New beginnings....

I found an oar for my raft,
Renewed strength to row again.
Towards the guiding light,I gently drift,
Calmly hit the sandy shores....then,
the land trembles and unwraps the present of HOPE.

Crimson hue with the hint of pink,
Like a tiny heart squeezed to bleed,I squeeze the sponge.
to paint on the white canvas,forcing it to drink,
the color and the soulless white to be expunged.
Staring at the canvas,waiting for its heart to beat with HOPE.

The man with an unusual surname walks in unannounced,
Unsure of his intentions,I hid and waited.
I find it difficult to read you Mr.Hope,
but I trust you to revive my heart with the love beating,
   .....I Await for new beginnings.

Dis-organised

Squeezing the eraser,
I try removing the grids,the numbers, the red and black,
but the black lines keep reappearing ,
the grids form  and the numbers slowly attack.

After that month,that sheet is flipped or torn,
hidden till it resurrects after another three sixty five days.
That date and month will haunt you mercilessly till you are reborn,
the days of the month shift silently like a pack of wolves and preys,

Why can't there be infinite months, infinite dates,
not one single combination to repeat.
make new memories unassociated with numbers ,as a new sun awaits.
let it remain loose ended ,continuous and incomplete.

Merlion Memories : Visit to Singapore : Days 5&6

Day 5 : Universal Studios Singapore and Chinatown

There was a sense of calm in the morning as we has already booked the tickets to USS the day before/ After a very quick breakfast (not much to expect after having stayed at the same hotel for the last three days of course),we took the MRT to Harbor Front and the Sentosa Express from the fourth floor of the VivoCity Mall. USS opens at 10 am ,and we were there by eleven am. A mandatory picture by the rotating globe (logo) of Universal Studios and a map in hand , we were ready and excited to explore what Hollywood had to offer! The Theme park is divided by themes : Hollywood, Sci-Fi City, Ancient Eygpt,The lost world, Far Far Away land and Madagascar (as my memory recalls). Hollywood had characters from Seaseme street and we went on a Spaghetti chase with them (well, I'm too grown up for the Big Bird) , There was a ride in a one-room movie set ,it was bought to life when they simulated a tornado destruction(narrated by Steven Spielberg) Good !.We watched live shows of Monster Rock and some dancers who did some kick ass B-Boying and Hip-Hop. The Sci-Fi City was next ,and the transformers fan in me could wait to take the ride. The Transformer ride was brilliant. Very well done and just a joy ! We fought Megatron and the decepticons. Wohoo! This ride is the best pick of all the rides! Must not miss under any circumstances. The battlestar Galactica Roller coasters looked like a thrilling ride, but it was closed for maintenance that day. Bad luck. To avoid any more rush, we moved back to Madagascar right after quick lunch. The Madagascar characters are my favorite and the merchandise was very adorable, was too tempted to buy them all ! The crate ride was good. We entered Far Far Away land with the Shrek and his folks. The mini roller coaster ride was fun. The 4-D adventure of Shrek would have been much more enjoyable if not for our stupidity of picking the wrong seats ! We sat in seats in the middle portion, only to realize in the end that it has restricted movement designed intentionally for young kids who'd get scared otherwise! A little disappointed. We entered ancient Egypt, and the ride was mind-blowing. It was thrilling and scary as it plunges you into darkness! Another ride one shouldn't miss. The lost world had a ride where you get completely drenched in water. Lucky that we were carrying rain coats(it was a gloomy day in SG) , thus they came handy. Ponchos were provided for 10SGD as well. Was a good ride ! Some more photos with good merchandise! Exhausted but very content. Thank you Universal Studios Singapore !

We really did “Ride the Movies” .

Late evening already and one place that was checked off in our list. Chinatown. Took the metro to Chinatown and started with the intention of window shopping,but ended up buying quite a bit. The oriental Chinese work was new to us and very interesting. Dragged our tired feet home. A day well-spent.

Day 6 : Mustafa Center and departure from SG

Last day at Singapore and it felt good. I loved the place,don't get me wrong , this is to say I was more than content with what Singapore had to offer. Our flight was at 4pm,giving us some time in the morning. Having heard a LOT about the Mustafa Center at Little India,we decided to visit it. Mustafa Center is a shopping Mall that roofs everything from hardware to clothes for a discounted price and is open 24 hours. Huge warning on very bad facilities management here . I did find some reasonably priced phones and other electronics ,might be worth picking up . We were back in time for lunch and took the cab to the airport. Hadn't mentioned previously in my post (Day 1) , but Changi Airport is huge and very well-maintained ! Explore the vast airport before boarding the flight.

Reviews :

-- Plan a visit to Universal Studios on a weekday to avoid long queues for rides.

-- Carry a Rain Coat/poncho to save on further expenses of buying a poncho for the rides that would drench you.

-- Carry lunch if possible ,eating at USS might be slightly expensive.

--Lockers to keep baggage for some of the rides(namely at ancient Egypt) are free for the initial 45 minutes and cost 10SGD for the following hour. Plan well to avoid excess expenditure.

-- Souvenir shopping on streets of Chinatown and Bugis appealed more to me than in Mustafa Shopping Center.

     Thank you Singapore for a wonderful time !

Merlion Memories : Visit to singapore : Day 4

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Day 4 : MacRitchie Reservoir, S.E.A aquarium and Songs of the Sea.

   This was by far the best day in the travelogue. We set out earlier than usual to get to MacRitchie Reservoir for a hike. Took a bus , but got off the wrong stop and asked around for our way . Although traveling by bus is straightforward , the metros are more convenient. We started our hike from the reservoir. A vast dam reservoir were activities like still water kayaking and canoeing  can be done as well (well,of course you need to be one star certified to rent a kayak). A board of the many well-marked hiking routes caught our attention but we choose the hike to the treetop walk. The hike was a slight climb and the tall trees kept the shade. Quite a number of people were hiking , running the incline and even practicing some tai chi. It is a good 5km walk (seemed like more somehow) to the tree top walk. Hikes always make me happy,this was happy till we saw the sign . We hiked a good five km to reach the tree top walk only to find out that it is closed on Mondays .very bad planning on our part. The tree top walk looked beautiful nonetheless and I heard from a couple of localities there that they have a guided tours on the last Saturday of every month where one can spot the feathered visitors . As compared to have trekked only in India,this is my first to notice well marked routes and even a ranger station , the facilities at the rangers station was very kept , I couldn't help but draw the comparison with bad facilities even in a city bus stop in India . Generally the hike ends at Bukit Timah national park , on the other side of the treetop walk. Unable to complete the hike at Bukit Timah, we traced our way back and but instead walked on tar roads alongside the Singapore Island Country Club . Took a bus back to Little India and gobbled up some good food and masala tea.

        The next destination was S.E.A aquarium ,Sentosa resorts and Universal Studios . We went around in little India asking for good prices for the tickets . It's rather expensive otherwise ,75SGD for USS. One of the travel agents gave us a good deal of all these three inclusive for 99SGD. Happy with the reduced rates ,we took the MRT to Harbor front and took the Sentosa express to the island . First up South East Asian aquarium,the world's largest aquarium. The marine life at its finest,this place is a must visit and the fishes look happy as well. My favorites were the eels and the baby sharks . It was very touristy as well though with a lot of flash photography and videos being taken. After spending close to 2 hours at the aquarium, we took the metro which runs within Sentosa to the beach station and joined the long queue to catch seats for the songs of the sea show. It is a light and sound show on the beach. Was enjoyable,but kids would enjoy it a lot more and this is when the song of "Singapooora Singapooora" caught on.

Reviews -

-- MacRitchie- start off early to hike,can avoid the hot sun as well. Make sure to check when the treetop walk is open. They claim that many migratory birds can be spotted,carry along a binoculars.

-- Find travel operators in Little India or Chinatown  to get discounted rates for Universal studios and activities at sentosa island. 

Hiking Routes at MacRitchie  :

Glimpse of marine life at S.E.A Aquarium :

 Eels :

Sharks :

Merlion Memories : Visit to Singapore: Day 3

Day 3 : Botanical Gardens, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari

   Woke up to rain pattering on the windows. After a heavy breakfast, we set off to Singapore Botanical Gardens. We decided to use the buses today. The bus stop names are posted at the bus stop,so you'll know where exactly to get off. We counted the number the stops to get off at the right one. But we seemed to have counted wrong and went two stops ahead, took the bus in the opposite direction and found our way to the gardens. It's a leisure garden which celebrated its 150 years recently. It's always calming to enter a park and to be surrounded by green. The park was alive more so because of the morning rains. There's a small swan lake which had a handsome sculpture of swans. This place felt really good and absolutely non-touristy. The orchids on display at the national Orchid garden were beautiful ! Very well documented,there were information boards about the orchids. It was pleasant weather thankfully,so we weren't too tired yet. The National Orchid Garden is definitely worth a visit. Thumbs up! We had a lunch picnic on one of the benches. The place was blissful in a way, lots of children playing,families on lunch picnics, dogs running about wagging their happy tails. Just a wonderful morning !
   We took the MRT to Ang Mo Kio. At Ang Mo Kio , once again no problems finding the bus interchange to go to the Singapore Zoo. After a 15 minutes ,we got the bus no 138 to the zoo. It was a little after 2 pm when we got there. The park hopper pass got us right in,without having to wait. We waited a while for the tram. We made it a point not to get off on all the stops in the tram as getting a seat on the tram again is rather difficult. The animals were interesting ! The chimpanzees and orangutans were my favorite ! The polar bear was huge ! and so adorable and scary. We managed to catch the feeding show of the Polar bear. Among other lovely animals we saw the tiger, zebras, rhinos, giraffes, cheetah (wow!!). We watched the elephant show (a lot of people!) and the sea lion show. A part of me felt horrible to see these dangerous and beautiful animals domesticated and kept in a zoo,but from what we read, looks like they are more in danger in the wild. If  there's one thing I learnt after the zoo visit,its about wildlife conservation. Lets please do our part to conserve the wildlife.
    The Night safari opens at 7:30 pm. Completely underestimating the crowds , we lazily went there only at 7pm. The crowd was absolutely mad! The length of the queues there reminded me of temple visits in India ! The Sunday evening saw humongous crowds ! In the mad rush, we couldn't get in on time to watch the creatures of the dark show at 7:30pm (and the next was at 9:30pm). In utter confusion , we ended up waiting at the queue for the Japanese tram ,only to realize it after a while and had a hearty laugh. The waiting time was an  hour. We saw the rhinos, deers, hyenas among many other animals. There were no dearth of the number of animals at the singapore zoo , but it didn't appeal to me much. Maybe I went in with a lot of expectation about a safari in the WILD or so. It felt very artificially placed there under a neon bulb. At the end of it, I definitely didn't think it was worth it. Although i did notice a lot of young children enjoyed it ! We retraced our way to Little India and out our tired feet to rest .

Review :
 -- Botanical gardens is a MUST visit ! Go as early as possible .
 -- Please avoid weekends for the zoo and safaris If unavoidable, please get in line 40 minutes before.
 -- In two minds whether to suggest to skip the night safari. Kids would really enjoy it though.  

At the National Orchid Garden,Singapore Botanical Garden :

Swan Lake , Singapore Botanical Garden :

   Elephants at Play, Show at Singapore Zoo :

Merlion Memories : Visit to Singapore : Day 2

Day 2 : Jurong Bird Park,Singapore Flyer,Raffles and Bugis

     We set out after breakfast at 10 am heading for the easiest transport around the city. Little India MRT station to Chinatown MRT. At Chinatown , we bought the 3-day MRT tourist Pass at 30SGD. Continued our journey to Boon Lay. At Boon Lay, the directions to the bus interchange  were well written and easy to  find. After about a 10 minute wait ,we boarded bus 194 that takes you to the entrance of the bird park. At the bird Park, we bought the 3-in-one Park hopper pass (that covers the bird park,night safari and sng zoo inclusive of the tram rides). The tram rides generally give you a glimpse of everything around the park so that you can explore on your own when you get off, there are some stops along the way in the tram ride and you could alight the tram again once done with that portion of the park. Beautiful birds and a very well kept park ! Had a good time feeding the Lory's and at the Royal Pigeon's area. The flamingos were a delight to observe,as there beaks quiver and their entire head vibrate as they sip water. Delightful and worth a visit ! By afternoon we left the bird park to make a quick pit stop at Little India for some food. We discovered Anand Bhavan which was quite a huge relief  for mum's south Indian food craving. At 5 pm,we took the MRT to Promenade to ride the Singapore Flyer. A ride on the flyer costs 33SGD but luckily the hotel we stayed at gives us a discount of 15%. The ride on the Singapore flyer lasted about 40 minutes but enjoyable. The city looks beautiful from that altitude.We caught a glimpse of everything around the harbor area of Singapore and beyond. The people who constructed this structure have done a phenomenal job, the sheer magnitude of the Flyer makes you wonder. We ambled around the Harbor Front. The structure of Esplande resembles the fruit Durian's outer cover, amazing architecture. We stopped by an open auditorium where a young Singaporean funk rock band melodiously entertained the crowd. Was a pleasant cultural experience when she sang a foreign language song(I didn't register the name when she mentioned it). Walked along to the Merlion Park , and watched the laser show cast from the Marina Bay Sands. The waters glimmered from the reflection of the city lights.Sparkling. On the way back , we took a reroute to Bugis and shopped around a bit. It's overwhelming. and you can get basically anything at Bugis Street ! But I found it cheaper to shop in Chinatown.  Collapsed on the fluffy bed by 10:30pm with tired feet.

Reviews -
  -- Get to the Park as soon as it opens, you can catch the bird feeding shows. At the Park, if it is too crowded,avoid getting off at every tram station because it's quite a wait to alight on them again. Try and carry some packed lunch, to eat inside the bird park is expensive.
 -- The laser show at 8pm at Marian Bay Sands is worth a watch.
 -- Take the Singapore Flyer at twilight for best views. Nice souvenir magnets at Bugis,must buy!

Feeding the lory at the Bird Park :

 Business hub Singapore :

Merlion Memories : Visit to Singapore : Day 1

  Where : Singapore

  When :  August 9th - 15th

 Mode of travel  : No Travel agent, no packaged tours! *note: Singapore is very convenient and safe to make your own plans to travel around* .

 Experience : Read on ! *Will earnestly try to keep the descriptions short*.

  Day ONE : Checked in . Explored Orchard Road and around.

      Boarded the flight to Colombo on Srilankan airlines at 3 a.m from Bangalore. After an hour,landed at the Colombo airport.It's a rather small airport. I was impressed by the Internet kiosks at the international boarding area ,very convenient. Boarded the next flight(srilankan airlines) to Singapore at 7 am Colombo time. The boarding at Sri Lanka for the flight was difficult as the boards would read: flight number --> boarding, and we would get into the long queues for check in, when the ground staff would tell us that the board read wrong and we weren't boarding. Frustrating ! After a good four hours of catching up on sleep ,we landed at Singapore. I was slightly scared to take a peek as we were flying over Singapore for landing, but gathered the courage. Beautiful view! I've seen pictures of the a lone island  surrounded by vivid  blue waters around only in photographs, but this was truly mesmerizing ! Landed at 1 pm (sg time), had a pickup till the hotel. Greeted by a humid atmosphere.
    Most of the hotels at SG have a check-in time at 3 pm. We checked in at Parc Soverign (http://www.parcsovereign.com/) on Albert Street, close to Little India. In my opinion, plus points : the location was perfect, 5 minutes form the Little India MRT, 15 minutes into Little India and 2 minutes away from South Indian food, not in the heart of little India and therefore safe for two Indian woman travelers and a jump away from decent shopping at Bugis. Negatives: Rather expensive (168SGD for a night) and no free WIFI. 
   With half a day done, we quickly freshened up and took a Metro to Orchard Road(The prime shopping location in Singapore). Explored our way around and watched the National Day Parade as it was telecast on huge screens. A Lot of places to shop and eat. Noticed an entire floor dedicated to beauty (!!) in the Wheelock Place Mall, ranging from botox,some weird cosmetic corrections to extensive nail care and fish spas. By six pm,we rode on the MRT back to Little India and explore the place a little more. There was an Ambal Kovil (Veeramakaliamman Temple). As it was an auspicious Friday,the prasadam was elaborate enough to constitute as dinner. Ambled the streets and got back to the hotel.
  Review : Orchard Road - nothing that you haven't seen before.
                 Little India - nothing to be said, I'm an Indian,absolutely nothing  new. But a mini chennai i must say. Decent places for Indian comfort food and well within the budget!
                 Was beginning to fall in love with the infrastructure,cleanliness and easy transport of SG. So very convenient ! Kudos to their government.

An interesting  sign board at Wheelock Place on Orchard Road. :

 The Mall ION Orchard On Orchard Road :

  The deity adorned: 

   Everything is looking up again ! At wheelock Place :