Category: Going Places

My travelogue.

A Visit to National Gallery Singapore, the Leading Visual Arts Institution

November 13, 2022November 13, 2022 sweet surrender No Comments

We went to National Gallery Singapore on our recent trip to Singapore. This is my first time visiting the National Gallery Singapore.

Opppsss… Just realized I forgot to post about the hotel. Ok… Ok… Next post *LOL*

Buy Tickets

I bought the entrance ticket from Klook. Got the General Admission (Foreign Nationals) tickets. 1 Adult (RM 37.29 each) and 2 Concessions (RM 27.49 each). Just show them the mobile voucher or printout, and they will scan the QR code and issue you the tickets. We spent almost 3 hours there.

Locating National Gallery Singapore

The place is not hard to locate. I did try to ask around for directions but I’ve met many who gave me different directions. Luckily I didn’t listen to them. I just used Moovit to find my way around. I asked them because I wanted to double-check that I’m in the right direction. Well… I had problems understanding the directions actually haha… Luckily, for this place, I got it right.

It’s not the app’s fault. It’s just me. I have no sense of directions even with the help of a navigational app *LOL* Left, right, North, South, East, or West, I’m clueless. However, I’m sure most people will not have a problem using it. After multiple trials and errors, I only used it to find which MRT to take rather than navigating to the place I want to go. My biggest mistake was using it to locate the MRT platform. No need! Don’t!

Award-winning Art Museum

2020: Ranked 20th place in The Art Newspaper’s annual global survey for attendance at art museums. It’s the only museum in Southeast Asia to receive such a ranking.

2018: The first museum in Asia to receive the Children in Museums Award by the European Museum Academy and Hands On! International Association of Children in Museums.

2017: “Best Theme Attraction” at TTG Travel Awards.

2016: “Best Attraction Experience”, “Breakthrough Contribution to Tourism”, and “Best Customer Service (Attractions)” at the prestigious Singapore Tourism Awards.

Largest in Singapore

The museum consists of two national monuments, the former Supreme Court building and City Hall with a combined floor area of 64,000 square metres. It is the largest visual arts venue and largest museum in Singapore. Therefore, don’t rush it. Give yourself about 2-3 hours to go through the gallery to savour everything it has to offer in there.

The National Gallery has two permanent galleries. Namely the Singapore Gallery and the Southeast Asia Gallery.

All sorts of emotions can be evoked when visiting this place. Happy, sad, disturbing, scary, thought-provoking, impressed, and more.

There are always different exhibits on display from time to time. You will have to check out the schedule from time to time to know what is going on.

There are plenty to see until I felt so overwhelmed LOL It’s quite confusing how to navigate the place. Therefore, you really have to take your time, and go through the place slowly so that you won’t be missing out on anything. Since you have paid for the entrance, then be sure to make sure you don’t waste your ticket.

The historical buildings are well taken care of. They did their very best to restore and maintain it. Quite impressive.

Photos dump 😀

I’m just gonna let the photos do the talking now. There are too many things to see. What I’m sharing here is just a fraction of it. Not even 1% of what they have there. Therefore, you really need to go and visit it for yourself.

Left: There’s a robot guide some more.
Right: Hello! Haha… The staircase that many would sit to rest here or take Instagram-worthy photos.

Learning about the history of Singapore’s formation. Of course, Sarawak is mentioned.

Surprised to see Sarawak’s related exhibits and stories being featured here. Alena Murang is mentioned too.

This section is quite thought-provoking.

Look at how they preserve the old buildings without demolishing them. Instead, the buildings are covered up so that it is protected from weather-related damage.

The highest floor is where you can see the famous Singapore skyline and landmarks.

That’s all about this gallery from me. It’s worth the visit for young and old. Great place to escape the heat and rain in Singapore.

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Fun fact, there are many water dispensers available there. So you don’t have to worry about not having anything to drink. Just bring your own water bottle will do.

Going Places, Greeting the Merlion - Singapore

Quick Getaway from Kuching to Singapore with Scoot

October 31, 2022October 31, 2022 sweet surrender 3 Comments

It’s the last day of October and I didn’t do any updates since 18th October. If you did follow my social media accounts, I was away in Singapore for a quick getaway with my family for 5D4N. I’m already back for a week but procrastination got to me haha… In this post, I’m going to share what I got before travel and during the time I was there.

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First Time Flying with Scoot

It’s our first time flying Scoot. We bought the ticket back in July. Scoot has daily flight to Singapore from Kuching. However, only Tuesday has morning flight to Singapore from Kuching. It is nicer to fly in the morning instead of at night. Otherwise, you can always fly with Air Asia and come back with Scoot. We flew on Thursday night. So, one day is pretty much wasted. Also bought travel insurance that has COVID-19 coverage from AXA. Before you fly, make sure you fill in the SG Arrival Card with electronic Health Declaration.

Just like any budget airline, you’ll be charged for check-in luggage, seat selection, food, and so on. Surprisingly, the luggage’s rate isn’t fixed. It goes up and down. Throughout my ticket-hunting days, I got three different rates each time I checked which is rather amusing. By the way, the hand luggage’s max weight is 10kg.

You can check in online when you are in Kuching but you still have to go to the counter to get your flight ticket printed. That is because there is no self-service kiosk at Kuching International Airport. However, if you are in Singapore, it’s all self-service. Worry not! There are people around to guide/help you with it.

Do print out your COVID-19 vaccination certificate or bring your vaccination card or digital one along as the check-in counter staff did ask for it.

Arrive Singapore

The flight from Kuching to Singapore was about an hour plus. It’s a very short flight. The arrival was at Terminal 1. At the immigration, the officer did ask us to show the proof of electronic arrival card. I did print it out to show them. You can show the softcopy too. It’s just my habit to print every document out when I travel as a backup. You’ll never know when your electronic device might fail you.

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Singapore SIM Card

I bought a SIM card from Klook the morning before I flew. I bought the 4G SIM Card (SG Airport & City Pick Up) for Singapore (RM35.05, 7 days validity). The SIM card collection is outside the baggage claim. Once you’re out of the glass door, go to your left and head to UOB counter. Show the staff your Klook booking and they will provide you with the SIM card after keying in your passport details.

Do make sure you insert the card into your phone on the spot and check the usability before you leave the airport. I have no issue with the SIM card. It works well and I have at least 3 devices connected to my hotspot daily.

Singapore Transportation Card (EzLink)

You can purchase a transport card that can be used on MRT, bus, and monorail from the airport or any MRT station counter. The cheapest you can get from the airport is $10 (with $5 pre-loaded) from Changi Recommends. The counter is located before UOB counter where you claim the SIM card.

There is also 4G 2 in 1 Travel SIM (SG Airport & City Pick Up) for Singapore that you can get from Klook but can only be collected from Terminal 3 hence it is not so convenient if you are flying in from Kuching.

We got our transport cards from the MRT station the next day instead. The card costs $10 each with $5 pre-loaded.

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After collecting the SIM card and ensuring its usability, we took a taxi to the hotel. The cost of taking a taxi from Changi to Hotel Boss was $30+ (inclusive of airport surcharge and a 25% peak hour charge). Will blog about the hotel in the next post.

Going Places, Greeting the Merlion - Singapore, Review It!

Limited Edition CubicFun 3D Puzzle of Guangdong Arcade Building

October 5, 2022October 6, 2022 sweet surrender No Comments

I didn’t buy this Limited Edition CubicFun 3D Puzzle of Guangdong Arcade Building. It was given to me by the Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province, China. I went there in 2017 for an official trip. I am not sure how many of these were given out but I just can’t seem to find them anywhere online. I’m guessing that this is specifically designed for the tourism administration as one of their corporate souvenirs.

I am not into this kind of puzzle. Almost 5 years later, I opened this up and assembled it. Hahaha… For the sake of uploading a video on my YouTube channel because I ran out of content ;p It is quite an easy puzzle. I’m sure those in primary school or even kindergarten know how to do it. It took me almost an hour though. If it’s not because of filming it, I guess I could complete it in a shorter time frame.

After making this, I did find it quite fun to do. I don’t mind doing some other 3D puzzles if I got my hands on them. However, I won’t specifically buy it 😀 I do not mind getting it as a gift though. Anyway, do you like to play with this kind of puzzle?

I’ve been to China a few times for work purposes but I’ve never been there for leisure. I did blog about it before but not about the work. It’s more on the places I’ve been to while on duty and hotels that I stayed in when I was there. Funnily, I did not have any post on Guangzhou where I got this puzzle because the trip was too overwhelming. I had no time to take many photos of the trip except for work report purposes.

Check out the posts of my China trips here

Asia’s World City – Hong Kong
China’s City of Culture – Nanjing
City of Peonies – Luoyang
Pearl of the Orient – Shanghai
City of the Goat – Guangzhou

City of the Goat - Guangzhou, Going Places, Randomness, Vlog

Roxy Tasik Biru & Siniawan Night Market | Ever Thought of Celebrating Birthday Here?

March 20, 2022March 18, 2022 sweet surrender No Comments

How long have you not been to Tasik Biru, Bau? It’s been years for me. I think the last time I was here was back in 2017 or is it 2018? See… Too long till I cannot remember. Then in 2020, everything was closed. Everyone just stayed home.

Two weekends ago, it was my brother’s birthday. Too bad he couldn’t come back, stuck in Singapore. We decided to just drive around and ended up in Bau. We took some photos and videos to show him instead. Hahaha… If he’s back, if the pandemic doesn’t exist, we might celebrate his birthday here.

Here are some of the structures found in Bau town. I quite like the one on the right with flying birds. The one on the left is pitcher plants and gold miners. Bau has a history of being a gold mining town.

Recently, at the end of 2021, a new hotel was opened. It’s called the Roxy Tasik Biru.

Prior to that, this is the only signboard you would see. Minus those infrastructures at the back. This lake has a lot of stories and mysteries of its own. You can always Google it 😉

Now, you can find floating chalets and eatery there along with the fountain and floating platform that let you cross the lake to get to the hotel.

Water activities such as boat rides and paddling are available. Need to pay of course. Can feed fish too. The new additions to the lake give some pop of colours to the lake. Previously, it was all shades of greens and blues.

Look at the mountain there. Whenever you see this mountain, you know that you’re in Bau. It’s called Mount Krian aka Kerian(if I’m not mistaken). I didn’t know this place is Sarawak Delta Geopark though haha… Only know now *LOL* Don’t think I was aware of it even when I was working in my previous company ;p I think the signboard was only built recently. Looks rather new.

Truth to be told I prefer this side of the view. Never paid attention to how beautiful the view here is. Who would expect this view is just right here, so near to home?

We were there for one hour or less. Then we made our way back to Kuching. Along the way, we stopped at Siniawan Night Market.

I’ve not been here for so long. The last time I came here was for work. I remember there was one time when we celebrated a friend’s birthday here but don’t remember exactly when. The weekend night market is basically a mini food fair. Have you ever celebrate birthday here?

Since we were there at 4.30pm, there was no crowd and people were still preparing for the night. In fact, we had no plan to dine here. Just want to have a look. It’s been a while.

However, we did buy some local Chinese kue home for dinner. There you go… My quick little unplanned trip to Bau. Still pretty much staying at home, not going anywhere.

Going Places, Land of the Hornbills - Sarawak, Lundu/Bau

Manhole Covers in Kansai Region

January 17, 2020January 13, 2020 sweet surrender No Comments

The manhole covers in Japan is always very fascinating. it’s not just manhole covers but it’s art! They have different designs for different places. Estimated, there are about 6000 designs all over Japan.

I managed to took photos of some when I was at Kansai region in August 2019. I got Osaka, Ikeda, Wakayama, Kobe, and Nara. Too bad, I didn’t take any at Shiga and Kyoto, I forgot! Anyway, here are what I managed to take:

Next time, when you’re in Japan, don’t forget to take a look at the ground. You’ll find many interesting designs on the manhole cover in which each has its own representation of the location uniqueness.