The Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Ferry. What else am I missing?

RM1 per entry. Approximately ¥26. Includes a receipt which you can probably use to claim when whoever you claim from. And no, there wasn’t anyone in there waiting to help wipe your ass. But unlike most public toilets in Malaysia, this particular one at Low Yat was reasonably clean.

To date, I have paid twice to enter restrooms in Japan. Public toilets are 99.9% free. The two occasions I paid, I was hiking. Mt Fuji and Mt Tateshina. It was ¥100 per entry. But it was a public toilet in the middle of nowhere. There was no one guarding the doors and collecting money though. The ones that I’ve been to accept people to be honest.

And we are all honest aren’t we.

On a hot day, this is just heavenly. $5 for a bowl of Mango snow ice at Mei Heong Yuen in Chinatown. This is a little huge and I don’t think it’s meant for 1 to have alone. ^^.

This is the hottest new attraction in Singapore – Marina Bay Sands (MBS).

MBS is developed by Las Vegas Sands and features a 2,560-room hotel, a 120,000 sq.m. convention-exhibition center, The Shoppes mall, an Art and Science museum, two Sands Theatres, six “celebrity chef” restaurants, two floating pavilions and a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines.

That’s quite a mouthful. Couldn’t resist not visiting the place. Must say, I’m pretty impressed with the design. Looks rather futuristic don’t you think?

Not all are ready though. The theaters for one. Still ongoing work. Expected to end in December 2010.

Still alot of construction work going on. Hopefully, the theatre and floating pavilions will be up and ready sometime next year.

Walked over to the Esplanade from City Hall. Has a pretty nice view of the bay area. You can see the Singapore Flyer on the left, right beside MBS.

I of course couldn’t resist going up to the sky garden. A trip up to the sky garden costs $20. I think hotel guests are not exempted from this levy. Doesn’t really make sense right. You stay there, but have to pay extra to go up.

Hotel guests, however, have access to the most coolsome infinity pool.

That’s the main business district, where all the banks and big corporations have offices. Can you spot the Fullerton Hotel and the Merlion in this picture?

I was told that the Merlion is somewhat of a disappointment. But it wasn’t that bad. Nice view with lots of photo opportunities.

The Merlion wasn’t always there though. It was located somewhere further up.

It’s only in Singapore where the government can move a landmark. ^^.

Singapore was preparing to host the first Youth Olympics that weekend. Did you enjoy it?

Was told that the theatre, when done, will be home to The Lion King? It has a pretty fancy design. Know why?

Singapore Flyer. Looks tiny from here.

Notice how the water’s green with dark patches of cloud shadows?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but that track around the Singapore Flyer is part of the F1 race track?

Singapore is famous for her port. Lots of containers containing shipments of iPhone 4s waiting to be shipped off to you.

Looking out to sea, you see lots of ships. You can see the award winning Marina Barrage right in the middle of the photo – the spiral. It’s essentially a dam that keeps out sea water, turning the Marina Bay area into a modern downtown reservoir.

It won an award from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. Not an easy feat. It’s open to visitors, but I didn’t have time to visit that area this time around.

What’s with all the construction over here?

Lots of huge tankers. Is that Indonesia in the background?

This is the infinity pool. Pretty cool eh. Be a guest at the hotel and you’ll have access to the pool. ^^.

Since MBS is located in the south, the pool has a magnificent panoramic view of Singapore. There’s a larger floor below. So don’t worry about dropping off the pool’s edge. ^^.

It’s a really nice pool. But I guess it’s more for soaking and lounging around rather than swim laps.

One last look at the sea.

You have ATMs located right at the entrance to the casino. I don’t think you can deposit money in. Probably only withdraw. ^^. If you’re a visitor, you have free access to the casino. Just have your passport ready. Singaporeans have to pay a levy of $100 to enter. To be $100 in the red before you even play a game…

The casino has some 500 tables and 1600 slot machines for you to make back your money though… or lose more.

The Shoppes area is spacious and nice to roam around. But not all shops are ready yet. The major brands like LV, Chanel etc are still busy setting up shop.

Could use more crowd. Everyone is probably in the casino. ^^.

The platform on top is a cantilever that is hanging off the north tower and resting on the other 2. Some people think it’s a ship in disguise. Use when the floods come.

Fancy staying there on your next trip? I would. But I’ll probably wait a few years. Read and heard many unfavorable reviews about the hotel. Rooms with no beds, toilets that can’t flush etc. I guess they are still troubleshooting quite a few issues. I’ll try back again when everything is settled. Hopefully catch The Lion King too. ^^.

I don’t know… is anyone interested in what my iPhone ate in Singapore? One would be pretty hard-pressed to find these dishes in Tokyo. Prawn Mee at the Amara Hotel in Tanjong Pagar. Quite nice.

Wanton noodle – the dry kind.

Beef noodles. Love the chilli sauce.

Samsui chicken and 3 bowls of herbal soup at Soup.

Fried prawn mee at 313′s food republic.

Char Kway Teow, also at 313′s food republic. Yeap. Those 2 dishes alone made up 2/4 of my lunch.

A meal is never complete unless one has some dessert. Traditionally Cheng Teng is a tonic, used to cool oneself down. In Chinese medicine, heatiness is a characteristic of certain foods that when consumed, disrupts the internal balance of your body. For example, too much fried stuff, is heaty. I don’t know if this serves as a good explanation but one usually falls sick when there is alot of heat built up internally. Here’s a detailed explanation on the subject.

And what is a meal without fruits. Guava sprinkled with sour plum powder. Yummy. ^^.

Found this amino drink in Singapore. That’s an interesting name isn’t it. Pink Dolphin. ^^.

Currently on vacation back home in Malaysia. It’s amazing how Malaysia is cooler than Tokyo this time of the year.

Finally got to meet Jaden, our family’s Golden Retriever. Isn’t he just a cutie. ^^. How can you resist this smile.

He is camera shy. Always turning away when I took the camera out. Was quite difficult getting him to look at the camera. ^^.

Do all retrievers love being in water? Had a dip in the pond earlier this morning to carry him out.

Do you have a dog of your own?

When buses in Sydney have reached their sitting and standing capacity, the driver puts up his hand, tells you to wait for the next bus, closes the door and drives off. That happened to me that night. I only realized this when visiting Sydney after living for a while in Japan. Sydneysiders squeeze and push to get on first. You seldom see an orderly line waiting for the bus.

But the situation in Japan is rather different. There are visible queues at the bus stop. And these queues are extremely orderly. During rush hour, people squeeze and push to get on. And since you’re already in a line, getting on first isn’t really an issue. And you know, the driver will literately take as many passengers until the remaining passengers decide for themselves to wait for the next bus.

The interesting thing is, in Japan, you always always know where the bus will stop. There’s a drawn rectangle just the size of the bus on the road and buses always, and I mean always, stop within that rectangle. In Sydney, you could be standing and waiting for a bus and the driver might stop 2-4 meters within your vicinity. Maybe that’s why no one queues – you never know where the bus will be stopping.

So, while waiting 30 minutes for the next bus, I decided to take a photo for central station.

Optimizing bus timetables must be a very hard thing to do.

Took a walk up memory lane.

Well, University Walk is not quite memory lane, but it’s pretty close.

I remember they were still paving when I first arrived at UNSW!

University Walk is a long stretch of good walking! It cuts through to the upper campus.

If you don’t see any students, that’s because uni is on a break. It’s usually even more crowded. ^^.

Took a slight detour and went up to the quadrangle. Can you tell what time it was?

Engineering schools on both sides. You have the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering on the left and the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications on the right.

I used to take a shortcut through the elec eng to get up to the CLB (Central Lecture Block). Go in, take the elevator up and walk up. Only for days when I don’t feel like walking up stairs. ^^.

The UNSW campus is really beautiful at night.

That’s the Red Center on the right. It houses the -

The Faculty of Built Environment
School of Industrial Design Program
School of Interior Architecture Program
School of Landscape Architecture Program
School of Mathematics
Planning and Urban Development Program
School of Architecture
School of Building Construction Management

and also the International Center. I remember they had those bondi blue iMacs there. Used to visit there quite often. ^^.

Stairs leading up to the Scientia.

The Scientia was built during my time. The funny thing is, I don’t remember how that area looked like before the Scientia.

I had a great time at uni. I wasn’t always the most hardworking student, but I would like to think that I got a good education. ^^. Met lots of good mates too. Together we slaved though many assignments and nerve-wreaking early morning exams at the racecourse.

If you’re still in uni, especially doing your undergrad degree, a word of advice. Don’t mess around. I never failed any subjects and you shouldn’t too. Anything you do, everything you achieve (or not) will always be on your record.

hmmm… I’m becoming a fossil.

So, I’m taking a break from packing. Will be leaving on a jet plane for the land down under very soon. It seems that I’ve been transferred to Sydney!

I’m looking forward to having lots of my favorite spicy prawn noodle soup at the arcade on campus again. Is it still even there?!

Sydney is a wondrous city to live in and before Japan, I spent 5 years there.

Love the weather and the white sandy beaches.

Another one of my favorite eatouts is a little Thai diner called Ben’s Thai Takeaway near the nine-ways. Stir fried lamb with basil and chilli.

Yummy.

I highly doubt I’ll be living here again this time around. ^^.

3.5 years I spent living in this cosy apartment. Care to take a guess as to which was my room?

Ah! Bondi Beach. I still have yet to find a beach as beautiful in Japan. How are beaches in Shimoda? Anyone know?

Although I’ve been in Sydney for so long, I’ve yet to enter the Opera House! It’s the sad truth. Never occurred to me until I was about to leave.

Let’s see if I can do better this time around.

Tokyo isn’t that far away too. I’ll be back to visit from time to time.

And if I ever get really nostalgic, Harajuku is right in Chinatown. Hope it’s still there though.

Oh yeah, Happy 34th Birthday Apple.

Many happy returns and have a happy April Fool’s Day everyone!