Thursday, August 6, 2009

Singapore Trip

Halo all. :P I know I've been gone for too long. -___-" There's no denying that I'm being a very irresponsible blogger lately. T-T

This entry will be about my recent trip to Singapore.

To start off, let me share a little incident that happened while I was waiting to board the coach to Johor Bahru. I was sitting on the bench at one of the platforms. I noted two men sitting on the bench across from mine, watching some entertainment show on a plasma TV. Since there was still about half an hour to go before we can board the coach, I bought a paper to read. After a few minutes of reading, one of the men, an old man probably in his sixties, walked over to me and said in Mandarin, "Miss, I just came out from the hospital. Can you help me buy a bus ticket back to Johor?"

When I heard his request, I was under the impression that he didn't know which counter to go to. I thought he would be handing me his cash to buy the ticket. But then, he added; "Can you give me money to buy the ticket?"

Immediately, I shook my head, said NO, and looked away. His request for money -even though it's for the bus ticket- somehow turned him into a scammer. His reaction was, "Oh..." - then he walked off.

This incident again reminded me that Malaysians have seriously got to change their mindset and improve their social behaviour. This uncle, I just couldn't trust him to be telling the truth. Decent people would NOT feel right to beg for money even if they are completely out. For your information, a ticket to Johor costs RM31, which to me is a substantially large sum. The way to go, if I were in the uncle's shoes, would be to ask to borrow a phone from the numerous ticketing counters to contact his family members. In any case, such an elderly man should not be going to and fro the hospital alone. He might have needed some specific treatment only available in Kuala Lumpur. In that case, I should think that his should have went with any one of his family members. You may argue that he might be the only one in his family. Well then, he could have asked for help from anybody when he realized he did not have money to go back home - immediately. Why did he sit and watch TV and only approach me after some time? He should be panicking and asking around instead of watching TV. -___-"

If you were in my situation, would you help the uncle? Just something to trigger your thoughts. :P

Right then. Singapore. Yeah. It was a total change from KL. A very exhilarating change. I greatly admire the public transport system there. Every part of Singapore is reachable by foot, via train and bus. The SMRT (Mass Rapid Transit) is very efficient - it seemed to me that the train arrived every 2 to 5 minutes. The carriage is much MUCH longer than the STAR LRT in KL, and a lot wider too. I didn't experience any crowding or sardine-packings during my 4 days there, even on weekends.

Another thing I like a lot about Singapore is how almost every MRT station is located just a few steps away from a shopping mall. :D Almost all stations are built underground. There are underpasses linking nearby buildings at each station - which means air-conditioning throughout your journey. :P

Other than that, I just love how green Singapore is. Seriously, there are trees, shrubs and plants everywhere. Such a BIG difference when compared to KL.

{ Haji Lane. Full of quaint little cafes and boutiques. Erm... no greens here. XD }

{ I love these old buildings. }

{ Back lane of a street. The shophouses are so colourful. :D }

{ Muji - Japanese store selling homewares, apparel and food items. I think it boasts minimalist styling. :P }

{ Food stuff bought from Muji - chocolate covered raisins, yuzu lemon candy, cake roll, soy bean cookies *very yummy!*, chocolate cake, chocolate crispy bar, sweet potato cake *not nice D:*, cheesecake *VERY nice!* }

{ A shop selling cosplay items at Far East Plaza. }

{ At Doinky Doodles - a shop selling handmade items! I love everything to bits. Most fabric items are handmade by the shop-owner. :P }

{ Very colourful layout at Doinky Doodles. }

{ MOS Burger!!! This is my Yakiniku Rice Burger. The 'buns' are sushi rice! :D }

{ Cool shop called Books Actually selling all sorts of zines, stationery, books and even lomo cameras. }

{ Asylum - a boutique selling unique accessories, homewares, books, music and apparel. }

{ Ben & Jerry's ice cream!!! Hehe... But my number one is still Baskin Robbins' Peanut Butter and Chocolate! :D }

{ MAAD event at Red Dot Museum. A LOT of cool stuff and pretty things to look at. :P }

These are just some of the nicer and more interesting photos I took. If you'd like to see more, take a look at where I went to on Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3/4 of the trip. :P

5 comments:

Paula said...

looks like you had a lot of fun! i've been following your blog for a while and like it very much :)
I'm glad you anjoyed your trip. have a great weekend,
Paula :3

Classic Mully said...

Welcome back! It looks like you had a fun trip! That Har store looks cute! I <3 Ben & Jerry's! :)

Ciyou said...

I have a similar issue at the bus station at pudu raya too, a young man approch me asking me for money to buy bus ticket back to kuantan. He say his money and purse has been stolen at mc donalds, he even show me his IC when he wanted money from me. I ask him to call back to his parents and he say he do not remember his home telephone. I keep on saying no but he keep on telling me why kl people no heart. I just walk away later.

Alot my friend have this type of case at pudu bus station, just be careful next time

Singapore is really clean and convienent... plus alot shopping....just that cost of living at there is quite high..

Sing Yee said...

Thanks Paula and Mully. :)

Ciyou, I'm really sick of how some people take for granted that it's ok to swindle cash from others. These people should GET A LIFE.

I think spending in Singapore with the income earned there is reasonably ok. :) Food there is awesome! I like Old Chang Kee's fried squid and bananas. :P

aichaku-愛着 said...

i'm glad you like singapore! :D i like malaysia too haha!! :D btw, i agree with you, i'd feel scammed by the old uncle as well. i think u did the right thing.