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| Map of Tanjong Pagar area |
I am on self-imposed retirement for the 3rd
time since last Saturday, 17/06/2017. As
my wife has gone for a 4D3N Star Cruise vacation (Penang-Phuket-Krabi-Penang)
from 18/06/2017 till 21/06/2017, I decided to travel by bus to Singapore for a
2D1N trip on 20/06/2017 to pay a visit to my younger brother Thomas Lau whom I haven’t
met since 2008. For companionship, I
invited my cousin brother Pan Mok Weng and paid for his return bus fare to join
me as he also had not met Thomas for more than a decade.
I have earlier on 04/06/2017 booked online
bus tickets with The One Travel & Tour (Five Stars Tour) for a journey from
TBS (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan, Bandar Tasik Selatan) to Woodland (Singapore) departing
at 9.00am, 20/06/2017 for a fare of RM
51.50 per pax and with JB Transliner (Kwong Ping Travel & Tour) from
J.B. Larkin Terminal to TBS departing at 5.45pm, 21/06/2017 for a fare of RM 33.25 per pax. The journey was respectively scheduled to take
4 hr. 37 min. from KL to Woodland,
and 4 hr. 27 min. from JB to KL.
On Tuesday 20/06/2017, I called a GrabCar
at 6.35am from home to fetch me to TBS bus terminal. The traffic of Jalan
Balakong was quite heavy and it took one hour to reach the terminal. GrabCar fare was RM 29 + toll RM 2.30.
Upon arrival at 7.35am, I collected from
the terminal counter the boarding tickets using the online booking slip. I bought a piece of curry chicken pau and
bread (RM 3.70) for breakfast. Pan
arrived and met me at 8.30am.
The bus took off at 9.15am and stopped
twice for washroom-going. We reached JB Immigration
Checkpoint at about 1.15pm and crossed Woodland Immigration Checkpoint at about
1.45pm. I received WhatsApp message from
Thomas to take a SBS Transit Bus No. 170 from Woodland
checkpoint to Kranji MRT Station for rendezvous.
The one-man-operation SBS Transit bus fare was
S$ 1.40 per pax but I didn’t carry any coins. I had to pay S$ 4 for Pan and me. We reached Kranji at about 2.40pm, but we
searched the station inside out and could not find Thomas.
Our mobile phones were not functional as
soon as we set foot on Singapore
soil as there was neither roaming service nor wi-fi connection. Finally, a Malay woman staff helped me use a
public phone to dial (10 cent) and contact Thomas. He waited at Kranji Station from 1.30pm and as
our arrival was delayed, he left Kranji and took a bus to Woodland Checkpoint
to look for us.
We met one another at last at Kranji MRT
Station at about 3.30pm and went for lunch at a chicken rice stall at the station. The chicken rice was priced at S$ 2.00 to S$
2.50 only.
Later we took MRT from Kranji (NS7 – red
line) to Jurong East (NS1/EW24) and interchanged to Tanjong Pagar (EW12 – green
line). Thomas gave us NETS FlashPay
Cards for use in riding MRT.
Thomas provided us lodging at a well-furnished
home-stay style apartment unit at Block 1, #22-52, Tanjong Pagar
Plaza while he and his
wife Jessie stay at the adjacent Block 2.
After checking into the apartment at about 4.45pm, Pan and I took a shower and a rest while Thomas went back to his dwelling place.
At 5.30pm, Thomas returned and gave me 3 invitation cards for his eldest son Cam Wyn's upcoming wedding in Melbourne, Australia
on 22/09/2017, one each to our youngest brother Patrick and youngest sister
Winnie and myself. Thomas’ eldest son Cam Wyn
and 2nd daughter Jer Shyn are now residing in London,
UK while his two younger
daughters Jen Shyn and Jel Shyn are residing in Melbourne. He also brought 3 cans of Guinness Stout beer for our consumption later.
He then led us to roam the nearby China Town
area. I
was particularly excited to walk to Tras St. (parallel to Tanjong Pagar
Rd) as this is the place I rented a room for one whole year from mid 1976 to
mid 1977 during my 1st year of study in the University of Singapore as the Engineering Faculty was then housed at Singapore Polytechnic campus at the nearby Prince
Edward Rd. The façade of old Tras St. buildings is
preserved and remains the same as in the past. But I couldn’t remember the exact address of
the house I stayed before. This revisit after 4 decades was indeed very nostalgic
to me. I couldn’t help snapping some photos and
intend to share with my roommate cum university course-mate Ir. Jeffrey Tan
Tiong Ann later.
We took our dinner at the “Cheapest Michelin-Starred Meal In The World” Hawker Chan’s Liao Fan (了凡) HK Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle (Chinatown) at 78, Smith St.
Incidentally, I received not long ago a video
via WhatsApp showing people queuing up for hours to order the above Hong Kong
soya sauce chicken dishes (priced at S$ 2.00 a plate at the hawker centre and
S$ 3.80 a plate at the air-conditioned eatery) which was awarded one Michelin
star in the Singapore Michelin Guide
2016.
Thomas ordered Char Siew Noodle (叉烧面, S$ 5.00), Pan took Soya Sauce Chicken
Rice (油鸡饭, S$ 3.80) and
I took Soya Sauce Chicken Noodle (油鸡面, S$ 4.80). The total cost
including 3 cups of Roselle Tea (洛神花茶, S$ 6.00) amounted to S$ 19.60.
I found the chicken meat very tender, smooth and slippery, but the char siew
meat was only so-so.
After dinner, we strolled around Kreta Ayer Rd.,
People’s Park at New Bridge Rd.,
Chinatown Point and etc. We also took
some refreshment, i.e. yam cream with black glutinous rice (芋头露黑糯米 S$ 3.20) for Pan and I, black glutinous
rice (黑糯米 S$ 2.20) for Thomas at a food court.
We returned to Block 1 of Tanjong Pagar
Plaza at 8.45pm, drank beer and chit-chatted to catch up on old times till
9.55pm. I went to bed at 11.30pm.
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| Arrived at TBS bus terminal |
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| Our bus boarding tickets |
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| Entrance to departure platform |
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| A pose with Pan Mok Weng |
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| Our bus from TBS to Woodland, Singapore |
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| Malaysia-Singapore Causeway |
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| Kranji MRT Station |
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| A pose with my brother Thomas Lau (pic right) |
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| Thomas and Pan at Kranji MRT Station |
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| A pose with Pan on the MRT train |
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| A pose with Thomas |
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| Tanjong Pagar Plaza |
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| Our apartment at Level 22 of Block 1, Tanjong Pagar Plaza |
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| Main bedroom |
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| A pose in front of Tras St., parallel to Tanjong Pagar Rd. |
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| Tras St., a nostalgic place I stayed for 1 year exactly 4 decades ago |
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| Tras St. old building facade |
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| Another pose on Tras St. |
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| Nostalgic Tras St. |
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| Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (佛牙寺) |
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| A pose with Thomas in Kreta Ayer Plaza |
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| Liao Fan Hawker stall closed for business |
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| Liao Fan air-cond. eatery was packed with customers |
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| Michelin-starred publicity |
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| HK soya sauce chicken noodle (S$ 4.80 / plate) with a few pieces of char siew shared by Thomas |
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| HK soya sauce chicken rice (S$ 3.80 / plate) |
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| People's Park |
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| Kreta Ayer Rd. night market |
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| Yam cream with black glutinous rice (S$ 3.20 per bowl) |
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| Night scene of New Bridge Rd. |
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| Library @ Chinatown |
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| Inside the library |
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| Chinatown Point, New Bridge Rd. |
On Wednesday, 21/06/2017, I woke up at
7.30am. Pan and I went to see Thomas at Block 2 of Tanjong Pagar Plaza at 8.30am, half an earlier than our prior appointment at 9.00am. Thomas and his wife Jessie were apparently taken
by surprise of our impromptu visit although they had both already waken up. I noticed Thomas walked with a
pronounced limp. According to him, his leg was swollen and painful to walk due
to the side-effect of the heart medicine he took. I figured it must also be due to his excessive walking to meet us and bring us around on the day before, for which I felt apologetic. He just had his heart pace-maker replaced on
08/06/2017 and was supposed to rest for 2 weeks after operation.
I took this opportunity to hand over a
congratulatory gift (ang-pau) sealed in an envelope containing RM 500 to
Thomas to pass to Cam Wyn when he flies to Melbourne this September to attend Cam Wyn’s
wedding. I don’t plan to
travel to Australia
due to the high cost of airfare and accommodation especially now that I am
unemployed.
Pan and I decided to travel on our own
(without the need for Thomas to accompany and guide) to Marina Bay
area in the morning after breakfast.
Thomas still joined us for breakfast at the food court at Level 3
of Block 2 while Jessie went to work without taking breakfast. I had dumpling noodle, while Thomas took
dumpling soup and Pan wantan noodle (S$ 3 each plate).
After breakfast at about 9.00am, Pan and I
took MRT from Tanjong Pagar Station to Raffles Place Station. We walked along Fullerton Rd., passed by The
Fullerton Bay Hotel, and visited Merlion Park, viewed from afar the Singapore
Flyer (giant Ferris wheel), Helux bridge, ArtScience Museum (with roofs looking like
Sydney’s Opera House), Marina Bay Sands twin towers & etc. We also went near the durian-esque Esplanade - Theatres on the
Bay. It was a sunny day and the weather
was pretty hot. There were many tourists and we could tell they were mostly from China.
We took MRT from Raffles Place Station back to Tanjong Pagar Station, reaching the latter at 11.10pm. I was so thirsty that on the
way back to our apartment, I bought a bottle of almond drink (S$ 2.00) from Jin
Tai Mart at ground floor of Tanjong
Pagar Plaza.
We checked out from the apartment at about
12.00pm and proceeded to see Thomas. As he
was not very well with his swollen leg, we decided to go downstairs to buy
lunch for him. I was not hungry and
didn’t take any food while Pan ate chicken rice. I kept Pan company by drinking hot coffee (S$
1 per cup). Pan bought a packet of mixed
meat-vege rice for Thomas (S$ 4.00), and I went downstairs to the NTUC FairPrice supermarket at the ground floor to buy
Kaya Bun and Red Bean Bun (each S$ 1.10) for Thomas to take if hungry in the
evening before Jessie returns from work.
At 1.20pm, we bid farewell to Thomas. It was a sad moment for me as we hugged each
other because I am not sure when I would see my
brother again after this separation.
We took MRT from Tanjong Pagar Station to Jurong
East Station from 1.35pm to 2.00pm (9 stations apart), from Jurong East Station to Kranji Station from
2.05pm to 2.20pm (5 stations apart).
This time I took note of the total MRT fare being S$ 1.87.
From Kranji MRT Station, we walked across
the road to take SBS Transit Bus no. 170 to Woodland Checkpoint at 2.30pm. The bus fare was S$ 1.60 inclusive of a short journey from Woodland Checkpoint to JB Checkpoint. The traffic was very heavy then with many lorries
jamming the road. We reached Woodland
checkpoint at 2.55pm.
After passing through Woodland
checkpoint at 3.05pm, we jumped into a bus no. 160 to bring us across the
causeway to JB Checkpoint.
After getting past the checkpoint, we went to the adjacent JB Sentral shopping mall at 4.15pm for some
refreshment before trying to look for a bus ride to Larkin Terminal. After waiting at the bus station for 25 minutes in vain, I
decided to take a taxi from the nearby JB Kupon Tambang Teksi Bandaraya (taxi coupon fare RM 14)
as time was running tight. The
bus fare would otherwise cost us only RM 1.70 each. The journey took 15 minutes amidst heavy
traffic on the road.
We reached Larkin Terminal at 4.55pm. I collected the bus tickets from the counter in a building currently under renovation behind the terminal.
Pan treated me with hotdog sandwich and hot coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant at
5.20pm.
The Kwok Ping bus started its journey at
5.55pm and reached TBS, KL at 11.05pm. I
went to the LRT entrance to call GrabCar but the first attempt failed because
the GrabCar driver couldn’t locate me (as he went to the KLIA entrance). I got another GrabCar (fare RM 18 + toll RM 1.30) and reached home at 12.15am midnight.
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| In front of #22-52, Block 1, Tg. Pagar Plaza |
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| Food court at Level 3 of Block 2, Tg. Pagar Plaza |
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| Coffee priced at S$ 1.00 to 1.70 |
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| My dumpling noodle (S$ 3.00 per plate) |
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| Char siew noodle (left) and dumpling soup (right), each S$ 3.00 |
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| At MRT Station platform |
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| A pose with Pan |
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| Fullerton Rd. |
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| A pose with The Thinker |
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| Marina Bay Sands |
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| A lot of bank skyscrapers |
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| At Merlion Park |
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| At Marina Bay |
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| Many tourists flocked to Merlion Park |
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| Panoramic view over Marina Bay |
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| Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay (with durian-esque roof) |
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| Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system on the road |
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| Raffles Place |
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| One Raffles Place |
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| Raffles Place MRT Station entrance |
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| Inside Raffles Place MRT Station |
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| Inside MRT train |
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| Seng Wong Beo Temple (Du Cheng Huang Miao) is a City God temple located in Peck Seah St., next to Tanjong Pagar MRT Station |
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| Another pose in front of Tras St. road signage |
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| Tanjong Pagar Plaza |
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| Level 3 food court of Block 2, Tg Pagar Plaza |
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| Crowded during lunch time |
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| In front of Level 16, Block 2 of Tg Pagar Plaza |
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| A pose with Pan on an elevated MRT Station platform |
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| JB Sentral after passing JB checkpoint |
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| Having refreshment at JB Sentral food court |
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| The road between JB Sentral and JB Checkpoint |
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| Restaurant at Larkin Terminal |
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| Platform for bus going back to KL |
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| Kwong Ping bus that took us to TBS |
I have only spent S$37.00 in total in Singapore and
another RM 173.41 (return bus fare) + RM 52.00 (GrabCar fare) + RM 14.00 (taxi fare) + RM 15.00
(F&B charges) = RM 254.41. The current currency exchange rate is S$ 1 = RM 3.095. Hence, my overall expenditure for this trip is
RM 368.90.
In
the nutshell, it was a gratifying trip as it rekindled and strengthened the ties
of brotherhood between Thomas and me. I
am delighted to have made this trip immediately after my 3rd
self-imposed retirement!
Labels: Travelogue
