I
bought a Groupon offer of a coach return trip to Resorts World Sentosa recently
and as 29 November 2014 was the only date with still-available seats, I had no
choice but to proceed with travelling on that date (I wanted to travel in early
November but there were no available seats left). I got up at the ungodly hour
at 03:40 and we went to 1 Utama car park (new wing). The ‘check-in’ time was
04:30 but we only boarded the coach at close to 5 and the bus left at 05:15. I
had to perform morning prayers aboard the coach. We did stop at a small R&R
(I don’t know where but it only had washroom and I think prayer room facilities
– sorry, not too sure of the latter but I would be surprised if there wasn’t
any prayer room) for a brief washroom break at close to 7 am and dawn was
already breaking.
We
continued on and I tried to get some kip but tried as I might, it eluded me.
Finally I took out my novel and read. I managed to finish one and started
another by the time we arrived at Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ Complex. The immigration
process was a breeze here and before long, we were already on Linkedua.
However, there was a long queue entering SG (it’s school hols) and we spent a
good time on Linkedua and approaching Tuas. There were already many long queues
at Tuas Checkpoint. I spent 45 minutes standing to clear immigration and
customs. Then it was another wait for the other passengers. We finally left at
close to 11 am and only reached Resorts World Sentosa car park at 11:30.
However, we were only allowed to disembark after they did a headcount and
strict instruction to return before 6 pm, at around 11:45. I hurried over and
caught the RWS8 bus to Vivo City. It’s free from Resorts World Sentosa back to
Vivo City and S$2 for the opposite trip.
At
Vivo City, I checked out Golden Village but Gone Girl was no longer showing.
After freshening up, I rode the MRT to Orchard and had brunch at Wisma Atria
before crossing over to Shaw House. I managed to get the last available seat
for the 13:30 Gone Girl and yes, you guessed it, it was at the front-most row
but of course. It was 13:17 then so I decided to perform prayers after the
movie.
Well,
the adverts and trailers took time and it was only 13:45 when the movie proper
started. Yeah, I could have performed prayers first. Spent 2 hours and 30
minutes plus 15 minutes for adverts/trailers craning up my neck watching it but
hey, beggars can’t be choosers eh. Not when the movie isn’t shown in Malaysia
and I have to wait a few months before I could download it even if I know how
to. Interestingly, from what I saw, I don’t think the Singapore authorities
screened anything from their viewing public.
After
prayers, I popped over to Royal Plaza on Scotts to perform prayers. After
prayers, I rode the MRT back to Harbourfront and had an early dinner at Sedap,
the foodcourt serving Muslim fare. After dinner, I took the escalator up and
walked to Sentosa Boardwalk to cross over to the island. It took only 8 minutes
to cross over and a few more minutes before I arrived at the assembly point. We
boarded the bus at 17:50; however, one Indian family didn’t show up until 18:45
so we waited and waited for them, angry and impatient. Why should we be
penalised for your inconsiderate disregard to punctuality, for your tardiness,
for your selfishness? And when they showed up, they didn’t offer any apologies,
explanation or even thanks to us for waiting for them.
We
arrived at Tuas Checkpoint at 19:40 and this time, the queues were better. We
crossed over and were back in Malaysia by 8 pm and cleared Malaysian
immigration in no time.
I
had settled back for the journey, even feeling like sleep might at long last
arrive, when we pulled over at a rest area. It wasn’t the usual highway R&R
and the stalls also sold food at ridiculous prices. What a rip off. Good thing
I’d already had dinner. We left after 30 minutes and after a while, I managed
to get a kip, aching neck and all.
We
arrived at 1 Utama at 00:30 on Sunday. Will I do it again? We’ll see.
~~~~~~~~
It
took me many rides on the MRT over the past few years before I realised the
announcement on the MRT which for some reason I thought was ‘The Happy Happy...’
(and kept me puzzled over time) was actually the beginning of this sentence: ‘Berhati-hati...’.
Duh me.
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