Trip to Singapore - June 2015

From a long time ,we kept planning to go for a trip somewhere out of India. We kept postponing the plan year after year , since going abroad meant spending a lot of money.  Finally in June this year we decided it was now or never and that's how this entire trip was planned

Planning the trip:

I started reading a lot of travelogues from various websites, looking at air tickets , hotels, travel options in Singapore etc. The amount of information available online these days is tremendous, so its important to filter out whats needed and what isn't.

The first step though, was to get a Singapore Visa. We decided to get it from Thomas Cook. They take about 7-10 days to get the tourist visa done. It costs about  1900 rupees per person (1500 of which is Visa fees).

To get the Visa, we need to book the tickets and the stay in Singapore in advance. Though, Tiger Airways was way cheaper, husband decided that we would fly Singapore Airlines ( turned out to be the better decision). For the stay, we selected Holiday Inn Atrium after reading a lot of good reviews about it.. We booked the hotel using Cleartrip, and the air tickets were booked from GoIbibo.
With the hotel and tickets booked , getting the visa was easy.

You can book all the Singapore attraction tickets online. Initially, we were advised against this online booking ,since it kind of fixes that plan as to what to do on which day. After we decided to go for it anyway, we realized that these tickets actually are not for one day. They actually are valid for one entry in a weeks time frame. So for example we booked the Universal Studios ticket for 22nd June but the tickets were valid for one entry up to 31st Jun. This means the flexibility was back. Plus you get some discounts if you buy tickets online.

After booking tickets to Universal Studios and 3 bird park/zoo (combo) online,we decided to take about 1000 Singapore Dollars ( 1 SGD = 47 Rs).

We were now all set to leave on 18th night. I was too excited to sleep in the flight and the turbulence made sure, any sleep coming my way would rather go to someone else.

Day 1 , Singapore:

We landed in Singapore early morning at around 6:30, we were out of the airport in about 10-15 mins. I was too tired to look around the airport and so we decided to do that on our way back to Bangalore.We reached the hotel around 7:15 in the morning. The taxi costed around 20-22 SGD.
The hotel staff agreed to give us a early check in around 9. We decided to have breakfast at the hotel for today, while waiting for the room. After asking at least for like 8-10 times we were given a room finally at around 9:15. The room though, was extremely spacious and clean.

After a short nap, we decided to check out a local market for lunch called "Lao pa sat". The lunch was strictly OK, considering both of us prefer vegetarian food. From here, we went to "Gardens by the Bay". We had already taken our EZ pay flash cards (loaded with about 10$ each) which allowed us to ride buses/metros without bothering about paying the exact far. You have to just flash the card while getting in and out of the bus/metro station. The problem how ever was that we didn't know which bus to take to reach Gardens by the bay from our lunch point. We tried asking a few people around, but that didn't help. Finally we found someone who told us how to reach Marina Bay Sands and from there to the Gardens. After all the trouble we went through though, one step into the cloud forest dome and it felt as if it was all worth it.

Gardens by the bay:
It mainly consists of two domes, the Flower dome and the Cloud Forest dome. The variety of plants and flowers you see here are absolutely amazing. The best part is that the domes are constructed in the way the water just slides off the domes and is collected as part of Rain harvesting. The same water is then used to water the plants. These two domes are supposed to be self sufficient in themselves.  These gardens are constructed on the land reclaimed from Sea.

We came back to the hotel after having dinner in Little India and dozed off for the night.

Day 2: Jurong Bird Park , Night Safari
In the morning we landed up at Ananda Bhavan for a nice south Indian breakfast and decided to do the Bird Park and Night safari today. In hindsight, i think we should have done the Zoo and Night Safari together on one day. Anyway, we were a little late in reaching the Bird park and could get there by about 11:30. I had already looked up all the show timings online and so we accordingly walked around the park. We were there till about 5:00-5:30 after which we decided to leave for the night safari. We had a quick supper at a Thai restaurant in the mall and reached Night Safari by about 8 PM.

Since it was already dark, we decided to just to the shows and the tram ride in the Night Safari, The line to get into the Tram was so long that we decided to do the one show first. Unfortunately, the line was even longer when we came back after the show. After waiting for about 45-50 mins, we got into one of the trams. The ride was super fun as you get to see the animals in there natural habitat. We finished the tram ride and while leaving caught glimpses of the "Thumbukar show" which was a surprise since I though we missed the show which is generally at  7PM.  All the shows are an absolute must watch in the Bird Park and the Night Safari. We reached the hotel around 12PM midnight.The best part about Singapore is that the public transport system, which we are now used to, is so safe and well maintained that you can safely travel at any time in the night.

Day 3: Singapore Zoo
We planned to do only the Singapore Zoo today, since tomorrow we wanted to go to Universal Studios, the main reason to come to Singapore. Since we had already gone to Night safari yesterday, we knew the route to get Singapore Zoo and reached there around 10 AM. Again almost all the shows in the Zoo are totally worth the time. ( We missed the feeding and some pet dog show). We left the zoo around 6 and went to have dinner with some friends at Clarke Quay.

Day 4: Universal Studios
When i was studying in the US, i never got a chance to visit Universal Studios. My husband though has been to the one in Florida. We were both excited to go to Universal. We decided to reach Universal by 9-9:30 AM and hence had our breakfast in the hotel itself. The buffet breakfast in the hotel wasn't complimentary in our package and costs about 26 SGD per person. This was very expensive for us since the vegetarian fare was only a range of breads and waffles.

We reached Universal at around 9:30 and did almost all the rides. We missed only the Dino Flyer but that was same as the Puss in the boots ride.  We caught glimpses of all the street shows but most of the time spent in Universal was in the line waiting to get on the rides. Since we had not taken the express pass, it took anywhere from 45-60 mins of wait time every ride.

Although all the rides in Universal are really good, the best was the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster. It the worlds tallest dueling roller coaster. It has two cars, called the Human and Cylon, which are both running at the same time. We got it sit in the first row of the Human roller coaster and the drop, which is apparently like falling 14 floors, was extremely scary. My husband did the Cylon coaster too which has about six 360 degree turns....

For the Transformers ride, we waited for about 30 mins, but it was totally worth it, The virtual reality effects were really fun.

The only ride we didn't have to wait for was the Mummy Returns ride. We just walked in and sat in the roller coaster car. This ride for me was more scary as it the flips and turns of the coaster are in complete darkness. 

For both the Mummy returns and the Battle star galactica rides you have to keep all your belongings in a locker, which is free for the first 90 mins. 

After an adventurous day at Universal , we decided to see the Songs of the Sea show in the night. This show is a must must must watch and was the highlight of the entire trip for me. 

We reached the hotel back around 10:30 PM and dozed off with a feeling that the trip was almost coming to an end. 

Day 5: SEA Aquarium

All the days in Singapore have been hectic and it didn't really feel like a vacation. So we decided to take it a little easy today. The plan was to just go to the aquarium and possibly try to do some shopping since tomorrow was going to be our last day in Singapore.

The SEA aquarium is beautiful and is home to thousands of fishes and some incredible sea creatures.

Once back from the SEA, we went to Bugis street, which is popular for its street shops. We bought some souvenirs and went back to Little India for dinner. 

Day 6: Back to Bangalore. 

Today was our flight back to Bangalore. We checked out of the hotel at 12, and left our bags at the hotels store room. Our flight back was at 8 in the night and so we decided to go back to Bugis to do some more shopping . We came back to the hotel by about 3 and left for the airport. We reached the Changi airport in about half hour and after checking in the luggage just relaxed in the airport. Changi airport is huge and one can easily spend about 4-5 hours just in the airport. 

The flight was on time and we reached Bangalore at around 10:30 in the night. This marked the end of our vacation. The trip though a little hectic gave us a life time full of memories. 

Some important points to note if you are planning a trip:

1. Public transport system is one of the best ever in Singapore. You can buy a EZ-link card at any metro and just keep adding money to it . This card can be used in all the buses and trains so that you don't have to worry about giving exact change. If you have any money leftover you can always take the card back to the metro strain get it cancelled and get the remaining money back. 

2. Book tickets to Universal and all the zoo/bird parks online from India. Doing this will help in carrying less cash to Singapore. Plus you get some discounts for booking online. 

Overall this trip was one of my most memorable trips and I hope this write up justifies the amount of fun this trip was. 

Until next time........... 

Book Review: Nora Roberts - The Witness

Back with a book review after a long time.....

While reading Alex Rutherford's Mughal empire series( will review it later), there was a time the library didn't have the next book in the series and this made me go back to one of the readers I love reading ... Nora Roberts. So the book I picked up was "The Witness".

Came back home and started reading this ..... The book summary at the back said this is a story of a woman who is forced to confront her past after a long time....Sounded interesting... and so I started reading it and here is what I think of it...

"The Witness" is the story of a girl Abigail Lowery who moves to a small town called Bickford. All she wants is to live a peaceful and lonely life with no one to bother her or her dog.... but all of that changes when she meets the new Chief of police Brooks Gleason. Abigail is shown to have major trust issues and the only one she trusts other than herself is her dog Bert ( who is trained to take commands in English, Spanish, French and Farsi !!!)

Abigail and Brooks fall in love (mainly due to Brooks persistence) and that's when Abigail finally decides to trust him and tells him about the life she left behind 12 years ago.

Elizabeth Fitch at 16 lives with a extremely controlling mother who decides what she wears, what she eats and who she is friends with. Elizabeth one day decides to make a fake ID and goes pubbing with her friends and unknowingly witnesses a mafia murder. When she informs this to the police they put her into a Witness protection program in order to keep her safe. The mafia moles inside the FBI try to kill her which is when she runs away and takes a new name "Abigail Lowery".

How Abigail and Brooks finally find a solution and lead a life filled with love and happiness makes the rest of the story.

Nora Roberts as usual does complete justice to the story....Abigail being this security expert is brilliantly written ... The characters of Abigail and Brooks mimic two of my favorites from the TV series Bones, Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth. I guess that also contributes to why i liked reading the story.

The only thing i had some issues with was the way the ending was handled. I felt she could have elaborated a little more at the end. The ending felt a little rushed. Although some crisp writing and dialogues make up for it.

Overall, its a fantastic read and would make a great weekend pass time...

Until next time ..................

Trip to Poor man's Ooty, Yercaud

With the hectic lifestyle people lead today all of us need a break... We needed one too... and so we were off to a place we usually go to when all we want is to rest , relax and rejuvenate our minds.. Yercaud....

Yercaud is situated at around 240 kms from Bangalore in the Shevaroy Hills. Its often referred to as "Poor man's Ooty" or as the Queen of the Shevaroys.

We started off pretty late on a Thursday morning at around 7 am from our home in Bangalore. The route taken was Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Yercaud. The roads are excellent and even with a breakfast break (~45 mins) and a small detour in Salem we reached Yercaud by 11:45 am.  You have to be extremely careful maneuvering the hair pin bends and most importantly dodging the monkeys. There are just too many Monkeys around.....

Once you reach Salem and start climbing the 20 hairpin bends, a kind of calmness comes over you. I guess its just the fact that we were leaving a stressful life behind for a few days ...  This is our third trip to Yercaud and all the 3 times we have stayed at the GRT Nature Trails resort, It located right at the end of the 20th Hairpin bend and offers extremely beautiful views of the valley. Especially in the nights, its a treat to watch the lights coming on in Salem.

Coming to the hotel we stayed in, GRT nature trails is one of the best hotels in Yercaud. There are different types of rooms to cater to different types of people.

Valley view room -1

Valley view room 2

View from the Valley view room balcony

View in the night from the Balcony

We generally prefer staying in the Valley View room. We have tried the pool view and the panorama rooms before but the views are almost the same from any room. Plus the fact that the terrace and the Skywalk near the dining area is generally where you spend most of your time, the Valley view room is a good deal.

Sky walk is a glass bridge in the resort from where you can actually see down the valley.

The resort has a swimming pool and a lot of indoor games to keep you occupied throughout the day.

Now coming to the food at the resort. The Salem heights, is the multi-cuisine restaurant in the resort. It also has a bar ( Salem Rocks) attached to it.   The food is pretty good and the service is excellent. We tried the north Indian and Chinese cuisine mostly and found the food to be pretty good. On major holiday weekends they do have a buffet for lunch and dinner. The breakfast is complimentary and is by far one of the best we have had during all out travels.

Since this was our third trip to Yercaud, we didn't do a lot of sight seeing but if one is interested then they can visit the following places.

1. Yercaud Lake: This is in the center of yercaud and is the biggest tourist attraction. However, try to avoid going in the evenings as it is super crowded.

2. Ladies , Gents and Children view point: These are about 1-2 kms of each other and at various altitudes.

3. Pagoda point : Just another view point.

4: Shevroyan temple

5. Killiyur falls : Only for people who can trek and only in the monsoons

6. Loop road: This is a 13-14 km road which just passes through a lot of estates and villages and is just a beautiful drive around.

I have heard that there is a botanical garden that has come up but haven't been there.

Overall, Yercaud is the place to go to when you just need to get out of the hustle bustle of Bangalore and want to just relax. I strongly recommend the GRT nature trails resort to stay. The other options are Club Mahindra Lake forest and the Grand Palace Resort and Spa.

Until the next trip.......... or the next book since that seems more likely to be the next post.

Shiva Trilogy - Amish Tripathi

I heard a lot of praise for the Shiva Trilogy and finally decided to buy the books and send them to my book filter ( My grandfather whom i fondly call Dada). I was sure that if Dada will like the books then so will I. as expected, he told me that the story is quite interesting and he loved reading the books. So then I decided to read the trilogy consisting of 3 books..... The Immortals of Melhua , Secret of the Nagas and the Oath of Vayuputras. I absolutely loved all the 3 books.

The story is about Shiva, Lord Shiva that is, based on the assumption that he existed on earth long long time ago. The story is about Sati, who supports shiva unconditionally. The story is also about Daksh who is in love with only his ego and will go to any lengths to keep it intact. The story is mainly about Somras, the divine drink of gods. Story starts in Mount Kailash, Tibet where the main protagonist of the series, Shiva stays with his tribe. How Shiva becomes the Neelkanth and how he finds out the Somras is bad and how he goes about to stop its productions forms the story. Also intermingled with this story, is the Shiva-Sati love story, their relationship with theirs kids etc.

Amish's writing style is very unique and makes for a very interesting read. In fact the endings of both book 1 and 2 are so interesting that they make sure that you pick up the next book immediately. The characters in the story are beautifully written which help the reader connect with them instantly. You want to really turn pages to know as to what happens next with your favorite character. Personally, I loved reading the relationship shown between Shiva and Sati and also the character of Sati.

Additionally, another thing that Amish has helped me achieve is to get over my inhibition of reading Indian authors. After reading this series I have now reading the Krishna series by Ashok Banker. More on this in my next post.

Trip to Wayanad , Kerala

We decided to visit Kerala during the monsoon. So when we could take a day off in July we decided we would go to Wayanad. Wayanad is located at a distance of 280 kms from Bangalore. So on 6th July at 7 we started off from Bangalore.

Day 1:

Bangalore- Mysore - Gundulpet -Bandipur -Sultan Bathery - Wayanad.  ~280 kms.

Though we wanted to start around 6:30 we ended up starting at around 7:00. The road taken was Bangalore- Mysore - Gundulpet -Bandipur -Sultan Bathery - Wayanad. We had booked our stay for 2 nights at Planet Green Plantation Resorts. Bangalore- Mysore road was a breeze as usual except for the speed bumps at regular intervals. The roads from Mysore to Gundulpet is ok. Once we entered Bandipur we were crusing at a slower place hoping to spot some animals. We didnt see a single animal for a long time and when we had almost given up we suddenly spotted a Elephant and a calf who had just crossed the road. :). The best part of the drive through the forest was that due to the recent rains the jungle was lush green and was a treat to eyes. Soon after we entered Kerala for the first time, and the greenery continued.

 The road shown in Google maps to reach the hotel was under construction so  we wasted around an hour trying to get to the hotel. We finally reached the resort around 2 in the afternoon. The hotel staff had called us earlier and asked us what we wanted to have for lunch. So we had some simple but tasty vegetarian food. It started raining in the evening and so we just relaxed in the resort and ended up watching Djoko - Federer match.  Dinner was also an extremely tasty fare. 

Day 2:

We decided to start off the day early since we wanted to cover atleast some tourist places before it rained again. So we left the resort after having breakfast at around 9. 

First on the list was a view point called the Lakkidi View point. The view from this point was beautiful. This place thought is infested with a lot of monkeys. Also, this place is littered with trash. I wish tourists are little more careful about where they throw the trash. :(

Next on the list was Pookode lake. This was a total waste of time. There is nothing to do here and once you have seen the Ooty lake and the kodai lake this just seems lackluster. There is a pathway along the lake but since it was monsoon it was full of leeches. We just spent about 15 mins here and headed towards the next place on the list. Tickets was priced at 15 Rs per person and 20 Rs for a still camera. 

The third on the list ( also the last place we ended up visiting during our stay) was the Banasura Sagar Dam.

The drive to the dam is a treat to the eyes. The entire road is filled with Tea estates and is without a doubt one of the best drives that we have had until now.  Banasura sagar dam is the largest earth dam in India and definitely worth a visit. Tickets were priced at 20 Rs per person and  25 Rs for a camera. There is a option of taking the Jeep for 80Rs per person or to walk about a km to reach the dam. We decided to walk and reached the top of the dam in about 20 mins. The view of the Banasurasagar lake is amazing. You can also walk upto the Earth dam .We spent about an hour and a half here. It was almost lunch time and so we decided to come back into town and have lunch at hotel woodlands. I had read good reviews of this place but the vegetarian fare was ordinary. The non veg section though was completely full with people waiting outside. After lunch we decided to just drop in the rest for a while and then go look at some waterfalls. Fortunately or unfortunately the moment we stepped foot into our room it started to rain heavily. So we decided to drop the idea of visiting the waterfalls and spent the rest of the day relaxing in the balcony with some hot pakodas and tea. :).

Day 3:

This was the day we would travel back to Bangalore. Since we wanted to reach bangalore around afternoon we decided to check out early around 9. The drive back was smooth. Unfortunately the drive through the forest was uneventful and we didnt even spot a monkey.... We reached Bangalore around 3 after stopping for lunch at KFC near Channapatna.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience to just see the beautiful lanscapes of Wayanad. Hoping to go there some time again soon.

Coorg - Jan 2012

This trip to Coorg was planned just about a week in advance. One day while looking for tickets in cleartrip i look at the offer they had about 30% instant cash back on hotels, we immediately decided to go ahead and visit Coorg.

Coorg or Kodagu is called as the Scotland of India. It is known for its coffee estates and also for its brave warriors. It is located at a distance of ~260kms from Bangalore. We tried to cover as much as possible but then left a few places for next time :).

Day 1:

Bangalore - Nagarhole - Irpu - Orange county - Coorg ~350 kms.

We started from Bangalore around 6:30. The roads until Hunsur are great. From Hunsur we took a diversion to go towards Irpu falls through the Nagarhole national forest. If any one wants directions to Nagarhole, all you have to do is follow the boards to the Kings Sanctuary. The roads from the diversion are just bad.......it completely in tatters. After entering the Car details at the Nagarhole checkpost, we entered the national forest area expecting good roads. Unfortunately luck wasnt on our side, and the roads continued to be bad. We finally reached Irpu around 12:30 in the afternoon. The odometer read 250 kms from home. The entry fee was 20 Rs / person and the Parking free was 10Rs. The trek up to the falls is quite tiring.

Roads thru the Nagarhole national park:



Spotted some deers:


Irpu falls :




The foot of the falls was too crowded since a bunch of college kids had visited around the same time. We spent about half an hour there and then started back down the stairs. One of our friends suggested we go to Orange county for lunch and so we decided to go there. Orange county is about 40 kms from Irpu falls. On most of the roads we couldnt find people to ask for directions but thankgod for the Google maps on our phones which worked perfectly. The road towards Coorg was being relayed and so to some extent (4-5 kms) it was good. After 5 kms though the roads continued to be bad.

We reached Orange county around 3 in the afternoon. We had the buffet lunch there for Rs 799/ person. Though the buffet was great we though it was a little expensive.

Left Orange county around 4 and reached Club Mahindra at around 5:00 (Odo reading ~340 kms) . The plan was to go to Rajas seat in the evening but we were so tired by the time we reached the hotel that we finally decided against it and just lazed around the resort. Dinner was at Coffee Blossoms in Club Mahindra. Club Mahindra was a great resort. The amenities were great. There is a fun zone where we could play TT , carrom etc. They also had a bon fire set up. The temperatures in Coorg during the day were quite high but the nights were cold.

Day 2:

Started the day with the complimentary breakfast provided at the hotel. We had decided to do Bhagamandala , Talacauvery Abbey falls and Rajas seat today.

We left to go to Bhagamandala around 10:15 from the hotel. You have to mainly take the mangalore road from coorg and then all the deviations are properly marked. The roads though are again bad. We reached the temple at about 11. Temple was not crowded so finished the darshan quite early.

Bhaganandeshwara Temple :

After having a cup of coffee we left for Talacauvery. Again the temple wasnt too crowded so finshed the darshan fairly early. We then went up the 373 steps to the top of the hill. The view from here of the Brahmagiri range is awesome and totally worth the climb. Spent about 20 mins on the top and then started back the stairs and rached the hotel back around 1:20. One thing to note is that there is only one petrol station enroute to talacauvery so please make sure you have enough fuel.

Talacauvery:

Views from top of the hill


Had lunch at the resort and rested for a while. We left for Abbey falls around 4:30 since i wanted to catch the sunset at Rajas seat. Abbey falls is 9 kms from the city center. The parking fee is 20Rs. the climb down to the falls is again a little tiring. Fortunately when we were reaching the falls a lot of people were leaving. Reached the base of falls...... Took some pictures and left for Rajas seat.
Abbey Falls:

Rajas seat was a wonderful experience ....... We reached Rajas seat around 5:30. The sunset indeed looks beautiful from here. There was a musical fountain, toy train ride but we did neither and left back to the resort after the sunset. Had a early night since we had to go back to Bangalroe the next day.

Rajas Seat:


Day 3:

Checked out of the hotel around 9:45. The plan was to visit the monastery on the way back. After crossing Kushalnagar we kept looking on the right for the entrance to the monastery. The monastery is 7 kms from this entrance. Parking fee 20Rs. We spent about an hour in the monastery. The route back to Bangalore through Hunsur is fantastic. There is some construction going on, on the ring road at mysore which was the only bad patch.

Monastery:



Roads back to Bangalore:



Started back to Bangalore with only one stop at Cafe Coorg for coffee. Reached outskirts of Bangalore around 2:45. Did the weekly grocery shopping on the way back and parked the car around 4:30 at home. Fortunately we had a heavy breakfast and so we had lunch after we reached home at 4:30. We want to stop at Adigas or Kamat lokaruchi but both we so crowded that we decided we would finish all the snacks we had and just have lunch after we go back home...

Trip to Coorg was fun overall except the roads in Coorg, which were in very bad shape. Hopefully you will all enjoy reading the travelogue. .

Debbie Macomber

I haven been reading a lot of Debbie Macomber books lately. What started me off was surprising the "About the author" part of on of her first books. She was dyslexic as a child and had to struggle with it. She finally saved some money to buy a second hand typewriter and started writing when her kids used to go to sleep. Some how this story was very inspiring which made me read my first Debbie Macomber books, " A good yarn".

This review would be a series review more than a book review.

Blossom street series:

This series deals with mainly one yarn store called the " Good Yarn" on Blossom street and the knitting classes organised here. All the characters you see in this series are very real and you feel connected to them instantly. There is a cancer survivor, a struggling mother , a woman who desperately wants to become a mother , a man who needs to find a new meaning to his life and many many more characters. They all meet in the knitting classes and get to know each other, They learn from each others experiences and form a wonderful friendship. This series is basically a feel good series of books . They make you feel happy and give you hope by the time you are done with them....... :)

After i loved the Blossom street series i decided to read another one of her series, Cedar cove series.

Cedar cove series:

This series is based on the place where she currently lives and almost all the characters are actually based on the people who live in that place. This series again is fun to read. The characters and emotions are portrayed beautifully which again makes these books page-turners. This series has a large number of characters ranging for a teenage girl to a pastor. Every book is based on one of the families and takes us through their lives and issues.

Style of writing:

Debbie's style of writing is very easy to understand and the stories are so well written that it makes you want to turn pages until you reach the end . The language used is also fairly easy to follow.

Debbie Macomber is a must read when you want to read a feel good book. something they makes you believe that life is beautiful however it is. You can make your life what you want it to be. Just like the tag line says ....... Make time for friends..... Make time for Debbie Macomber...... :D

Happy reading.