Holiday in "Kiasu-land"

It seems that I'm destined NOT to be in the house for the holidays this time. I only got back from Singapore yesterday, and I've only been at home for 12 hours since.

Anyway, about Singapore. I have only one thing to say: If you don't have the money to spend, DON'T BOTHER. Seriously, the only thing worth doing there is shopping and if you ain't got the money, there is absolutely no point. All it'll do is make you heartsick.

The thing about Singapore is, once you've seen the attractions, there isn't much else to do. Well, maybe except for the nightlife. But it's frustrating when you're underaged (and your mum doesn't trust FIVE teenagers to walk the less than 1 km from Orchard Road to the apartment).

Oh and travelling with adults? BIG no no. They're more confused than your average teenager. Honest! See, we made plans about what we were going to do, when we were gonna do it... and then one aunt had to have her say, and another..... Well you can guess what happened. All our plans got screwed up and we ended up not doing what we wanted to do in the first place. Sigh.

Anyway, here's what we did...

Friday
Arrived around 3 p.m. Ate and enormous Nyonya tea and dinner prepared by my absolutely smashing chef of an aunt (she's not a chef, really, but she should be :P).

Went to Orchard Road just to browse around. Hoped to find a good bistro or two but ended up in Starbucks instead. Sad.

Saturday
Had lunch in this place that claimed to sell "Ampang Yong Tau Foo". Grrr. Talk about taking a name in vain! Oh horror of horrors! Tasted more like keropok dipped in sauce. Ugh.

Went to the Singpore National Zoo. Whoopee. Would have been quite fun if it hadn't poured cats and dogs the whole way through. Saw some really adorable animals - namely meerkats and jaguar cubs. If I get those pics, I'll post 'em up.

Clarke Quay at night. They've closed down the theme park and it's now all cafes, pubs and restaurants. Oh and a bungee thingy. Which snaps you up into the air without warning. Pretty scary stuff. But none of us could go on it coz we'd eaten too much for dinner. Heehee. Had to go back early though - my six year old cousin needed her beauty sleep. Sigh.

Sunday
Church in the morning. Church of the Holy Cross, to be exact. The mass was pretty good; lovely church. And after mass we spotted an even lovelier boy :) Brown hair, grey eyes and a bod to die for *swoons*. Damn, I wish we'd followed him. But then again, feet versus bikes? No match.

Orchard Road in the afternoon. Borders, to be precise. Got 3 books for the price of two. Damn good bargain, I think :D And that place..! I wouldn't mind being locked in if a couple of lights were on *winks* Hung out at Starbucks. Again.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to accost Singapore teenagers just to find out what the hell there is to do in Singapore!

The first lot we tried thought we were surveyors (or whatever they're called) and looked so scared that we all nearly died trying not to laugh. AND they had to keep on insisting that they thought we were Singaporean! Poor Dave had to actually get out his IC and show them the "MALAYSIA" written in huge letters AND the Malaysian flag at the corner before they believed us. Poor souls. Must've thought we were pranksters or something.

The next two we cornered pretty much summed it up: Singapore is a BORING country! Concise and accurate. I thank them for not wasting out time *laughs wickedly* [Disclaimer: This particular sentence was said by two SINGAPOREAN teenagers.]

ung out at this IndoChine restaurant in Holland Village that night. The Bailey's milkshake was heaven! And the food was pretty darn good too.

Monday
Great World Plaza in the afternoon - had some REALLY odd Italian food. Went to the East Coast Park after that. Cycled for about an hour. Dave tried some silly stunt and made me fall of my bike and Ting nearly ran over my fingers!!!! Surprisingly, I didn't get a single cut or bruise, although my right knee hurts like hell. Oh well. Twas funny anyway *grins*

At night? Orchard Road. AGAIN! Went back to Borders. Picked up 2 more books and Westlife's Live in Stockholm DVD. Couldn't decide where to go after that. Ended up walking quite a bit of the way up Orchard Road and turning back. Took an hour to get back to the apartment from Borders. Way to kill the legs.

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And the next day it was back to KL :) One observation about Singaporeans though... They either speak really awful English, or they put on a horribly fake accent. At least those we came in contact with. I know not everyone's like that but ugh! You're Asian. Don't try to be something you're not. Oh, and the food SUCKS. Give me good ol' Malaysian food anytime. Ampang Yong Tau Foo indeed.

Singapore is very well organized. I like the atmosphere of the place. Maybe it's the trees...? And while it IS a concrete jungle, the architecture of the buildings make it extremely attractive. But then, nothing compares to good ol' KL in everything from food to fun. Right? RIGHT? *sings Negaraku*

[Do I get a medal for being patriotic?? Hey! We were singing Negaraku and Duli Yang Maha Mulia on the sidewalks of Singapore ok? At the top of our lungs too! At 12 a.m.! And no. We were NOT drunk.]

All the same it was fun. Mainly coz we cousins got to be together after so long. And it WAS a change of scenery (more good-looking *ahem* "sights" to see.. hehe).

Don't regret it though. I've never had so much fun being bored in my life :D