Hello
Hello!
Got
back from our trip last Sunday and I think I better update my blog before my
laziness attacks me again.
As you can
see from the title, we went to Singapore and Johor Bahru for a 5D4N trip.
The currency
rate for mine was SGD1 for RM2.91 (August) while my friend one was SGD1 for
RM3.03 (November).
Crazy rates!
Malaysia oh Malaysia.
By the way, this will be a long post as I have compiled everything in just one post.
Let’s begin!
Day 1 –
KOTA KINABALU TO SINGAPORE
Expected to
have reach Changi Airport – Terminal 1
around 5pm but our flight reached slightly earlier, which is good.
In order to
get to the city, we took the MRT located at Changi Airport – Terminal 2.
In case you’re
worry that you will be lost, there are signboards everywhere so no worries about that.
There is
this EZ link card in Singapore for
the MRT ride but we borrowed it from our friend so we don’t have to
get one.
We’re
staying in The Southbridge Hotel
located in Chinatown.
To get to
Chinatown:
1.
Board the train towards Tanah Merah Station and alight at Tanah Merah Station
2.
Board the train towards Joo Koon Station and alight at Bugis
Station
3.
Board the train towards Chinatown Station and alight at Chinatown
Station
Exit A towards Pagoda Street and you will be Chinatown
market.
Totally lost
when we were at Chinatown market, luckily there’s free wifi in that area so we
managed to locate our hotel easily.
Free Wi-Fi
Direction to The Southbridge Hotel :
Just walk straight when you come out from
Exit A and when you see this big Chinatown signboard, turn left and walk
straight again, you will soon see The Southbridge hotel right in front of you.
Chinatown Signboard
After
checked in the hotel, we proceed to Chinatown market to look for food and saw this Chinatown Food Street.
The foods
are all expensive for us due to the currency conversion.
There are so many foods that we wanted to try but let's just make the trip a budget one, so we chose the
cheapest food to eat instead.
Chinatown Food Street
The stall we chose
Roasted Pork Rice - SGD5
Next, we
proceed to Gardens by the Bay.
Took the MRT
to Bayfront Station and Exit B.
Didn’t want
to be late for the show so we took the shuttle train that will directly bring
us to the main destination.
First show
was OCBC Garden Rhapsody located at Supertree Groove, there are having two
shows per day at 7.45pm and 8.45pm.
We waited
for the 8.45pm show and it takes about 15 minutes.
Rushed back
to the shuttle train station for the final train at 9pm to catch another show
in Marina Bay Sands.
Shuttle train
OCBC Garden Rhapsody
I’m not sure
if there’s any shortcut to Marina Bay Sands from Gardens by the Bay because I
don’t want to take the risk of getting lost in nowhere.
So we walked
back to the MRT station and follow the signboards that will lead us to Marina
Bay Sands.
When we
arrived at The Shoppes At Marina Bay Sands, got blurred and asked the information
centre the exact location and it’s just behind another door inside the mall.
Phew.
By the way,
the second show called Wonder Full.
The one we
watched was at 9.30pm.
You can
check online for another time to arrange your own preferable itinerary.
The Shoppes At Marina Bay Sands
Wonder Full
After the show, we went back to our hotel bar for a drink.
The hotel
gave us two welcome drinks voucher where you can claim it from the hotel bar
for free.
Not into
this strong alcohol mood that night so I ordered Singapore Sling Cocktail and
it was so good.
Another good
thing about the hotel is they provide free coffee and tea all day long for the
hotel guest. Too bad we’re not a fan for both.
(P/S : One thing that I dislike about the
hotel is whenever you shower, the toilet tends to flood a little as the water
runs down really really slow and its kinda gross.)
Day 2 –
SINGAPORE
Woke up
around 8.30am and get ready immediately because we’re going to Universal Studio Singapore!
I get
excited whenever we’re going to a theme park, what more I’ve been waiting for
this since like forever.
To go
Universal Studio Singapore :
1.
Take MRT to Harbour Front Station (Purple line)
2.
Find Door exit to VivoCity
3.
Follow signboard inside VivoCity for Sentosa
Express located at 3rd Floor
4.
Take Sentosa Express to Waterfront Station
We first
headed to Subway for breakfast in VivoCity.
Bought our
ticket from our friend for SGD54 per person before we went to
Singapore. Otherwise, we have to purchase it online for SGD66 or SGD74 from the
ticket counter.
The Ticket
Sentosa Station
Took almost
30 minutes getting a good spot to capture with the Universal globe before
entering the theme park.
I’m so happy
when I finally get to see Universal. It’s just amazing.
Transformer
was our first ride, don’t get cheated by the queue outside as there’s a long
way to go inside.
If I’m not
mistaken we queue about 50 minutes before the ride.
Second ride
was the Treasure Hunters, the ride was very disappointing though.
Went for
almost all the rides except for few very kiddy rides such as Mary-Go-Round. Hahaha.
Another one which
is quite annoying is the Donkey ‘live’ show, queue for 20 minutes to watch a
no-meaning show.
Can you see
that look kinda extreme roller coaster?
We wanted to
try the ‘Human’ (red track) because the track doesn’t seem to be that scary.
Too bad it
was closed that day. L
Tried the ‘Cylon’
(blue track) instead.
Believe it
or not, it’s my first roller coaster ride in life unless you wanna count in the
not-so extreme one...
Went to few
theme park before this but I’m just too chicken to try because every time I
went, I tend to try on the extreme one first and then I got scared for the rest
of the day.
This time, I
challenge myself despite the uneasy feelings I have.
Ok, guessed
I’m not gonna go anymore details about all the rides I went.
If you wanna
try the extreme one, you might wanna try Battlestar Galactica ‘Cylon’ and Revenge
of the Mummy.
The less extreme one is Transformer, Puss in Boots, Enchanted Airways & Canopy Flyer.
You can also
try the Jurassic Park Rapid Adventures, your chances of getting soaked is
50/50.
I got quite
wet but it dried up very quickly for my case.
That’s all
for Universal.
That slow jeep
Hotdog Bun for SGD11
Live water show
After that,
we went to Bugis Street by MRT to Bugis Station and Exit C towards Victoria
Street.
Bugis Street
is just opposite the road.
Bought some
souvenirs here, walked around the nearby mall, had mcd for dinner and went back
to rest.
Day 3 –
SINGAPORE TO JOHOR BAHRU
Leaving
Singapore to Johor Bahru on this day.
But before
leaving, must take photo with the Merlion first to show that we’ve been here.
That’s what
others said.
It’s quite
complicated to go to Merlion Park mentioned in the website but after trying on
my own, it’s actually kinda easy to find.
Direction to Merlion Park:
Take MRT to Raffles Place Station where you
will need to interchange at Outram Station. Exit Door G when you’re at Raffles
Place Station towards UOB Plaza 2. You will see the river after the exit. Walk
along the side of the river with Fullerton Hotel on your right until you see a
highway. When you see the highway, eventually you will see there are many
tourists opposite the road. That’s where you’re heading. After crossing the
highway, continue walking after you walk down the stairs. Ta-da! The Merlion is
there waiting for you.
After
photo-taking session with the Merlion, we went back to our hotel for brunch
since they are having 50% off for their foods and it’s time to check out. Off
to Johor Bahru we go!
We’re going
to take the bus to JB Sentral so we took MRT to Kranji Station first then from
there, hop on a bus to JB Sentral.
Direction to Kranji Station:
From Chinatown Station, interchange at
Outram Station, then interchange again at Jurong East Station, lastly alight at
Kranji Station. It’s a long way to go.
I was
blurred when we were at Kranji Station.
I just know
that we have to take the yellow bus (CW1/ CW2).
Since they
are people waiting so we wait along with them hoping we were right.
There came
the yellow bus, I thought we can pay by using the EZ-link card but I was wrong.
It’s so embarrassing
eh.
Coin is needed
instead to put in the coin box but we don’t have any.
Then I saw
there’s a small booth for coin exchange down the bus.
Told the bus
driver we’re heading to Larkin Terminal.
However, JB
Sentral should be the correct path for us NOT
Larkin Terminal.
Not sure if
JB Sentral will be the same price as Larkin Terminal though.
So I dropped
SGD4 into the coin box for both person but actually only SGD2 is needed.
(No refund given for my mistake!)
How stupid I
can be?
The bus drop
us off at Woodlands Singapore for custom checking then from there hop on the
bus again.
We were lost
in Woodlands so our bus went off and we waited for another bus to come.
(P/S: No more paying extra as long as you
have your previous ticket with you)
After
hopping another bus in Woodlands, the bus then drop us off again at Malaysia
CIQ.
We were both
very surprised that we are already at Johor Bahru.
Malaysia CIQ
is also considered as JB Sentral, we just follow the signboard to JB Sentral
after custom checking.
At JB
Sentral, while looking for a cab to our hotel, one guy came and offered a cab
for RM25.
We thought
the distance might be far so we agreed but it’s such a short distance which we
could get for only RM10.
Moreover, he’s
a illegal taxi driver so beware as they will charge you double price.
Nothing much
to do in Johor, our trip was to focus mainly on shopping.
At first we
wanted to go to Legoland but others told us it’s not worth to go as USS is much
more better than Legoland so we didn’t.
We checked
in Bliss Boutique Hotel before 2pm
and told the hotel receptionist that we wanted to go Johor Premium Outlet.
So they help
us to book the cab at 3pm and off we go.
The taxi
driver told us to avoid any ‘blue’ cab if possible as it’s meant to charge
double for every ride. Took the ‘red’ cab to and fro for RM45 and RM50.
We were
considered lucky because ‘red’ cab can hardly be seen in Johor Premium Outlet.
Day 4 –
JOHOR BAHRU
We wanted to
walk to KSL mall since it’s only 900m away from the hotel as shown in Agoda
website but the hotel receptionist not recommend us to walk as it will
dangerous, so we took the cab from our hotel to KSL mall for RM6.
I bought nothing in KSL mall which is very disappointing.
After that,
we took the cab to Sutera Mall for RM24.
I was hoping
I can get the ripped jeans I wanted here but they don’t have it in any of the
boutique store.
Leaving
Sutera Mall with disappointment again.
We then took
the cab to City Square after Sutera Mall for RM42. (Only ‘blue’ cab available
that time).
Ended up
buying myself a collar tee only from City Square.
We were
already exhausted although it was only 7pm that time, so we bought some bread
for dinner since we were full at that time and took the cab back for RM10.
Day 5 –
JOHOR BAHRU TO KOTA KINABALU
It’s time to
go home.
Times flies
whenever you are enjoying your holidays although I dislike Johor Bahru but at
least I get to enjoyed in USS.
We took the
cab to Senai Airport for RM69 and home sweet home at 5pm.
