Why Do We Kill People Who Kill People To Show That Killing People Is Wrong? (credits from a protestor's sign)

Image courtesy from google.com

I don't usually write or comment about political topics but this particular subject gave a huge tug at my heartstrings.

About more than 24 hours ago, the British Parliament had voted into a decision regarding how to make UK safer after a 10-hour debate. The verdict? Yes in starting airstrikes in Syria. Merely within a few hours after David Cameron announced results of the voting on UK's national television, the British Royal Air Force had carried out their first airstrikes in Syria.

What is the most sickening thing is how the decision was made based on votes. Deciding to start airstrikes upon Syria is not something as simple as deciding whether the prices in oil should be increased or not. These are innocent lives, we are talking about. Do they really think that their bombs are so highly technologinised to the point there are GPS targetting only ISIS? Yeah, I hardly think they are that stupid, which just proves that in the back of their mind, they KNOW innocent lives will be at risk. If they didn't learn that from the war in Iraq in 2003, then they have been living under rocks. No, not even JUST under rocks. Under rocks in PLUTO. 

And don't they dare say "oh, well, that's just part of war. There will always be collateral damage."

They won't be saying that if it's another country voting in favour to bomb their homes, now will they?

And please stop trying to defend them by saying, "oh, well we can't just sit back and do nothing! Why don't YOU come up with a solution?"

So it's not their jobs to come up with the best solution? Heck, if all it means being in the parliament is voting for the most violent and easiest way out, then I also can surely enter the parliament. Piece of cake.

I applaud the British public for standing up and publically protesting the decision their government made. Which just shows every government is the same. They never listen to their people. The good people of Britain even started a trending hashtag #NotInMyName to show they do not support this atrocious decision, and this proves that whoever agreed to this decision have no concious whatsoever.

For the 397 British Parliament that voted for yes, including the dear prime minister of Britain, what do you think about after that long debate, when you are tucking your children in for bed that night, them safe and warm under the covers, while 3000 miles away from you, Syrian parents are tucking in their children, kissing their foreheads, and placing a hand on their child's heart, with the thought that this may be the very last time they feel their child's heart beating, anticipating for the bombs to come, just because all you did was vote yes?

Wow. It's that simple to take out an innocent life. That's even worse than being cold-blooded murderers. Do you guys even sleep at night?

To the victims of this evil war, I pray that God will protect you and you are all martyr. Aamiin. 

My Travel Adventures Part 3 - Georgetown, Penang

As mentioned in my past posts before, I just LOVE street art and where better place to find all kinds of street art in Malaysia other than Georgetown, Penang. The street arts there are AMAZING and what's so fun about it is that they even made it into a street art hunt where there are maps you can refer to to find these street arts.

I went to Penang with Ayuni, she was the one that planned everything (I told you, she's good at planning these things) and I was so excited because I knew Georgetown was famous for these street arts so I had google ahead to find which street arts I wanted to see.

We went to Penang for 3 days 2 nights and I guess that should be enough if your main purpose there was to hunt down for street arts, haha. But If you go there not only for the street arts but for the many other attractions they have such as Bukit Bendera or Escape Adventure Land (initially, Ayuni planned to go to this escape place but then I read online about all the activities and said, umm..no thank you. Lol) or to Bukit Ferringhi and Penang's beaches, then maybe 3 days 2 nights is not enough. As for me, I went there for the street arts while Ayuni went there for the food (I told you, Ayuni takes her food very seriously).

So from Johor Bahru, I took a morning flight to Subang Airport where Ayuni was waiting to pick me up and from there, we headed straight to Penang with her car, which she drove but when we reached George Town, we swat roles and I drove because she said she hated driving in George Town due to the small roads and traffic and a lot of motorbikes.

We reached George Town around noon and I have to say, I immediately fell in love when I laid eyes on this city. There is so much of a heritage feeling to it. It reminded me a lot of Jonker Street in Melaka. The small roads, the many old, antique shop lots to your left and right, the old aunties and uncles riding their bicycles without a care in the world, the antique kopitiams with their antique window shutters. I really hope Malaysia will preserve these towns for a really, really long time. I hate to see us lose these precious gems in our country.

It was raining a bit when we got to the Penang Bridge.

We decided to check-in into our hotel first before starting our sightseeing. Ayuni booked us at this small, funky hotel called Glow Hotel. And I meant funky as in literally colourful with bright colours and not in funky as in, you know, weird. It was just a small hotel, nothing fancy, costing us around RM100++ per night, I think. I can't exactly remember the price. But it was perfect for us because it was located in the city and easy for us to get around. You can find out more about it at their official website here.

Anyway, Ayuni turned on Waze to help us find the way to our hotel, and Waze led us to the seaside, away from the city, to this huge, fancy hotel and as we turned into the entrance of the hotel, I asked Ayuni was she sure this was our hotel because it didn't look like it from the price we were paying, and she said she was sure because she typed in the name of the hotel in Waze and Waze brought us here. So I parked the car, we brought out all our luggages and as confident as ever, walked into the lobby of the hotel.

And O M G.

The hotel was huge and the lobby looked so elegant and I was so so so sure at that time we were definitely in the wrong hotel. I looked at Ayuni and Ayuni looked at me. I could tell she was also having doubts. As we were walking towards the receptionist desk with our luggages wheeling behind us, I noticed the sign behind the desk that said G Hotel.

Then I turned to Ayuni and said, omg, we are at the wrong hotel. This was G Hotel and not Glow Hotel. We immediately turned around and quickly scrambled back to the parking and into the car before anyone realised what a couple of fools we were. Lol.

Thanks, Waze.

So this time, we made sure to Waze the name of our hotel correctly, and lo and behold, we finally made it to Glow Hotel. Haha. It's actually a pretty nice place. Ok, it's nothing like the big, fancy G Hotel but we didn't need anything fancy and big. Glow Hotel is a really modern hotel and I think young people would really enjoy it.

This is the lobby of G Hotel (picture taken from agoda.com) Compare it to the lobby of our Glow Hotel below.

This is the lobby to Glow Hotel. See the difference? Now you can see why we were so surprised? Haha. (picture taken from tripadvisor.com.my)

After checking in, we were starving because it was around lunchtime and so because Ayuni was in charge of the food hunting, she led us to the famous Nasi Kandar Line Clear. There was a loooooooong queue when we arrived and I know some people say the place is quite overrated but in my personal opinion, the nasi kandar was really good. Okay, so the place may not be a 5-star restaurant or something and hygiene-wise--let's just skip that--but if you close one eye and taste the food, you kind of forget about everything else. Lol. But seriously, I really enjoyed the food. And they gave in such big portion and I finished everything so that really says something about the food.

Ayuni and me with our nasi kandar and iced lemon syrup (hahahahah sirap limau ais, it sounds so weird saying it in English)

And what coincidence it was to find Ruhil and her husband, Fitri, queuing up at the nasi kandar place! Okay, it wasn't exactly a coincidence. I already knew that Ruhil was coming to Penang with her husband, their baby and her parents. And it was lunchtime in Penang. Where else would you go if not to Nasi Kandar Line Clear? Hahaha.

After lunch, we wanted to burn off some calories so Ayuni suggested to start our street art hunting. I downloaded the PDF version of the street art map but it wasn't so useful in the end. We found the hard copy of the map at one of the tourism places which was so much more useful.

I love this map so much. It had all the pictures of the street art, the names, the street names they were on, and numbering on the map of where to find them. We used this map so much until it got ripped in the middle. I still keep it though.

There are so many street arts in George Town. Before I went, I thought the street arts were, like, next to each other or something and we could easily take pictures of them one by one. Hahaha. I was so naive. It wasn't so easy finding these street arts. Yes, some of them were on the same street and were walking distance from one another but some were sort of loners or in another group at another street where we have to get there by car. And not all of the street arts are so accessible to take pictures. Like sometimes there was a big truck parked right in front of it. Or sometimes the street arts were so close to the main roads that the photographer have to cross to the other side of the road and quickly take a picture before traffic starts pouring in and you have to wait for some time before you get a chance for a perfect view. 

If you are the kind who hates walking under the hot sun through a throng of tourists and having to keep an eye on cars and motorcycles and old uncles and aunties riding their bicycles while crossing the road, then street art hunting is not the thing for you. If you are the kind that don't mind the sun, the people, the dust and debris from the busy roads, then please do street hunt all you want because it is so worth it. The street arts there are beautiful. 

Anyway, Sheena Liam is one lucky girl. She's dating Ernest Zacharevic, who is the artist of the popular Kids On Bicycle, Boy On Chair, Old Motorcycle and many more street arts. Lucky, lucky girl.

You can download the PDF version of the map here. 

That night we ate at this restaurant called Jawi House located at 85 Armenian Street, and wowwwww, the food was to die for. They cook Peranakan dishes and there was this one desert, I forgot the name, though, Ayuni was the one that ordered it, it was this type of red velvet very soft cake, and when you take a bite out of it, it just immediately melts in your mouth and tastes like heaven. I think the owner just recently won an award given by Chef Wan or something. Well-deserved, I must say.

Sooooo delicious.

The next day, we went to a 3D Trick Art Museum located at 10, Lebuh Penang, and there was no other visitors there so we had the place all to ourselves. That was fun. Now I know how 3D trick art museums work.

That night, we picked up Ruhil at her hotel and drove up to Hard Rock Cafe which was actually quite far from the city centre, around a 30-minute drive, and because it was up on a hill, the roads leading there had a lot of turns and twists and actually quite dangerous so make sure to drive within the speed limit. Anyway, Hard Rock Cafe was the usual, dark and loud, haha. Not really my style though, and the food was okay.

The next day, Ayuni brought me to a cat cafe. The food wasn't that great, to be honest, but at least we got to pet some cute cats. But most of them were really sleepy. Most probably we came during their nap time.

Ayuni and her cat mug ^-^

Sigh. Penang was awesome. I would definitely go there again some day.

My Travel Adventures Part 2.2 - Singapore

As promised in my previous post, Part 2.2 will be about Universal Studios Singapore. I have been there 3 times already and to be honest, 3 times is not enough. There are just way too many rides and shows and activities to do that 1 visit is never enough and every year, there is always something new. And the really fun rides are not enough to experience just once. The tickets are a bit expensive after converting to Malaysian Ringgit but it's still worth it. You can go here for more official info about the entrance fees.

The first time I went to Universal Studios Singapore was in February 2014 with Wani. Wani took a long break from work and decided to escape Miri and she came to Johor Bahru to meet up with me. It was her suggestion to go to USS and I immediately agreed because I have never been there before. Wani has been there once with her friends before. They stayed at a hotel in JB. This was way before I started working in JB so now that I had a place in JB, accommodation wasn't an issue for us.

My passport had already expired at that time. And being the procrastinated person I am, I renewed my passport just one day before our trip to USS. Which is never a good idea. I renewed my passport on a Sunday at Pekan Rabu which is in Tampoi, Johor Bahru and damn. There was so many people. I arrived at 7.30 am and was the second last person to receive a number before they closed the registration. At 7.30 am and they had already closed the registration! Good thing I made it just on time or Wani would have killed me.

So I picked up Wani from the airport that day, she stayed overnight at my place and the next morning, we were all set to go to USS.

Except we didn't exactly planned so well on how we were going to get there. By my car was a big no no, because I was scared my car was already blacklisted in Singapore as how I had written before in my previous post here. Last time Wani went with her friends, they went by bus from JB Sentral into Singapore and once in Singapore they took the MRT to Sentosa Island.

I Googled it up and realised that Tune Hotel Danga Bay had shuttle services going from JB directly to USS daily and so I suggested that we just used the shuttle service as it was faster than having to make a lot of stops on the MRT. Our mistake was that we just assumed that the shuttles were available, like, every half hour and we could just buy the tickets on the spot. So we arrived at Tunes Hotel Danga Bay at around 10am (I know, we should have woken up earlier) and when we asked the receptionist regarding the shuttle services, she told us that the buses had already left and the next shuttle service will only be available the very next morning.

Damn.

We still didn't want to give up. We were pumped up and excited for USS, nothing was going to stop us from getting there. So we decided to ride the bus from JB Sentral to Singapore and from there, the MRT, until to Sentosa Island. It was almost 11.00 am when we finally got to JB Sentral and I had to park in City Square instead, which has a bridge connecting to JB Sentral, because the parking in Sentral was already full.

So we managed to catch a bus to Singapore, which I should mention there are many, many buses that comes to and fro Singapore like almost every half hour and costs only RM1. The buses will go through the custom and everything which is a little bit of a hassle because you'll be hopping on from JB Sentral and from there the bus will stop at the JB customs where you have to hop off and scan your passport and then you hop back on the bus and from the JB customs they will drive to the Singapore customs where you have to hop off again and fill in the white form and scan your passport and everything and finally you hop on the bus again until finally you reach the Kranji MRT Station, which is the nearest MRT station to the Woodlands custom. And you have to make sure to get on the same bus or then your ticket wouldn't be approved.

When it was only me and Wani, it wasn't such a hassle because it was just the both of us. The third time I went to USS was with Ruhil, her husband, and her 1 in a half years old baby, and that time I decided we should just ride the shuttle from Tunes Hotel because Ruhil was bringing her baby and I didn't want to cause much hassle for them having to make many stops on the MRT, so I had prepared earlier and bought the tickets and everything. I was pretty proud of myself but I had forgotten the fact that we still have to hop on and off from the bus to go through the immigration and customs and all and dragging a stroller everywhere was really tiring and we haven't even reach Singapore yet. Lol.

Wani and me on the bus, excited like little kids. Haha

So when we finally reached Kranji MRT Station, I was pretty confident that Wani would know which train we were suppose to ride on that would get us to Sentosa Island, because she has done all this before.

Ha! I was WRONG!

Wani didn't remember anything. She kept claiming it was because her friend was the one that led the way and all she did was follow.

Yeah, ok, fine Wani. Thanks for your help.

So we asked this really nice MRT staff at the counter and she gave us a map of the MRT trains and circled all the stations we were supposed to stop at until we finally reach Sentosa Island. It's a very useful map if you know where you're going. I kept that particular map and used it the second time I went to USS with my boyfriend. Which I was very proud of because for the first time my navigation skills were better than his, even though I kind of cheated because I've done it before, but still. Lol. I still keep the map until today.

Before reaching Sentosa Island, our last MRT stop was at VivoCity, which is this huge shopping mall. We bought our entrance ticket to USS in VivoCity, which is available at level 3 of the mall. From VivoCity, there are 3 ways you can get to Sentosa Island:

1. By cable car, which I think is the most exciting way to get there and a lot of tourists with money would pick this option. The problem was, Wani and I didn't have enough money because our money was from Ringgit Malaysia currency so we converted just enough to buy the ticket entrance to USS. Haha. We even brought along bread we bought the day before because we were determined not to spend any money on food in USS. Lol. So sad, right. The cable car costs S$29 per adult and S$18 per child. So yeah. Riding the cable car was out of the question for us.

2. By Sentosa Express, which is like the Singapore version of Malaysia's monorail. It was only S$4 per adult for a return trip. This choice was considerable.

3. By foot via the Sentosa Boardwalk from VivoCity to Sentosa Island. This was for free. As tempting as the free sounds, Wani and I were already so tired from our journey on the bus and MRT and it was almost 1.00 pm so we decided against walking. When I went with my boyfriend, he immediately chose the boardwalk because he is supposedly such a health and exercise freak. Ha! Yeah, right.

So me and Wani chose the Sentosa Express and finally we made it to USS. And all of our energy suddenly came rushing back.

Now, if you are planning on going to USS on a school holiday with the kids, well then you have no choice but to encounter the massive crowds and long queue to all the main attractions but if you are a couple of single grown adults like Wani and me, then it is advisable to go on a non-school holiday weekdays. Because queuing up for the rides are really such a waste of precious time and there are so many other things to do there.

Wani and I went on a Monday of a non-school holiday and the queues for most of the rides were still okay, except for the really popular rides like the Transformer. We waited over an hour in the queue for that ride. And imagine if it was a school holiday.

But it was SOOOOOOO worth it because it was one of the best rides there! But my favourite ride was The Mummy. THAT RIDE WAS FREAKIN' AWESOME I COULD RIDE IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. But I think Wani disagreed with me. She cried beside me all through the ride and the whole time I was laughing, so I didn't feel so scared. Haha. Just kidding, Wani. Don't hate me.

When I went with Ruhil and her small family, we wanted to ride the Transformers ride many times so Ruhil came up with the idea of queuing up in the single rider line so we didn't have to wait long. If you're not going with a group of friends and want to save time, queuing up as a single rider is a good idea as it saves A LOT of time. The only downside is you don't get to sit beside your friend or sometimes not even in the same motorcar if you're not lucky. But it doesn't really matter actually because once you're actually on the ride, you totally forget about the person sitting beside you because the ride is just that FREAKIN' AWESOME.

I wanted to go on one of the larger rollercoasters in USS which was in the Far Far Away Land section under the Shrek theme but Wani didn't want to and I didn't want to ride as a single rider. I practically dragged Wani to the queue of the rollercoaster and she kept  begging me to stop so I gave in. When I went the second time with my boyfriend, the rollercoaster was closed due to maintenance so I guess I was never meant to ride that ride.

We took a photo with Pinocchio instead since Wani was too scared to ride the rollercoaster. Haha.

And there are so many shows to watch there but make sure to take the pamphlet written the schedule and timings of all the shows and manage your time properly so you don't miss the shows you want to watch. When I went with my boyfriend, we managed to catch this water show at the Lost World section which was so cool. They showed off a lot of water stunts and if you sit really close to the front you will definitely get soaking wet.

The water show where the stuntmen/women put on a play of how this damsel in distress was kidnapped by a gang of bandits and the hero came and saved her.

When I was with Ruhil and her small family, we waited in front of the line to see a Sesame Street show because her baby was a HUGE fan of Elmo. We even went in two times because the first time we didn't know what time the show started and came in late and had to sit at the way back so after that we found out the show was going to be played again at another time, we managed to get front seats. Her baby was super excited, he started dancing at the bottom of the stage along with Elmo. So cute.

Oops. No Elmo in this pic. Sorry, Elmo.

By the end of the day you will be so worn out and the next morning you will have muscle sore all over your body so it's a good idea to also take leave one day after your USS adventure. Totally worth the money, in my opinion. Me and Wani were totally famished when we came back to JB that night because all we ate the whole day was bread. Haha. Yeah. We were that much of a cheapskate until the point we would rather starve than spend money on food. >.<

My Travel Adventures Part 2.1 - Singapore

Continuing on with my not so big but meaningful travelling adventures..Part 2 I'll be talking about Universal Studios Singapore because I have been there 3 times and because living in Johor Bahru for 3 years, it is a crime not to go there every year. Haha.

The very first time I went to Singapore was with my family when I was in Standard 4, I think. There wasn't much I can recall from that trip except I remember I was visiting some relatives from my father's side. Now, the very first time I went to Singapore after working in Johor Bahru was in December 2012. I remember this exact month and year because Christmas lights were all up and running in Singapore that time and it was the year I was really stressed out, what with moving away so far from my family for the first time and just starting a really stressful job. So because of the stress I was in, when Yana told me she would be going to Singapore with her family for a short stay and asked me to visit her there, I immediately said yes. 

So I went there. Alone. By car. Without researching first on what documentations I needed to go into Singapore. Or a functioning GPS.

Which, when I think about it now, was a really dumb and careless thing for me to do, but I was stressed and I needed to get out of my apartment and out of JB stat.

The thing is, just because Singapore is nothing foreign to Malaysians and is only divided by a bridge crossing the Straits of Johor (Selat Tebrau), and just because there are hundreds of commuters daily between Johor Bahru and Singapore, it doesn't mean going there is as easy as taking your purse and car keys, driving over to the customs, and BOOM--you're miraculously in the Singapore borders. No, it's not that easy. I learnt it the hard way.

There are a few things you need to know before entering Singapore by car:

1) You need a passport, duh. At least I wasn't too dumb to know this.

2) You need to fill up what the general public calls "borang putih" or in English "white form". It's this small slip of paper where you need to fill up your particulars and passport number and all, where are you coming from, where are you headed to in Singapore, and where are you staying while you are in Singapore, how many days will you be in Singapore, and where is your next destination after Singapore. Yeah, you can't hide from the Singapore customs. They are practically stalking you (I'm joking. Peace.) 

Ideally, fill up this form before arriving at the customs. You can get this form practically at any public transportation outlets in Johor Bahru. And it's free so just take a whole bunch of it and save it for next time you decide to visit Singapore again. You can also get it when you arrive at the custom but it is such a hassle for you to fill it up on the spot while many other cars are waiting patiently (or impatiently) behind you. If you are alone, its still considerable, but imagine if you have a group of 5 people in the car with only one pen. Not everyone is as patient as you think.

So that was my mistake. I didn't know there was such thing as this "borang putih" and thank goodness I was alone so I just had to fill it up very quickly at the customs.

3) If you are going by car, you need an Autopass, which is something like a Singapore version of a Smartag. Without this Autopass, you cannot enter the Singapore borders because the Autopass is the only way to pay tolls in Singapore. Also, in Singapore, ALL parking places are paid by using this Autopass. There is no such thing as paying by cash, like we do in Malaysia. It's not as if they have options like pay using Autopass or by cash, like in Malaysia we have options of either paying by cash or Touch'n'Go. No no no. In Singapore, it's all Autopass.

I didn't have the slightest idea about this. After going through the Malaysian customs and arriving at the Singapore customs, the Singapore custom officer asked me if I had an Autopass. I was like, "A what?" He told me if I didn't have one, I could pull over for a while up in front so I could go into the custom building where they sell the Autopass.

Omg. Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking. The custom officer let me move forward, where I was supposedly supposed to pull over, park my car, and buy the Autopass. But when I reached the front, I kind of panicked because I didn't know where to park my car and I thought, wth, maybe I won't need the Autopass anyway. I'll just be wasting my money if I buy it and I don't use it. I'm only coming here to visit Yana.

So I didn't pull over. And I didn't buy the Autopass.

Stop laughing. Keep in mind, this was the very first time I went into Singapore and I was all alone. Gosh.

Miraculously, I entered Singapore without a problem. I don't know how. I got passed the Singapore customs and into the highway without a problem, just cruising along, totally oblivious with the fact I could have gotten in jail if I was caught. 

So that was my first obstacle. Then came my second obstacle. GPS.

In December 2012, I did not own a smartphone. Yes, I have been working for almost 6 months by then. Yes, it was the era where everyone had a smartphone. The thing was, I previously owned a Samsung smartphone (secondhand from my sister. I forgot the model. I think it was Diamond? If there is such thing as a Samsung Diamond) but one fine day, it fell on the road and the screen broke into millions of pieces and I brought it to the store to fix it, unfortunately, they said it was such an old model that they didn't make the proper screen to replace it with anymore. So instead of buying a new smartphone, like any reasonable person would, I bought a Nokia 1280. Again. What was I thinking???

You see that purple Nokia? Yeah, that was the phone I was using. The other 2 Samsung smartphones were already broken. I took this picture the first time I got my iPhone. Overexcited. Lol.

So back to my story, I did not own a smartphone. Therefore, I did not have Google maps or Waze to help me find my way around in Singapore. I did have a Proton GPS which came as a free gift when I first bought my car (not built-in though). I did not know that this GPS could not be internationally used and was only useful on Malaysian roads.

Basically, I was dead. I did not know my way around Singapore at all and I had the task of finding Orchard Road where Yana was waiting for me. I thought it would be easy. I thought there would be obvious road signs leading the way to Orchard Road. I mean, Orchard Road was a popular tourist destination, right? They should have signs from the Woodlands customs all the way to Orchard Road showing the way, right?

Wrong.

Man, was I lost. Like really, really lost. I did't recognised the names of the highways and the roads and there were so many names. I even got lost all the way until Jurong Bird Park. I think it took me almost four to five hours from Woodlands until I finally made it to Orchard Road. And it was only after I surrendered and stopped at a gas station and asked this one really nice uncle how do I get to Orchard Road and he gave me the names of the highway and roads I should follow until finally I saw a sign that said Orchard Road.

And then came the third obstacle. Miraculously, the four to five hours of my driving trying to find Orchard Road, I passed by numerous roads and highways without an Autopass. Maybe it's because it was my first time there and Singapore has a rule where first time foreign vehicles are free? Or maybe it was the weekend? I'm not so sure. I still am not exactly clear on the rules and regulations of the roads in Singapore. But I do know I was zipping through the Singapore roads smoothly without an Autopass. 

But it became a problem when I wanted to stop my car. Yana told me she and her family were staying at Grand Hyatt Hotel nearby Orchard Road and that I could meet her there. So I planned to park in the Grand Hyatt Hotel parking. Except when I reached the barrier of the parking entrance, I was prepared to take a parking ticket, however there was no button for me to press to expel a ticket. There was only a scanner to scan a card.

S**t. That went through my mind. This guard, this old uncle, came by and asked me do I have an Autopass. When he mentioned it, there was a vague memory running through my mind about a custom officer asking me the same thing earlier on that day. Hahaha.

So I looked innocently at the uncle at said;

"No one told me about an Autopass."

"Not even the custom officer?"

"Nope."

I think luck was a lot on my side that day. I guess the uncle really pitied me and he thought I was some innocent small kid just wanting to have a little fun in Singapore. So he said to me that he will allow me to come inside and park my car near his guardhouse and to be sure I will come back before 11pm to take my car out because 11pm is when his shift ended.

I loved that uncle so much. Really. Singaporean uncles are really, really great people.

So I got to meet with Yana in the end and we hung out and ate dinner at Orchard Road. Since it was a weekend near to Christmas, there were lots of people and the sidewalk was so pretty with Christmas trees and Christmas lights everywhere and I used to have pictures but now I can't find them. The only picture I could find is the one that Yana uploaded on Instagram.

Haha. Don't I look innocent?

So we went to have dinner and did a little shopping around Orchard Road. And then came Obstacle Number 4. Getting back to Johor Bahru.

At least this time wasn't so bad because Yana told her parents about how I did't have a GPS and how I wasn't familiar with my way around Singapore. So her dad drew out a map for me with all the names of the road of which I should take that would lead me back safely to Woodlands and back to JB. 

Unfortunately, I'm not a really good at navigation so I wasn't really good at reading maps. In the end, I still got lost. Which was even scarier this time because it was almost midnight and there were hardly any cars left on the road. Somehow, I ended up near Marina Bay and started crying and thought I was lost for good and I would be stuck in Singapore for the rest of my life and never be able to step foot again in Malaysia.

Drama, much? I know.

And then, taa-daaa! I managed to enter a highway where there were signs and signs of Johor Bahru, so I just followed those road signs and it led me into a very heavy traffic jam at the Woodlands custom but I was just so happy because all around me were Johor-plated cars. Lol. And I made it through the Singapore custom without having to scan an Autopass. Another miracle.

So ever since then, I have never entered Singapore with my car again. I told my friend about it and he scared me and said that my car was probably blacklisted if I ever tried to enter Singapore again so I dared not to until today. Haha. Since then, I have entered Singapore either by bus or somebody else's car but never my own.

I know this entry was suppose to be about Universal Studios Singapore but I guess I got overexcited in telling my story of my first experience being lost in Singapore. Haha. So I will break down this entry into multiple parts instead. So this will be My Travel Adventures Part 2.1 - Singapore. I promise Part 2.2 will be about Universal Studios Singapore. Hehe.

My Travel Adventures Part 1 - Melaka

Now, I do not have much experience on travelling, unlike a lot of travel bloggers I've read before, but I do have a some amount of travel experiences in some places I have been to a few times before. So I will blog about those places instead. Maybe you could pick up a tip or two from my experiences.

Bandaraya Melaka

I think when I was younger, I've been here about once or twice with my family. Ever since moving to Johor Bahru 3 years ago, I have been here many, many times. Usually a day's trip only, but once or twice I stayed overnight. Ever since one of my best friends from my university days started working in Melaka, I have gone there even more often, mainly due to the fact that I know there will always be a free place to stay for the night..hahaha. Thanks, Ruhil :P

So one of the first times I have been to Melaka was with Ayuni, because she forced me to go with her. We drove there in the morning, reached there almost noontime (so okay, we didn't exactly drive early in the morning to reach there at noon. Guilty) and took a quite heavy lunch (because Ayuni is such a big eater) before starting off some sightseeing. 

One thing about Melaka during the weekends, and I mean the Bandaraya Melaka, is that the traffic jams there are massive. In a small place with traffic light stops every 2 minutes and hundreds of cars pouring in, be prepared to get stuck in a heavy jam. Mornings are not so bad, but when it gets to noontime until evening, it's the worse.

The nice thing about Melaka is that it has a lot of photogenic places, being the historical city of Malaysia and all. The bad thing about it is that these photogenic places are photogenic only when the hot sun is pouring down on you. Melaka is a hot place. So if you go with the intentions of visiting these photogenic places, make sure you wear something light with sunblock and bring your sunglasses and hat. Forgetting not to bring a hat, however, is not problem because practically every inch of step you take, there will be several vendors selling affordable sun hats in a range from RM10-RM25. I have a nice small collection of these hats.

The first time I went to Melaka with Ayuni, I was excited and full of energy and so when she suggested to climb up the A'Famosa, I agreed right away, although it was freakin' hot. But we got nice pictures from that small hike.

On top of the A'Famosa. I had to hold in my stomach because Ayuni said she could see it bloating. Hence the hand on my tummy pose.

The second time I went to Melaka was with a group of friends. Again, it was Ayuni's idea. She's really good at planning these kind of trips. I wore a dress this time so I refused to hike up the A'Famosa when they suggested it. So we posed at the foot of the fort instead.

The third (I think) time I went there was with a different group of friends, and this time we stayed overnight. Actually, our intentions were to go to a friend's wedding in Negeri Sembilan on the very next day but one of us had a mastermind of using that opportunity to wander around the streets of Melaka and everyone else immediately agreed. This time, because Shahrul was there, the pictures were nicer than iPhone camera pics, thanks to his professional Samsung camera and wide lens. Hahaha.

We had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe that night. We took some pictures inside the place but it was really, really dark so the pictures didn't turn out that great. Even with Shahrul's fancy camera. Lol.

Then, there is Jonker Street, which is what I love most about Melaka. I love the small, antique shops lining up on both sides of the roads, selling stuff you would never need but still want to buy. I love those small laksa and baba nyonya shops with the old heritage feeling to them. I love the beautiful, very photogenic street art you can find along every corner of the road while you explore the twists and turns, I love the weekend night market, although crowded, but there are just so many good junks you can't help but buy.

Photobombed by this tall uncle. Which made my picture even cooler >.<

The first time I went to Melaka with Ayuni, I had already Googled earlier what street art were nice to take pictures of on Jonker street and there was this one Orangutan shop where they have this cute orang utan painted on the wall of their shop that caught my attention and I told Ayuni, by hook or by crook, we have to find that shop and I had to take a picture of that orang utan. And Ayuni being Ayuni (meaning she never fails me) she found that shop for me. She even stopped this one uncle riding his bicycle along the road and showed the painting from Google, asking which turn we had to take to find that orang utan. Lol.

I purposely made the same pose. Ayuni's idea.

Jonker Street at night is really, really beautiful. It's a big loss if you visit Jonker Street and don't stay there until nighttime, at least once even is enough. It gets really colourful with the beautiful lights and the street arts popped up as if they had come to life.

Other than the street arts, there are many good places to eat at Jonker Street. The fourth, or fifth, or sixth--I don't know. I don't remember--time I went there, I went with my boyfriend because he was craving for some good baba nyonya food. We came across this restaurant called Restoran Peranakan and dude, the food was delicious.

After Ruhil saw me upload the picture in Instagram, she immediately wanted to go to that same place so when Wani came to Semenanjung, we took that opportunity to take a trip to Jonker Street to have a good dinner there. Unfortunately, the place was either closed or jam-packed that night, I can't remember why, but we didn't go there, instead we went to another baba nyonya shop which tasted just as good called Bistro Year 1673.

I didn't take any pictures of the restaurant, so instead I will upload a picture of our faces inside the restaurant. Hahaha. It's close enough.

That night, we slept over at Ruhil's place and Wani had to leave early in the morning, so Ruhil and I decided to continue our Melaka City adventure so we went back to Jonker Street the next day and tried to find Jonker 88, which is a very popular laksa shop in Melaka. Man. There was this looooooong queue outside the shop of people waiting to take their laksa but we were determined to taste this laksa everyone was talking about so we queued up and searched for an empty table, which was hard because it was a very small shop with more number of customers than chairs but this one really nice couple offered half of their table space for us, probably because they saw Ruhil with her baby and they are really nice and reasonable people.

How was the laksa? Not bad. But I actually expected it to taste better on par with its popularity. 

And of course, Melaka would not be complete without riding their famous beca. It's even more fun riding them in the night where you can choose which brightest beca you want.

I joked about this pic where Ruhil's family were the only ones with "cahaya keimanan" while the rest of us were loss cause. Lol.

These weren't the only places I went to the many times I've been to Melaka. There's the time I went to Pantai Klebang for their famous coconut shake, and the time we went to Kampung Umbai for their seafood. It's quite a secluded place and takes a while from Melaka City to get there but it's worth it. And the delicious cheese nan from Pak Putra. Bottom line is, there are way too many things to do and see in Melaka and one blog entry is not even close to fair to write about everything.