Pasar Malam and Fun Fair at Woodlands

On Sunday (20/5) evening, the whole family went to Causeway Point, the biggest shopping mall around the north of Singapore, at Woodlands. Our destination is the pasar malam and fun fair, which is located at the open field opposite Causeway Point, near the Woodlands MRT station.

The fun fair itself is a makeshift theme park operated by Uncle Ringo, the leading amusement park operator in Singapore. However, even though it's only a makeshift theme park, you can find quite a lot of big and thrilling rides, similar to those found on permanent theme parks like Genting or Dunia Fantasy. There's even a very big (or giant?) ferris wheel called Euro Wheel, although of course you cannot compare it with Dunia Fantasy's Bianglala or the new upcoming Singapore Flyer. :)

The only downside is the ticket price, which is quite high. They sell it on a per-token basis (the token is actually a ticket) at S$2.50 per token, and most of the rides will require 2 tokens (or 2 tickets) per person, including children. Some more thrilling rides even require 3 or 4 tokens per head. Meaning, each ride will set you back from $5 to $10, per person. Very expensive.

Inka and Irza tried the (a bit slow) roller coaster and the pirate ship. Inka also tried the Sky Rider, which is similar to the Spinner ride in Genting, which is her favourite. However, this Sky Rider ride is spinning much faster than Genting's Spinner! No wonder why the minimum height limit for this ride was 125cm, which Inka was just reaching. For your information, the minimum height to ride the Spinner at Genting is only 107cm. I had to calm my wife who was very shocked to see that Inka was whirled that fast. :) Luckily, she was OK.

There's also the bumper cars! Definitely Inka and Irza's favourite. To ride these bumper cars, we had to buy separate tokens at $5 per car (not per person), and each car can take 2 persons. I rode the bumper car with Inka, while my wife shared the car with Irza. We really had fun! :) There are also some various games stalls where you can try your luck to win the prizes.

Just opposite the fun fair, nearer to the Causeway Point shopping mall and the Woodlands MRT station, there's a very big pasar malam where you can buy lots of stuff at cheap prices. Those include VCDs/DVDs, accessories, and of course, food and drinks, including the famous Ramly Burger. :)

More pictures can be found here.

Dinosaur Movie at Singapore Science Centre

Inka is a fan of dinosaurs. She always borrows books about dinosaurs every time we go to the library. My wife found out that there's movie screening about dinosaurs at the Omni Theatre, Singapore Science Centre, so she offered Inka to take her to watch the movie after a week of her semestral examination.

We went there last Saturday evening. Singapore Science Centre is located at Jurong East, and the Omni-Theatre is on a separate building, sandwiched between Singapore Science Centre and Snow City. Outside the theatre itself, there's a gallery showcasing dinosaurs and everything related to it. There's also a very big skeleton of T-Rex, which reminds me of the Night at a Museum movie, which Inka also likes very much so that we had to buy the DVD. :)

Since Irza didn't want to watch the movie, only my wife and Inka went in to see the movie. The ticket price was $10 for adult, and $5 for child. Inka said that she liked the movie very much. There's also a dinosaurs simulator ride, however we didn't try it. The price for the ride itself was $4 for adult, and $2 for child.

While waiting for my wife and Inka watching the movie, I took Irza to Kinetic Garden, which is located on the outer (and free) side of the Singapore Science Centre. There are quite some exhibits for the kids to play for free. There's also a McDonalds outlet there in case you're hungry. Irza was having a great time playing with all the exhibits there.

More exhibits are, of course, inside the Singapore Science Centre and the ticket price is $6 for adult, and $3 for child. There's also a new water play area which is actually located outside, but we can only enter the area from inside the Science Centre itself, therefore only those having tickets can go in. We didn't go in since we've been there before, just last year.

More pictures can be found here.

Meeting Tata and Wati's Family

My fellow Indonesian bloggers from Geneva, Switzerland, Tata and Wati, came to Singapore together with their two daughters, Annisa and Nadia. They came to Singapore about two weeks ago and had the chance to go back to Indonesia last week, before returning back to Geneva next Friday. They will be migrating to Singapore next July.

We met them last Sunday (22 April 2007) at the children playground on the second floor of VivoCity, before having coffee together at the Starbucks cafe nearby. After which, we had lunch together at Banquet before going to the SkyPark at the third floor of VivoCity. Inka and Irza were having a great time playing with Annisa and Baby Nadia.

More pictures can be found here.

Attending Om eRBe's Birthday Party

On a breeze Sunday afternoon, I took Inka and Irza to Om eRBe and Tante Tyty's residence at Hougang, to celebrate om eRBe's birthday. I guess we were also celebrating tante Tyty's birthday, since it fell just several days before om eRBe's. We met Om Renatha, Om Hans and Tante Gita there. Not long after, Tante Yolli came, followed by Om Yuwono, Tante Lenny and their son Danny. Om Arrizky and Tante Enji, as well as Tante Fisty and her husband, also came and joined the fun.

The kids kept themselves busy with om eRBe's Sony Playstation. Irza was also happily playing with Danny, who is the only other kid around. This is the first time they see each other, after a "failed" meet-up scheduled at the Singapore Zoo couple of weeks ago. At that time, we finally managed to meet Om Yuwono's family at the zoo entrance on our way back, but by that time, Danny has fell asleep already. :)

There was also a cake prepared for the birthday boy and girl... erm... sorry, I meant, the birthday guy and gal. :) Om eRBe and Tante Tyty also have another good reason to celebrate: they are expecting their first baby girl, which is expected to be born some time on June 2007. Congratulations! :)

More pictures can be found here.

Jusco Aeon Tebrau City

On Saturday, 10 February 2007, we went to Johor Bahru, specifically to visit the new Jusco Aeon Tebrau City shopping mall, a new upmarket shopping mall in Johor Bahru. This is actually the second time we visited the shopping mall, after our first visit last September 2006 when we dropped by on our way back from Genting and Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

We drove through the Woodlands checkpoint, and to our amazement, there was no traffic jam at all. We passed through Singapore and Malaysia immigrations within 30 minutes since we left home, and we reached Tebrau City in 50 minutes! Thank God. It's quite unbelievable since it was Saturday morning, and the traffic is supposed to be heavy on weekends.

The Jusco Tebrau City shopping mall is located along Tebrau Highway, the main federal route 3 highway towards Kota Tinggi and Mersing. If you're driving from Singapore, it's faster to go through the Causeway instead of the Second Link. After passing Malaysia immigration, make a U-turn and go towards the busy Jalan Wong Ah Fook, passing the Johor Bahru City Square. At the end of the road, keep right and follow the signs to Kota Tinggi and Jalan Tebrau. Ensure that you pass Plaza Pelangi on your right.

After about 15 minutes drive (if traffic is not heavy), you will pass an on-going flyover construction work at the junction of Tebrau Highway and Pasir Gudang Highway. You can use the flyover to go through the junction (only one side of the flyover has been built at the time of writing), and the Jusco Aeon Tebrau City shopping mall is located on the left side just after the junction.

I would say that this is currently the most upmarket shopping mall in Johor Bahru, more high-class compared to Plaza Pelangi, and more luxurious than the crowded Johor Bahru City Square. The Jusco department store is the anchor tenant, spanning over three floors. On the first floor, there's Jusco supermarket where you can buy all your daily needs. On the top floor, there's a food court serving the normal Malaysian fare, and next to it, there's a children playground where your kids can play and have fun.

We didn't have our lunch at the food court, instead we had lunch at The Chicken Rice Shop. This is a famous halal chicken rice restaurant chain, which has branches all over Malaysia, including in Kuala Lumpur's Mid Valley Mega Mall and Malacca's Mahkota Parade shopping mall. They also have opened a branch at VivoCity, Singapore. The chicken rice is very nice, and the kids loved it.

The shopping mall also houses Bread Talk, which is halal in Malaysia, unlike in Singapore. My favourite bread would be the spicy chicken floss one. There's also a Dunkin Donuts counter just opposite the supermarket, and also Baskin Robbins ice cream counter. You cannot find both counters here in Singapore. There's also a bookstore called Harris, and some other stores as well.

More pictures can be found here.

Sentosa

Sentosa is one of our favourite places we usually visit quite often. Not only because we have the Family Islander card which gives the whole family free unlimited entries into Sentosa for the whole year, but there's also quite a lot of things we can do there.

Cycling

One of our favourite methods of outing-cum-exercising is cycling. Sentosa is full of cycling tracks, and cycling around the island is quite fun. Our favourite cycling track in Sentosa is the one between the Ferry Terminal and the Underwater World area. The track is flat so it's quite easy for the kids, and it's going past the seaside along the north coast of the island. It's also passing by one of Sentosa's seldom-visited attractions, the Lost Civilisation and Ruined City.

Another favourite track of ours is the one along the beaches on the southern coast of the island, from Siloso Beach to Palawan Beach, up to Tanjong Beach. There are some interesting attractions along the path, including the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia, which is located near Palawan Beach. The small islet is connected to the main Sentosa island through a suspension bridge over the narrow strait.

Other than that, Sentosa also have some other cycling tracks. Some of them are passing through the middle of the island, but the track is mountainous and it's passing some thick jungles, it's great for those who are more adventurous. If it's quite difficult for you to bring in your own bicycles, you can rent them from any of the bicycles kiosks located there. There's one bicycles kiosk located just next to the ferry terminal, and another one near the Siloso beach.

Sentosa Express

Getting into Sentosa is now much easier with the new Sentosa Express. Being a Sentosa family islander, we can ride the monorail for free. Otherwise, one only need to pay $3 (including the $2 Sentosa admission), which is the same amount you need to pay if you come by bus. We board the train at the new VivoCity shopping mall. The station is located on the 3rd floor, near the lift lobby L, just on top of The Coffee Bean cafe and Best Denki, next to the Food Republic food court.

You need to purchase the tickets at the ticket counter there. For Islander members, you just need to show your Islander card to get your free tickets. You can then tap the ticket cards on the gate there, and walk through it, similar to MRT gates where you need to tap your EZ-Link cards. Unfortunately, you cannot use your EZ-Link cards here. Once you have passed the gate, you just need to wait for boarding the next train to Sentosa.

The journey from VivoCity to Sentosa will only take several minutes. There are two stations within Sentosa itself: Imbiah Station (near the Merlion and close to all other attractions around Imbiah Lookout) and Beach Station (located between Palawan and Siloso beaches, where you can catch the beach tram to the two respective beaches). There's actually another station, Waterfront Station, which will only be opened on 2010 when the new integrated resorts there are open.

Imbiah Lookout and Sentosa Luge

From the Imbiah Station, just in front of the Merlion statue, we can take the escalators up to other attractions located in the Imbiah Lookout cluster. Some of the attractions include Images of Singapore, Carlsberg Sky Tower, Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom and Sentosa 4D Magix. Unfortunately, the ticket admissions to those attractions are quite expensive, since those are meant more for tourists. As an islander member, we can get some discounts to those attractions, but it's still consider quite expensive.

However, there's one attraction which we (especially the kids) like, and we don't mind going there again every time we visit Sentosa. Yes, you guessed it right, it's the Sentosa Luge, the gravity-powered go-cart-cum-toboggan down the track from Imbiah Lookout to Siloso Beach. Being an islander member, we only need to pay $5 (instead of the normal $8) per ride, inclusive of one Skyride/chairlift ride back. Kids who are riding pillion don't need to pay since they charge per cart and not per person, unless if they ride themselves individually. So far Inka and Irza have not tried riding the luge themselves.

The Skyride (previously known as chairlift) ride back is also quite an unforgettable experience. That is, of course, if you are not afraid of heights. :) The Skyride will bring you on top of those trees and greeneries. Ensure that you don't drop your sandals, otherwise it'll be a bit difficult for you to find them back. There's also camera on the second tower of the Skyride, which will take our photo taking the Skyride, with the Siloso beach and the sea as the background. The photo prints can be bought at $10 each (very expensive), while the lower resolution JPG file can be sent to your email address for $5. Same prices apply to Luge ride photos as well.

Sarpino's Pizzeria

This pizza restaurant is also located in Imbiah Lookout, just next to the Butterfly Park. They sell quite a wide range of halal pizzas with crispier crust compared to Pizza Hut pizzas, and the kids love it very much. Sarpino's Pizzeria actually has some other outlets throughout Singapore, including the one in East Point, Simei.

Just in front of the restaurant, which is at the heart of Imbiah Lookout, there's a water garden where the kids can just play with the water and have fun. Inka and Irza was really having a great time playing there. Similar water garden is also can be found at Palawan Beach, just next to the Koufu food court there. Kids can also spend hours having fun at the beach there. Just ensure that you bring some extra clothes for the kids, or even better, bring their swimming gears.

More pictures of some various moments we had in Sentosa can be found here.

Inka and Irza's Journeys in Brief: August 2006

This is a brief of Inka and Irza's journeys for the month of August 2006. Apologise, I didn't have the time to update this blog quite often. Kindly visit my site at Multiply for the latest updates on Inka and Irza's journey. I will usually post all the pictures there.

• Singapore Science Centre, Jurong East
  
• The Concourse, Beach Road
  
• Sentosa
• Central Fire Station, Hill Street
  
• Bazaar at the Indonesian Embassy, Chatsworth Road
  
• Raffles City, City Hall
  
• Swensens, Suntec City
• Fountain of Wealth, Suntec City
• Irza's Birthday, Part 1 (the Cars party)
  
• Irza's Birthday, Part 2
  

Mama's Birthday

Saturday, 5th of August 2006, is Mama's birthday. However, a lot of things to do on that day caused us to be not able to celebrate her birthday on that day. In the morning, I needed to go to the apartment's management office, to report our key access cards, which were not working. I took Inka and Irza there, and on our way back, they wanted to play at the children's playground near the management office. In the end, they were having a great time playing there. The pictures can be found here.

After lunch, we went to a Sport's Day event, conducted by YWMA Kindergarten, Irza's school, to celebrate Singapore's National Day, which is on its 41st birthday this month. This event is held at the Bukit View Primary School site in Bukit Batok, and it started at... 2pm! Yes, you read it correctly, it was started at 2pm, under the hot baking sun. I don't quite understand, why they have to conduct a sports event in the afternoon, not morning or evening. The kids were really being baked under the hot sun!

Yes, there were two tents provided, one for the students and another one for visitors (parents and families). But the activities would still be conducted in the middle of the field, under the hot sun. The tent provided for the visitors were also not enough to cater for all, so some parents chose to wait and watch from the far end of the field, covered by some trees, but quite far from the centre of the activities.

The event started with all the students performing aerobics. Immediately, all the parents were surrounding the field to take pictures, causing us who sit on the visitors seats under the tent, not able to see the kids in action. Walau le! So no choice, I also had to brave the hot baking sun to find a spot to get good pictures of Irza.

There were also some race events for the students. Each class had different type of contests. For Irza and his team, they needed to run carrying a pail, loading and unloading some stuff into/from the pail, and also go under a barrier. Well, we can say it's a small scale of a triathlon. And it turned out to be that Irza's team, K1E Tazmanian, become the first winner! Congratulations! :) :)

We also met Om Haris and Tante Inong's family there, since their son Zidan also took part on the contests. And the contest Zidan's class took part is gunnysack race. After all the contests were completed, there were gift presentation ceremony for all the students who took part, and all of them together sang the "We are Singapore" song, to celebrate Singapore's 61th National Day. We left the place at around 5pm, and the kids were also very tired. So it was not possible for us to celebrate Mama's birthday on that day. More pictures during the event can be found here.

The next day, we went to Parco Bugis Junction to buy a birthday cake for Mama, as well as to have our lunch. We intended to have lunch at Seoul Garden, a Korean buffet restaurant there, however it was closed due to a private event. So we went to Ngee Ann City, and had our lunch at the Seoul Garden outlet there. It's one of our favourite restaurants, serving halal Korean-style marinated chicken and beef (bulgogi) which we cook ourselves on the grill provided in the middle of the table. They also provide steamboat for us to boil the vegetables, sausages, prawns, and many more. Tips for family with kids: come on Sundays, since kids can dine for free (one kid per one adult). The pictures can be found here.

After finishing our lunch, we went to the basement hall of Takashimaya, since it was the last day of the 10th Craziest Toy Sale. We also went to the Bengawan Solo outlet there to buy the birthday cake for Mama. During our way home, Irza was very tired and slept, and his sleep continued past evening, so we were also not able to celebrate Mama's birthday on that day.

Eventually, we managed to celebrate Mama's birthday the next day, Monday 7th of August 2006, after I came back from the office. As usual, we prepared the birthday cake with some candles to be lit. Everyone sang the "Happy Birthday" song for Mama, and then the kids helped Mama to blow the candles. The pictures can be found here.

Happy birthday, Mama. :)

[Indonesian version]

Singapore Botanic Gardens

On a Sunday evening, 30th of July 2006, the whole family went to Singapore Botanic Gardens, on our way back home from Orchard. We entered the Botanic Gardens via the Taman Serasi Food Garden, a food court which has just renovated recently. This food court is located on a building along Cluny Road, near to the junction with Holland Road.

We walked past the food court to a newly renovated garden, just behind the food court building. From there, we continued our journey towards the Swan Lake. The lake is called Swan Lake because there are quite a lot of swans there, fed by the visitors. There's also a giant swans sculpture in the middle of the lake.

We then continued our journey towards the Symphony Lake, passing though the Bonsai Garden and the Vanda Miss Joaquim, Singapore's national flower. There are many people strolling around the area, having picnic and exercising. There are also some music and dance performances being held at the Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage, which is located on the Symphony Lake itself.

We then proceeded to the Singapore Botanic Gardens' Visitor Centre, and the kids bought some ice creams from one of the kiosks there. From there, we traced our way back to the carpark. We passed the Symphony Lake again, and we went to the back side of the lake to avoid the crowds and take some pictures there, before proceeding to the Ginger Garden.

Ginger Garden is located near the Orchid Plaza, next to the National Orchid Garden. The kids love to go to Ginger Garden because of its waterfall. Well, it's just a small man-made waterfall, however the kids can play around and even go to a small cave behind the waterfall. We also took some pictures there.

From there, we then went back to the carpark at Taman Serasi and going back home. More pictures can be found here.

[Indonesian version]

NDP Preview 2006 and Tante Mela's Farewell

On Saturday, 29th of July 2006, Inka, together with her parents, went to the preview of the National Day Parade for this year. For this year, the event is being held back at the National Stadium, after being held at the Padang last year. This year will be the last year the NDP to be hosted at the National Stadium, since the stadium will be demolished this year, to make way for a new sports centre to be built at the existing site.

This is actually a "preview" of the NDP event which was held yesterday, during the National Day itself. However, this preview actually shows almost the same performances as the actual event itself. Except the president and the prime minister, which are being passed for by someone else, all the other performances are real, such as the marching band, the choir, the paratroopers, the jet fighter planes, and of course, the fireworks.

We actually have four tickets, and Irza was supposed to go as well. However, after I told him that there'll be jet fighter planes and fireworks display, he refused to go since he doesn't like very loud noises. So, only the three of us going, while Irza chose to stay at home. We parked our car at the Gateway on Beach Road, since we were not allowed to park within the National Stadium complex itself. From there, we continue our journey to the stadium using the bus services provided. After alighting from the bus, we still need to walk to the north entrance of the stadium.

The queue is quite long while entering the stadium, because although they didn't check our bags, however they are giving fun pack bags which is quite big, containing all the goodie bags for the event, including some snacks, drinks (including the Newater), a torch which looks like a Nokia handphone, a Singapore flag, a hat which is being decorated with an illuminated Singapore flag, and some baloon sticks which we can use to give applause.

The event started at around 5pm, and finished at around 8pm. Some of the performances include some trapeze artists who are being lifted by balloons, Gurmit Singh and other hosts who were sliding to the field using a rope, paratroopers, jet fighter planes flying above the stadium, and other performances in the field itself, such as marching band and soldiers performing ceremonial gun salute.

On top of that, of course, the fireworks display is the main attraction all the spectators were expecting. Inka were really enjoying her time there, especially when all the spectators were making some noise and even creating some waves around the stadium. More pictures can be found here.

To avoid the crowd while leaving the stadium, we decided to get out of the stadium prior to the end of the event. So, we watched the final fireworks display from outside the stadium, on our way back to the bus stop. It's because on the same night, we would also need to go to Tante Hany's house at Braddell, to attend the firewell party of Tante Mela and family, who are leaving for Batam the next day.

The bus took us back to the Gateway carpark, and then we proceeded to Braddell. We reached Braddell at around 9pm, and fortunately, there were still some friends hung out there and there's still some food left ;) including some of the famous Braddell satay, which were grilled at the last minute for us. :)

Inka then joined their friends there and play. Some of them, who were still around that night, are Kakak Fira and Adam, who are leaving for Batam the next day, Abang Dzaky, Athaya and Alita, Aily and Algo, Dandy, and of course, the host, Hanan and Haifa. Surprisingly, all the children could still stay put and hang out until late night, and we only left Braddell at around 10:30pm. More pictures can be found here.

The next day, I and my wife went to Harbourfront Centre, to say goodbye to Om Ambar and Tante Mela and family, who are leaving Singapore for Batam. Unfortunately, Inka and Irza chose to stay at home and didn't want to go along, although there were quite a lot of their friends also coming to Harbourfront and saying goodbye to Kakak Fira and Adam. More pictures of the children at Harbourfront (without Inka and Irza, unfortunately) can be found here.

[Indonesian version]