Friday 5 March 2010

budget travel - singapore

Salam

Singapore's trip was oh-so-fun, plus it was so within our budget, even lower then we expect.
for a full one day trip from kuala lumpur to johor bharu to singapore and back to johor bharu to kuala lumpur within 24 hours, less than RM150. 1 Singaporean dollar costs around RM2.40+ (oh my it cost a lot nowadays! T_T)

Things to do before the trip :
- convert money to Singaporean dollars.
- get enough rest
- prepare overnight bag, just in case.
- passport please. no passport, no way.

but the best thing is we didn't do much research on the places that we wanted to travel, and no maps. only the google map gps in my handphone and it doesn't really give the right directions. T__T.

So we departed from sri rampai via MH757 really early in the morning with wea as the pilot and me as the co-pilot, ana as the stewardess and siddiq as the steward. HAHA. fine, it's only wea's car and not mas airline.

Things you need to consider when travelling long distance when it is still dark :

- make sure the car is ok with full fuel tank (checked)
- the driver must get enough rest before driving (not so checked but considered checked)
- a co-driver is a must to make sure the driver won't feel bored and fall asleep. (obviously checked! see the leg maa who's the loyal co-driver ^_^. HAHA.)
- be alert, don't speed up too much over the speed limit.
- MOST IMPORTANT : start your journey with bismillah, end your journey with alhamdulillah.

Total cost for journey kl-jb :
-fuel - RM55.00
-tolls- RM39.30

We arrived johor bharu and went directly to larkin to get our bus, since we decided not to drive. It's a budget trip anyway. Just pay RM2.50 via bus to travel to singapore from larkin.


get this ticket for RM2.50 from Singapore-Johore Express ticketing counter

And we were so grateful to be malaysians because our immigration system is so convenient, efficient and fast, compared to other places. i love malaysian's passport.

So in singapore the bus stopped at Queen Street bus terminal, or ban san bus terminal. Since we didn't have any tourist guide or even a map or books in our hands, we went to a nearby hotel to get some information and also the map of singapore. So you don't have to buy any map, just go to a hotel and usually they have an information counter on info travelling in the country.


our target : Landmark Village Hotel


There you go. Brochures and maps of Singapore and even a traveller's guide book - with FREE OF CHARGE. ^_^

Now we got our maps, and we started planning our day.

First,we went to the nearest tourist attraction around that area , Masjid Sultan.



















Then we walked around Kampung Glam area. You can get souvenirs from this area,and have your malay food.





Next, we went to the nearest MRT station, Bugis station to continue our journey. MRT is the train system in Singapore, similar to LRT in Malaysia.

Along the way, we stopped by at certain spots and had photoshopping sessions.


Raffles Hospital


fly swan! fly!


statues : we got dante,dale,chopin and newton


and we chose newton


at last, MRT station.

we got our train tickets, and our next stop - city hall station since it's just walking distance to Merlion park. the price is $2 per ticket, but we can refund $1 back if we return back the pass ticket. so basically it's only $1 for this route.


Bugis station


this is how the stations look like. this one is orchard station


similar with the new lrt train with 4 gerabak in malaysia


those lights indicated the next stations.

We arrived at city hall station a few minutes later, so we walked to merlion park ;


hello steel man.


Signs


wait till the pedestrian light turns green


gotcha! speakcryptic


Merlion Park!

Arrived there, we snapped some pictures, and we decided to take a ride on the river cruise. For a 30 minutes ride back and forth, it costs only $15 per pax.



gaah.






siddiq and ana


ana and wea


not to forget the celebrity of the day. HAHA.


esplanade


this unique still in construction building is going to be a casino. (which reminded us the 2012 movie) =___="


Singapore flyer. Next time maybe


so many tourists


it's getting hot.


another hot picture. err. not siddiq. i mean the weather. HAHA


even it's hot, we could still gave our best poses.


got this gorgeous shot from the cruise. if you're not in it, then it's a no-no. you will never get this shot.

finished cruising, we had our break for a while and studied the map again ;


three musketeers


musketeer one


musketeer two


musketeer three


musketeer four? took the pictures.

next stop, esplanade.it's a performing arts cenrtre, and there's also a mall there.since it's just walking distance,so might as well we stop by for a while;







i just love the design. from the exterior (building, landscapes) until the interior. love.love.love.









and in there there's a wall with a cute painted background. so we managed to get an indivual photo potrait ;


ana azman
status : not available and not for sale :P


farah hassan
status : not available but still for sale. HAHA. ;P


siddiq sallehuddin
status : not available and restricted not for sale. :P


wan harfiz wan ariff
status : available, not for sell because it's free of charge. HAHA. ;P

enough with all the photoshopping, next we went to orchard road via MRT for a ticket priced $1

it's really a long road, shopping heaven! but we aimed that we won't do any shopping, but i'm craving right now and regretted because i didn't buy those cheap miniature perfumes. NAAKKKKKKK. T____T

so we just had our rest and drinks at wisma atria ;


all the food stalls are chinese. now we really miss malay,halal food. T__T

drinks : around $1-$5, depends.

then we head back to bugis station($1.20), and prayed at Masjid Sultan.

after that we had our late lunch at a nearby malay restaurant. they tried me rebus and i ordered putu piring. it was the greatest and yummiest putu piring that i've ever eat in my whole life. now i'm craving for them. nak putu piring best. T___________T . for your info actually i'm a putu piring freak. HAHA.

lunch : $4-$7 , depends.

then we bought some souvenirs around the area, there were keychains, t-shirts, dirt cheap pashminas (3 for $10) , bags and etc.

price : depends, i bought keychains and souvenirs total of $13.


late lunch at 5pm


children little museum


one of the souvenir shops

it's getting dark so we made our way back to johor bharu. it costs $2.50/pax.

the roads were congested so we arrived late, and it took an hour of journey.

arrived larkin, we went to singgah selalu near danga bay and had our dinner with orang besar jb mao & smap.

around 10.30pm, MH757 began its way back to kuala lumpur. with the same driver and co-driver. indeed we made a new record wea, 700km within 24 hours without sleeping on the road. don't try this people. at least wea had his 30 minutes nap after prayer(at Masjid Sultan) and i had 15 minutes nap in the bus to jb.

alhamdulillah, everything went smooth and reached rampai around 2.30pm. it's a very long 24 hours for us. but indeed awesome! :)

next time we're planning to go to sentosa island, after universal studio opens its gate.

24 hours of travel, 700km on the road, more than 4km on foot, spent below $50 in singapore.

dare to travel? try like we did. ;)

fullstop.
wassalam~