Summer Holidays , Don't We All Love It?
Sunday, August 1, 2010 //
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Recently, as most of you already knew, right after my stressful final exam I flew over to Singapore along with Mary for holidays.
It was a last minute plan for Mary, initially I was flying alone but later on she came along so I felt relieved as I won't be so bored and it was our first time flying together even though I always fly with my friends because its more fun that way ;D
Sis came to meet us and treated us for brunch at a place called The Pasta Shop by Sakae.
A subsidiary brunch of Sakae Sushi :D
Well initially I was thinking of posting the food pictures in here but I've decided to do it some other time. There won't be any in my facebook either :P
So more about that later.
Then later on we sent Mary off to find her lodging place at ChinaTown area. It was my first time there and everything seems so , old. No offence but that place is tad-bit messy to my liking.
After that we headed to Somerset 313 for dinner at Marché which means Market in French.
Marché in here never dissapoints me. I love their locations and of course their varieties of food.
It's basically an open space with lots of stalls for you to just choose the food you like and they'll cook it instantly for you. All you have to do is carry a card, let them swipe it after each order and then only pay before you leave the restaurant. Unlike the ones in KL, the Marché here has more options and varieties. Due to overwhelming response, we had to queue( as usual) for a bit before getting our seats.
After our dinner, we headed to Forever21 which was the largest one I've been to. It was 4 floors high and it was seriously huge compared to the one in Pavillion.
and of course, the main highlight for this trip to Singapore is because I wanted to visit the Universal Studio!
So glad that we bought our tickets in advanced via online. We reached there at 12pm after brunch the next day and all tickets were sold out.
This place was seriously, nice. Took pictures of the famous "public figures" from various movies and cartoons. We roamed around inside for about 8 hours and we were so tired from all the endless walking. Played some rides and caught Shrek in 4D! It was funny because we had the glasses on which supposed to give that 3D effect and during the movie we had waters sprinkled on us from time to time, moving chairs and something underneath the chair that might just surprise you from time to time throughout the entire show.
The view in the morning till night was different which contributes to a lot of nice pictures. Love all the lightings, especially the palace which was called Far Far Away. It changes all the time it was so beautiful. Had our tea-time at a place called Mel's Deli. Serves really great fast-food with a unique theme. I like the little jukebox inside the restaurant. So retro-ish :D
After that, we had to queue for a famous popcorn brand called Garrett. Their popcorns was so delicious that, you just can't have enough of it. It was freshly made, and it has flavours such as Butter popcorn , Salty popcorns and Cheese popcorns etcs. It was pure delicious, nothing like the popcorns that I've tried in the cinema. It was also rated as Oprah's favourite and it comes in different sizes, ranging from the smallest packet to the size of 6.5 gallons which costs 159dollar :S
Following day, Sis and I flew to Bali for 3 days and 2 nights. We visited a few places, mainly the famous tourist areas in Kuta Beach area where we had a really nice seafood dinner, the shop we had our dinner for the first night, Blue Ocean serves the best fish dishes so we had two of those and it was reasonably priced. Delicious ;) We roamed around after dinner, nearby the beaches but it was kinda dark and everywhere was packed with foreigners, not locals so we decided to call it a night and have an early morning instead. We went to walk around, shopping around Legian area which basically are streets of shops with a lot of small boutiques. Saw alot of nice paintings, batiks and so on.
The very next day, one of the thai lady, Gig met us along with her husband, Boy and took us on a roadtrip, about 2 hours drive out of Bangkok to Khao Yai. As our local guide, they were being nice. Took medical leaves just to take us around for the day.They took us to a famous local restaurant that serves simple yet delicious local delicacies with really beautiful presentation. The whole restaurant's concept is like as if its a house, with gardens and a lot of mini decorations item, Lan Lee Larh. It has this nature theme incorporated into it and it was really nice. Food was good, and the cutest thing ever was the rice. They presented their rice as a bear :D lovely yet its so hard to "destroy" your rice because its just too cute.
After Lan Lee Larh, it drizzled abit and we were so scared that we couldn't make it for Palio as it is a place with an open shopping mall concept. With its Italy theme and a huge garden , water fountains everywhere, we felt like we were in Italy for a bit there. The things that they sell there are unique and of course, some are pricey too ;D mostly imported goods.
After spending approximately 3 hours there, we headed to the place that was built before Palio, it was another 10 minutes drive, Primo Posto which has the same concept, Italian theme but just that its way smaller. The difference is that, this place is a vineyard..and they serve ice creams and there's a cafe where you can just chill around. Had ice creams and sat around the benches along the vineyard was one of the best experience I've had in a long time.
After ice creams at Primo Posto we headed to another place called Panther's Creek. This place is unique because of its hotel rooms...and amazingly it was kinda empty at the time we went but its pack over the weekends. The hotel rooms were decorated with cowboy town themes and now we felt like we're in Mexico instead. The journey ended after we had BBQ dinner at one of Bangkok's oldest shopping mall ( I forgot the name) but we spent a lot in Naraya. After dinner, we headed to Banyan Hotel's 62nd floor for a chill-out session at Vertigo. One of the world's top 10 bars. An open air bar concept which overlooks the entire Bangkok and its many beautiful city lights. We managed to get a very nice spot to enjoy the view, it was just so breathtaking.
As for our dinner, we ate at a restaurant called Big Easy. It serves Cajun cuisines. With jazz songs accompanied us and a bar, the atmosphere was just right to end the tiring day.
Next day, Sis & I had an appointment at CBD area to do our eye brows at Browhaus. It was my 2nd visit there and I like it there. Every service that they provide is always up to expectations and they are always professional.
To know more about them : http://www.browhaus.com/sg/#/home
Then we headed to a few shopping malls nearby, Raffles City area to be exact to shop and then, met up with 3 of my sister's friend which is Christopher, a very funny Philipino guy, Janice & Yee Lin - Sis's ex coursemates. We went to Shokudo, a Japanese restaurant that has the same concept as Marché for dinner. They were really nice to talk to, just after an hour of chit-chatting we end up playing Monopoly Deal after I taught them. Supposedly to visit the casino after that but we end up getting so addicted to the game and played till its late. Until today, all of them is still addicted to it and have their regular "training" sessions haha
Yes that's Christopher & Janice. No pictures of Yee Lin AGAIN :(
Following day, Sis and I flew to Bali for 3 days and 2 nights. We visited a few places, mainly the famous tourist areas in Kuta Beach area where we had a really nice seafood dinner, the shop we had our dinner for the first night, Blue Ocean serves the best fish dishes so we had two of those and it was reasonably priced. Delicious ;) We roamed around after dinner, nearby the beaches but it was kinda dark and everywhere was packed with foreigners, not locals so we decided to call it a night and have an early morning instead. We went to walk around, shopping around Legian area which basically are streets of shops with a lot of small boutiques. Saw alot of nice paintings, batiks and so on. Then, we chartered a taxi for the remaining day. Our taxi driver was really nice, he actually waited for us patiently whenever we go for our shoppings and he'll just tell us not to worry he will be there waiting and he did not ask us for tips at all! In the end we tipped him anyways because he was really nice. He told us where are the places to find nice Babi Guling which is a must try dish in Bali. So he took us to Babi Guling Chandra which was quite far from our hotel but he said it is one of the best.
He also introduced us to a few nice places to shop for souvenirs and advices us where to shop and eat so we took up his advice and went to a place called Kampung Nusantara to shop for cheap souvenirs before heading to the Billabong and Sports outlet here because I'm supposed to find rashguard but apparently the people here don't know what is a rashguard. So we end up shopping in Billabong like mad because the things here has sales up to 90% and its so cheap.
Then, for dinner we requested our taxi driver to take us to Jimbaran Bay area as we heard that this place is famous for beach side dining. He did not dissapoint us and instead suggested us to go to the best restaurant which was Blue Marlin. We were greeted by a pretty Bali lady upon reaching and they put flowers on our hair before taking our pictures. We caught the sunset, by the beach side overlooking the sea whilst sipping coconuts and had 7 courses seafood for dinner. It was very relaxing, and everywhere was packed again as it gets late. There was also local performances of traditional dance and a group of quartet band roaming around playing feel-good musics :) Definitely a must visit place with your loved ones. Very romantic feeling. Not to forget, the waiter was being over friendly that he was being funny to us instead ;D
The next day, we flew ourselves to Bangkok & meet up with Alan.
Checked into a suite like hotel in Sathorn area which is one of Bangkok's CBD area.
It was a really nice place, and they have this high class tuk tuk which is so cute.
Went to Central World shopping mall, that place was bombed few months back due to riots.
Met up with a few nice thai ladies for dinner at a Thai restaurant called Cafe Chili and they helped ordered us a few decent thai cuisines which was, kinda something new to me. Unlike the normal thai cuisines that I used to eat. Our meals are simply different. A lot of glutinous rice involved. The tomyams are not as spicy which is one of my favourite. Will blog it next time ;) oh and the ice blended coconut juice is to die for. I missed it.
The very next day, one of the thai lady, Gig met us along with her husband, Boy and took us on a roadtrip, about 2 hours drive out of Bangkok to Khao Yai. As our local guide, they were being nice. Took medical leaves just to take us around for the day.They took us to a famous local restaurant that serves simple yet delicious local delicacies with really beautiful presentation. The whole restaurant's concept is like as if its a house, with gardens and a lot of mini decorations item, Lan Lee Larh. It has this nature theme incorporated into it and it was really nice. Food was good, and the cutest thing ever was the rice. They presented their rice as a bear :D lovely yet its so hard to "destroy" your rice because its just too cute.
After Lan Lee Larh, it drizzled abit and we were so scared that we couldn't make it for Palio as it is a place with an open shopping mall concept. With its Italy theme and a huge garden , water fountains everywhere, we felt like we were in Italy for a bit there. The things that they sell there are unique and of course, some are pricey too ;D mostly imported goods.
After spending approximately 3 hours there, we headed to the place that was built before Palio, it was another 10 minutes drive, Primo Posto which has the same concept, Italian theme but just that its way smaller. The difference is that, this place is a vineyard..and they serve ice creams and there's a cafe where you can just chill around. Had ice creams and sat around the benches along the vineyard was one of the best experience I've had in a long time.
After ice creams at Primo Posto we headed to another place called Panther's Creek. This place is unique because of its hotel rooms...and amazingly it was kinda empty at the time we went but its pack over the weekends. The hotel rooms were decorated with cowboy town themes and now we felt like we're in Mexico instead. The journey ended after we had BBQ dinner at one of Bangkok's oldest shopping mall ( I forgot the name) but we spent a lot in Naraya. After dinner, we headed to Banyan Hotel's 62nd floor for a chill-out session at Vertigo. One of the world's top 10 bars. An open air bar concept which overlooks the entire Bangkok and its many beautiful city lights. We managed to get a very nice spot to enjoy the view, it was just so breathtaking.
As for the last day, we headed to Chatuchak Market and shopped for 8 hours we literally felt like our legs are breaking already when we're done. Did not take any pictures at Chatuchak because that place is crowded and we decided not to bring any slr since it was really heavy and we were warned about pick-pockets. Shopping there is cheap, if you can bargain well :D
That's about it I guess.
In short, a wonderful and memorable trip I had :)
For more pictures in my facebook
I had a great almost one month holiday including my trip back home
and tomorrow I have to say Hello to college again :(
Till then.
Labels: Holidays
