A travelogue- Singapore & Malaysia 1] What a gift from my children – Singapore and Malaysia on a silver platter!

A travelogue -Singapore & Malaysia

1] What a gift from my children – Singapore and Malaysia on a silver platter!

My children, son and daughter and of course daughter –in-law included, had this bright idea to give me this precious gift, an unforgettable at that. It was my 70^th birthday gift for me. A package tour to Singapore and Malaysia for me and my wife!

I did not have to do anything, not even packing my luggage bags. I always dreaded the very idea. It’s the most difficult task, I believe. After completing the packing, very often than not, I would realized that hadn’t packed something or the other, so unpack the whole bag, only to find the very thing I was looking for right inside the bag. While unpacking, to utter astonishment I would find that stepped on the tooth paste or say, saving cream. Then fetch for a new one. It’s all very troublesome. So now days, my daughter takes care of this job and she does a very good job of it.

 She made sure that everything was taken care of , all my clothes were ironed and neatly stacked inside, decided how many hankies and socks I needed, all the papers, itineraries, etc. were there, e-tickets and passport in our handbags, so on and so forth. She pampers me. Then we set forth for our journey. She accompanied us to the Mumbai airport in our car. As the flight was at 2 am we requested Chandra to drive us, instead of our regular driver. Chandra is a nice man, a safe driver and very helpful. He helps us from time to time. We reached the airport much before the flight. Hence this is what we did: 

 I won’t say the flight MH 187 from Mumbai to Kuala Lumpur was exactly uneventful. The scheduled departure of 2 am was not adhered to by Malaysia Airlines and finally it took off at 3 O’clock and 5 hour flight duration got lengthened to almost six. On the flight we met a Malaysian student, Syarmi Raj from Ipoh. She is studying post-graduate dentistry in Chennai and she was flying home for holidays. She was very helpful during the whole flight. She was bit concerned for us, that was writ large over her face and said so in so many words.

“I’m bit worried for you two. I won’t accompany you to Singapore, I wish I could.. Take care. Do give me a WhatsApp call and free to call me in case of problemor anything you need. When you come to Malaysia do come to our place.”

Now she has become our friend, and we exchange calls and messages. She has promised to drop in at our place when comes to Mumbai on her way back to Chennai and we promised her that we would help her in Hindi vocabulary for her boyfriend is Punjabi and quite often pulls her leg. She had picked up quite a few words of Hindi, mostly from my wife, on the flight – a quick learner!

Our onward flight MH 603 from Kuala Lumpur was also delayed - a boon in disguise. Since our (check in) baggage was to be directly going to Singapore, it was easy to travel to terminal M. An hour’s flight took us to Singapore, landing at 2 pm instead at 1 pm at Changi Airport. Thankfully custom and immigration clearance didn’t take much time. Our baggage (two bags) was removed from the belt and kept down. (One of them was damaged, but that we realized only at the Hotel while unpacking.) A jovial looking man with a placard, with my name boldly written on it, was waiting for us at the arrival gate. He took us to the air conditioned couch exclusively for two of us.  He was Malaysian and spoke in good English. We couldn’t get his name correctly even after trying to get it three four times. Ultimately he said, “Call me Kumar, that’s everyone does, especially those coming from India as you do. First have lunch and then I’ll take you to the hotel. We are already late.”

As he drove, he went on talking like a true guide, “To your left you can see…, now on the right there is…” He went on and on, talking about Geylang, Joo Chiat, Kampong Glam adding something about Malay culture, Quays, and many more names, the chronological order of these names he mentioned, I am not sure of. His voice had kept me away from dozing off. I was tired and hungry too. “ That's far on the right you see Singapore Expo, a convention space with many exhibition halls, now we are driving on the coastal road,...…Tiong Bahru – it’s charming fusion of old and new,Marina Bay, Orchard Road – a shopping destination like no other, that's National Library, it's ver modern one, you know and it has indoor garden.. -and this is Little India,..It is place of worship with lots of your Hindu temples, there is a Gurudwara,Buddist Buddha Gaya temple and mosques as well … mini India, I suppose. At night you will find this place –an explosion of colour and spice. Ah we are almost there! There on your right, the huge complex you see, is Mustafa Centre, you can get anything and everything over here. Our hotel is just round the corner. But you will eat first. What do you prefer non veg or veg? You have 6 choices – you can take these coupons to any of these. Now what’s the time….. 4 pm.. (Most of the restaurants closed their lunch counters.) Have your lunch over here. For dinner I take you to Jewel of India Restaurant.”

It was veg one. Owners were Gujarati. There was no lunch, they said. We almost pleaded, anything would do. The husband – wife duo discussed something privately and asked us to sit.  They gave us Gujati thalis – the puris and bhaji were excellent and the rice pulao too. While we were having our lunch, the couple sat for lunch. May be they had shared their lunch with us, how very kind of them! God bless them!

Kumar picked us again and drove us to our hotel and his running comentary continued, as we passed MUSTAFA CENTER, he went on to tell its impressive history, right from its inception to its present 'avtar'.

We checked in. - Hotel Boss.

Located in the city centre and nestled between Singapore’s two eclectic cultural enclaves, Kampong Glam and Little India, Hotel Boss is within walking distance to exploring Singapore’s historical and cultural heritage. Kampong Glam, which still retains the strong ties to the Native-Malay and Muslim community, is sometimes been termed the "Muslim Quarter" due to its history. The Muslim population still remains a significant presence in Kampong Glam, especially in Bussorah Street. The area remains a centre for Muslim activities and the Sultan Mosque remains a major landmark and congregation point for Singapore Muslims. Malabar Muslim Jama’ah Mosque is located next to Hotel Boss, and the iconic Sultan Mosque is just minutes away on Arab Street. Just next to Sultan Mosque, The Malay Heritage Centre is a must-visit if you are keen on learning about the rich heritage and culture of Singapore’s Malay Community. As night falls, the surrounding area takes on another persona to offer a vibrant array of night life and entertainment choices, all within walking distance.

Hotel Boss is conveniently located along Victoria Street in Singapore, just 300 m from Lavender MRT Station and about 15 km from Changi Airport. Free WiFi is available throughout the property. The lobby was spacious and beautifully decorated.

The hotel offers a variety of facilities that guests can enjoy, including an outdoor pool, a fitness centre and even a children's playground. Staff at the 24-hour front desk readily assists guests with services such as currency exchange, luggage storage and also tour information. Guests may enjoy meals at the on-site restaurant or alternatively, request for room service. Dry cleaning and laundry services are also available for guests, may be at a surcharge. We were booked in Superior Double Room, with breakfast. (Lunch and dinner we had outside.) We enjoyed the buffet breakfasts in the dinning area on the ground floor, on all the days we were there.

  All rooms at the hotel are air-conditioned and fitted with a flat-screen TV, an electric kettle and a private bathroom that comes with toiletries and a hair-dryer. It was room number 1423, I think.

OMG! It's almost and we've to be in the lobby for the pick up and proceed for the night safari tour.

Unlike traditional nocturnal houses, which reverse the day-night cycle of animals so they will be active by day, the Night Safari It is an entire open-air zoo set in a humid tropical forest that is only open at night. It is divided into seven geographical zones, which can be explored either on foot via four walking trails, or by tram. The wide range of animals, which include rhinoceros, pangolins, elephants, fishing cats, servals and many more, are made visible by lighting that resembles moonlight. However, lighting is brighter than the moonlight, may be a shade brighter and yet dim enough so as not to disturb nocturnal and crepuscular behaviors. Their habitats is made very creatively – moats designed to look like streams, the hot wires to restrict the animals from the boundaries of their enclosures, are designed to resemble twigs. Cultural performances like tribal dances, blowpipe demonstrations, fire-eating displays and the ‘Creatures of the Night’ shows are are the regular features.We took the tram. A lady guide enlightened us about all this. Suddenly the tram had haulted at a station. I saw a stall there. We got down, I wanted to buy bottles of cold drinks, as I was very thirsty. As we drank, the tram had moved leaving us behind. I was really scared but put a brave front and said to my wife, " Let's take the walking trail." By the time we reached the starting point we were  fagged out.

 Kumar was waiting for us.

He drove us to the Jewel of India restaurant.

We had dinner at Jewel of India. We were totally impressed by its intimate décor of the dinning area and a friendly atmosphere. There wasn’t much crowd at that time. Six Singapore - dollar – beer a pint was quite refreshing after that hectic trail walk. We had ..oops I had and went for the buffet dinner , which was excellent and tasty. We had coupons for lunch and dinners with 6 choices. But Jewel of India was the best.

Day one over. Back to the hotel. Good night! See you tomorrow!

                                                                                               Vinay Trilokekar