After Singapore

I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more

Author: pascal

  • Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

    This is the 1st “highest peak in a country” I’ve ever visit. With the height of 163.63 m, it’s not pretty high tough.

    But it’s still worth it, considering you love nature. But if you don’t, don’t bother to come here. All you see is greeneries: trees, trees, and trees.
    There are several manmade tracks you can choose, depending on their difficulties (distance, height, etc..)
    At the top of the hill, you can see small hut to rest and pride yourself by just climbing the highest peak. When I went there, there were some people picnic-ing inside the hut. You cannot see the whole Singapore from up here (as I expected before). But still it’s a good place to see while you can do some calorie-burning.

  • Johor Bahru

    In contrary to popular belief, going to Johor Bahru from Singapore is inexpensive and hassle-free for Indonesians (and other ASEAN countries nationality).

    To go there, you can take a bus from either Jurong East, Kranji, or Woodlands MRT. I usually take SBS170 from Kranji. The price is around $1 per ride. Expect some congestion in Malaysia immigration if you go on weekends, especially on daytime.
    Before going, be sure to see the alighting point. Buses from Singapore can alight in one of two terminals: Kotaraya or Larkin. I prefer Kotaraya since it’s closer to Singapore and have more attractions (in fact, I’ve never alight at Larkin).
    Meal is inexpensive compared to Singapore. Usually they have the same nominals but halved currency! Last time I ate for lunch for only RM 5, or $2.5, for a fried rice plus orange juice. Even if you shop you get cheaper prices (I saved $5 when buying an Anlene milk!). The two shopping malls worth to visit are City Square (high-end) and Plaza Kotaraya (low-to-med, but has a supermarket).
    If you seek nature, you can go to the nearby public park to the west of immigration checkpoint. Inside you can also visit the zoo, Sultan’s palace, mosque, etc. The beach is located even more west at Danga Bay. I visited there but only during the afternoon. Good to try during the night as it is famous for the nightlife. To watch movie you may try the Cathay Cinema in City Square. The price is around RM 10 for a movie.

  • SCC Rugby Sevens 2008

    I was informed about the event few days before. It is in fact an annual event, inviting teams from many countries (mostly eastern side of the world) to play the Sevens-style of rugby. The game itself is very short. One game consists of 2 x 7 minutes (10 minutes for the final). Therefore the whole tournament was finished in two days (1-2 November 2008)

    The entry fee was $20, but it’s worth it. Maybe because it’s the first time I watch live sport match. Or maybe because my brother took part in it. Yes, my brother is an athlete and he was one of the Indonesia’s “dream team” to play in this event. Though didn’t get the big prize, his team was the winner of Bowl tournament. By the way, the winner was SA Vipers from South Africa.
    More pictures of the tournament, you can find at http://picasaweb.google.com/pascalalfadian/SCCRugbySeven
    About Padang
    Padang is a large grass field just in front of City Hall (the real one, not MRT). Though, it is close to City Hall MRT. Usually the field is left open with no barrier so people can play something. But for this event they created a “portable” stadium that encircles the rugby field.

  • Jurong West Swimming Complex

    This swimming complex is located near the (newly-opened or to-be-opened, depends on when you read it) NTU extension green-line MRT station. Yes, just after Boon Lay.

    With the entry fee of $2, it’s also a good spot to swim. Altough it doesn’t have as many facilities as its neighbor Jurong East, this is the only complex I found having two olympic size pools. One of the two has a rooftop, so it’s more convenient when it’s raining. There is a very high slide that you can use, and good news is you don’t need a float.
    Other facilities are kids playground, jacuzzi, and stream pool.

  • Jurong East Swimming Complex

    Despite its name, the swimming complex is nearer to Chinese Garden MRT rather than Jurong East MRT.

    With slightly more expensive price ($2 for the weekends), the swimming complex provides you all the facilities to have fun as well as for excercise. Do not forget to put aside $5 from your locker, as you may need it to rent a float to use two of the three slides they have. I forgot the height, but it’s quite high! For the lowest slide, you don’t need a float; but (at least for me) it’s more exhilarating because you feel your body going down in high-speed with hardly anything you can do about it (compared with float where you can grab it).
    Other facilites are stream pool, jacuzzi, children playing area, and wave pool (which operates +/- 15 minutes every one hour). The complex also provide pretty good olympic size pool, so you can excercise as well as having fun in this swimming complex.
    With all the facilities, no wonder a lot of people swimming here. I feel bad to my girlfriend if I swim here, but if you are single (and looking), this is a good place to look: pretty girls in bikini and guys with sexy body are included in this “a lot of people”.

  • Buona Vista Swimming Complex

    When I wrote this post, I just went back from that swimming complex.

    Having the place near to Holland Village, expect to see some bule (caucasians) to swim there. First thing came to my head was the pool is very small. Though it has an olympic sized pool (and one kids one), the complex lacks of canteen and shelter. So you can only put your belongings in beach-style chairs provided, hoping there’s no rain. Lockers of course provided for 20-40 cents. If you are too shy to show your “thing” to public, better to not wash here after swimming. The washing rooms are not equipped with doors and there are hardly any hanger. So you wash there, then walk naked to the small table where you put your clothings. Of course males and females are separated, and my report only based on male room. But may be it’s good for.., you know, people who likes the same sex.

  • Queenstown Swimming Complex

    Being the nearest swimming pool to my place, this becomes the most-frequenlty-I-visited (don’t know the good grammar).

    The pool is best for excercise, but not for water-fun. With one olympic-size pool and one more kids pool that most of the time closed. The entry fee is $1 on weekdays, and $1.30 on weekends. The pool has no rooftop, so be prepared to wear sunblock when you swim during the day, or accept the raindrops when it’s raining. Normally the pool is not very crowded, so you can still do some laps without much difficulties.