Delayed entry.
Date of arrival 3/3/24
Arrived to the airport 15 minutes earlier than the expected arrival. As usual AirAsia asked me to check in my hand carry for free again. I don’t really like checking in luggage as I dislike waiting for it at the baggage claim but oh well I’m not rushing so I just comply. Alright I was wrong, baggage claim was so easy but before that clearing the customs here is very easy! It is automated and I Love it! I just scan my passport and go through a second security check where the machine ask for my thumbprint and that’s it! It took about 60 seconds or so. Then I went to their very clean and nice smelling wash room with the option of a squat toilet! (I need to say I Love this and did not expect Singapore to have this as I thought they might have move to sitting toilets only). Then I filled my water bottle and by the time I walk to claim my luggage it only took me a wait time of 3 minutes! After that I just followed all the signs and queue up for the bus to Jewel. The queue was pretty long as it is the school holidays and it is a weekend but anyway being in Changi airport as a tourist was so therapeutic so I don’t mind the wait.
My friend arrived an hour later than me and by the time she arrived I have already went to all floors of jewel. I was impressed with how the indoor waterfall and plants were made but I felt the waterfall was a little bit too short, it would have been nice if it was taller. Maybe seeing photos and seeing it in real does have a big spatial difference and I had imagined it to be way bigger so therefore the wow effect was less than I had anticipated. We opted to eat at the food court and I regret getting the claypot mushroom chicken rice. It is not tasty although it is reasonably priced. Actually I had a very huge dim sum breakfast before boarding the plane and I should have just skipped lunch. I was just so relieved to know my wise card was working well as it was the first purchase I made. Then we proceed to check in to our hotel which was quite a nice place at farrer park. The whole country seems to have so many swifties walking around in very interesting outfits full of bling and also make up. Even the hotel was blasting Taylor Swift’s songs. I love some of her songs but I’m just not crazy enough to go to a crowded stadium just to see her from afar. A lot of my friends kept saying it’s such a waste that I did not go see her but I think it’s a personal preference besides I did not like the fact that she was only exclusive to Singapore for the SEA region.
I then proceed with my plans to walk around Garden’s by the bay and had dinner at Satay by the bay (funny name but I didn’t eat any satay there as I never liked satay). I was very satisfied with the Singapore Hokkien noodle and it is different than Malaysian version as in the noodle is pale in colour. It will definitely be a dish that I will miss from Singapore. After dinner I enjoyed the free Garden Rhapsody which encompasses of the grove trees being lighted and there’s classical music playing. It is very impressive that the lights changes according to the beat of the music and it was so romantic and calming. I wish my husband was there with me holding my hand. I guess if I stay in Singapore it will be a place that I will frequently visit just to enjoy nature. I didn’t make it to the botanical gardens this time nor the science museum and since I brought back 80% of the total Singapore dollar I changed, I think I will just go there for a proper vacation another time. Besides no point to convert back to Malaysian ringgit which is getting so small I doubt we can call ourselves an upper middle income country more like a lower income country. Another thing that impress me is that things are well maintained it’s like they have never aged at all. The buildings, the MRTs the busses, the roads, everything is just tip top.
I also seems to overpack a little because at the end of the 5days 4nights, I still have 2 sets of clean clothes and a few clean underwear. I shouldn’t have packed my huge water bottle as I was so afraid that the hotels will not have a proper water dispenser and was thinking to take as much water at the conference venue to avoid buying water. The hotel I stayed had a nice water dispenser along with a proper gym. Gosh I forgot to check out their exercise place at another level of the floor. Basically everyday I don’t have time as the conference itself keeps me occupied from 8-6 approximately daily. Also there’s a lot of water dispensers at the conference venue so I don’t even have to bring my water bottle. Anyway it was good to bring a water bottle but perhaps next time I should find a slimmer and smaller bottle so as not to occupy so much of space in my bag. The hotel also provided very clean towels and proper shampoo, conditioner, hand wash and body wash. It’s not some cheap skate unbranded cleaning product. So actually if I’m earning SGD, I don’t think the hotels are too pricey but of course with Taylor swift concert held at the same time all the prices are just more expensive than usual which is super annoying for me. Anyway I barely had time to enjoy at the hotel just to go there to sleep and have very good showers as the water temperature was always constant and the flow was good.
I didn’t really go food hunting and there’s suppose to be lunch provided by industries but it seems to be insufficient to feed the 5044 people who are there. So ended I only had lunch one out of 3 days that had free lunch. I would say that the food made by Suntec is really good and I have no complaints at all! Their packaging is environmentally sustainable so are the cutleries. Since it’s my first world congress, I get to experience alcohol being served and that was nice for a change. There were wine and beer and I opted for a glass of Sapporo beer which was really good! They had wine on the second day too but I was too busy going to the seminars and did not queue for it. There were unlimited coffee and it wasn’t those basic coffee but more like cafe grade stuff with a menu of chai latte/ cappuccino/ flat white/ chocolate peppermint/ chocolate etc. I drank mostly chai latte, chocolate and chocolate peppermint daily. There weren’t so many freebies from the exhibition but I manage to take home a few pen. One of the societies were actually giving out sunscreen/ lip balm and another item which I haven’t figure out what it is and forgot to ask what it was for. I also had the chance to eat Romanian rum and raisin chocolate and it tasted really good and complimented the person resulting in me getting lots of chocolates in return.
Since I am going to get a complimentary registration for the next congress in two years time, I will need to start saving up for my trip because it will be held in Marrakech. I am already feeling very excited about it and I hope in the next event I could submit an abstract and present something. I am so enthralled and encouraged by a lot of people around the world doing things to make a positive change and I believe I can be part of it too!
Okay back to the food, I definitely think the food there is just alright but there are a few dishes that I enjoyed such as the Hakka abascus yam cake I bought from bugis street and also the mala chicken feet and chives wrapped inside a bread at people’s park China town. Also I super approve the roast pork and duck I ate at Boon Keng. I asked for added meat and it only cost like SGD 7.50 if I remembered correctly. I was shock that additional meat only charges SGD 1.50 and the person gave me a large bowl of soup with more meat inside. Seriously I don’t know how Singapore who does not have many raw materials can still ensure the food prices stay low. (Again it will not make sense to convert to MYR every time I spend, so yeah I think they are super lucky to still have such cheap prices for food). Also, their public transport is so efficient and cheap that I think it will be more troublesome to drive around. I think their population is also less obese and most people I scan randomly looks pretty fit and healthy. Also they are not as cold as I thought they would be. When I ask for directions they are courteous and one middle age man even asked me actively if I was lost because I guess I look so confuse holding my phone trying to figure out the direction to walk with Google map.
I think there are also many beautiful/ handsome people and they are well dressed or their dressing is interesting at times. Actually no one bothers what you wear. I see a lot of people just wearing sports bra and hot pants in the evening for exercise and no one bothers. Damn if that was the case in the place I live now, it would probably be in the headlines the next day. I felt so good to be wearing the dresses I have as I too dress so conservatively at the place that I stay that showing just my legs made me felt naked due to the surrounding people mentality. Also I will feel very unsafe if I show a little bit of skin since majority is so conservative! It really would be nice to be able to wear whatever we want without other people making a huge fuss about it.
Okay I shall continue to log about the rest of my trip in my next post.
Comments