blurpenguin

I think i have been here thrice... once when i was little... cant remember much... except i had a photo taken with Ah Meng the Orang Utan for rememberance (who has now passed away, this year). The second time was when Hannah was wee small... less then a year old... HEH! here's a photo of Hannah then...


So this is my third time... Thumbs up to the management and the people running the show... the zoo has still kept up its image and certainly improved over the years! Certainly a world class zoo...

Since Julie had meetings, so it was up to dad to bring the 2 kiddos to the zoo. Because of the ongoing Malaysian promo... I only forked out RM25 for an Adult + Child ticket (Phoebe was free) WOO HOO! Cheap!

The Zoo is definately big... + with Hannah now at her age... she wanted to go everywhere... thankfully we stopped here and there to see the shows they had in different time intervals...They did have a tram going around the zoo, but we just couldnt fit in their timings and ended up walking the whole zoo instead.



There was a children play area, which they are currently expanding... where the kiddos played and later we ate KFC... heh yeah i know... but it Hannah's favourite.

We saw 2 shows one was a splash show with seals and manatees being showcased... the place was jam packed that day... cuz of a few busloads of school children. Thankfully we managed to get a corner seat... Phoebe had a screaming time...


The last show we saw was the elephant show... last due to the dark clouds already beginning to form... Hannah surprised me in wanting to feed the elephants at the end of the show... at first i was torn, cuz it was definately getting very dark... but after massive pleading... SGD$5 bought her a basket of bananas to feed the elephants... Phoebe was already in dreamland from the beginning of the show.


Singapore Zoo is a testament of a timeless ZOO! U got go here if u go to singapore. Will try out the Night Safari Next door next time...

Firstly, thanks to Janice for passing us free entrance tickets she got from Ervie. Woo Hoo... initially we thought wow... we were going to pay Ringgit for SGD... already a 50% discount... then Janice told us she had Free Entry Tickets... goody... Free is Good!

Well Jurong Bird Park, Singapore warrants it's full Entry Ticket price even if u cant get any discount or anything... its a world class Park... We had planned this as one of the must visit places when we came down to Singapore for Holidays... of course the other was it's big cousin Singapore National Zoo..

We went early to be able to catch a few extra happenings in the Park that weekend. Hannah even had her arm painted with a butterfly tatoo... she loved it!

At the entrance we had a quick breakfast at their Bongo Safari themed Restaurant, which entitled us to a front seat in their first show of the day... a cockatoo and parrot demo... which gave the 2 kiddos an intro to the birds, to get them warmed up for the main event in the park itself... the bird keepers even had some ducks running around at our feet...


The Park is really big... a whole day is needed to cover the place... Thank God the park is densely covered with trees to give a shady walk all around the place...

Of course the star attraction in the Park are the birds... lots & lots of them... and their Bird Shows certainly did give a flair to the birds too. We did manage to go to 2 of their shows... and the gals were thrilled to see the birds in action.


There's even a small monorail circling arond the park, which u got to pay to get a single journey around the park... unfortunately for us the rail had some glitches.... and we could only ride it 2/3 of the way...

The last time we came here, was way back when Hannah was like 1 year old... and of course everthing was already forgotten... thankfully for the adults, there were a few exhibits that were totally new.


Overall the park was a super hit with the kids and adults alike... will come again the next time we are in Singapore...

Calling all chocoholics! This is the shop of your dreams...

This shop sells nothing but chocolate stuff... everything in their menu has chocolate as one of the main ingredients... or totally made of chocolate!

instead of expressos... where coffee beans are ground and compressed hot air pushed through to give u a shot of expresso... the same techinique is done here to cocca beans... giving u a very aromatic hot chocolate drink...

of course... this is singapore... so u pay in Sing dollars... woo hoo... ex... but since try once only... try lah.

We had Dave & Kel plus Janice together with us for this sweet indulgence... after our dinner of peranakan food at the Esplanade... and after a walk to the singapore Merlion to rid us of the super full feeling, we came back to sit and drink a cuppa at Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar.

Julie and I ordered a hot chocolate drink (SGD6)... an iced blended chocolate (SGD9) one and also a chocolate brownie... the hot chocolate was very nice... ex... but nice... the blended... is way overpriced and didnt taste that great either (a very forgetful drink)... the only redeeming thing was the presentation... where they did serve all their drinks in custom cups... and the ice blended one came with a stainless steel straw... too thin in my opinion... could hardly suck anything.




Janice also ordered a waffle (with choc of course) for all of us to share... looked great ... and tasted nice too...


overall... this bald man's place... is ok lah... good to try once... but i'm sure u can find lots of other much better value for money places in Singapore to hang out. Lots of the other patrons were like massively ordering their choc fondue (SGD20-30!)... ehh... cheh kinda overated... bits and pieces of fruit and marshmallows to dip in your personal tiny pot of chocolate...

no matter what my opinion is... be prepared to wait for a sitting or be squeezed in... the place is super crowded...

I have been to this chain on my last visit to singapore... i could remember the name "cartel" something... all i remembered was a cheap meal of pork ribs...

I wanted to take Julie for a pork rib fest so calling up Dave & Kel, they pointed out the correct name and recommended the Cafe Cartel at Marina Square, Singapore... they said this branch had better service...

Well it was definately a worthwhile trip... cheap pork ribs! they had a special promo then... a Pork Rib Set Meal :- Soup of the day, Free flow Home-made Bread (this is a Cafe Cartel's signature), St. Louis Pork Ribs and Soft Drinks.... all for SGD11++ per set... we took 2 to share with the kids.

Their breads are good... fresh and with yummy butter!... added with soup, slurp!... did i mention... UNLIMITED!


Ahh... their signature "St. Louis Pork Ribs" was definitely enough to fill all our tummys... all 4 of us... 2 adults 2 tots... soft Pork Ribs in their own sauce... with fries and coldslaw...


the aftermath...

We, had just arrived in Singapore and checked in to Holiday Inn Atrium, Singapore... thankfully Dave & Kel could come to our hotel to guide us to a makan place... so they recommended an interesting place to eat... peranakan food in Singapore... at the Esplanade.

hmmm... i can't really comment much... ok lah... not really my kind of cooking style, but it did taste nice...

We ordered "Babi Assam", heh... as Dave commented... where can u see in Malaysia, "Babi" in the menu... came out in a claypot all steaming and aromatic... woo i have never tried pork in assam before... it was all tender and the curries done with lots of spices... not cilli hot...


We also had "Ayam Buah Keluang" interesting chicken cooked in somekind of stuffed nuts... kinda looked like brazil nuts, they used the shell and stuffed it with some grated coconut mixed with spices... Since this dish wasn't really a chilli dish... hannah could eat... heh..


We also had some braised duck... hmm... this wasn't their forte... was just so so... but of course the kids could eat this... i think this was the first also for Dave and Kel to order this dish...


We also had some stewed vegetable "Chap Chye"... peranakan style... nice... almost like "Chai Boi" minus the salted veggies... like any normal stewed veggies...


All their food were in Claypots... except their duck... overall... simple, nice and filling dinner...

After Checking out of Holiday Inn Atrium, we went to Shang... where Julie's company was putting her up for the duration of the conference she was attending. Impressive Hotel in the heart of the City... The lobby is immensely large... with super high ceilings... and lots of people greeting you and directing you somewhere... very, very... high class... upon checking in we were upgraded from our lowly lowest class room to one their horizon club deluxe rooms! Thank God!... it meant... FREE breakfast!... with unlimited drinks throughout the day too if u go to their Horizon lounge on the highest floor.

So far the Shangri-la chain has not dissapointed us... even for their Traders range... they had always given great service and superb value for the money spent... they even had a pot of chinese tea delivered to us... to wind down after our very early check in...

Even when we had been upgraded... the room didn't have a 2 seater sofa... so we did put our inflateable bed to good use... it was for Hannah to use. The room did came with a extra big king size bed... a business table with FREE wi-fi (a horizon club privilage)... the toilet... impressive, with super nice toiletries...



i did enjoy their breakfasts... in the Horizon Club, trully impressed with their fruits selection... with all kinds of berries, strawberries, plums, peaches, permisssons... a fuity heaven... of course the rest of the buffet was tantilizingly delicious also... heh... yum!


Hannah & Phoebe also enjoyed the pool which had a mini fountain array which sprayed water out of the ground... overall, not too bad lah... not the best pool i've seen but big enough and very well maintained... and even had a lifeguard on duty. I missed an opportunity with hannah... since i only discovered on the last day that they could even call in a swimming instructor to teach you if you stayed for quite some time.

Overall our stay in Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore was very enjoyable one and i wholly recommend the place... of course u got to fork out some dough... a bit more then usual...

below is the interior of the Horizon Club lounge, where u can get unlimited juices plus snacks or cocktails in the evening...

I didn't have high expectations when we booked our weekend Hotel for our trip to Singapore, but we were pleasantly surprised. We wanted a more economical place then Shangri-la... which Julie's company would be put her up in during the weekday... we needed 2 nights in an affordable place... so i stumbled unto Holiday Inn Atrium... seeking a cheap 3 star place... via the internet. After some web reviews and such... hah... book lah... and it seems their rate at SGD$147 per night was the same like YMCA Singapore... heh... this should be better kua.

Upon arrival... the lobby was nice... and the interior of the hotel had these sky lifts which the kiddos liked very much... the hotel is a bit old... but good maintenance did it well. The rooms are clean , nice, had red earth toiletries! LCD TV equipped and had fruits for us to grab on the way up!

They gave us one of their biggest rooms on the floor!... it had a king and a single in the room! woo hoo... good for hannah who was to sleep in an inflateable bed... and they even had welcome drinks for us... and thankfully they did give complimentary parking throughout our stay.



No breakfasts... since we didnt want to fork SGD20 per pax... for their buffet breakfast... but it was ok... since nearby they had some old breakfast places... simple ones... egg and toast... (they served eggs with thick black sauce... ewww!)

I also had a look at the pool, it was decent... but we didnt have a long enough time in the hotel to enjoy it...

Overall for the price u pay... it was above expectations... only later i found out that there was a promotion going on in another hotel where u pay one night , next night free... but nevertheless... the Holiday Inn Atrium was value for money lah.

Hoo... School Holidays! Singapore Road Trip! Woo Hoo!

Heh... Julie was to attend a conference at singapore... so we planned a family roadtrip to coincide with it too. So thus the 450km Journey was planned out.

The dates : Saturday, 24th May - 29th May 2008, 6 Days in Singapore!

We drove from Kuantan, Pahang to Segamat, then Yong Peng, then using the North South Highway to Singapore via the Second Link. It was my first time driving the trunk road too... and it was a plesant drive... yes, u had to overtake some lorries now and then... but the drive was a nice one... Long?... yeah... abit on the long side... totally took us like 6hrs with makan stops and customs check.


Julies conference started on monday, and her company had already put her up in Shangri-la... unfortunately, the cost was too high for us to stay there for the 2 days prior during the weekend. SO scouring the web, i booked the Holiday Inn Atrium, singapore... surprisingly their rates are the same like YMCA singapore... so no brainer... why YMCA?

Another plus was our trip coincided with a Malaysian 1/2 priced promotion for their main attractions! So our planned Zoo + Bird Park trips entry fee would be in Ringgit instead of Sing dollars... so it was more then 50% discount! Thank God!

We also met-up with our friends who were working in Singapore...David + Kelly, Janice... and surprisingly Yin Sern who was also there for work... lots of makan! HAD A GREAT TIME MEETING AND CHATTING TOO... THANKS U GUYS & GALS FOR A NICE SINGAPORE TRIP!



I've got tons of stuff to blog about, but collating and putting it to words will take some time... plus backlog work beckons... but it will trickle in once the dust settles... heh... + Julie's away also in Shanghai for a week... alone with 2 daughters... shudder...