Haw Par Villa

If you are a tourist in Singapore and have about half a day to spend after covering the major tourist spots, or if you are a local who wants to take a break from your regular 'shopping-out-weekends', then Haw Par Villa (also known as Tiger Balm Garden) is the place to be. You might notice that even some of the locals might not be able to recognize the name when you say that.

That's because this heritage site has not gained popularity as much the others. There is no admission fee for visitors and is being maintained by the Singapore government.

It's a Chinese Mythological Park where you can learn about their traditional Values.Depictions of many Chinese mythological characters such as Fu Lu Shu, Laughing Buddha , Goddess of Mercy et cetra can be found here.

Each and every series of statue here depicts a story and the moral. The main attraction is the "Ten Courts of Hell" which explains the Rebirth Cycle and lists out common mistakes by a man and the punishments.

In the First Court of Hell, the soul of a man has to either go through a 'Golden Bridge' (If his good deeds over-weighs the bad ones) or a 'Silver Bridge' if its the opposite. From there, he gets punished accordingly for the sins that he had committed until the ninth court. Now, at the tenth court the man is reborn as something and given a potion that helps to wipe away the memories of the past life.

It reminded me of the Garuda Purana (a Hindu Mythological book). Though I have not read it, from what I have heard and seen in movies is something similar to this.

For someone who likes art, literature and mythologies , Haw Par Villa is the place!

Haw Par Villa is located at the Pasir Panjang Road. The nearest MRT station would be the Haw Par Villa stop, Circle (yellow) Line.

11/11/11

It's 11/11/11 today! Yay!

On a side note - I badly need a vacation! Hoping to plan something exciting :)

Kota Tinggi, Malaysia

Chilled breeze, thick green palm plantations on both sides, Slight drizzle, beautiful blue sky, curious monkeys that get onto the road then and now to find out who's driving that Mercedes-Benz!

Over the weekend, we drove to Kota Tinggi from Singapore, as we had planned earlier this month. Kota Tinggi is located in the Johor state of Malaysia.The above is a short description of the scenery during the road trip. I'v been on a couple of road trips to Malaysia with each having its own beauty, but this one is classic. Coming from a country like Singapore where we have such a busy schedule for running errands, this trip was indeed a bliss. In actual fact, I'v never really got a chance to play in a water fall, though I'v just visited a couple of ones like Hogenakkal in India.

We treated our hungry belly to a delicious Malay food for lunch upon reaching Johor City. Oh between, note the change here when comparing to Singapore. In Malaysian food court stalls, the dishes are neatly arranged facing the customers where one can help himself to serve what he wants and then they charge according to what he has chosen. And obviously for the food that requires to be made on the spot after the order, the same doesn't apply.

After a satisfying lunch,we headed to the water falls which is around 42 km away from the city.The entrance fee was RM-10 per person and RM-5 for the car.We parked our car at a convenient location and then headed to the water fall area. As we walked up the cold, thick bed of water sheet which was molded by slippery rocks, we reached the area where the silver colored water beautifully fell onto the rocks. We made ourselves comfortable by sitting on a rock where the chilled water fell on our back/head. I am sure that the $150 worth body massage that you get at a Massage parlor is nothing compared to the pleasure of this natural way of body massage!

My sister and mom had a tired face after a busy schedule and a sleepless night the previous day. You must have seen them right after taking a dip in the water fall! It was a little slice of heaven that gave us instant happiness. It was a very short, pleasant trip!

Dubai, UAE - Revisited.

Dubai has become my 2nd most-visited-country, first one being India. Making use of the staff travel concession , we flew Emirates as usual.Maybe I should soon write a detailed post about Emirates. If you are wondering how we get the concession, it's through my sister who works for the Airlines.

This time we had ample time to roam around the city. Almost 1 month stay there has made me miss Dubai once I reached home - Singa-Land. I made use of this opportunity to visit each and every corner which the tourists most likely wont have a chance to see. Did you know what the city has a small Hindu Temple and a Sikh Gurdwara? For most of the people, It's just a city of huge malls, big brands, posh cars and rich people. But there are much more things that are unseen.

Note that although Dubai is more of a westernized compared to the rest of the Middle East , it still has some clothing restrictions especially during the Ramadan month.Therefore,It's better to avoid wearing skimpy clothes to avoid needless attention from the people surrounded by you. It's always good to respect other religion and culture, isn't it?

Here is a list of places you might want to see on your visit, with the my most favorite place on top.

Gold Souk

It's a waste of time and money if you don't pay a visit to the Gold Souk when in Dubai, if not for buying gold, at least for seeing and clicking pictures! I have never seen a place like this where they have jewelries displayed just like sweets in a sweet stall. In Singapore, I have only seen it having securely placed behind a glass showcase and locked. The sales person would get it out for you only if you are really interested in it and request him to do so. I was just amazed to see thousands of shops along both sides of the Gold Souk area. The array of gold jewelries displayed at each shop was so eye-catching that even a person who is not so into gold jewels would be tempted to buy something. Ranging from Arabic to Indian, they have a wide range of collection for you to check out.

Desert Safari

Another exciting place. The money you pay is worth the experience you gain. Especially for people like me who are from a city that basically has not much of cultural places to visit. I had been on a desert safari during my first visit to Dubai which is way back in 2008. The price range differs according to which kind of tour package you choose to go with. It's one one my favorite place that I had been so far. It was basically an adventurous ride through the desert and sand dune bashing. Then, we were taken to the camp where we have a chance to take pictures wearing traditional Arabic costumes such as Abaya & Hijab for females and Dishdasha for males.

The other activities at the camp includes camel ride, free henna, shisha, Belly Dance performance and Arabic dinner buffet. Do note that you will miss (just like I did!) the Belly Dance performance if you chose to visit Dubai during the Ramadan month of the year which usually falls during the month of September/October.

Burj Khalifa & Burj-Al Arab

First one famous for being the tallest building in the world and the later one (a hotel) known for its unique yacht shaped architecture definitely adds beauty and value to your Dubai photo album.

Dragon Mart

A place that occupies hundreds of stores mainly consisting of goods from China.The Arial view represents the shape of a dragon which is a symbol of the Chinese emperors.It's worth paying a visit if you are looking to do some shopping. Do remember to bargain as the shop keepers quote a price that is at least double the amount of what it can cost.

Bur Dubai

The ever-busy place where you can see thousands of shops selling Indian and Pakistani wears. This is where the museum is located. Hence, worth visiting for a few hours to click pictures if you have some free time to spare before you jet-off.

Jumeirah Mosque

Though I have heard of Mosque tours for Non-Muslims during certain timing of a day, I have never been for it. But I feel it'd be a good opportunity to understand Islam religion and culture. I'm definitely up for it the next time!

I was happy that I had ample time to visit many places as compared to my last 2 visits and do some nice shopping (just like I always do!). I should also mention that my mom also had a nice time shopping for clothes and gold jewels and spending some quality time with my sister and my Brother-in-law.

Yeah,did I mention about my first time at a Gujarati cuisine? I'll probably write about it at a later time!

Ba..Ba... Batam (Indonesia)

As per as our plan,we visited Batam over the Chinese New Year break. It was a 3 days and 2 nights trip.Listen here, those of you who find the name of the place very unfamiliar.Batam is one of the 17,000 plus islands of Indonesia.It's nearer to Singapore therefore making it a popular tourist destination for the Singaporeans and even Malaysians.We had to get on a ferry from Harbor front in Singapore to reach the island and the supposedly 45 minute ride took around 1 and a half hour due to the public holiday rush.

It's a relatively small island(but approximately twice the size of Singapore) where the majority of the tourists come from the neighboring countries such as Singapore or Malaysia or even from the west.

Batam seems to be an infamously famous spot for 'massage' centers, if you know what I mean! But yeah, it's good to get some real good relaxing massage at a relatively cheaper cost. As for the places to see, there is a Hindu temple which looks far different from a typical one. Doing shopping in Batam can be real cheap especially for goods such as handbags, wallets, ladies accessories, foot wears and so on.My cousin and I even managed to buy a few cases for our iPhone which came for a cheaper than it would cost in Singapore.The 'Art of Bargaining' is the key attribute that you should posses in oder to get some great deals! And yeah, at times you may find yourself difficult to communicate with the locals due to their lack of knowledge in English language, therefore learning a few words from Bahasa Indonesia or even Malay in prior to your visit would be a great help.Even some simple sentences such as 'apa ini' (What's this?) can be a great help!

Despite visiting a few malls, however, I did not find it any better than Thailand or Dubai (obviously!).The highlight was that I got to spend my 21st birthday in Batam.As for the water sports, we heard that there are quite a few like para sailing, water skiing and all that but we had to travel further away from our hotel and would need to spend at least a whole day there so we ditched that plan and ventured onto shopping areas instead. Next time if there is a need to buy cheap iPhone accessories or need a massage for relaxation then Batam is the place! Considering the list of places to see,you will certainly not need more than 1 or 2 days to spend there.

The ferry which carried us all.

Shopping is NEVER tiring!

We also bought loads of crackers!

The entrance of the Hindu Temple. Nice, isn't it?

10 things to do before I say bye

#1 To travel and cover at least 80% (if possible, 100%) of all the places that I have in my 'to-see' list.Travelling is my biggest passion.A great immense of pleasure comes when I visit different places.Luxury travel is one thing, but I also wish to backpack to more exotic and adventurous places like Egypt,Tanzania, South Africa, Nepal, Srilanka,Iran et cetera.

#2 Snorkel.How long will I be fascinating those snorkelers on television channels and blogs? Time to gain some first-hand experience of it.Beautiful marine creatures!

#3 Run a full marathon.I am just a beginner in running and I love that 'feel-good' hormones after a run. It does wonders to my body.If I could still keep up with my running even after 5 or 6 years, I wish to take part in a full marathon.I don't mind even if I can't keep my momentum throughout.All that matters is that I have to try it.No regrets later!

#4 Spend at least a week far far away from home in a place where I don't have to worry about my alarm clock, Internet,phone calls, emails,studies,job, neighbors or anything of that sort.Trekking The great Himalayas seems to be a good idea. I need a break from the 'ever-busy' city life!

#5 Write it,baby! Writing seems to be my new found interest.I may not be good at it but I want to maintain a notebook where I can pen down my thoughts.It would basically contain articles of general topics or reviews of the books that I read and places I travel.

#6 Sky dive! Do I need to provide more explanation on this? I hope not!

#7 Practice yoga and meditation.

#8 Indulge myself with all my favorite foods and desserts without having to worry about those extra 5-10 pounds that I might be adding on to my poor 'little' body- Sounds pretty much like what I've been doing all this while!!?

#9 Watch the Wagah border closing ceremony and get it videotaped (memories!).

#10 Get drenched in rain.

A new year,A new decade!

Wishing you all a prosperous 2011! 2010 had been a year of fun and travel with as many as 4 trips to India and a visit to Dubai. In fact, I should say that it's been one of a fabulous year in my life with many pleasant memories to cherish.

As for the resolutions for 2011, I have a reasonably small list of things to accomplish. Few which can be shared and a few secretive ones.To take part in the Standard Charted Marathon-'11(10-K segment) which will be held in the month of December is in my list-to-do things for this year. It has been my dream for which I have been training over the past 2 months. Due to my 'busy' schedule at school and so much of other things that I engage myself with, I am not able to update my blog as much as I used to do in my initial days of starting a blog. So I am hoping to keep my blog updated then and now with more entries to share my life experiences.

I would like to end this entry with a little note of thanks to all the people who have played a part in my life. Doesn't matter how small it is.I always cherish it.Love you all, folks! Let's bid good bye to 2010 and start 2011 fresh with loads of happiness!