Few Hours Before Leaving Singapore

Meet the famous Merlion.

Done with the tour at about 12pm. Some of the tour mates need to leave for other plans or to catch any flights. After saying goodbye to each other, only about 7 people stayed with Dani to listen to more stories and finally we had lunch together.

1. Amoy Street Food Center

Dani brought us here. It is like a food court with varieties of food (at least affordable one for me). Halal Muslim food is located in the first 2 rows and the rest is Chinese food. 

It was lunch hour - expect many customers yea

Kuewtiaw Tomyam.

The tomyam costs S$ 4 and I bought fruit juice for S$ 2.

Here, I learned that Singaporeans also reserve seats (we called it 'chop meja') like the Malaysians. HAHA. They will put some invaluable items on the table to show that someone is reserving the seat - it can be cards, tissues etc. 

It is a bit funny to be the only one who can understand Malay as Dani can share some inside jokes in Malay and I can relate it. She said that Singaporeans learned many trending words from us. 

Lovely Dani and I :D

After lunch, I requested Dani to show the nearest MRT station so that I could proceed with my plan which was to see Merlion, Esplanade and Helix Bridge. I was lucky enough that Dani offered to walk with me to those places. Ya Allah, terharunya rasaaaa.

I am thankful to meet this girl so much. Thank you Dani for taking me around and sharing the stories behind these attractions. :)

2. Merlion

Lion's head with the tail of fish. It was introduced by Singapore Tourism. Why Merlion? We can relate it to the name of Singapore and previous name of it.

Mer - means sea. Singapore was once a fishing village called Temasek.
Lion - comes from the name Singapore = lion city. 

Merlion's back.

Singapore loves feng shui a lot. It means to harmonize everyone with the environment. Merlion is positioned facing Marina Bay Sands with lots of merchants buildings at the back - it is believed that continuous flowing of money between these buildings will keep the economy grow. 

3. Esplanade - Theaters on the Bay

Marina Bay is where we can expect most of attractions in Singapore. The same goes to this Esplanade. Although the building honestly looks like a durian, but it is actually the shape of microphone. 

Esplanade

I asked Dani if we can go inside. And she said, she was actually planning to take me inside. Not to the concert hall, of course. Just to the observation deck to enjoy the view of Marina Bay from a higher place. 

There you go :)

This plant attracted Dani so much. Hehe. 

The smallest banknote for Singapore is S$ 2. There was banknote for S$ 1 before. but it was totally changed into coins (with this 8 edges shape). 

4. Bugis Street

Done with these two places, it was time for me to go back to my hostel and pick up my backpack to return to Johor Bahru. Dani was really nice to accompany me around Bugis Street to catch few last-minute fridge magnets and even sent me off to Arab Street - where my hostel is located.

Ya Allah, thank you so much for introducing me to this kind lady. :D :D <3

Welcome to my cafe :D - haha we found this on our way back. 

Bugis street - where you can find all souvenirs at cheaper price. I can see few offers like 24 keychains = S$ 10, 4 T-shirt = S$ 10, 6 fridge magnets = S$ 10. Walk around, I am sure you can get the better offers :) This can be a reference price. 

5. Masjid Sultan

Azan can be heard on the street as well. 

Masjid Sultan is not the oldest mosque here (maybe second or third). Located very close to Kampong Glam makes it the famous landmark there. It was once demolished and reconstructed to occupy the increasing number of Muslims. During the war, it became a shelter to people with different religions.

The clean ablution area for women. 

The praying area for men.

The mosque is open for visitors (I can compare this to mosques in Malaysia like Putrajaya or any masjid negeri). I had the chance to pray there twice as it is very close to the hostel. Very comfortable and my mum would love this mosque!

In front of Masjid Sultan is this famous restaurant. I was full when I passed it. So, can't say much about the food as I did not try it.

6. Bussorah Street | Kampong Glam

Bussorah street with Masjid Sultan at the back.

It is named after a place in Iraq and now becomes a pedestrian mall. We can see restaurants serving international cuisines here - especially Lebanese, Turkish, Arab food. 

7. Singapore-Johore Express Terminal

It was finally the time to leave Singapore for Johor Bahru. Since I had to catch a bus back to Amanjaya, Ipoh at 11pm... I estimated 3-4hours for the journey to cross the border. 

The bus terminal.

Through out my journey around the city center, I used EZ-link card (that works exactly like our Touch n Go) for all public transportation. I have surveyed few alternatives to go to JB and decided to try the cheaper route (take MRT to Kranji --> then Bus 170 all the way to Larkin Terminal = cost less than S$ 3. But, Dani recommended Causeway Link 2 bus for few reasons - more convenient, faster, more buses. It costs S$ 3.30. 

It was good enough as I had about S$ 3.60 in my EZ-link card so I can use all money inside before leaving this country. :)

I can see many public houses along the way. 

CW2 bus - here in this terminal, we need to queue up before buying tickets and walk straight into the bus. The queue was long enough as it was peak time - people from Singapore were going back to JB. 

Here, I met a kind girl, Somala... she lives in Tampoi and works part time in Singapore. She helps me a lot to cross the border. I found it so cute when she shared the moments she teased her family on her future plan. Take care, sweet girl :)

Goodbye Singapore, till we meet again :)

Alhamdulillah for all kind people I've met through out my journey in Singapore. Even in Larkin Terminal, thank you so much for those people who help me a lot for directions and thank you for the free food. 

I would love to go to Singapore again. So, officially my Asia's trip started with this Singapore trip :D Where's next?

p/s - I really need to plan well to cut costs everywhere. Jobless right now. Haha
p/s/s - And I need to complete writing posts of Europe Trip 2.0. T__T

SS, Perak, Malaysia

170818