A Quick Getaway - part. 1

Hello!

Haaa, last time I told you that I will have my short trip to Singapore to see my favorite female indie singer; Ingrid Michaelson live in concert at Esplanade Concert Hall! So, I'm now back in Jakarta (facing a really dark reality, though) and ready to serve you a thorough report about my trip there.

DAY-1

So, on September 8th, 2012, I headed to Singapore and arrived in the evening. Actually, my friend; Riska (she's my junior during my senior high) told me to take the taxi to her place. But, well, since I was tight on budget and I have enough time to wander around I dared to take the MRT all the way to her place. Actually, I already prepared for this, so I check the route and took the MRT to Somerset St. Then, I asked some old ladies on how to get to my friend's place by walking. And they told me to take the taxi. I regret it so much since on the way there it's really near! (grr, damn old lady).

So, Riska's place is really nice, it's located near Orchard Rd. and Somerset Rd. After taking enough rest and  shower, she took me to dinner near her place. I forgot the name, but it's Indian cuisine (it's similar to warung pinggir jalan in Indonesia since the tables were placed on the pedestrian walk instead of inside the shop). I tried a drink called Teh Cino. And it is really recommended! It's addictive anyway!

After that, she took me to Clarke Quay to enjoy the night view there. Since it was Saturday night so the place was full of crowd. After that we headed home and took a full rest.

DAY-2

Today was my solo adventure. Well, Riska had something to do and my fellow couchsurfer was not available till evening. So, I just went around by myself. I just wandered around the Orchard-Somerset though. Surprisingly, it's Merlion's birthday this month and I took some pictures of the celebration of it in the Orchard.

an exhibit where people can put their wishes for Merlion

information booth for Merlion's birthday

I also bought some cosmetics from Sasa at ION. I lost myself there! Haaaa, so many things to buy, so little money that I have. So, I ended up buying these cute things there! Hihi. You can read it more detail here.

*lovey dovey*

Tired and bored of shopping district, around 7 pm I decided to take the MRT and stopped at Bugis St. Haaa, great choice, Tia! Well, Bugis was a really great choice, so I entered the market (where the clothes are really cute and price is cheap) and I was tempted to buy some.... Fortunately enough, I could strain myself from buying those angels who keep calling me there.

Tired of shopping and malls, I randomly walk and saw the direction to National Library. Woah! I straightly went there and well, it is heaven on earth! I read about National Library before when I googled for Singapore great places to be visited, and yes, it worth your visit. I went to National Lending Library and it's like a huge book treasure! Haha. I read some architecture books and graphic novels.





What amazed me was the tidiness and how good the service was. I mean, typical librarian in Indonesia will always be rude and not helpful, making us so lazy to visit library. But here, they're working so diligently putting back the books and magazines back in place and still be friendly to the visitors who asked them a few questions regarding books locations and others. And the place is really cozy too! Not a typical, boring library. Really sophisticated and have so many chairs, sofas and the lounge was huge too.

One of the books that I read there was Ghostopolis; a graphic novel. Honestly, I'm not a fan of graphic novel, but since the manga collection were so limited, I try to read this. And yes, I am greatly satisfied. Haha, the storyline is good, the graphic is excellent, and what I love the most was the moral story behind the graphic novel. Full of meaningful quotes, too.

When I went out, I saw this exhibition, which I forgot the name. I just quickly took pictures of it (sorry, random).

the exhibition

So, after finishing few books I decided to head to my host's place (my couchsurfing friend); Angelo. His place is located near the Kallang St. It's just a station away from Bugis. When I got there, he picked me up and we walked to his condo (it was around 5-7 minutes from the MRT station). His place is nice. He also have a condo-mate; Dario. Well, they're Italians, and they're really nice guys. We chit-chatted for quite long, randomly talking from our hometown, slang languages, until bencong! Haha. Well, then around midnight, we all go to sleep because both of them have to get back to work after Hari Raya's holiday. I have an appointment with my other fellow couchsurfer too. Good night!

to be continued...