11+ Hours In SG

I had been a bit indifferent to Arsenal during the recent season but decided to meet them when they announced they would be playing in International Champions Cup in Singapore in July. After a few attempts at securing the ticket for the Saturday match against Paris Saint Germain, I finally managed to get my ticket. Next was securing the bus ticket and I was gutted to find that Nice Coach had stopped its bus services to Singapore from 1 July 2018. As I didn’t want to get the bus from TBS, I bought First Coach ticket online departing from Lengkok Abdullah near Bangsar LRTstation for RM60. Then I spent some time browsing for bus tickets to return the same evening after the match (no way was I going to overnight there) and after reading reviews of a few bus operators, I decided to buy Transtar ticket departing from Golden Mile Complex at Beach Road departing at 22:45 and arriving opposite Berjaya Times Square. The ticket cost SGD20 and I added another SGD1 for insurance.

I woke up early on Saturday, 28 July, and prepared some sandwich for breakfast and my trip. We left for Bangsar LRT station and waited for the First Coach office to open at 07:00 to get my ticket. There were 3 other Gooners in their respective Arsenal tops (I planned to change just before the match) in the same bus. I received my ticket together with a bottle of water and a packet of Jacob’s crackers.

We left on time and were soon breezing down PLUS Highway heading south. Traffic was blessedly smooth all the way. We stopped at Pagoh R&R at 09:40 to utilise the facilities and were off again at 10:05. Traffic was again kind until we crossed over the second link into Singapore – I didn’t even want to wonder how bad the traffic was at Causeway. Our bus only cleared the queue after 20 minutes. There was another long wait at the Singaporean passport control. I stood for almost 45 minutes before I was cleared.

Tuas Checkpoint

It was about 13:30 when we reached Novena Square and I wasted some time before boarding the MRT for Orchard. I made my way to Royal Plaza on Scotts to perform prayers. The prayer room had relocated since my last visit to the second floor (or first floor; Singaporeans are so American-influenced despite being a British settlement!) and you need to climb up the staircase up (the right-hand staircase when you enter the hotel). I left at 15:15 and wandered off to Isetan before heading to Lucky Plaza where I discovered a shop selling confectionery and snacks at very competitive prices. I then crossed over to Ngee Ann City and after a brief visit to Wisma Atria, I returned to Ngee Ann City and had an early dinner at the Food Village. After dinner, I caught up with social media before boarding the MRT for Nicoll Highway station as I wanted to check out the Golden Mile Complex and ascertain where the Transtar office was.

I was waiting to cross Java Road when a bus turned into the road and it took a few seconds for me to realise it was the Arsenal bus with the players in it heading for the National Stadium!!! I realised too late to fish out my device and take a picture of it. I could see Cech and Matteo sitting by the window closest to me and they were literally five metres away from me! FIVE!!!

After that brief excitement, I continued on to Golden Mile Complex. I don’t know why it was named such but the building houses several bus operators along with some Vietnamese- and Thai-owned businesses and Transtar was at the other end of the building. There was a Thai Buddhist shrine across from Transtar office. I asked if I could collect my ticket then and was told to come at 22:15. I continued on and walked to the stadium.

Before entering the stadium, I went to Kallang Wave Mall and went to find the prayer area there (found out when I was searching for prayer rooms near the stadium). It was near the washrooms around the corner from Fair Price. I went to the washroom and changed my top before returning to Fair Price to get some mineral water. There was an announcement urging those of us planning to watch the match to make our way there immediately.

There was a short queue heading into the stadium and security check. Those with bags had to queue in different queues and after having our bags checked, we underwent body check. My seat was in section 7 so I had to walk a bit before going up to where my row was. There were a few idiots in ManUre and Cheshit tops too.

The match started around 19:45 and when Paris Saint Germain equalised from the spot, I started getting worried. A draw would mean penalty shootout which would mean the match would end later than expected and I might not be able to perform prayers after the match but at some R&R stop later that night. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried as the Gunners scored another four goals and the final score was 5-1. I left immediately and went back to Kallang Wave Mall. After freshening up and performing ablutions, I performed prayers in the prayer area. My, it was stuffy in there. No air-conditioning at all. It was 22:02 when I left and I hurried back to Beach Road. I arrived at Transtar office at 22:16 and checked in. I wasn’t issued any ticket but the girl noted my printed ticket and gave me a bottle of water. I went into the building to find a washroom but left immediately. It wasn’t a nice place at all. I walked to the nearby Caltex and used the bathroom there instead. There just wasn’t time to go to Zam Zam to buy any murtabak to go.

My bus arrived as I was walking to Caltex and it was parked at the other end of the building from Transtar. It was a double decker bus and I purposely chose a seat at the lower deck as I wanted to go out and in quickly. We left on time and I dozed off during the trip to Tuas Checkpoint. As Transtar was a Singaporean company, I had worried earlier if there were more Singaporeans on board which mean they would clear the Singaporean passport control quickly and the bus may leave without me but I needn’t have worried as the Tuas Checkpoint was almost deserted then (it was almost midnight) and the passport control process took five minutes tops. We then re-boarded the bus and crossed over to Malaysian soil. Again, it was a quick process at the Johore side and before long, we were travelling north. The bus stopped somewhere for a washroom break but I was too sleepy to get down then.

We arrived at the bus stop at Plaza Berjaya (under the Imbi monorail and opposite Times Square) at 04:15 and I sat there waiting. There were many cars on the road even at that hour and the bus stop was brightly lit so I wasn’t afraid. I had planned to walk down to Pudu and wait until Subuh to perform prayers before taking the bus back but CT came to pick me up.

And that was my trip to SG this time. I wasn’t in the mood to shop at all despite the Great Singapore Sale so I hardly spent apart from on MRT tickets, some chocolates and dinner. And besides, Singapore is not cheap especially when you earn MYR. I could find a similar thing at a lower cost at Isetan KLCC compared to Singapore. But it was a good day trip nevertheless.

A Short Birthday Getaway

I try not to fly AirAsia if I can help it and was surprised to find myself looking at the destinations the cattle airline back in December. I didn’t stop there but proceeded to buy tickets to Nha Trang in Vietnam and Surat Thani in Thailand well in advance. The Surat Thani trip had since been cancelled as AA decided to retire that route wtf.

Friday, 6 July 2018

It started raining early in the morning but stopped just before I left micasa for the bus station for the bus to KL Sentral. I slipped in a mini brolly into my suitcase just in case. I had to wait a bit as the usual service didn’t operate. The feeder bus only left after 08:00 and fortunately for me, the traffic was clear despite the earlier rain and when we reached KL Sentral at 08:14, I jumped out and made my way across the KL Sentral concourse to the platform for the buses to KLIA 2. I bought the ticket quickly – some moronic wench thought it was OK to cut my queue while I was being served – and loaded my bag into the bus. The bus departed at 08:20. Talk about cutting it close!

We arrived at KLIA 2 at 09:10 and I rushed up to the departure area. I was pumped with adrenaline and reached my gate within 15 minutes and that was after a quick bathroom pitstop. We were supposed to board at 09:50 but we were only called to do so after 10:05. We took off slightly after schedule and I settled in for the flight. The captain was a bit annoying with his announcements and poems woven into his announcements. I think I was one of the two covered girls in the flight which was great.

We landed at Cam Ranh International Airport at 10:30 local time and had to take a bus to the terminal. I was the first one out of the bus and I rushed up to passport control. Evidently there was another flight that landed ahead of ours for there were already some Caucasians queuing. The process was quick though, unlike the one in Busan, and I was done within 7 minutes. I exited the building and looked around for signs for the bus and located it to the left of the exit. I had read that you could take bus number 18 to Nha Trang city and sure enough, there was a small kiosk selling bus tickets for that bus. The ticket cost VND50,000. The girl at the kiosk told me to wait 20 minutes so I decided to use the bathroom. The bathroom was clean but there were annoying flies flying around and it made me realise their presence. For some reason, there were quite a few flies. Not that many to be annoying but enough to make you notice.

20 minutes stretched into half an hour and finally the bus was there. The day was promising to be hot but at least there was a nice continuous breeze at where we sat waiting for the bus. We boarded the bus and after it made a long detour to pick passengers from the domestic terminal, we were finally on our way to the city. The female bus conductor asked where I wanted to get down and I told her Hung Vuong. The highway from the airport gradually led us to the coastal road to the city. Nha Trang is about 30 km away from the airport and I got down 45 minutes later at Trần Phú and thanks to google maps, managed to find my hotel without any problem. I checked in (the lady asked for my passport) and went up one floor to my room. The room was perfect for a two-night stay. After performing prayers and resting, I ventured out into the afternoon sun and heat.

I walked up Hung Vuong and immediately noticed the many, many shops selling exotic leather handbags (by that I mean crocodile skin). They are all beautiful once you get past your squirming uneasiness with crocodile skin (especially the bags with the whole crocodile on it, how disgusting and ugly!). I only found about two styles that I liked though and while they cost only a fraction of what they would be had they carried Dior or Hermès logos, I resisted buying any. Maybe on another trip.

I walked on and noticed there were many Russians in the city. They were everywhere! Even the travel agencies seem to be Russian-owned and some restaurant had menus in Cyrillic. The city was also expanding rapidly and I came upon a building under construction every 50 metres or less. And yes, the numerous exotic leather shops too and it made me wonder how many crocodiles they breed and kill every year. There were also shops selling the local offerings like coffee luwak and agarwood jewellery and another orange-coloured prayer beads/bracelets (I didn’t go near to have a closer look). There were also the usual massage parlours, beauty and skincare shops, restaurants. One thing that was missing was foreign currency exchange offices though and as I walked on, I began to worry. I only had some leftover balance from my last trip to Vietnam and had used some for the bus fare.

After a while, I came to a major road. I waited at the lights before crossing over to Viễn Đông Hotel. I went in to ask and the lady at the reception said I could change money there. The rate was VND22K for USD1 so I changed USD50 (in denominations of USD20 and USD10). I went out and guess what? BaoViet Bank was just right next to the hotel. I went in and found I could change money there. I asked the rate and when I found the bank offered better rates at VND22,920 for every USD1 (for notes smaller than USD50), I went back to the hotel and said I changed my mind and wanted my money back. The lady was not happy of course but after a couple of minutes, I managed to persuade her to return my USD50 and I gave her back the Dong. Alas for me, the bank had closed within those couple of minutes as it was already 16:30. Oh well. I could return the next morning. Banks operate there on Saturdays anyway.

I walked on and after a couple of blocks only noticed bus stop for the airport bus. I hadn’t seen any bus stops before then and wondered if I had missed them or if the bus followed a different route. I walked on to the airport bus station at no. 10, Yersin Street and left after ascertaining the schedule. I walked on to Cho Dam (Dam Market) but it was starting to close then (a stall keeper told me in halting English that the market opens early and closes at 17:30 every day). There were stalls selling ready-t-eat seafood snacks outside the market. I left the market and stumbled upon an adjacent building which sold mainly dried seafood. The stalls here were still operating when I left half an hour later.

I left the market area and walked south to Le Loi and then Pasteur. There were more roadside operators now that it was early evening selling mainly food. I came across one such stall at Pasteur with what looked like a small whole animal being grilled. A piglet? Or a small dog? I hurriedly walked past without checking further.

I then walked along the beach. There were so many people on the beach and in the sea! The beach stretched for about 1.5 km and there must be easily a thousand people there and, no, I’m not exaggerating. But I was amazed to find the beach very clean. I could hardly find any rubbish anywhere. This is one thing Malaysians can learn from our neighbours. Promoting tourism is one thing, keeping cleanliness a matter of principle, a more important thing. There wasn’t much of a sunset because the sea was facing east.

I crossed over to Nha Trang Centre and found more outlets selling crocodile skin bags. I learnt that bags made from skin from the crocodile belly cost more than those made from its back. I learnt that the scales can tell you how old the crocodile was: the bigger the more adult it was. And that one crocodile is used for one bag. Imagine that! Imagine how many crocodiles are killed each year! While crocodiles are one of my least favourite animals, I would still love to own a Birkin or Kelly in crocodile or alligator skin but the sight of so many dead crocodiles in one place depressed me. I left the mall after buying a 6-litre bottle of mineral water and struggled with it back to my hotel.

I stumbled upon the Chay Banh Mi Stall which I had read sold vegetarian buns. Chay means vegetarian and banh means bread (from bun I suppose). So if you’re in Vietnam and want to find vegetarian restaurant, look for the word Chay. I went to my room first to deposit the water bottle before going out again to buy vegetarian bun for dinner. It was surprisingly filling, Alhamdulillah.

I watched a bit of Wimbledon before turning in.

Saturday, 7 July 2018

I slept again after waking up for morning prayers and got up at 07:30. After calling my niece and talking to my sis and dad, I walked to Trần Phú to find the airport bus stop and was happy to find one 7 minutes away. I then turned back and set off for BaoViet Bank where I changed USD60 (I would need some money for an upcoming trip). Then I crossed to a mall diagonally across before walking on to the Cathedral. I wanted to enter but morning visiting hours ended at 11:00 so I left and walked to Huynh Thuc Khang. I intended to have lunch at Bo De, a vegetarian restaurant there but on the way there stopped at a blind massage place. The prices were 20% lower than the average in the main tourist thoroughfare so I decided to have a massage. I asked for hot stone add-on and that cost VND10K extra. All in all, I paid only VND90K or less than USD4! It was a basic place and I shared a three-bedded room. My masseuse came a few minutes later and spent the first 10 minutes on the phone while massaging my head. She stopped after that and my experience improved.

I left within the hour and made my way to Bo De. I was sufficiently hungry by then and ordered a spring roll and some noodle soup. The spring roll was huge! My lunch cost VND37K but I only had VND36K in small change and the owner waved me off indicating it was OK. I thanked him and left.

Cho Xom Moi was just a few steps away and I went in to check it out. It sold fresh vegetables and seafood and some clothes. I didn’t stay long here. I decided to return to my hotel to seek refuge from the sun and made my way back.

I ventured out again in late afternoon and walked to a small lane next to a construction site with stalls lining both sides of the alley a la night market. I had noticed they sell a lot of mango ‘cakes’, cashew nuts, and other food stuff like durian and jackfruit sweets and snacks. I walked up and down the lane and left with some cashew nuts. I dropped by Chay Banh Mi Stall for another vegetarian bun, this time with cheese. Then I returned to my room to finish packing and rest.

Sunday, 8 July 2018

I slept after morning prayers and woke up at 07:30. After breakfast, I read my novel. I checked out and left the hotel at 09:15 and walked to the bus stop. There was a lot of traffic that early on Sunday morning. After a while, a Filipino girl came along and asked for the airport bus stop. I told her I was waiting for the bus too. We chatted while waiting and she told me that she took a cab from the airport to the city and it cost her VND500,000 which was 10 times more than a one-way bus fare!

The bus arrived and we boarded. It was a 40-minute ride to the airport and the last stop was the domestic airport. It was only a 5-minute covered walk to the international terminal so it wasn’t a problem. I wanted to go through passport control but was told to queue at the counter. It turned out that some system was down and our boarding passes for online check-in couldn’t be accepted. I had to queue a while to get the counter to print the usual boarding pass. While the passport control was fairly quick, security check was slow as we had to shed off our footwear. Ugh.

I browsed the shops before making my way to the gate. We were called to board quite late and again had to board a bus to the plane. We took off half an hour later than scheduled and as a result, landed half an hour late at KLIA 2. I rushed through the terminal to the autogate – I don’t understand those who shuffle and dawdle when they have sat for two hours in the plane. So thankful I didn’t have to join the queue for passport control as it was longggg. After performing prayers, I went to find the bus back to KL Sentral and managed to board a few minutes before it left. The traffic from KLIA 2 was bad too.

I quite like Nha Trang. I didn’t see any Malays there unlike in Saigon where every third person is Malay. That’s great because you don’t travel to a foreign land to meet familiar faces. I found two halal restaurants (one was Persian or sth and the other Indian) but I decided I wanted to try the local fare because I was there to experience the local flavour. I have a feeling I might just make another trip there, if only to buy a crocodile leather bag, have a massage and have some vegetarian meal –although it means I have to fly cattle airline again.