weekend in temasek

she travelled to temasek down south with naj, q and bil last weekend. they started from laguna merbok at 3 am. q drove.

it was a lovely early morning ride, few other vehicles on the highway. she packed potato buns, pandan buns and packets of crunchies.

they stopped at most r&rs so q could buy packets of cold coffee. some fruits at bukit gantang. and to fill up the gas tank at petronas.

they stopped for solat subuh at tapah r&r. bought simple breakfast of packet nasi lemak, bihun n fried koayteow at sungai buluh. and drinks of course.

passed kl at about 7am, then seremban, ayer keroh melaka, machap. stopped at kulai jaya for honeydew,water melon, a giant curry puff. and more drinks.

they reached jb at about noon, filled up the gas tank again at the first gas station they saw. and proceeded to cross the causeway.

everything was fine at the Malaysian CIQ. at temasek's woodland checkpoint, they missed buying the auto-pass. then a hassle in heavy downpour to and fro trying to get it in woodlands town. unsuccessful. managed to buy a cash card and some parking coupons at 7e.

they then proceeded to pasir ris, before changi airport. they refererred to a sketch map she drew, marking all the districts and towns from woodlands to tuas. sle. tpe. not too difficult for first time driving on the island.

between them they managed to locate apt. 723, st. 72 pasir ris. but the person was at work.
so they drove into the city,trying to find chai chee.

a few missed turns, passing the durian esplanade, the much hyped marina bay sands, the giant flyer etc. she decided to find geylang for much needed lunch.

they stopped to ask for directions from the locals.

it was so funny that most of the population spoke very bad and broken english. so much for the hype!

they found pasar geylang. she had delicious nasi sambal goreng. naj, q and bil had nasi padang at the famous stall. they bought otak-otak for themselves and for dyra. yummy.

they then bought egg tarts and kuehs at hajah maimunah's.

they found chai chee. naj even remembered the exact location they went to in december 2012! (she flew there with naj and dyra in 2012)

the shop was closed. the owner moved to ubi road. by that time it was already dusk. so they decided to go back to pasir ris.

he was home. she had a chat with him. after 2 years of silence.

they left temasek at about 10pm through tuas. the causeway was packed with cars going to jb. the formula 1.was supposed to be held that night so a number of roads were closed in the city.

they didn't manage to stroll through the botanical gardens because it rained. yet again. in 2012 she, naj and dyra couldn't savour the garden's greens due to rain too!

they arrived in kl at about 3am. checked into the hotel in front of her former office where dyra was already waiting with lots of nasi lemak, drinks and fresh keropok lekor from losong. dyra was in terengganu the week before.

the next day they had a stupendous lunch packed from a stall in kampong baru which had lots and lots of simply delicious dishes!

they then went to mutiara damansara. but the school holidays and weekend crowd was in the way. they left early after only a few purchases.

sent dyra off to mont kiara. they started for sp after maghrib. stopped at sg buloh for that wonderful satay.

they reached laguna merbok past midnite.

it was a lovely weekend. naj, q and bil were excellent at finding directions.

she was glad she took them for the short holiday down south.