A Glimpse of Singapore F1 Grand Prix 2013

Swruunng.....Swrung...Swruung.. (Trying to imitate sound from Formula 1 Car Machine) Oh, so noisy and so happening around here, what's going on? That was my reaction when I went to CBD area during last weekend. And then I realized that it was the sound of the cars' machine from Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix. Wohoo..! So excited I was, even though I was not inside the event, I could feel the spirit from far away. Though I could have imagined how uncomfortably noisy it was for the people who stays near the circuit arena. But still this is one of Singapore's big and important event. How can't it be, they have prepared this from a very long time, furthermore they were using public main road in the central city area as their circuit. So it really looked like the Singapore's government had paid a big attention on this. The barricade looked very strong and firm (of course it should, as they were using main road with tall office buildings along the way). Singapore F1 Grand Prix is a night race, hence they have also set very bright lamps, on the barricade along the circuit area. At night when all the lights were up, it was so cool, you could see the circuit route very clear from above.

Ticketing Booth from Gate 5

Dinner at Charlie Brown Café, Singapore

After walking a whole day, what's more interesting than having a dinner at a nice restaurant on a beautiful evening. This time, me and my friend were hunting of this unique cafe with a well-known cartoon character theme concept from Peanuts. Although, I only familiar with one character, Snoopy, a Charlie Brown's pet dog. I wonder how my friend knows all of them. What I thought that eating at this kinda place will be quite pricey, then I saw there is a sign of 'There is NO Service Charge In My Cafe', how cool is that!

Sunday Brunch (Plus Dinner) at O'Coffee Club

What a nice weekend to spend in home, just sleeping the whole day, relax, watching movie from laptop, to rest for a while after 5 days continuously doing a hard work in office. So, as a result, I skipped my breakfast, and as well my lunch, what a lazy weekend day. And then I thought, how nice it is to go to the CBD (Central Business District) area in Singapore during this time to have a nice brunch and as well as dinner with my sister. As I know, only at this time there is less people and less activity around CBD site. Since there is almost no office activity around this area, practically very less people seen here on the weekends. So, we decided to go around Raffles Place. It was nice to wonder across to open air, it was a rare view in Singapore. Sadly though, some of cafe and restaurant around were also closed at the same time. Luckily, I found this nice cafe at a nice spot of CBD area, still open during weekend.

Hunting The Tintin Shop at Singapore

     Hi Readers!

Do you remember Tintin? Or are you one of Tintin's fan? I still remember reading comics of The Adventures of Tintin. I still even have the old collection of its comics, which is inherited from my cousin that time. Some of you might be not so familiar with Tintin, no problem, you can look into here and here. Recently, one of his adventure stories, which is The Secret of The Unicorn, has been made into a movie (you can see the trailer here). It was a very cool movie, and I thought the movie is more adventurous than the same story in its comics. If you would like to get the original collection of Tintin, or may be just want to get a glimpse of Tintin's collection, you can go to this shop, 'The Tintin Shop', located at China Town area, (56 Pagoda Street, Chinatown MRT, Singapore). You could find lots of the original collection of Tintin, from books, clothes, cards, etc. until the miniature of the characters / stuff inside the story. It's like I am going back to my childhood time!

A Thousand Steps in Batu Caves, Malaysia

Hi Readers,

Would you accept the challenge to step a thousand staircase in Batu Caves?

Batu Caves is one of the famous tourist destination at Kuala Lumpur area. The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old (source: Wikipedia). It was once being promoted as a place of worship by an Indian Trader, K. Thamboosamy Pillai. Since then, it has been used as a place for some of Indian tradition such as Thaipusam, until now it is been formed as a sacred Hindu temple. I planned my trip to visit there with my father and my 2 sisters. So excited to visit another historical site!

On our way to Batu Caves, I could see a huge statue from far along the road. Behind the statue there is a hill with the cave inside, in which they later called as Batu Caves. The taxi driver told us that there are two entrances, main and side entrance. We entered from a side entrance. On the entrance, we also saw another big statue, not as big as the main one though, but enough for us to see that they like to build a huge statue. All of the huge statue there was carved by the local. Only the statue located inside the cave was brought straight from India, of course it is not as huge or as big as the one carved by the local.

Batu Caves
See how high it is??

Fountain of Light at Marina Bay Sands

Proudly presented by Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, this fountain of light or what they called as the Wonder Full show has became one of the famous tourist attraction at Marina Bay Sands. This is a free show for those who passed by or visit Marina Bay Sands. The Wonder Full Show is said to be Southeast Asia's largest light and water show, so don't forget to see this show when we visit Singapore.

Marina Bay Sands during Festival of Light

Pulau Ubin Gateaway

It has been such a long time, to continue writing this blog. Yes, I was to busy with work and work and work. But recently, I had some weekday gateaway, exploring part of Singapore which I had never been to before, Pulau Ubin. Pulau Ubin is located at the north-east side of Singapore. To get here, we could alight at Tanah Merah Interchange, take bus no.2 to Changi Village. 

In here, we can't expect clean water, as it has been polluted by oil from a big ship. But the view is still very nice. From Changi Point Ferry Terminal, we need to take a boat to Ubin Island, about 10 to 15 mins journey time. During the boat journey, we passed by big ships, also saw the Changi Sailing Club on the other side. I also saw, some people still used to do fishing around here. Felt the wind breeze, smell ocean water. What a different kind of feeling from a crowded Singapore city. 

At Ubin Island, there is a lot of activities we can do. The most common that people will do is cycling. A lot of people do chalet as well with friends or family. In here, there are some temple we could visit as well. When I went here with my parents, we were just visiting temple in here, then we had some walk and drank a coconut water before finally head back to city.

Kuala Lumpur Landmark

Hi Readers!

As I am moving around KL city, I am snapping some photos for places that I have visited. Just sharing with you, may be it can bring an inspiration for you guys when you decide to visit Kuala Lumpur.. :)

1. Bukit Bintang and Bukit Bintang Walk

Yes, this place is very famous as an 'Orchard Road' of Kuala Lumpur. It is a heaven for shopping lovers. Getting here is very easy. You could take the Monorail and stop at Bukit Bintang Station. Once you go out from the Monorail Station, you could choose to go directly towards Bukit Bintang Walk, or choose to go to Sungei Wang. Sungei Wang is also a heaven for shopping lovers. There is a lot of choices especially for clothes, gadget and food with such an affordable price.

If we choose to go directly towards Bukit Bintang Walk, we could see a giant shop for H&M, for those H&M lovers, you will fall in love at a first sight! After pass by H&M shop, we could continue our walk across Bukit Bintang Walk. A lot of Bar, shop food, anything. And before we eventually reach Pavilion Shopping Mall, there is a lot other shopping mall along Bukit Bintang Walk. So, really it is a heaven for shopping lovers..!

Bukit Bintang Walk

At Bukit Bintang, there is a lot of choice of shopping class. They have any type of class here. From affordable price, such as at Sungei Wang Plaza and a bit more high class at Pavilion, until the price that you couldn't have imagine of buying it, which is at Starhill, unless you wouldn't mind doing that :)

Fountain in front of Pavilion

One day at Changi Jetty, Pasir Ris

Singapore, a small little country, yet it offers a lot of things to explore. I have been here for quite some time and thought that I have known each part of it, but actually there is still a lot of things I have yet to explore. Like last week, my friends were asking me to go out on photography to Pasir Ris side, while I sort of remember that I have been to Pasir Ris, but I found out that I have not been to the place where my friends brought me to.

Muzium Negara Kuala Lumpur (National Museum Malaysia)

Hi Readers! 

Back again to Malaysia, and now I would like to share with you one great place in Malaysia that should not be missed when you are here. It is a National Museum of Malaysia or in a local word Muzium Negara Kuala Lumpur. For some of you, it may sounds a bit boring. But its really not bad after all. This museum is really something in Malaysia, out of what it is expected from a typical normal boring museum. What can I say is that they (government in Malaysia) really taking care of this Museum, and putting some of the good stuff in here.

Entrance Gate

Solo Female Traveler in Kuala Lumpur

Travelling is more fun with accompanies around. But it does not mean that travelling alone couldn't be fun. I have seen a lot of article about travel alone. And ever since, I have been wondering, what is it like to travel alone and do backpacking trip. As a woman who is growing up in protected parents, practically they won't let me to travel alone, so for long time I have set back this intention. Now, given a chance that I am about to do some business travelling alone to Kuala Lumpur, I spontaneously become very excited about it. Apart from doing some work, I could be given a chance to discover this new city in which I have never been to before. This is actually my very first experience of travelling alone to overseas. Excited and scared at the same time. So, I do some research about Do's and Dont's when travelling to Kuala Lumpur, and have take a note inside my head about that.. :)

Ladies Photography Workshop by 8 Days

Hosted by Fly Entertainment Artiste Stephanie Carrington, this event consists of 2 sections; photography talk and practical workshop, with 3 speakers; award-winning photographer Sim Chi Yin, food blogger/photographer Dr Leslie Tay, and freelance photographer Rory Daniel. They did not give much about technical stuff that you need or want to understand more about how to use a camera. But, it was more about sharing the experience, challenges and some other not-so-technical things as a photographer. 

Singapore Botanic Gardens

I am not really into a gardening activity, but I could say this Botanic Garden, located in Singapore, is more than the average garden. From kids to adult, men, woman, girl, boy, and elderly, I could see all of them spending time here. Apart from picnic activity, I noticed that a lot of people do some other activity, like photography for example (like what I was doing there). I also saw some group of people were doing some orchestra and choir rehearsal, apparently, they would held an event that afternoon. 

This garden is quite big. On the front area, it looks like a normal garden, with green trees, grass that covers green field, a little lake, some kind of birds, ducks, and a lot other things. Then, when I started to go further inside, I could see little waterfall, which I had never seen it before on other garden. I continued my walk a little bit  further, and then I discovered a hidden gems in this garden. I saw a white gazebo ~ white house, which I think is so unique, to have this kinda thing inside a garden. And I saw a couple is doing a wedding photography there, well, I think is not surprising to do this kinda activity at that white gazebo.

Bukit Timah Gate

Instagram Highlights

Hope you enjoy my instagram snap!

Instagram is just great, isn't it?

Universal Studio Singapore

When you plan your trip to Singapore, especially for those who really enjoy the thrill of roller-coasters, don't forget to slot in One-Day USS Trip into your holiday schedule. So, here i am, with my 4 other friends, enjoying all the rides in USS. We need the whole day, from morning till dawn, to conquer all the rides, so,, enjoy! :)

New York.. New York.. New York..

The Craft Complex Kuala Lumpur

Probably, there are not a lot of people familiar with this places, as normally when we would like to visit Kuala Lumpur, we will only visit KLCC or Bukit Bintang, or probably Dataran Merdeka. Hm, that is actually quite true. However, if you have a lot more days to visit Kuala Lumpur, I would recommend you to visit this place. Apart from FREE admission :), this could bring you a new perspective of Kuala Lumpur.

As its name, The Craft Complex provides a lot of things related into it. The idea of this, is that apart from only providing a normal handicraft shop, it also has a craft village, where a visitor could see the makings of Malaysian Handicraft. It even has its own museum, Muzium Kraf , where it shows how the craft in Malaysia is created, from a historical era until a modern era. 

Here are some of my shots :)

Sanrio Hello Kitty Town, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

It was a very bright and sunny day, a perfect day to go out for outdoor and indoor ativity. Especially if you have lil' daughter or niece, it would be a perfect day to ask them go to Hello Kitty Town at Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Ever wonder, where is Johor Bahru located? It is located at the southern part of East Malaysia. Just beside Singapore. From Singapore, you could go from Woodlands or Kranji MRT station, and take any bus that going towards the Singapore Imigration checkpoint, don't worry as there are a lot of bus going towards there. Once we passed through Singapore imigration checkpoint, and then reach Malaysia imigration checkpoint, do not go out from there, as there is a lot of direct bus going towards Hello Kitty attraction as well as Legoland.  

This Hello Kitty attraction is just located beside the Legoland Theme Park. If you read from my previous entry, I was explaining that if you have not been visiting both Legoland and USS Singapore, it would be good to make it in one package, as Johor Bahru and Singapore are so near each other. With its Legoland neighborhood location, make this Hello Kitty Town worth to be slotted in your Singapore holiday schedule. 

FYI, there is a lot of package deal for 2D1N to Legoland and Hello Kitty attraction, and I have compared the price is about the same range with planning the trip individually. So you could opt for this kind of package  instead.

So, follow me!

Mini Little Town at Legoland

Welcome to Legoland, where you could see other countries in just a day! 

It is located in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. So, when you are planning to visit USS Singapore, don't forget to visit  Legoland too. It is automatically under one package, even if you don't want to, you are advised to visit them together in one package, as practically, Johor Bahru is just beside Singapore.You could save some money while travelling to more places. P.S. There is a tour package to go Legoland one day and going back to Singapore at the same day. Enjoy!

Kuala Lumpur City Gallery

Kuala Lumpur City Gallery is another unique kind of tourist attraction in Kuala Lumpur. It is a visitor information, where we could ask a guide about some road, or other tourist attraction place to visit. The uniqueness of this as compared to other visitor information is that they have Kuala Lumpur city landmark model in here. Other than that, visitor could also enjoy some shopping spree at Arch, in which they sell Malaysian classic handicraft (it is a bit pricey though).

It is located at around Daratan Merdeka, and there are a lot of other tourist attraction near to this place. This building is preserved from a historical building (I really like the classiness feeling around here :)). And there are a lot of historical landmark around this area, so once we visit this place, we could just spend the whole day to visit a lot of other places nearby.

This is some of my shots :)

I Heart KL :)

Kuala Lumpur City Gallery

Just Trying Instagram

Don't be paranoid if in this era there is actually people just tried Instagram, well in that case, it's me. Yeah, yeah I know, it's a bit not updated 'What, you just tried Instagram, like now?'. Don't be surprised though, there is a lot of people out there who just do not know what is instagram. 

First time trying something new, at least for me, feel so excited, can't stop to post a picture. Yeah, you know right, the feature is just great and easy to use. After taking some snap, we can directly edit the picture, making our picture looks like from a pro.

Herein are some of my shots; 

The Feeling of Countryside

Get to Know Singapore's Central Fire Station

Developed from 1800s till modern day, the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery traces fire fighting and civil defence development in Singapore ever since. This gallery is located in the Central Fire Station, which made visitors able to fully experience and understand this integral part of Singapore's History. Being the oldest existing fire station in Singapore, Central Fire Station never lost its spirit since then.. 

Christmas 2012 at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

Cheers,

Florence