again..

Went to AMK to get my hair cut.. Bought a prepaid SIM card too, so that it would be easier and cheaper for friends to contact me and vice versa... although I can't really pinpoint it accurately, I had a feeling that my trip to my hair-stylist would not be fruitful and I was expecting to see the saloon closed for the day.. when I forgot which bus to take to the saloon (couldn't remember if it was Bus No.265 or No.254), I decided to walk there.. Luckily the day was quite cloudy, so it wasn't too bad walking, considering the fact that it was around 1pm!! I also bought my favorite bread from BreadTalk.. :) Hot Floss and Mushroom..

When I reached the place where the saloon used to be, I found a shop selling some food instead!! I was shocked.. I was lost as to what to do next.. then I sat down at the bus stop and start to eat the bread I bought as I was way too hungry to think straight.. I used the new prepaid card to call my stylist at the old phone number.. it seemed that she had moved to a neighborhood shopping center.. so I had to ask for directions to get there.. Took a bus there..

As usual, she cut, highlight and treated my hair, and also trimmed my eye-brows.. so I lost my shoulder-length hair that I had and got back my short hair.. :) It was such a relaxing experience as I totally trusted her professionalism and give her full autonomy to do whatever she liked to my hair.. I just sat there and let them fussed over me.. :)

Next, is my dinner appointment with my ex-colleagues from my first job.. About 7 of them was to meet up with me, but in the end, only 4 turned up.. but it was good to see them nonetheless.. cos it has been quite a long while since I last met them.. Good to see that they have move onto the next stage of their lives with kids and/or new careers.. :) Will be arranging another round of dinner/lunch with those that couldn't make it..

So that's all for Day ONE of my Singapore visit.. Seven more days to enjoy!! :) :)

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