Whoa takes me a while to get this post up! Sorry for the delay. School's been holding me up. Anyway it's going to be a little bit shorter than the last one.
I forgot what date was that, but I woke up quite late in the morning. Mom and Dad had been up since morning and they went out for a moment to look for breakfast meals. It was true that the hotel didn't offer typical breakfast meal service like any other hotels would do, but that's okay!
Around 11 (sooo late, I know right???), I got up for real and munched on Nasi Lemak my dad bought for me. My mom and dad had apparently taken a long walk to Chinatown just to get their meals and mine - very much appreciated for their effort. After brunch, I took a shower and got dressed, and we needed to decide where to go today. I heard many people were recommending Vivo City as another shopping destination. My mom and dad also agreed about going there, so it was settled then.
We took a bus ride to Orchard Road to have lunch at Lucky Plaza (second meal of the day, only an hour away from the previous one). I helped myself with a plate of chicken rice. Chicken rice is also another authentic delicacy Singapore has to offer! Shortly after, we shopped a little and decided to take a bus to Vivo City for shorter trip instead of MRT. It was raining outside so the roads were a bit slippery. Too bad we didn't bring umbrellas cos we didn't see it coming.
Vivo City is, well, huge...much bigger than any other shopping centers in Singapore. Unlike other shopping center who were connected or located next to each other in Singapore, Vivo City is an independent mall, a shopping town likely Grand Indonesia in Jakarta, only Vivo City is located at the seaside facing Sentosa Island rather than at the downtown. We strolled for a while and went to the boardwalk to take pictures.
I forgot what date was that, but I woke up quite late in the morning. Mom and Dad had been up since morning and they went out for a moment to look for breakfast meals. It was true that the hotel didn't offer typical breakfast meal service like any other hotels would do, but that's okay!
Around 11 (sooo late, I know right???), I got up for real and munched on Nasi Lemak my dad bought for me. My mom and dad had apparently taken a long walk to Chinatown just to get their meals and mine - very much appreciated for their effort. After brunch, I took a shower and got dressed, and we needed to decide where to go today. I heard many people were recommending Vivo City as another shopping destination. My mom and dad also agreed about going there, so it was settled then.
We took a bus ride to Orchard Road to have lunch at Lucky Plaza (second meal of the day, only an hour away from the previous one). I helped myself with a plate of chicken rice. Chicken rice is also another authentic delicacy Singapore has to offer! Shortly after, we shopped a little and decided to take a bus to Vivo City for shorter trip instead of MRT. It was raining outside so the roads were a bit slippery. Too bad we didn't bring umbrellas cos we didn't see it coming.
Vivo City is, well, huge...much bigger than any other shopping centers in Singapore. Unlike other shopping center who were connected or located next to each other in Singapore, Vivo City is an independent mall, a shopping town likely Grand Indonesia in Jakarta, only Vivo City is located at the seaside facing Sentosa Island rather than at the downtown. We strolled for a while and went to the boardwalk to take pictures.
The boardwalk itself resembles a vast veranda overlooking the sea filled with a shallow pool where everyone could practically splash into. Some fine restaurants could be found at its sides.
The boardwalk apparently didn't just overlook Sentosa Island, but also before my eyes was one of the theme parks I'd been dying to go to: Universal Studios Singapore. The infamous dueling coaster tracks and the Far Far Away castle just stood there far enough for me to reach. I was thinking once of spending the rest of the afternoon there, since my friends - who had clearly gone there - implied that the theme park is small enough you can even explore it within 2 hours. But that'd be just waste of money, so I had to skip US Singapore this time.
Dad got instantly captivated with National Geographic Store. It was actually my first time seeing it as I've never seen any of them before, not even in the US.
Dad was particularly mesmerized by a simple, blue sling back with the National Geographic logo, but he hadn't got it till later in the afternoon.
Wine festival! Dayum!!!
After nearly 3 hours strolling in Vivo City, we barely shopped anything. Mom was apparently hunting for a Bossini Store but since there was hardly any at Vivo City, I suggested we should move our shopping destination to yet another famous spot in Singapore, City Hall. I didn't know whether it should be better called City Hall cos that's not the actual name of the collection of shopping centers. I just happened to label it that way since we needed to take MRT to City Hall station, which is directly connected to the bunch of shopping centers I mentioned.
I looked up for the nearest Bossini store on my phone's internet. I believe the area should at least have one. Bossini's quite popular in Singapore and it's impossible not to find it in one of the most popular shopping spots after Orchard.
After nearly half an hour walking through the city underpass complete with rows of restaurants and clothing stores, we reached Suntec City and found a Bossini store there. At once I thought mom was getting herself something but apparently all she wanted to buy was just a pair of jeans...for me (mom, I got jeans overstock both at my home in Jakarta and even the one in Cupertino, but I really appreciate you for still buying another pair for me :')
Well, we took a while to decide where to go next cos the day was still young (it was around 5). We actually have been thinking to do a bit different activity other than eating and shopping. We needed a little bit sightseeing! Mom offered me to go on a duck tour in Marina Bay, dad mentioned a river cruise would be operating up till evening near the hotel. I quickly found out that duck tour was hella pricey! So scratch that one. River cruise sounds quite boring. The price was slightly cheaper than the duck tour though, but still I couldn't stand its expensiveness.
However, I came up with the idea of seeing "Songs of the Sea", a famous water show in Sentosa, all of a sudden. I browsed for the tickets and found out they were actually much cheaper and looked even much more promising than the duck tour and the river cruise. Too bad mom wasn't a fan of seeing "dancing water", as she mentioned.
So from Suntec City, we took a taxi straight back to Vivo City and mom would take an MRT back to the hotel from there. While my dad and I were rushing to the top floor of the mall (Sentosa station) to purchase the earliest show we could catch. Apparently the earliest one (7.00 pm-ish) was fully booked and the next one would be at 8.40 pm. The show wouldn't take much time, and in fact, only 25 minutes. So there was no need to worry not to get a transportation back home (Dude, this is not Cupertino!).
I looked up for the nearest Bossini store on my phone's internet. I believe the area should at least have one. Bossini's quite popular in Singapore and it's impossible not to find it in one of the most popular shopping spots after Orchard.
After nearly half an hour walking through the city underpass complete with rows of restaurants and clothing stores, we reached Suntec City and found a Bossini store there. At once I thought mom was getting herself something but apparently all she wanted to buy was just a pair of jeans...for me (mom, I got jeans overstock both at my home in Jakarta and even the one in Cupertino, but I really appreciate you for still buying another pair for me :')
Well, we took a while to decide where to go next cos the day was still young (it was around 5). We actually have been thinking to do a bit different activity other than eating and shopping. We needed a little bit sightseeing! Mom offered me to go on a duck tour in Marina Bay, dad mentioned a river cruise would be operating up till evening near the hotel. I quickly found out that duck tour was hella pricey! So scratch that one. River cruise sounds quite boring. The price was slightly cheaper than the duck tour though, but still I couldn't stand its expensiveness.
However, I came up with the idea of seeing "Songs of the Sea", a famous water show in Sentosa, all of a sudden. I browsed for the tickets and found out they were actually much cheaper and looked even much more promising than the duck tour and the river cruise. Too bad mom wasn't a fan of seeing "dancing water", as she mentioned.
So from Suntec City, we took a taxi straight back to Vivo City and mom would take an MRT back to the hotel from there. While my dad and I were rushing to the top floor of the mall (Sentosa station) to purchase the earliest show we could catch. Apparently the earliest one (7.00 pm-ish) was fully booked and the next one would be at 8.40 pm. The show wouldn't take much time, and in fact, only 25 minutes. So there was no need to worry not to get a transportation back home (Dude, this is not Cupertino!).
Anyway, we got the ticket. We still got an hour to go before we should depart to Sentosa by monorail. My dad and I grabbed some light meals in Burger King. Remember the simple blue National Geographic bag I talked about earlier? My dad still 'craved' for it but he kept concealing his desire to buy it. The bag had a brand though it might be incomparable to those of Gucci or Louis Vuitton. But the price wasn't so bad earlier! So I had like minutes to encourage my dad to buy it, otherwise he wouldn't stop talking about it.
There...he has it. :)
Around 8.00 pm, we took off to Sentosa island by monorail. The ticket for the show apparently came with the monorail ticket, which makes everything even much cheaper than it looks like! When passing Waterfront Station at the entrance of Sentosa, a pack of people jumbled in carrying Universal Studios Singapore goods. I wanted to go there even worse -_-
We reached the last station (Beach Station) and got to the "Songs of the Sea" venue on time. I panicked a bit since I found ourselves lining up along with what-was-supposed-t0-be a group of Thai tourists. The tour leader passed me by shouting out some random Thai words as if she was organizing everyone to enter the venue in order. Anyway, we parted with them soon and found ourselves some good seats!
We reached the last station (Beach Station) and got to the "Songs of the Sea" venue on time. I panicked a bit since I found ourselves lining up along with what-was-supposed-t0-be a group of Thai tourists. The tour leader passed me by shouting out some random Thai words as if she was organizing everyone to enter the venue in order. Anyway, we parted with them soon and found ourselves some good seats!
The show was spectacular! I was deeply amazed by the use of many effects, involving the pyrotechnic skills, lasers, lighting, and what mesmerized me the most was no other than the water effect. The fire at first half of the show came out nicely along the drum beats. The lights beamed out to million directions accompanied by subtle music. It definitely presents those effect combined with the music. The water formed fountain and darted animations and pictures as if the water itself was a media synonymously a screen. Anyway it was a really amusing show! I could tell my dad was completely blown away! $10 wasn't left wasted for nothing! (yeah you know the reason why I reveal its price now, cos it's considerably cheap)
Before leaving, I took some pictures with the show's mascot, Oscar.
Right after the show, the venue was closed immediately but Sentosa was still crowded as ever! It seemed people hardly wanted to leave the island back to Singapore to call it the night. However, my dad and I decided to take a monorail back to Vivo City. We didn't have heavy meals for dinner so we were thinking of grabbing some in Vivo City's food court at 10pm.
Martabak for Dad
Yong Tau Fu pour moi!
The feeling of devouring the delicacies after a long, exhausting day ended with a good sight and blown away with a show could hardly be defined by words. One thing for sure, it was a good feeling.
After heavy dinner, my dad and I headed to the MRT station located below Vivo City. We caught a train back to Clarke Quay, the nearest MRT station from the hotel. The night was considerably young we even thought of taking a stroll along the river to enjoy Saturday night sight at Singapore!
I have been to Clarke Quay before. It was packed with particularly foreign tourists as you could see fine dinners with beyond-the-budget restaurants spreading all over the place. The famous dining site itself was located across the river, meanwhile my dad and I could only hear the noise of the music blared out of the restaurants from across.
On the way, we also sat by the river for a while looking up at someone being slingshot. Their scream was epic! I could imagine the feeling of nausea and extreme joyfulness overwhelming whoever sat on that very seat being bounced up to the air.
I wondered how much it would cost to try that challenge, but not so long, someone from somewhere close to where I was sitting yelled. "Thank you $40!!!" Thanks dude, now we all know how much it costs. Even if you wanted to pay me with a hundred bucks I wouldn't ever dare to give it a try :)
My dad and I continued our long walk at the seaside until we reached our hotel. We quickly slumped at the bed and that's when we knew how much energy we spent. Our feet had definitely ached so bad I wanted to plug them off and put them on my lap.
In short, we were completely worn out for that day :)
On the way, we also sat by the river for a while looking up at someone being slingshot. Their scream was epic! I could imagine the feeling of nausea and extreme joyfulness overwhelming whoever sat on that very seat being bounced up to the air.
I wondered how much it would cost to try that challenge, but not so long, someone from somewhere close to where I was sitting yelled. "Thank you $40!!!" Thanks dude, now we all know how much it costs. Even if you wanted to pay me with a hundred bucks I wouldn't ever dare to give it a try :)
My dad and I continued our long walk at the seaside until we reached our hotel. We quickly slumped at the bed and that's when we knew how much energy we spent. Our feet had definitely ached so bad I wanted to plug them off and put them on my lap.
In short, we were completely worn out for that day :)
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