Of all the many trips the family had gone for, the most recent one to southern neighbour Singapore was the most eye opening for the kids. I can’t really recall when was the last time I took Farah to the island, but for Nissa this was her first time there. Truth be told, Singapore has never appeared in our top five choices of holiday destinations. Reasoning to that was simple; why bother paying for goods and services with an exchange rate of 2.4 when we could get the same things back in KL at a much cheaper price and be paying in RM.
I must admit I was wrong. Yes, Singapore has abundance to offer. Besides the year end sales, the Christmas lightings and decorations at Orchard Road, the small island had provided my girls valuable and learnable qualities about life. They saw for themselves how different both countries – Malaysia & Singapore are, and most importantly, how convenient life can be if one bothers to get things right at the very beginning.
Singapore skyline - view from AYE (Ayer Rajah Expressway)
View of Singapore port from Merlion Tower, Sentosa Island
Expansion works at Sentosa Island
New theme park will be ready mid this yearWhat the girls saw from the time we entered Singapore, from the Immigrations check point at Tuas to the purchasing of the auto card, to driving on the highways – AYE and ECP, to riding on the metro system, to the site seeing, to the little shopping that we did, everything spelt H-A-S-S-L-E F-R-E-E and C-O-N-V-E-N-I-E-N-C-E. Mom here had a tough time catching her breath replying Farah’s questions which came up at almost every other kilometer - “kenapa this...” and “kenapa that…”, “why in KL it’s not like this….” and “how come in KL it’s not like that….” In the end, I told her to make a list of the differences and perhaps have a discussion over coffee on what she has spotted.
The famous TANGS on Orchard
And when we finally had that coffee, I shared with them the little knowledge that I got from my reading about the building of the Singapore nation and how determined they are at becoming world class in a lot of things they believe in. This is something that we could learn from them and something we should sincerely strive for; unconditioned by rewards, fame promises and glamour.
Singapore Management Univ (SMU) - sits right at the intersection of Bencoolen St & Bras Basah Road
Nissa in front of the famous Raffles Hotel - built in 1887A few weeks have passed since our quick holiday down south, but looking back now, I am glad we did the trip. Never mind those butterflies in my tummy caused by my unsureness of my ability in doing a lone holiday; a trip sans the assistance of the men in the house.
Girls@OrchardIt was girl power that got us through. Girls…you deserve a pat on your backs. Nothing beats that accomplished feeling and the experience, I must admit is priceless.
Singapore all lighted at Christmas...spectacular view!!
15 comments:
Kenapa Nissa nampak besar dalam gambar tu. Mesti pasal girl power after Spore.
Year end, boxing day pergi Spore again with family? Nak?
Girls' days out ya? So nice!
Next stop Oslo ;)
Aunty Kay,
Meow meow nak itut....boleh? purrr....meow!
Nice photos!
kay
i loveee s'pore ie orchard road, arab street and mesjid at orchard road, bestssss!!
Yup, hard to admit if one is a proud Malaysian but Singapore is such an exemplary country. Many said that because it is small therefore it can develop to such an extent. Hey...look at Penang. It's small too. Do you see the vast difference of development between the two islands? LRT pun tak de lagi kat Penang after 52 years of independence.
You know..if we had a leader so forward thinking like Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew earlier on right after we achieved our independence, perhaps our country would be as developed as, or even better than, the little island of the south of Johor.
Kay,
I was born (a true chinese) in singapore, and spent my first 7 yrs there (Geylang, where else!). I vividly remember Tnjung Katong (yeah, the beach that is no more..).
Since then, I've been back though not regularly. My favourite cousin is still there with her daughters and grand children.
Singapore is really nice, but i don't think i want to live there. for that matter, i think i just don't like living on an island (survived in penang for only 3 months when we first came back from studies).
If only our money is 1 to 1 with their $ 9like it once was), shopping would be a real treat!!
BTW, my kitchen cabinet tka buat lagi.. dapur pun make shift je.. otherwise, mmg i dah ajak the makcik bloggers to my place! Tunggu........
Dear Aunty TM,
Of course lah Nissa dah besar!! My mom feeds me with tonnes of food (read: she PAKSA me!!)
from Nissa (via her MOM :))
Gi S'pore on boxing day?? Bisa ajaaa dehhh :) Again you can count my guys out. They (esp. that big man) no like the place lah. I wonder why....
Dear Naz,
Oslo?? Ummppp....I know my gurls will love it. Ohhh the list keeps getting longer..how lah???
Dear Cat-in-Sydney,
Ohh I must have forgotten to put a post on the door saying that "Cats are allowed" huh? Guess you must have your paw prints ready by now. Hey...have print will travel, gurl!!
Dear Mrs N,
Thank you..thank you...Most of the time we went like snap, snap here and snap, snap there :)
Dear KG,
Ohh...who wouldn't go gu-gu-ga-ga in Orchard and Arab Street kan!! Too badthis time I didn't get to go to Arab Street. Kalu pi...adei...sure lagi banyak damanges!!
Dear MTTNN,
You see the thing is, we have a lot more if compared to them. However, they are more focused. They know what they want and they are are determined at getting it, and getting it right. Unlike us, we bend, break the rules and end up no where.
I agree with you about Penang. Roads are packed and public transport is nothing to shout about. How lah...2020 is approaching, but are we anywhere up to mark yet???
Dear Busymom100,
I remember way back in the early seventies, my late father used to take us to Singapore. My aunty was there living in Sembawang. Such a beautiful place, so green and we could see the British Navy guys moving about at the Sembawang town are. I thought they were the most good looking guys on earth!! And yes, the exchange rate was 1 to 1 at that time. It was so much fun buying stuffs.
Singapore has changed a lot since then. I can't recognize the roads anymore. It has turned into a very developed country. I second what you said about not wanting to live there. It's nice to go visit, but to stay for long??? Errr....terima saja lah hujan batu di negeri sendiri.
p/s I must link you now...the earlier link went missing when I pindah house!
memang girl power kak kay... :)
bestttttt!
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