Travelogue Singapore

So, I am currently in my Eureka mode where I have finally in the mood to write in full details about my Singapore holiday or as I would prefer to call it, my budget trip ever. The reason I am writing this is to share my expenses information and holiday experience to help more people go on a holiday and help in making any holiday a reality. For people who care too much for comfort and does not care much for the actual experience of seeing new things then perhaps this post is not for you.

My preparation to go to Singapore on a budget holiday began on 3 March 2010 when I booked and paid for a room online in Tune Hotel at Danga Bay, Johor Bahru. When I was booking the room I just called the first person that comes to my mind whom I think will not have any objection to go to Singapore with me. True enough, Liza agreed and I don’t have to ask anyone else as I do not believe in group holiday.

The price for the room is cheap as I had purchased it during promotion at a total of RM127.48 from 25 December until 27 December for a room with two single beds including two return bus ticket from Tune Hotel to Resort World Sentosa. We split the total amount equally and paid RM63.74 each.

We agreed on those dates as 25^th is Christmas holiday and it’s on Friday. We do not have to obtain any leave for those dates at all.

We planned to save RM100 each month from March until December. I had to say we didn’t succeed much in that area. Haha.

During the Big Bad Wolf Warehouse sale in South City Plaza near my house, I bought a 2007 edition of AA Citypack Guide & Foldout Map of Singapore for RM5 which was sold at RM39.90 in MPH. It is a bit outdated but regardless of that I have been reading that guide and map ever since and is very excited to go to Singapore. Plus we had to stick to our budget holiday theme right? Little that I know that this travel book is my biggest helper during my actual time in Singapore. It is actually the best RM5 I have ever spent.

I had never gone out overseas to anywhere since I was nine years old. So I had to make myself a passport. On 3 December 2010, after my long call, I went to Pusat Bandar Damansara for the passport accompanied by my ever helpful friend Najlaa. After the usual hassle dealing with Government agencies I manage to be processed within the same day and had to collect the passport on the 4^th December. I made myself a two years passport for RM100.

During the whole period between March until December we were on the lookout for the best transportation to go to Danga Bay. Finally, we decided on Nice executive coach and I booked the ticket online on 6 December 2010. The price is reasonable at RM119.20 per person for return ticket Kuala Lumpur – Terminal Kotaraya 2.

The total expenses so far for me are RM287.94 and we have covered accommodation, guide and map, passport, transport KL-JB and transport Tune-Singapore.

After we had sort those out, I begin to think that a mere one day and a half is not enough to experience Singapore. If we start traveling KL-JB on 25^th then we will spend the entire 25^th on the road and upon arrival at Tune we will have spent almost half of the day. That left us only the whole of 26^th for our trip to Singapore as we will be checking out on 27^th. We were considering entering Universal Studio on 26^th hence the bus ticket straight to Resort World Sentosa. If we were lucky enough to get tickets into the Universal Studio then we will be spending the entire day there without me having seen the country at all.

As you all probably noticed, I didn’t root for Universal Studio ticket much as I had checked online that the tickets had been sold out due to Christmas and school holiday. I know that we must buy it earlier but because I do not own a credit card and is not planning to own one, I didn’t purchase it online. I thought about borrowing credit card from family and friends but I didn’t think it’s worth the trouble.

So the solution for the above predicament is, to extend our holiday by one more day from 27^th to 28^th. We don’t want to do this at first because we don’t know where we will be working in the future and if we are in different office then it will probably be difficult for one of us to obtain leave at all at our early stage of working in a new place. Turns out we are still working in the same firm. To extend our holiday, I merely had to book another day at Tune Hotels website at their ordinary price. So on 18 December I purchased another night in Danga Bay i.e. 27^th until 28^th. Even though there is no more promotion for rooms; we were lucky enough to book during promotion for bus ticket from Tune Hotel to Marina Bay Sands hotel. Therefore, I booked the same type of room as before including one return ticket from Tune Hotel to Marina Bay Sands. I bought only one ticket as the promotion said we will get another one free ticket upon checking in. The total price for this is RM86.43 which again we split equally.

The total expenses for me so far are RM331.155.

On 25^th December 2010 we began our journey to JB. We had a very uncomfortable situation with Nice executive coach as the coach that actually arrived to take us to JB is an old bus without any movie equipment as promised. The only movie being played is on the main TV at the front of the bus and since no headphone is provided I didn’t bother to watch the Linx movie that was being played over and over again.  Liza and I had written and submit our complaints to Nice on the same day. Luckily I brought The Road by Cormac McCarthy and enjoy reading it during the journey. I do not know what is the situation with other coach company is but I am seriously considering other companies for my next trip. This is because I have relied heavily on their promise that the coach to JB is the Nice++ coach which had TV set in front of each passenger seat including headphone, with three different movies and the seat is bigger than the usual Nice coach. I was trying to get the most out of my money and this situation had annoyed me. I did consider filing a claim in Consumer Claim Tribunal though but thinking about the further expenses that will have to be incurred I put that thought away for the time being.

Now, obviously we cannot expect everything to run smoothly no matter how hard we tried especially when dealing with Malaysian. Let us move on to our journey.

Upon boarding the coach we had asked the bus driver to drop us off at Bandar Baru Uda before Kotaraya 2 as it is nearer to Tune Hotel. After about five hours we arrived in Bandar Baru Uda and took a cab from there to Tune Hotel for around RM5. I wasn’t hungry as we are provided with water, tea, sandwich and muffin from Delifrance in the coach.

In Tune Hotel we proceed to check in. There is a likelihood that we won’t get the same room for our additional booking on 27^th however we managed to get the same room and are not required to check out and check in again. The counter for Compass and Odyssey i.e. the bus company that will be taking us to Sentosa and Marina Bay is in the Tune Hotel so after checking in we proceed to organize our trip. The map played a big part from here onwards as based on it we get to decide what time and which day we are going to Sentosa and what time and which day to Marina.

me on the first day in our room in Tune Hotel

For your information, there are only two bus companies available in Tune Hotel, Danga Bay that are taking people into Singapore. I don’t know if there are other companies in JB but for convenience sake I am sticking to these companies as the ticket can be booked when I am booking the room. Compass coach takes people to Marina Bay Sands Hotel while Odyssey coach takes people to Sentosa Resort World. There are only these two locations you can use as your terminal. Both Compass and Odyssey counters are managed by the same people. The return tickets can be bought separately from the hotel at about RM25 per person.

We decided to go to Marina on 26^th as it is nearer to Geylang and Singapore Expo. We also considered the issue of paying extra money for Universal Studio in case we decided to go in on 26^th. The usual rate is $66 but on peak days it is $78. We have checked and the rate for 26^th is $78. We tried to obtain our tickets from Raj; a Malaysian travel agent that had advertised his phone number in Tune Hotel for 27^th but he only had tickets for 26^th and he is selling that for $80 with an attitude. So we decided to use both days for shopping and sightseeing. I was okay with going or not going into Universal Studio as I had never gone into Singapore before. Therefore, anything is a new experience for me. Liza went to Singapore quite regularly so it hurt her a little bit that we are not getting into Universal Studio. However, we are quite comforted by the information by the person at Compass counter that we cannot enjoy much even we did get in as there are only two of us. I’ll remember to bring more people in case I decided to go into the Universal Studio next time.

For dinner we planned to go out and eat JB food but due to heavy rain we decided to just order Dominos Pizza online from free internet facility in Tune Hotel. We ordered set of two regular pizzas and had our dinner and saved some of it until breakfast. Quite cheap considering our breakfast is covered.

For 26^th we had booked Compass coach to Marina Bay Sands Hotel at 7.15am and returning at 11.30pm. The coach was pretty punctual by Malaysian standard as we had departed on 7.30 am. Upon arrival in Marina Bay Sands Hotel I am amazed by the size of the place and there were so many people from all over Asia. We didn’t waste much time getting out of there to go to Singapore Expo. The reason why we are going to Singapore Expo is because of the Metro Sale that is happening there at that time. I don’t know what I will see there but I am looking forward to it.

We board a bus and paid $1 to go to Marina Bay MRT Station. It was just 1-2 minutes away from Marina Bay Sands Hotel. When the bus stopped we didn’t think that we had arrived but the bus driver signaled us to alight. Well, actually he had to signal many times because we didn’t notice that he is waiting for us to alight. It was funny but it is my first experience of Singapore professionalism. What a great thing to start my trip in Singapore.

on the coach to Marina Bay Sands Hotel on 26th.

Annoyingly waited in line as the officer at the immigration seem to be taking his own sweet time in processing us

I am annoyed too but still too excited to get into Singapore

my first bus ride in Singapore (Marina Bay Sands Hotel to Marina Bay MRT)

very excited

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

At the Marina Bay MRT station we bought Ez-link card for our convenience boarding the MRT and busses for about $15. This card is much like our Touch N Go card.

Since Marina Bay station is on the North East Line we change MRT at Raffles Place to East West Line to proceed to Expo station. It is almost impossible to mistakenly board an MRT to any direction and got lost as all directions are posted everywhere and clearly. Plus, we had our map which includes MRT map. Plus, they had those blinking lights that turn red for the next station. I don’t know how many minutes had passed since we board the MRT in Marina Bay but I am enjoying the ride of public transport as never before. If I am a Singaporean, I don’t mind not having a car for the rest of my life. People simply do not push each other and most people do not sit at reserved seats. They also move inwards the moment they board the train and waited until people went out to board the train.

the blinking lights in the train

We arrived in Singapore Expo at around 10.00am. We proceed to Hall 5 but found out that the Metro Expo Sale will only start at 11am. We had early lunch at the food court there while waiting for the sale to start and I like the taste of briyani here than in Mustafa or Arab Street.  Apart from Metro Expo Sale there was also IT Fair at Hall 6 and Wedding and Halal food fair in Hall 4. I went and quickly explore IT Fair while waiting for the Metro Expo Sale. Each hall is huge and you could spend hours looking at things in each hall. We spent 3 hours exploring the Metro Expo Sale when it’s finally open. This is what I bought:

A box of Nougat as a souvenir for my family $11

A hooded purple vest which I wore on the next day $19.90 (original price around $50)

A Salizer belt to replace my old one $6.90

A pair of white shoes made in Dubai for my sister’s school shoes $12.90

Paul & Joe Moisturizing Mist Brume Hydratante $15

Paul & Joe Protective Dual Powder Foundation UV (refill) $19

Stella McCartney EDT Sheer 100ml $50

The sale is nothing like the warehouse sale in Malaysia where they mostly sell near expiry date products or defective items. The oldest items found in this sale were manufactured in 2009. Plus there are gazillion things you can see in one place. It is like going to one whole shopping mall in Malaysia at one floor where you can see everything. I also bought Electrolux EDI100 Neo Series Dry Iron for $13.90 in the IT Fair which was sold for at least RM48 in Malaysia. I have been looking for a good basic iron below RM50 for a few months already for my apartment as the one in my apartment now reside in my rented room in Ampang. Then we had our tea break at Halal food fair where we bought Epok-epok and chendol for a total of less than $10 which we split equally.  After our jamak prayer in the Singapor Expo we continue our journey to Geylang to buy fabric to be paired with lace that my friend Baby had bought for me in Bandung for me to be her bridesmaid (now I still cannot figure out why anybody want a big bridesmaid).

new technology. 'fan' with no blades

Metro Expo Sale

Guerlain @ Metro Expo Sale

CK @ Metro Expo Sale

Britney Spears & Stella McCartney @ Metro Expo Sale

Morgan and others @ Metro Expo Sale

Paul & Joe @ Metro Expo Sale

GAP @ Metro Expo Sale

@Halal Food fair, Singapore Expo Hall 4

@Halal Food Fair

This time our journey wasn’t that smooth. We had decided beforehand that we should just return from Expo station and alight at 7 stations later in Kallang on the same East West Line because based on the map Kallang station is the nearest to Geylang. But Liza had talked to a Singaporean and was (mis)informed that Geylang is near Toa Payoh station which is on North East Line, one MRT interchange and 16 stations later. I did query on why we should go to Toa Payoh as it is located far away from Geylang based on the map but trusting Liza’s instinct who had went a few times to Geylang and the local’s information we went anyway. True enough we got lost. I was quite angry because getting lost means costing time, energy and money. Perhaps I am easily annoyed because I am already tired due to heavy shopping the whole day and the fact that I had taken every precaution not to get lost. I am sure Liza was frustrated too. However, since I am on a mission to get the fabric thing solved by that day I couldn’t help showing my anger by talking less and body language. We got no choice but to turn back to Kallang. Upon arrival in Kallang, Liza could’nt remember the exact name of the place that we are going and I am blaming myself for relying on one person’s experience. I should have just researched everything from A-Z about Singapore and not rely on just one person since I already had my map and know what I want to do in Singapore. I should have known better that asking people on direction is a futile thing (based on my experience finding law firms and other agencies as a chambering student). It is mainly research that had got us from KL to JB, JB to Singapore, and Marina Bay Sands Hotel to Singapore Expo without getting lost at all.

And so I asked the people at Kallang station counter about the place where people sell cloth material. Luckily the lady understood my question and told me to go to Joo Chiat Plaza. She also told me to take which bus and told me to just stay in that bus until we arrive. However, after a few minutes in the bus Liza became more uncertain about the area which in turn made me anxious. I started to politely asked people in the bus but everybody either don’t know or refused to answer. Finally I asked Liza if she either know the place or not know it. She said she don’t know and I immediately told her that I am off the bus. I wanted to be sure of our direction first before we blindly go the wrong way. I asked one girl on the name of the bus stop where we were standing. She told me its Sims Ville. From that info I studied the map and after some time figured our exact location on the map i.e on Sims Avenue. I saw that Geylang Road is the main road beside Sims Avenue and we had to walk one block further to get on the Geylang Road. Liza figured something to that effect by asking a guy. The whole time I am reading a map she was busy asking people and the busses that came by.

Upon reaching Geylang road Liza probably had a rough area where we’re going and I just keep at following her until we reach an unknown MRT station. From there I figured we must be close to our destination and told Liza that we should take a cab. She agreed but she said we cannot stop a cab at this station. I just keep hailing for a cab and in a few seconds there was a cab stopping because someone wanted to alight at our station. Well, it’s like Malaysia after all. Liza told the cab driver where we want to go and luckily he knows where we want to go. Apparently it was very near but I still am glad that we took the cab. My mood improves as we reached our destination and was even better when we happily shop for fabric. I bought 2.5m lining for $10, 2.5m brocade for $30 and 5m black and white fabric for $27 for my court attire.

The total money spent for shopping in Singapore so far is $230.90 and I have bought so many things already and have been hauling all those things the whole time since we leave Singapore Expo. I didn’t know I can get this much stuff with that amount of money. If I had known I shall be prepared with a backpack or my luggage.

Kah Soon Textile Boss

Kah Soon Textile, Joo Chiat Plaza

Another KS Textile Boss

inside Malabar Mosque at Women prayer area

We finished shopping in Kah Soon Textiles in Joo Chiat Plaza around 6.45pm. We wanted to have our dinner in at a restaurant in front of Sultan mosque in Arab Street. Liza had asked Kah Soon Textiles people on the direction and I double check with her on the map while waiting the bus. By this time we were happily talking again. Hehe. I cautioned Liza that we are looking for Sultan Mosque and not Khadijah Mosque. Who would have thought there is another mosque known as Malabar Mosque which captured Liza’s eyes. The name of the mosque cannot be seen from our street as it is about two blocks away. Liza was pretty sure that that was the mosque we were looking for. Well, of course when we are right in front of it that was not Sultan mosque. The actual mosque is on the street where we first alight. There are two taxi drivers who were waiting for Maghrib prayers. I asked if they would like to send us to the restaurant as I am at the end of my energy already. They told us to wait until Maghrib. Liza wanted to walk but I told her that we might as well pray here. I prayed jamak and Liza did her Maghrib there in Malabar mosque. Well there is some good to it as there is toilet in the mosque with water. What a relief as opposed to tissue papered toilet all over the place in the country.

After the prayer we took one of the cabs to the Sultan Mosque and I saw that the restaurant is directly in front of the mosque. We could have stayed in the bus and alight right in front of the mosque. But I guess it’s just impossible to come to a new place with zero expectation on getting lost. Nevertheless I am seriously considering buying an android phone where I can GPS my every movement the next time I am going oversea and make that zero lost expectation a reality. To me, getting lost is not the way to sightseeing (especially on the third time). Getting there is. By this time we are so tired and my feet couldn’t handle all that walking anymore and my shoulder and my hand couldn’t handle the heavy big plastic bag that I have been carrying all over Singapore.  I slumped myself at the only free table in Victory restaurant. Liza took care of ordering food. We then paid about $18 for all those foods and drinks. We couldn’t finish that big Murtabak Singapore and asked the mamak to pack for us so that we can eat them for breakfast.

the original Singapore Murtabak

After dinner I am slightly happier and we walked to the nearest MRT station by following direction on the street. We found Bugis station and proceed to reload our Ez-link card for $10. We transit at City Hall and went on straight to Marina Bay. We arrived at Marina Bay Sands before 10pm. Our coach will only arrive at 11.30pm. We decided to wait at the wooden bench outside Marina Bay Sands Hotel and enjoy the beautiful view where a lot of people walk around us and sat at quite a few other long wooden benches. While I am just getting cozy on the bench one homeless guy sat beside Liza and made her uncomfortable as he smell. At that moment I just stood up and quickly told her its best that we just wait inside the hotel. So we went in. While waiting a group of Malaysian joined us. I know they are in a group as they wore same outfit. They are taking the same bus as ours. I asked one lady where she had went for the day and she told us that they went to Resort World Sentosa. I immediately became excited to know what she had done as we are going there tomorrow. Apparently she didn’t remember many things to our disappointment. They didn’t get into the Universal Studio either and had to play other entertainments that are available there. Then she asked me where we had been the whole day and I immediately told her all the places we had went. I noticed that she is not that happy to hear about our adventure. It is probably because she didn’t enjoy her trip. I didn’t blame her much as later in the night their group leader told us that what is important to him is setting foot in a new country. From that moment I keep in mind not to join any trip if it is organized by people with that policy.

While waiting in the hotel, we are lucky to be able to sit at a very cozy sofa provided for hotel guest. At one point I got thirsty and had to go to concierge to ask for water but they are not that helpful and send me to the lounge. I politely asked a waitress in the lounge whether I can get plain water at a reasonable price. She showed me their menu and they sold Evian at $7 or was it $17. Either way I rather go thirsty than spending that much for a bottle of water but I asked the very friendly waitress if there is any other way than buying that Evian. She quickly invited me to sit in their lounge and have a drink of plain water for free. I am amazed at her generosity but I don’t want to impose plus I’ll feel very awkward enjoying that drink for free. I had an empty 7-eleven bottle with me and asked if she could fill water into it. She happily agreed and took the bottle. I am so happy to have met such a kind person. When she returned I asked if I could still pay for the water. She held my hand and told me not to do so. I said thank you with my most grateful face and quickly went away.

The water in Singapore tasted different. I told Liza and she remind me about how they recycle their water. When I remember that I felt a bit nauseated but after a while I didn’t care much and just enjoy my drink.

When our coach finally arrived we were so tired and couldn’t wait to get into the bus. Everybody was looking at the huge plastic bag that I am carrying. I had to later carry it at all custom checkpoints only to be waived away by the officers. Either way I am happy for a lot of reasons for having purchased all these things.

We arrived in Tune Hotel at early 1am. Even then, we manage to chat for a few minutes before we finally went to sleep.

On the 27^th we had to wake up early as our bus is leaving at 7.30am. We breakfasted with our leftover murtabak. Our destination is Resort World Sentosa. Upon our arrival it is written clearly everywhere that tickets to Universal Studio has been sold out for the rest of December. We went sightseeing for a little bit and proceed to Vivocity on a free train. Vivocity is very near to RWS. There are quite a lot of other activities that we can do if we want in RWS but Liza is not interested and later so am I since I am still tired from the day before and my feet felt very weak due to shock at having walked so much. We looked around and walked slowly in Vivocity and it looked just like any other shopping mall. Without wasting much time there we went out and took an MRT from Vivocity (Harbourfront station on the North East Line) to Farrer Park station where Mustafa Centre is. We had to walk a bit from Farrer Park to Mustafa Centre. After a while I couldn’t hold it any longer and asked Liza if we could have early lunch just so we can sit until I recovered. She agreed and she felt the same way too except I have no idea how she can stand in those heels.

After chatting for some time in the mamak restaurant right in front of Mustafa Centre we went in and I am immediately enchanted at the things that they are selling there. And the amount of it is amazing. They simply had everything. They looked just like our Mydin except they are selling Neckerman and Clark like it’s some cheap sale. The price starts from the lowest to the highest. They had aisles upon aisles at endless passages. And I don’t know how many floors they had but is simply another world. It has everything for everyone, including me. I am quite grateful that we didn’t go to Mustafa Centre on our first day as I know for sure that my Singapore Dollar will surely gone as I will have every excuse to deplete it here. With whatever I had left from the day before I bought:

Two Constance Carrol (CCUK) Trio Eyeshadow #95 and #67 at $3.90 each.

Jovan Black Musk Men EDT 88ml for my father at $10.50

Korean Drama Box Set 28 episodes - Gourmet (Sik Geok) for my mother at $17.90

Follow Me Oil Control Toner at$6.90

Total money spent in Mustafa Centre is $43.10.

I am pleased with all my purchase particularly the CCUK eyeshadows as the colours are beautiful even though it retails at a mere $3.90. I am more satisfied with CCUK eyeshadows than I am with Estee Lauder and Paul & Joe that I am currently using. I am so coming back to Mustafa Centre to restock CCUK cosmetics in the future.

I don’t know how long we had stayed in Mustafa but we hold on until my money and my feet couldn’t afford it anymore. We decided to pray somewhere on our way back to Harbourfront. I studied the map and decided to go to Chinatown as the Jamae Mosque is close to the MRT station and we wanted to avoid more walking. Liza even bought slippers in Mustafa so she no longer had to wear her heels. I had expected to walk a lot and only wore my Macbeth sneakers all the time.

waiting for MRT

me @ Mustafa Centre

@City Square near Mustafa Centre

Liza was delighted upon our arrival in Chinatown. I also feel as if we had hit a jackpot because there are so many things to see and of course buy in Chinatown. I am particularly piqued with the several 3 hour guaranteed finish corporate suit shops and immediately thought about my blazer that must be replaced pronto. However, since I had no more money I decided to just let it go. The next time I am here I will come to Chinatown and get my blazer done. The Jamae mosque is also most pleasing to see as it is very accommodating and comfortable. I had never seen such a sophisticated ablution and toilet for women in my entire life. We took our sweet time praying and enjoying the mosque. I feel so refreshed after having washed my face with my facial cleanser. When we finally leave the mosque we feel less tired than before. However, we still want to catch an early coach at 7.30pm even though our actual leaving time is at 10pm.

sophisticated ablution and toilet space in Jamae mosque

@Jamae mosque

Chinatown

We had very little time to spare if we want to catch that 7.30pm coach. We thought about our officemates in our firm and decided to get some souvenir for them here as there are plenty of souvenir items in Chinatown. I am at my last few Singapore Dollar but we manage to scrap some money and shared souvenir for our officemates. What a perfect budget holiday, we even manage to get souvenir for people. Hehe.

back from Chinatown

We arrived at Harbourfront station in Vivocity at around 6pm. We walk around for a little bit and I even managed to get another belt in a shop after bargaining heavily with the shopkeeper for $6. I only noticed that the Salizer belt that I had bought in earlier do not fit me. That later goes to one of my sister.

We then proceed to Resort World Sentosa. This time we had to pay $3 to board that initially free train to go to RWS from Vivocity. We just tap our Ez-link card and off we go. We arrived at RWS at around 7pm and had to wait for the 7.30 coach. When it finally arrived we had to plead them to let us go back early. We had to wait until everyone has board the coach and only after they are sure nobody else are coming we are allowed to board the coach.

crazy delicious smell coming from Pastamania! in Vivocity

Vivocity

Vivocity

Thus end our trip to Singapore. Which also mean a total of less than $300 spent for an adventurous shopping spree including travelling and dining cost. I had exchanged RM700 for my expenditure in
Singapore at an exorbitant 2.44 rate but perhaps luck is on my side where I have shop for everything but paid less. When I leave Singapore I had only exactly $4 in my bag and Ez-link card which I have no idea what the balance is. I wished I had spend everything to the last drop but at the same time I don’t mind keeping it as memento. So what is the final figure from the beginning until the end? Answer: about as close as RM1200.00 for a four days three nights holiday in JB and Singapore including food, accommodation, travel and all other incidental preparation. If that ain’t cheap I don’t know what that is.

Some of my Singapore stash

Pre Trip of the Year

I have just collected my new toy from my cousin today. It's a portable hard disk.

Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB (white colur)

I will not elaborate more. Just read the review here.

I have been needing a new one since forever. My old cliptec hard disk are already full and very fragile. I could lose my valuable data anytime. Hence, this new hard disk. It will serve as a place where I can store important files. My old hard disk will serve as the place where I store mp3, movies and other temporary files.

I am not so sure about the market price. I guess it is around RM200 - 300. However, I got it at a staff price because my cousin work in WD. I think I will not mention my price here as it is not the true market price.

Now onto my excitement of the year which is about to start. As you all probably know already I shall be on holiday starting 25 December. I am going to Singapore together with my friend Liza. Our topmost plan is to go to Universal Studio. Although I really wish we could be there; I didn't pile my hope rocket high that we will actually be there. I checked online tickets three days ago and all tickets from 25 up until 28 are already sold out. We are rooting for the walk in ticket. I have thought about buying the tickets online long before this, the only thing stopping me is the unavailability of credit card. I have no credit card and is not planning to have one either. I thought about borrowing from friends or family but due to high SGD currency rate I have no heart to impose on anyone.

Apart from having the fun of my life, I also plan to visit major shopping places in Singapore and would like to enjoy the special price as reported by everyone. I am a bit skeptical nevertheless;. Due our short holiday duration I intend to make full use of the time we will be having in Singapore. Due to that, I made some research about the place I want to go, things that they are selling and how to travel about. I definitely do not want to waste time getting lost or figuring out what I want to buy in the first place. I found out that things are more expensive in Singapore than in Malaysia. However, I want to give it the benefit of the doubt and see it for myself. I shall come out with my full expenses list and everything that I have done or buy once I am back from Singapore. 

Just a little info to add to the mystery: I spend less than a total of  RM500 for my to and fro trip from KL to Singapore from 25 until 28.

Please pray for my safe journey and return.

:)

As always

Me against the world...

山崎まさよし - One More Time, One More Chance

5 Centimeters Per Second

5 Centimeters Per Second. Impeccable CGI coupled with fascinating storyline. Kind of made me remember my childhood years. haha. I just love this story.

Today at work

Long Call is best summed up as this

About Me on Facebook

This is my previous About Me on Facebook:

I am an open minded traditional, modern conservative, negative idealist,practical visionary, loyal egoist, childish adult, old and young, blatant and stern yet symphatize. The most incomprehensible being that I have ever met, is me.

This is my current About Me:

A broke future rookie LA who never pays much attention to facebook chat and friend's updates and fills her facebook wall with Mafia Wars and Happy Island updates instead.


Update: Long Call is on 3rd December 2010. heh. Can hardly wait for the date. It means the end of all the hassle.

P/s: What about my Flowers in the air post that people kept opening it? I feel kinda violated and offended because my other post was not as popular as that. hehe

Post Raya

My current situation is best summed up by my current FB status:

"three types of rendang, lemang, nasi biryani, ayam masak merah, dalca, acar, bread & butter pudding, chocolate cake, muffins later....diarrhea...okay not exactly, more like chilli overload...and my stomach cant stand too much chillies."

So I felt a bit hot inside my stomach and of course its acting up right now. My mood is OK although quite a few things made it hard to start the day.

First of all I would like to congratulate myself for writing so much this month. It must be because I've got new books which made me stayed up until morning to finish them and somehow it made my mind flowing with words and the excitement to write it down.

My stomach acted up since last night. I was reading Inkspell until 3am in the morning so I didn't exactly was sleepless because of my stomach. I managed to sleep until 6.45am and when I woke up went a few rounds to the loo. Anyway, I warmed some of the food from yesterday (even though they are the cause of my stomach ache) and get them ready to be brought to the office. I tried so hard to figure out a way not to throw away all these foods because I know I can't eat them all by myself (still figuring out. any help?).

I went again to the Big Bad Wolf warehouse sale on its last day yesterday. Everything RM8 went down to RM5. I managed to get Cormac McCarthy's and another. I also bought traveling book on Singapore. Well I know its just across the sea but since the book was cheap and it has maps and everything else to rectify my noobness of that place. I planned to go there during Christmas. However, I didn't save up anything to prepare myself for the trip except the accommodation. I am so worried that I will feel so bad if I went anyway without enough money for my shopping spree. I am still figuring ways to get around this problem though (and the book made me so excited too).

Being random and for the record, I drained my newly bought toner today and I feel that it is such a waste. It was my favorite too. I had packed (throw) everything into my backpack this morning as I shall live in my rented room during office days. So when I throw my backpack into the car boot today I saw that it was drenched. I know I didn't have my water bottle with me so I knew it had to be the toner or the eye make-up remover. I wished it was the eye make-up remover instead. Apparently I didn't screw the cap tightly. I am so down (as I always do when I feel things go to waste) that I can't wait to go to Singapore and buy a toner. It had to be from oversea to compensate my feeling of loss. And we are back to money issue again. WHERE DO I GET THE MONEY TO SHOP IN SINGAPORE is the question.

As Geraldine said (and I know she is bored with my ramblings on money shortage) I am forever with money issues. But of course, I will always be so until I earned at least RM3k. Although I know by the time I earned RM3k it will still be not enough. In short, I will forever have the money issue and people will be so annoyed at me for thinking that I had money issue. In my opinion, I can think I have money issue all I want as the outcome is good i.e always be on high alert on your money consumption. I also believe that I need to be this paranoid to avoid from really being a shopaholic. I mean I love to shop but I always went for the high quality things with good price and I still can stop myself from buying everything that I want.

So the sum total of my morning is the feeling of wastage, money issue and how to go on a shopping spree in Singapore. Oh I forgot to note that I am so happy that 70% of cars are not on MRR2 today! I believed that 60% of KL citizens consist of families with school going kids. Which also summed up that they are the ones causing traffic jams. Which also means somebody should take measures to ensure children safety when they board school buses so that less car can be on the road just to send and fetch them from school.

Now let us go on to Raya stories. hehe. I am not sure how I feel when my 28 year old cousin said he is not sure to tie the knot with a girl who was doing her chambering the same time as me because she is a (future) lawyer like me and people like me argue a lot. Ok basically they argues a lot and in short he thinks we lawyers argues a lot. I asked in front of his mother and mine including my second aunt on why hasn't he made an honest woman out of her yet since they had been together for such a looooooong time. He answered with a question: Why you have no boyfriend?
I immediately know it must be related to the stigma that lawyers either talk a lot or argue a lot or opinionated or all of the above. So I just non-nonchalantly list all of the above for him and he picked 'arguing'. But I also somehow picked out that his mother was not so fond of the girl because she is a lawyer. I feel so sorry for her because I had met her and because my aunt must have based her judgment on me. Because I was so opinionated and live my own ways since I was 18 which is quite a taboo as she is quite traditional and my cousins listened to her. Even my younger brother listened to her on whether he can or cannot sleep at my house when he went back to our parent's. I didn't say it was altogether a bad thing and I didn't say anything about my brother because it is somewhat good for him.
I am the only one in our family network who are going to be a lawyer soon and it seems nobody are following my footsteps. So I didn't blame her if she based her opinion on me. Although I do feel that it is quite shallow and what a lost. Because my attitude is rare even among future lawyers. I am somehow the weird one. It only confirmed that people like them (and there was so many of them) will forever avoid educated women from entering their family. Which is why there are so many delinquents and juveniles out there. Because future husband and in-laws choose uneducated women into their family as they are easier to control and had almost no opinions at all. So these uneducated women will just give birth and have no idea on nurturing children's mind.
Well at least educated women do received formal education and it's proven by their qualifications. Surely people with knowledge are different than people with none. Surely there are exceptions. But this is the general rule. Surely there are difference between children borne by a graduate and children borne by, say, SPM graduate. Surely.
What I am saying is, it is such a lost to my family that my aunts simply had no interest in securing educated people as their sons and daughters in law for the well being of mankind. Its a different story if there is no one else but this person. The problem is when there are choices they simply choose the timid one. It also baffled me when all of them went to universities too. Well I guess I'll just settle with my blog and let out all my opinions to random people as in the near future I shall have a very thin chance to have a family discussion without hurting their feelings because they don't get what I mean or couldn't accept my boldness in stating the obvious. As it is, all my female cousins my sister included didn't get me and while they enjoy calling each other stupid and fat they simply cannot have an ordinary conversation with me because I am so weird.

Selamat HAri Raya AidilAdha

Happy Eid people. I am so excited to eat to my heart's content at my parent's tomorrow. I have no idea whats on the menu but I am sure I will like it nonetheless. My guess is the food will be ordered from our usual Cik Ida. I was told that for this year the gathering place is at my parent's for all my mother's sibling and their family.
For the umpten time I will have to forget my cholesterol reducing mission.
I have no plan to make a new Baju Kurung for AidilAdha but last time I was in Intrade I met Shahida and Shams from Pakistan and I bought one set of fabric from them. The fabric is supposedly meant for a kind of Pakistani suit but I bought it with the sole intention of making it into Baju Kurung. I don't know the real price if it was bought from Malaysian people but I bought it for RM50 and I am sure it should be at least triple than that here. However, I am happy with the price that I paid as I know the cost of sending it to tailor will be high. I have send it last Saturday and I am told I wont be able to wear it for Eid which I dont mind but shall wear it to the nearest wedding that I am going to attend.
I thought of going back to parent's tonight but then I changed my mind as I want to peacefully read (gnaw?) into my latest haul from the Big Bad Wolf Warehouse Sale. I bought a complete set of Inkheart by Cornelia Funke for a mere RM24 and a biography of Omar Khayyam for RM10. I am quite sad because I had to restrain my desire to buy the whole warehouse since I already spent so much at Intrade particularly from Shahida and Shams where apart from the fabric I also bought two Himalayan Salt Lamps shipped directly from Pakistan for a total of RM27. Shams told me I haggle too much but Shahida always gave me a very special price. She told me that the lamps are expensive in this country. I believe her but I wont buy it if it wasn't because of her price anyway. I went to my parent's afterwards and checked with my mother for her Himalayan Salt Lamp that she had bought a few years back and it was RM100. Anyway, I am so proud of my smart shopaholic habit (i.e buying things I dont need INSANELY CHEAP).
Anyway, take it from me people, until you earn above RM2.5k salary please get all your things from warehouse sale. Sometimes I am quite sad that I had to resort to only warehouses to buy all my things from make-ups to accessories and books but after a while I realized that at every opportunity you can get you should get the best worth for your money. Ok, maybe for things that had expiry date you should get it new but for all other things that dont have expiry date we should get it at warehouse sale or expo. And do that until you know that you can afford to just throw your money away.
Enough about shopping. I just would love to record here that I have filed my papers on 12 November 2010. I am now waiting for my Long Call Date. Unfortunately, I can't know my date because its to be confirmed based on Judges' availability. At this point, I no longer care when is my date since I had tried all possible means to get it within this year and if it still didn't work then so be it. Although, I do feel like I am losing money here because the earlier I can be a lawyer it goes without saying the earlier the increase of monthly salary.
Anyway, I am so GLAD that in the end I had see it through that I finished my chambering (assuming my Long Call successful la, but who doesn't?). Oh after ALL the people that I had met and all attitudes that I went through. phewwwww~
And it is something to be proud of.
Completed LLB, completed Chambering. I never dream any of these back when I was in school. I was so playful and couldn't care less about my results (still are) but I made it. Luck. What do they say about luck? opportunities. I guess I just happened to be there when opportunity came by.
haha. HAPPY!

Quotes~

One may argue, of course, over whether or not stupidity is a crime deserving of death. I think it is, for it can have exactly the same consequences as treachery. -Capricorn, Inkheart.

The calmer thought is not always the right thought, just as the distant view is not always the truest view. – Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

Wedding Research

I got excited waiting for the coming weeks and months ahead where a few of my friends, best friend and special sister are getting married. Most people have no idea that I love to be involved in a wedding in whatever ways (provided I like that person). For a wedding of those who are special to me, I will share with them all my contacts and information on where to get wedding accessories, make-up artiste, wedding card printer, fresh flowers arrangement etc etc. I also know places such as shops and warehouses for door gift and trays for wedding 'hantaran' (or dowry?).
However, I sometime become quite generous and feel like sharing some (not all) of my secrets with my few readers and I will do so in a short while.
My idea of an ideal wedding is definitely not the same as your ideal wedding. Nevertheless, my idea might be applicable in some parts if not a big part of your wedding.
My idea of an ideal wedding is to have all the best things in the country with the best price. Definition of best price is cheap. Cheap includes transportation cost, time and energy wasted. Best things are the things of high quality and can be used for a long long time. It may also includes rare things or brand that majority people do not use.
Well please do not mistake my idea of an ideal wedding with my dream wedding. I have no dream wedding. Like I told most of the people I met in life, I rather post a big advertisement on a major newspaper with our wedding picture announcing we are married and prior to that just get married in a mosque without any reception than spend thousands just for a wedding.
Oh but please don't be so disturbed with my bizarre ideas. I mean that is just me. You might not be able to pull it off anyway.
And let us go on with our main objective here. Despite my own personal opinion, I do so much love going shopping for a wedding. I can balance my personal opinion with your personal opinion and just enjoy the whole process anyway. Okay, that was a bit exaggerated. I do actually feel disturbed with your idea of an ideal wedding if it is too alien than my ideal wedding.
Oh why can't I just keep this post innocently gushy and purely about wedding without blurring the image with my dark ideas and thoughts.
Sorry guys. Now let us go on to our real objective ( I know I am saying this the second time). Here we go, sites that I like and would really love it if other people benefit from it:

If you are looking for branded cosmetics, home and fashion items for your hantaran, head on to these warehouse sales between this 9th to 15th November 2010:

• Loreal Warehouse Sale
• Kanebo Warehouse Sale
• Laura Ashley Off Season Clearance

These are the sites that I followed because of their original and affordable ideas of a wedding:

• Merisik Gallery
• Witty and Funny thoughts on a journey towards a wedding
• Check out this blog I just found for ideas
• I have previously hired this photographer for my convocation. She is very original and her I lighting is impeccable.
• I found his works while stumbling around and found his works worthy of note.
• This website is just for idea gatherings
• This is my friend who is quite talented with fresh flowers and can make all kinds of floral arrangments.
• Check this out now for your honeymoon.

So thats all that I can share online. Quite a number of my contacts are not available online. I might consider becoming a wedding arranger (not a planner ok) if the pay is right. lol.
Anyway, I hope you benefited from this post and have a wonderful wedding.

With Love,

Sarah

(now thats rare).

November

My pupillage will end in 11 days. I filed my petition on 11 February. My last day is on 11/11/10. Love the date.
Anyway, I went through a lot. My life course changed dramatically. Quite far than what I have planned for myself.
Before, I thought I just want to end my chambering. Then just join public service. Like I said before, I had some jobs that I can push myself into. I already had a home for myself. If I joined I can pay for my mother's house and stay there.
Even if I don't join I can still find a job in my area and still live in that house.
But.
The firm offered me. At first I refused. Right after that I send out my resumes to 42 firms around my area. Although I stated my availability for December some firms did called anyway and asked me to come for an interview. I thought that would be my life for a while. Then unexpectedly the big boss feigned ignorance and offered me the second time. Much as my friend wanted to believe that the last time i was being misunderstood, I know I wasn't misunderstood.
But it was a second chance anyway.
After going to a few interviews, I know this would be the best firm for me for the time being. I hate going to big firms. I never want to go to big firms. If I am going to be a lawyer at all, I want to be so in a place where I can be challenged and learn a lot of things happily.
So I asked for one month to think. My boss gave me 7 days.
I took the whole 7 days. Weighed my options (which I managed to obtain by the way). On the 7th day I submit my acceptance to this firm and rejection with another firm.
I had to move to a room near my office. It's to save cost. I had to leave a place where I am free to do whatever I want by myself and be comfortable and live in a smaller place with strangers.
I am quite saddened but I know it is necessary. By this time I no longer know what is waiting for me in life.
I am quite lost as to the future. But I saw the present clearly. I am now taking my chance and grabbed the best option that I had. All I know is I just had to brace it by myself.

Quotes of the day

There comes a time in life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama & the people who create it & surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard that you forget the bad and focus solely on the good. After all, life is to short to be anything but happy.

Think about ME

People know they are going to die but live anyway.
The same principle is relevant to a lot of other things such as:

• I know I am not the best student or student with outstanding CGPA but I be merry proud of my achievement anyway.
• I am sad and feel for the people in Pakistan and Palestine and will do my best to help in whatever way I can but I keep on living as usual and still complaint about restaurant service anyway.
• I know that I may not be the prettiest girl in the universe but I buy clothes, bags, accesories, make ups etc etc anyway.
• I have no boyfriend but I dream and made plans of living with someone in the future anyway.
• Money is never enough but I give anyway.

and everything else that may cross your mind.

The point is:
Is it logical to stop living when calamity happens?
Calamity is there for us to keep on living.
There is no life without disaster. People will be tired with happiness if there is only happiness in life. Calamity made life more meaningful.
So then, are we going to stop living?
Are we going to forsake quality service/things that we thought we deserve because of calamity?
Are we going to stop moving forward and advocate positive but small things that may not help people in Pakistan or Palestine but help made some people who say, went to an Ikan Patin Restaurant in Temerloh be happy because of it's great service?

My answer is no. I will keep on living, be helpful and at the same time complaint about things. I will not be a robot who will only feel one thing at one particular time. No, my life is not like "Oh hey I've got worked to do!" and then I work come hell or heaven until my work is finished or "Ya Allah, bencana, perang.." then I should lie down, cry and be in despair. No, I am like "Work? Ok...hey thats a PC Game...Ok...hey thats food...eat!" or "Kesiannya diorang tak dapat makanan sebab banjir...hey kawan-kawan tolong la bagi derma...eh kenapa kedai ikan patin ni hampeh sangat ha?".

So that's my POV. Beg to differ all you want and can everything. I think I have revealed part of me very clearly.

Probably it's just me. But I feel it'll be interesting if this is my answer to how some people think how some things should be looked at and that is how it should and always will be and that theirs are the most correct method. I totally get their point, it got me thinking and I think thats absurd thank you very much.

lets apply the principle again:

• People don't prefer/hate the way I think and act but be my friend anyway.
• I don't like a friend's opinion but admire her anyway.

and the list go on.