A Mind of My Own

This trip was a long one in the making. Originally, there was supposed to be 4 girls, NL, ES, HF and me. Unfortunately, the delay took more than a year to get to this trip. NL couldn’t take any leaves at all in August. We asked RK if she would be interested in a massage trip in Batam and she nodded her head immediately.

With 4 girls confirming the trip, we looked around for hotels that included the spa package with accommodation. Finally, we settled on Harris Resort Batam even though Holiday Inn had a package. It just didn’t feel worth the price for a 2D1N stay. RK’s beloved offered to help us book. Sweet!

After the calling back and forth with RK and the Five Stars Tour, we managed to get a spa slot at 11am, Batam time. It was freaking early as we had to take the 9.20am ferry. That meant meeting at 7.30am for breakfast before collecting our tickets.

I went with RK since she lived nearby and we were the first to reach followed by ES and her dear hubby who took the effort to wake up early to send her off. Aww. HF was the last to arrive as her alarm failed. We settled out ferry tickets and proceeded to the gate.

Although the crowd was choking the gate, we managed to find seats in the air conditioned portion and talked all the way until we reached Water Front City terminal. There, we queued up at the wrong counter as the Harris counter sign was hidden by the queue. They need a bigger sign board.

With our passports settled, we queued up for the free shuttle bus. When the bus arrived, the crowd moved and an auntie with 2 of her family members rushed from behind us to board the bus. They were obviously late for some appointment.

We took the small van as they only have a bus or a van. The ride was short as we didn’t realise that the resort is so near to the ferry terminal. Since our rooms weren’t ready, we went to our spa after requesting that we wanted 2 connecting rooms. With the request completed and our room numbers confirmed, we headed across the pools to the spa.

The spas were located on the rooftop and I liked the nature feel to it. It wasn’t a good idea to request for a room for 4 as it didn’t come with an attached shower. We ain’t gonna walk around wrapped in sarongs when there were so many guys having their spa and male workers too! We stuck with 2 per room.

Image via Wikipedia

The body scrub did smooth our skins. I was the only one who chose Hot Stones massage while the rest did the aromatherapy massages. During the scrubbing, I fell asleep. It was that comfortable. RK and I showered off the scrub and waited for the massage. My massage was good as the masseur did a lot of massaging my shoulder ache away. When the hot stones came, it was a little warm. By the 3rd time, my skin felt as if I was on fire. I thought my arm hair was being burned!

However, it was worth it as I would inform her that it was hot. After it was over, we proceeded to the bath tub for our milk bath but it didn’t look like milk bath. More like herbal bath as we saw some black leaves. The water spurts were at intervals and it didn’t feel like being in a jacuzzi at all. It was also horrifying to see the water level being drained away the longer we stay in the tub and it wasn’t even overflowing either!

Image via Wikipedia

When I finally stood up to shower off, the water level was less than half of the tub. My body felt oily all over but smooth despite my attempts to use the given shower foam. RK and I asked if ES and HF had the same experience with their milk bath but they didn’t have the water level being lowered.

We went to check in since we needed our lunch. The room was fantastic. It was spacious and we opened the connecting doors. There was also a balcony over looking the pool. After admiring the room, we went on to have our lunch at 3pm, Batam time.

Thinking that the pizza was big enough, that was from the way the waiter used his hands to mimic how huge it was, we ordered 2 pizzas using our entitled vouchers. When the pizzas arrived, the pan was huge but the pizzas weren’t that big. The dough base was think, and crispy almost to the point of biting down on a biscuit.

The waiter asked if the pizza was big enough when we were done, we replied, “Too small.” He was helpless as he couldn’t do much about it. We ordered drinks and felt the soft drinks were way over priced. There wasn’t any need as they provided iced water too!

Since there wasn’t much else to do, we decided to play in the pool with the free ball. It was fun using the ball to splash water onto each other using as much force as possible. It was like dodge ball only, using water. The game lasted about an hour before HF decided that she was hungry.

We proceeded to wash off and ordered room service as we felt that the BBQ and buffet dinner was too expensive since none of us eat much. Dinner arrived just as all of us had completed our baths. ES loved the Cabonara Spaghetti and the fish chilly sauce. The omelette was too salty but the salad that came with it was great. Thankfully, the carrot soup was bland enough to balance the salty omelette.

ES suggested Mahjong to spend the night but the set and table weren’t available, so we request for confirmation from the reception who never got back on the availability because the person renting it was happily using it through the night. There is only one Mahjong set and one Mahjong table for rental.

We tried again after breakfast while waiting to kill the time but only the set was available. The table wasn’t. We couldn’t even borrow the Mahjong paper because the person didn’t seem to understand. Ultimately, we didn’t get to play Mahjong to pass the time, we played Big 2, Dai Dee. The night before, it was more exciting as we had forfeits. RK was the one who suggested a change of the forfeit and she was the 1st one to do it. Evil, ES took photos as proof. And NO! None of you will get to see them!

After checking out, we had about an hour plus to kill the time. Thus, we used the vouchers for a free bowling game per person. The game was way cheaper than playing one game in Singapore. We played 2 games but kept having troubles with the bowling balls being stuck in the gears. The guy had to sort it out for us more than 5 times.

Finally, we changed lanes in the middle of the second game. The monitor for one of the lanes was spoilt while the lane’s TV screen had too much flickering. We continued our games while I didn’t score any strikes, I did get a couple of spares. We kept hitting the pins to display goal posts too. The bowling balls got stuck a few times in the new lanes too.

I think the bowling lanes were under utilised and hence, the problems. We didn’t even have to wait for anyone to complete their games either. The guy was kept busying with our cries for help with the stuck bowling balls and pins.

It was time to leave Batam for Singapore. We had a great time being crazy in Batam, especially in our rooms.

I finally made it to the Garden Festival at Suntec City with DD. The queue for the tickets counter wasn’t that long since it was 3pm. When we were near the front, this auntie from behind us just cut through us and smiled all the way to the counter. The usher didn’t say anything and just told us to go to the counter next to her. If the counter was full, I would have yelled at that auntie and usher.

Having gotten our discounted tickets using NTUC union card, we proceeded to go up to level 6 where the Fantasy Gardens begins. Without further ado, I shall introduce my readers to the welcome pillar.

Warning! Mostly images and may slow down loading.

Rather bland, I must say but then again, if too flowery, it would destroy the rest of the garden designs.

The theme of the gardens at level 6.

Giant bee.

This grasshopper loves the violin.

The shy ladybird.

Chelsea Sunset arch. I love it because it contains Stargazer Lilies. A whole bunch too!

I was wondering what this was when I was near. However, after stepping back, I saw a face but still couldn’t figure whose face. Using my camera, I realised that it was Marilyn Monroe! DD wondered what she was doing there at the festival.

DD immediately said that this was designed by Singapore without looking at the label. You know why?

These were the crabs that made the kids go wild and crowded around the area. I had to stand and raise my camera at an awkward position and swiveled it so that I could take this shot. I love S5 IS!

A serene view of a Chinese water village. Live kois were reared in the display pond too.

Three deadly plants that digests anything like ants, mice and insects. I so wanted to get a small plant to get rid of the cockroaches mainly.

Did I mention that I like perky ones?

I like to relax too.

DD love the pair of Dutch clogs. I wonder why.

For more photos, check out my album. My overall experience at the festival was tiring because I had to capture the photos of the displays fast as soon as the crowd had moved because the next wave would immediately cut in and I would be capturing people’s head and hands covering half the photo. It took some techniques with my wonderful S5 IS.

I did however, plonked myself in front of another person taking photos of a display. Oops. DD asked why I had to do that. For such festivals, it’s always best to visit in the morning instead of afternoon as people will be taking afternoon leaves just to avoid the crowd too.

I did notice a familiar face, an ex-colleague taking his children out for the festival. The wife was rather charming and she smiled so sweetly.

This outing got huge. Usually, I would manage to get only at most 6 people confirming their availabilities. It was a huge surprise that I have 12 confirmations. I nearly fell off my chair when I read the email. Happy is WishBoNe.

Since HF and the rest have not been to The Cathay at Handy Road, we decided to go for Billy Bombers. At 2pm, NL sent me an SMS saying she was down with flu and cough. Naturally, MC wouldn’t be going either. Sad is WishBoNe. At around 4pm, RK SMS me that her SO was going since his work got canceled. Happy is WishBoNe. The total number came to 11. We were to start dinner at 6pm. Usually, the group arrived late but whenever we purposely put an earlier time, everyone arrives just within 15 of the said time.

CD was the last to arrive due to her cycling trip at East Coast Park. Her friend drove her from East Coast Park to Balestier, Bukit Timah, Lord knows where else, then to Newton and finally, Orchard Road. She wanted to tell him to go to a particular exit as it was faster but she wasn’t sure and kept quiet until she reached. Some people cannot accept road directions. Best to be quiet about it and learn the hard way.

Since all of us were done with dinner except her, we decided to go to another place and discussed for 5 minutes and came up with 2 options. TCC Orchard and KTV just near The Cathay. Another 5 minutes of choosing either venue and we finally decided on TCC. That’s when we found out that TCC is near PS, thus, saving us a trip to somewhere else along Orchard Road. That was 7.30pm.

CD had half her sandwich at TCC. We all got drinks after the waitresses at TCC helped to arrange the tables to accommodate all 11 people. A tight squeeze but we managed. With only 2 guys in the group, it wasn’t that difficult.

It was 8.30pm when we finished our drinks at TCC. Since the night was still young, we discussed if we should go to another place. Another 10 minutes of throwing up options and we decided on Marina at Keppel Bay. Only JC has a car, so the group had to be split into 2 cabs. I don’t know how the rest split up but since 3 of us knew the way, the ones who knew would take the cab with those who didn’t know the way. RK, RK’s SO and me took JC’s car. Happy is WishBoNe.

When we arrived at the place, the carpark was full and a valet helped JC but he didn’t know how to operate the doors for her 2-door Peugeot. I can’t remember which model but it’s one of the early adopters for auto-door in private cars. The rest had arrived earlier and the staff informed us that all the restaurants were fully booked due to weddings. We chose an auspicious date alright.

Since we had arrived and most of us had never been to the place, we took some time to walk around the place that we could access. I took a few photos and realised that I need more practice in night shots.

After walking around the place with TCC being the only available place to us, we decided to go have ice cream since ES was craving for it since dinner. Walking would be a breeze in the cool night but I wanted to take a ride instead of walking. So, we took the car with RK’s SO, the sweet man, gave the valet service amount to JC.

We arrived at Haagen Dazs at 10.30pm and asked for the seating arrangement for 11 people. After waiting for a few minutes, the rest had arrived and we got our seats. We ordered 7th Heave, waffle with ice cream and brownie. The flavours for 7th Heaven: Mango Sherbet, Cookies and Cream, Rum and Raisins, Belgian Chocolate, Strawberry Cheesecake, Green Tea and Berry something.

The white smoke is the dry ice in case you don’t know. We chatted until 11.30pm. From pool stories by RK with her job as a lifeguard to ghost stories and disturbing couples making out cars late at night when ES’ hubby and RK’s SO were young. Cheeky men.

ES’ hubby used to drive out late at night with his best mates with their cars mod with speakers that blasted out music at high volumes while parked in between the cars. They would even wave hi to the car owners left and right. Other antics included hide and seek in the 7th month at some haunted house. 1 seek, the rest paired up to hide.

Finally, we wrapped up the night and this time, JC sent HF, CD and me home. I saved a lot of transport money. Thanks JC! I have enjoyed my night. Been quite some time since we had such a huge gathering since our graduation. KY failed to turn up nor returned our calls. Wondering what she is up to.

Thus our night venues:

• Billy Bombers at The Cathay
• TCC just outside Dohy Ghaut MRT
• Marina at Keppel Bay
• Haagen Dazs at VivoCity

4 places in a night. Oh boy.

Family outings used to be great fun for us. We looked forward to Genting Highland trips as we would get to ride the bumper cars by ourselves. My mother would announce that next week, we will be going to Genting and I would pack my bag happily.

A family trip in the long car ride was not the highlight was we would get car sick. We have serious motion sickness. However, the thought of enjoying the cool weather and the theme parks was enough to be excited about a non-exotic place for a holiday.

Over the years, my family trips reduced as we had different schedules due to CCAs and meeting with friends for shopping or projects. The family favourite routine is to arrange for a trip on the go. Once the decision to visit the zoo was made, the very morning, as long as the sun was shining brightly, we were off to the zoo.

It is so much easier to just go out as a family upon the decision was made as any other days would have resulted in one missing family member. Take the Singapore Flyer ride, it was made in the evening and when I reached home, I had to go out after dinner for the ride.

There was no time to think too much. The weather was just perfect and the traffic was fine. It isn’t much of a routine but something that is tradition in my family. The fastest way to have a family trip, decide on the day to go anywhere in Singapore as long as weather permits.

Image via Wikipedia

It is now day 10 of my Lasik after operation. The vision is now crystal clear. I do have to avoid looking at close objects for too long, such as reading and sitting in front of the computer for too long. There is no point spending more than $2,000 only to go back to short-sightedness, isn’t it?

However, there are risks involved. No one said it was ever 100% guaranteed. Let’s be realistic here. It’s an operation. Any operation has risks involved. Even a liver transplant has risk involved. I have avoided crowded places on the first day.

I have avoided rubbing my eyes for 10 days. I have avoided letting tap water fall onto my eyes for 10 days, nearly. I have used the eye drops at every hour and drinking the eye drops as I simply have to use up the Refresh drops or it’ll be a ways. Not drink literally as the eye drops just flow to the back of my throat. When you cry, your nose will have some build up, right?

The Good

• Clear vision upon waking up.
• Snorkling or diving is great.
• White water rafting great too, you don’t have to worry about your glasses being tossed away during the trip down river.
• Take a break from being in front of the computer.

The Bad

• You need to wash your hair at the hair salon for 2 weeks.
• Your face is dirty half the time as no water can touch your eyes during the healing period.
• Night vision problems for a few months. Halos and star bursts affect those who drive at night.
• Itchy eyelids can’t be scratched for 2 weeks. You don’t want to displace or have wrinkles in the flap.
• Dry eyes reported for some people.
• No running, jogging, soccer, any contact sports for a month.

All these negatives will go away. Just bear with the cumbersome for 2 weeks and wait for the halos to go away. I’m hoping to be able to wash my face and hair properly soon. A few more days to go.

Feeling cranky on a rainy morning. Everything started yesterday. As I’m in a cranky mode, I’m blaming everything, big or small and it doesn’t matter whether it’s reasonable or not. Starting off from yesterday morning. I got to the platform and saw my usual spot taken. Got into the train only to find my spot taken too. Rode all the way for 45 minutes till it was my station to alight. (See the pattern? My, my, my all the way.)

Nothing went right at work. It started to work only after 3pm. Things got better after knock off. Went off to meet HF for the Lasik forum and listened to the talk. Registered for the eye evaluation (free for this month) after the talk despite HF’s hesitation. Think I dragged her into it. Must have lost my head there. However, after contemplating for 5 years, might as well take the bull by the horns. Went home late.

This morning, the heavy rain started at 7am. Prayed it would stop but knew it won’t. Decided to take the feeder bus. Waited for 15 minutes for 2 fat single deck feeder buses to pass by before taking the expensive express bus that was on the same route. Reminded me of the other time when a taxi had to be hailed instead.

Got to the platform and the train had arrived. Had a feeling that my spot was taken again. I was so right. Hated the men who took the spots and cursed all those who only alight at the next station because they took up the seats that were far from me.

I arrived at the office only to realise that I was locked out of the department because the manager didn’t inform the security that my contract had extended. To think she is supposed to know all these.

Ultimately, decided to be negative for the morning. I have two choices, be positive or be negative. I chose negative for the morning. Must stop being cranky.

Having my articles featured is both a bane and a boon. While I have some comments that aren’t well-thought, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t any who don’t think. I have been called lame and other sorts of names.

First, my piece on listening to commuters got quite a number of comments. Wow. Only when I project a negative view then I get a response. So, shall I write more negatives views? No? Oh well.

1. Raising prices will always get complains. No matter what. It seems that the explanations have gone from being detailed, to being general. Was it detailed in the first place? Like fuel prices raising, so there is a need to maintain, etc.
2. Anyone taking the train knows that going from Boon Lay to Tampines takes more than an hour of train rides. If anyone else is able to get there in less than an hour by train, show me how.
3. If anyone can show me a way such that no one will block the doors during peak hours whereby everyone is rushing to work, show me how.
   [via Flickr]
4. If anyone is able to tell me that the waiting time for a train during non-peak hours is less than 11 minutes, let me know.
5. If everyone is able to move in when needed, why would so many others say otherwise?
6. When the train is delayed, what are the announcements? For a delay of 10 minutes and above, speculations are bound to fly around. What happened when it was delayed not due to someone jumping the tracks? The story was told after speculations flew around.

If no speculations should be flying around, then transparency should be implemented. If not, there will always be unhappiness. I didn’t say that it isn’t efficient. All I feel is that whenever there is a price increase, people expect more. This goes the same for that vacuum cleaner, or any product of service. You don’t expect that $200 shirt to have seams coming out after 2 washes, do you?

You want more people to use your services, it’s like building a good relationship.

When the MRT was first setup, I was curious about it. After a while, I noticed that it arrives according to the dictation, less than 4 minutes of waiting. Over the years, I’ve noticed that I have to wait for 7 minutes for the next train should I have the unfortunate fate of walking towards closing doors and risk losing my leg or arm.

After so many years, the fares have increased from 20 cents (I think) to 90 cents for 3 train stops. Now, I wonder if the price for 2 train stops will be $1.20 onwards since the price of oil has been rising despite the MRT not using any petrol, diesel or whatever liquid fuel for any matter. It uses electricity that is generated from the power station or somewhere.

The slogan for SMRT is Moving People, Enhancing lives. Is that what they are doing? Moving people alright but at what pace? Can we actually reach from one end of Singapore to the other end in 20 minutes using the train? No. I have tried and it took me 1.5 hours, the fastest was only 1 hour and 15 minutes. By car, it would have taken me 20 - 30 minutes provided that all the traffic lights are green and no traffic jam.

[via Flickr]

In what ways have our lives been enhanced? I see people blocking the whole stretch of the platform at popular stations like Jurong East, Outram Park, Raffles Place, City Hall, Bugis, Ang Mo Kio and Bishan. None of them will let me alight unless I’m using a long umbrella that is wet, using a large bag to barge my way through or holding a hot kettle. All these are during peak hours.

[via Flickr]

I’ve met different people in the trains such as telling others to move into the middle of the car, inconsiderate people taking up floor space, loud music that not everyone enjoys, non-existing announcements of the stops, loud or soft announcements of the stops, people eating and drinking to their hearts’ delight and many others.

I have even had elderlies rushing into the train to grab that available seat they have already marked with their eyes. Another elderly lady attempted to poke me with her umbrella despite a lot of people alighting. It’s very rare to see someone giving the seat to an elder or pregnant lady.

World class transport means that it’s supposed to be efficient. It does arrive on dictation, after 11 minutes of waiting. It shouldn’t stop violently due to some other train still at the station. Signals should be given way ahead. Or have they until the driver belated sees the red light?

If the price of the rides have to be increased, service such as waiting time should be improved. It isn’t reasonable if the price increased but the cleanliness and waiting time standards have gone down the drain.

There should also be transparency such as delays that don’t let others speculate about suicides on the tracks. Speculation is to be expected if there is train delays. Don’t just state that there will be a delay and sorry for the inconvenience caused. It can’t quench the cat’s curiosity thirst.

Finger pointing isn’t even needed. Just facts and transparency. I thought going for interviews state that as employees, we should own up to mistakes? Commuters don’t really care much about how long the inquest for such incidents will take, just that they need a solution to their transport problem.

All these factors determine why we are taking the public transport. Increasing the taxi fares don’t help because everyone is trying to earn more money. Everyone is out to win, not lose. While the buses have less graffiti, the waiting time still needs to be improved.

Taxis are there to provide a more personalised transport mode. Buses are there to provide a general mode, albeit more than the train. Trains are there to get us to the general area. Changing between trains and buses are common, it’s how much of a hassle.

If you have to change from bus to train to bus just to get from Seng Kang to Tampines or Bedok, what mode of transport would you choose? How long do you think the public transport will take? 20 minutes? 50 minutes or even an hour?

Are the commuters’ voices being heard in the first place? Are the ones stating all the changes and implementing them taking the public transport at the same time as those commuting to work? Do they even know?

Usually, I prefer 3D2N trips as it allows me to have a goo rest on the 1st day of arrival. However, Batam isn’t really a place where you would like to stay for more than 2 days. It’s mostly known for its massage services, just like Thailand. Batam was hot and sexy.

We boarded the ferry at 10am and reached Batam at around 11am. It was still 10am, Batam time. It doesn’t matter how early we reached the place. The hotel rooms weren’t ready. We reached the hotel, Pacific Palace, at 12 noon but were told that the rooms weren’t ready. So, we had to walk around to entertain ourselves until 1pm. By a stroke of luck, one of the rooms was ready just before we decided our next course of action.

Thus, we dumped our bags into the room and went out. However, we realised that we had left out something during our haste for lunch. Thus, we went back to take it. On our way out, the receptionist or some manager looked for DD. Thankfully, we went back because the manager actually went to the room to look for us.

Since we had the keys, DD and I decided to check out the rooms. We chose the room on the left and scared the lights out of the guy who was attempting to do something with the lights. So sorry. Then we went to check out the other room. Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone to frighten.

Since I felt that the 2nd room was better, I chose that room and left with the other choice to the other couple. I was right in choosing that room. The overall displeasure about that hotel is that it had no bath tub. It’s a 4-star hotel but no bath tubs for deluxe, superior and executive rooms. What sort of designer decided it to be that way?

The toilet was large, larger than the ones in Hard Rock Hotel Bali and Ritz Carlton Bali. So I can’t get it out of my mind that it doesn’t have any bath tubs except for Junior and Classic suites.

We went for a massage at Miracle Aesthetic Clinic which had quite a professional decoration. However, I found it odd that their jacuzzi had this vacuum like object that had a pipe to emit the jets. It felt that the bath tub had shrunk due to that extra object. The staff was rather nice to switch off the aircon after discovering that I was cold.

While the massage was average, the jacuzzi was superb. 2 hours of Strawberry spa includes body massage, body scrub, steam, jacuzzi and some refreshments. The package cost Rp 300, 000 excluding tax. Sweet deal, right?

Thus, our 1st day in Batam ended with dinner at some food court. I can’t remember the place but I think it was in Nagoya, with more than 10 stalls selling seafood. Apparently, Bali and Batam are known for their seafood.

The next morning, which is this morning, the couple that got the 2nd room, reported that their bathroom had flooded. The pipe was clogged. The 1st couple joked about letting the water level rise so that they had a standing bath tub. However, in reality, the shower door had opening between the fixed glass and the door. It wouldn’t have really flooded that high.

Naturally, we went to the Mega Mall opposite the ferry terminal before departing for Singapore. I bought nothing except J. Co donuts that Kris had introduced. It does taste different from those bought in the cake shops. The donut was light and easily bitten into. However, my favourite snack still isn’t donut as I am not fond of sweet stuff.

I won’t be booking Pacific Palace but will book another hotel for my next trip to Batam. There’s another option, I can just go for a 1-day trip in Batam. Another lesson lesson learnt, any change in the package meant more money for the locals as they would state a charge of a certain amount per person before you take up their service. The utter horrors of holidays that I dislike very much.

Having had the privilege to travel a few times, I must say, my favourite trip is to Australia. I went there during the Chinese New Year. Of course I visited my relatives before that. It was a package tour but ended up half free and easy.

However, it wasn’t that bad because we had a guide who drove us around according to the itinerary. In fact, I still remember this couple, there were only 3 couples. This particular couple caught SH and my eyes because of their odd pairing.

They didn’t look married. They didn’t behaved married. They behaved as if they were brother and sister. We just couldn’t make out what sort of relationship they had. The guy wasn’t that great in English and there was this one time, it rained heavily on our way back. One of us wanted to buy something and the guide recommended 7-Eleven. And so, we went there to make some purchases.

Before we alighted, the guide was telling us a whole lot of information and we weren’t used to the accent yet. This guy (from the odd couple) kept nodding and agreeing. At the end, he asked, “Ee kong simi?” (What did she say?)

We couldn’t keep our laughter in. I guess face was the issue here. It’s one of my favourite trips as it was rather relaxed and we had someone to drive us around. The only thing was that I got sick of was seeing kangaroos and koala bears from day one to day six. I did like feeding them though.