Sentosa Island

So yeah, this post was supposed to come out before Universal Studios Singapore (USS) but then again I got a whole lot of backdated adventures to share that I took the liberty to pick and choose...some say prioritise.


Sentosa Island was the main entertainment spot in Singapore, more so when USS came to town. Me and my friends..we explored anything and anywhere. Life's an adventure, kan? ;-) 

Universal Studios Singapore

The Universal Studios Singapore (USS) is the hottest attraction in Singapore at the moment. Well, aside from the obvious Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) that houses the casino hotel there in the Sentosa Island, and the Marina Bay Sands commercial area at the Singapore city center.

Me and my friends, we paid a visit to USS in December 2010 (wow! that sounds like a long time ago :o) ...when some of the rides weren't open for public yet. Sighs~~ Despite these setbacks, we enjoyed ourselves thru-n-thru. Here's my review of our funtastic day :)

Singapore

Background: Singapore is a state island, located southern of Malaysia and to some extent the north of Indonesia. It is a city, an island and a country all rolled into one. The size of Singapore is about 25km running North-South and 48.2km running East-West.

Patrioting Around KL

I had a very enriching experience today, and I feel compelled to share it with fellow Malaysians, at the very least. Me, my brother and my colleagues signed up for the Cabaran Pahlawan (a.k.a. Pahlawan Treasure Hunt) in conjunction of Malaysia's Hari Pahlawan (Warriors' Day). As reflected in the title of the event, the whole program of the day revolved around Angkatan Tentera Malaysia. 

A Day at KLCC

Travel the whole world I may be, yet my heart remains fond of the place I call home (or in this case, office). Folks, let's explore the potentially fascinating Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). 

Sightseeing around Jeju

The day tours around Jeju island are normally packaged into two options. Tourists could choose either to spend the day at the east area or the west area of the island. Our group opted for the east area tour, as it covered most of the major attractions we've been planning to see. It's okay to pick and choose your itinerary items as long as those are in the chosen routes and within the 8-hour time limit. Surcharges apply on extended tour duration. 

We didn't manage to secure an English-speaking driver to guide us through the  tour. Amazingly, we got through the communication barrier with little English mixed with bits of Korean...I laughed at myself thinking about the sentences that I tried to construct while talking to the ahjussi. No, it wasn't that awkward..I think. It's remarkable how all of us and the driver got through the day. 

Jeju, South Korea

Background: The island of Jeju is a famous tourist spot for both locals and foreigners. Located at the southernmost part of the country, Jeju enjoys the warmest climate and experiences the most rainfall. As a volcanic island, Jeju hosts many amazing geographical features that hail it as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Nice to know: 'Jeju' can be one of these three places - 'Jeju-do' (the province), 'Jejudo' (the island) and 'Jeju-si' (the city i.e. the island's capital).

All Around Seoul: Insadong, Namdaemun, Dongdaemun, Gwangjang, Myeongdong

Please forgive this writer for the long leave of absence. I was enjoying my spring vacation, of which the experience shall be shared in due time :) Now, back to my ramblings! 

This post is really about shopping. More often than not this refers to the open markets that we visited in Seoul. We skipped the shopping malls most of the time, except for Lotte Shopping Centre and Shinsegae Mall.

Insadong was more of the high-end type of the open markets. Nice the displayed stuffs may be, but you could bargain for better price somewhere else. My advice is to take note what you might wanna buy and get them at Namdaemun :P However this should not stop you from purchasing anything, in case you'd think that you won't get those cute little things again later. Better to be safe than sorry. 

 

All Around Seoul: Everland

♫♪ Everland! Everland!♫♪  

OMG! The sound of Everland theme song kept haunting me many days after our trip there. And it's playing in my head as I write this post. Sounds crazy? Believe me, if somebody claims that they've been to Everland but cannot quote this tune, perhaps that somebody has never been there ;-) 

Note: There's a visitor discount coupon available for Everland tickets. Check out the nearest Tourist Information Centre. 

All Around Seoul: Gyeongbokgung, N Seoul Tower, Teddy Bear Museum

The day was set for more Korean escapades. 

First stop, back to the Joseon Dynasty glory days at the Gyeongbok Palace (Gyeongbokgung). Located in Jongno-gu, it's the largest among other palaces such as the Changgyeonggung or the Changdeokgung. The admission fee was 3,000 won. The palace is closed on Tuesdays.  

Recalling that day, the "palace feeling" had started to seep through the atmosphere as we stepped off the train into the Gyeongbokgung station. The design of the hallway towards the exit and the decorations placed alongside the wall indicated that we've arrived at the correct destination. 

All Around Seoul: Nami Island

Background: Nami Island (Namiseom) is the filming location of the ever popular Winter Sonata. I knew about the drama, though I wasn't really a fan. During the airtime I thought I watched the episodes here and there...and then later I just checked out how the ending went. Well, sad dramas aren't really at the top of my list. Still, it'd be really crappy if I don't know anything about the storyline and characters. What kind of a kdrama fan would I be? ;-) 

All Around Seoul: Itaewon, Lotte World, Banpo Bridge

I have to admit...some of the places we chose to visit in Seoul were based on selected kdrama scenes. But seriously there's nothing wrong with that! These locations provided mesmerising background to thousands of photos taken :D I'll try my best to cover several of those destinations in this post, and elaborate the rest in other posts. 

Itaewon is the home to the US military base and also known for shopping, bars and nightlife. It's sort of an international spot as we could see many people from different countries converge in this single location. Once upon a time Itaewon was where the Seoul Hard Rock Cafe was. Now, the HRC has been replaced by a clothing shop.  

Seoul, South Korea

Background: The Korean peninsula borders China and Russia in the north, faces China in the west across the Yellow Sea (West Sea to Koreans) and Japan to the east and south across Sea of Japan (East Sea to Koreans). The peninsula is divided roughly in half, separating North and South Korea.* 

Seoul (pronounced Seo-ul by the locals) is the capital and largest city of South Korea. It consists of 25 urban districts (gu) that centers around the Han River (Hangang). The population is over 10 million, way bigger than Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta. About a quarter of the country's population live in Seoul, and the number grows to around 35% if the nearby suburbs are included.* The population density is almost twice as concentrated as New York.**

Sunway Lagoon

Background: Sunway Lagoon is one of the biggest theme parks in Malaysia, housing 5 theme parks within the same location. These parks are the Water Park, Amusement Park, Wildlife Park, Scream Park and Extreme Park. The most common ticket offer combines Water Park, Amusement Park and Wildlife Park in a single day entry. The other is for all 5 parks within a single day entry. There's also individual park entry but this is not so economical since you can cover more attractions in a day by paying a slightly higher amount of RM. 

Skytrekking at Taman Pertanian Malaysia

Background: 'Skytrekking' is an outdoor activity that takes a person travelling from tree to tree while overcoming aerial obstacles. These obstacles are suspended at various heights, and some could be reaching more than 20 metres off the ground. The difficulty in crossing each obstacle varies according to the trails prepared. SkyTrex Adventure is the name of the company that runs this activity, based at Taman Pertanian Malaysia, Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor.

Note: There could be many people wanting to do the skytrekking so it's best that you check out the website and make the online booking. You can also choose the timeslot that you prefer.

Sightseeing at Gold Coast, Australia

Cool uncle ready start the tour

This is gonna be my last post on Gold Coast, I promise :) 

Last but definitely not the least, we spent some time sightseeing around Surfers Paradise and the nearby areas. Gold Coast offers a large array of tours to choose from, with many of the tour offices located in the mid of Surfers Paradise. We just picked one from the many brochures we collected, gave 'em a call and they'd come fetch us on the planned day. Aside from the tour, we also took the time exploring on our own... by taking the bus and walking around town. Some places not to be missed in Gold Coast... 

Whale Watching at Gold Coast, Australia

Truthfully, I didn't give whale watching a thought before visiting Gold Coast. Well, I did some reading on it while preparing for the trip, and I was sure it came up while discussing with my travelmates. I didn't exactly remember how we came to agreement to do this, but I'm glad that we did. 

A view at the wharf

We were early, and spent some time waiting

Movie World

We embarked early on our journey to the Warner Brothers Movie World. We were super excited, and the fun began almost immediately!

the Main Street where the Star Parade takes place

Sea World

Gold Coast is very much known for its theme parks. Some of the popular ones are the Sea World, Movie World, Wet 'n' Wild, and Dreamworld. It's a good idea to visit the online websites of these parks (i.e. myfun and dreamworld) and check out the ticket offers they sometimes give. Also, there are combo passes which are more economical than individual tickets. I'm telling you the tickets are not cheap!

Limited by the duration of our trip, we managed to visit Sea World and Movie World. Actually, one of my travel buddies would very much like to include Dreamland into our list but there's no package that combine these 3 parks into one pass. Oh well....maybe next time ;-) 

As one would normally expect, marine attractions are the major part of the Sea World. There were penguins, polar bears, aquariums, dolphins and many more.

A must take shot

   

Shopping at Gold Coast, Australia

Our first stop was outlet shopping mall at Harbour Town. This was indeed a shopping  attraction to both locals and tourists. There were many cool stuffs at fairly reasonable prices; I got my Levi's and my friends got some Fossils :D 

Gold Coast, Australia

Background: Gold Coast is a city situated in Queensland, Australia. It is the southernmost city of the state, being 100km south of Brisbane and bordering New South Wales, 900km north of Sydney.* Gold Coast is a well-known tourist attraction, the most popular being the theme parks e.g. Sea World, Movie World. Other attractions include the zoos full of Australian local inhabitants and the sea with waves perfect for surfing.

How's the weather: Gold Coast has a sub-tropical climate with plenty of sunshine (average of 300 days in a year). The summer temperature is 19-29 degrees Celsius and winter 9-21 degrees Celsius.* 

I went there in October during the spring/summer time (note that Australia is in the southern hemisphere) and the weather was slightly colder than our normal days in Malaysia. It was windy and raining some time of the days. On sunny days you would enjoy the cool breeze but the sunburn could be more intense.   

Bagan Lalang

Background: Bagan Lalang is a fishing village situated in Sungai Pelek, Sepang, Selangor Darul Ehsan. It offers magnificent sunset view at the beach on a calm relaxed evening, and fresh local seafood cuisine. Thanks to the opening of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the Sepang International Circuit in the recent years, access to Bagan Lalang has since been easier. It is therefore receiving more and more out-of-towners over the weekend or short holidays. 

How to get there: The nearest landmark to the beach is Hotel Seri Malaysia Bagan Lalang, hence the choice of map as shown below. Once reaching the hotel, you are not far off to the beach area. There are plenty of signs indicating the directions to the beach or the Sepang Gold Coast. At a minimum, the crowds and many cars parked alongside the small roads will affirm that you are at the right place. 

This map is for sharing purpose

Broga Hill

Background: Widely known as Bukit Broga (Broga Hill) in the recent years, Bukit Lalang is situated in the area of Broga, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan. 

Standing at 400 metres above sea level, Broga Hill offers an alternative scenery to the normal forest hikes. True to its name, the fields are filled with lallangs all over up till the third hilltop. The sceneries are beautiful regardless of the weather conditions and it's no wonder that 'Broga' entices many professional as well as aspiring photographers.