Category: Travel

• Stormy Route

  01.07.08 |Travel| Permalink | 14 Comments

  As some of you know by now, I am on business trip to US. It was really an adventurous trip. First when I booked the flights, the agent told me that all going there flight are full. She can try to get me in. I have to go this month because I don’t want to travel during CNY. March will be too late.

  I liked my company’s agent, she did the best to get me what I wanted. However traveling on a full flight is not a good thing. I have to say that this time I wasn’t happy with SIA. I am not sure but I sense a short of staff on the flight. Meals didn’t come on time and there was no response to my service call. Thumbs down for SIA. A lot of people were sick on the flight, I heard coughing and nose blowing.

  
  Changi Airport Deco

  
  

  Secondly, Vien warned me there was a storm coming in to SFO. I was worried as I have to drive to my destination. It did do a lot of damage but God helped me through. Thank you for all your prayers. This was my adventurous flight route.

  
  
  

  Penang -> Singapore (stayed overnight in Singapore to catch the early morning flight out)
  Singapore -> Narita Japan (6.5 hours)
  Narita, Japan -> LAX (9h 55m)
  LAX -> SFO (1 h 21 min)

  When I came in to LA airport, it was a mess. Lots of flights were canceled due to the storm. The flights before mine were all either delayed or canceled. I was fortunate, my flight was on time and reached SFO safely. At the SFO airport, it was a real mess, baggage was everywhere. People were all over looking for their baggage.

  By the way, I learned that odd size baggage will not be at the baggage collection area. What did I bring to US that is odd size, have a guess. It was for Vien‘s new baby. You won’t believe what I got for her. If you really can guess, I probably must get you something from US.

  Today, I had to drive for 1.5 hours to my destination which you know why I was worried about the storm. I heard the storm shook the Golden Gate Bridge. In the next post I will share more about my interesting discovery about a new car.

  
  

  
  

• Pre Booked Package At Matta Fair

  11.23.07 |Travel| Permalink | Comments Off on Pre Booked Package At Matta Fair

  Six months ago, I went to Matta Fair and got a package for room and water theme park in Bukit Merah. I want to bring my family there to have some fun. Due to my hubby and I busy schedule, we cannot find the right time for this. The package deal will expired end of the year and we have only December to work it out.

  I called up the agent to have a weekend booking for December. Guess what? All are fully booked due to school holidays. Either that or the quota for the rooms is few. I had to resort to a weekday trip which means I have to take a day leave for it. Oh well, just for the children, we will do it.

  A reminder to self, not to ever take a pre book package any more.

• SIA – Impressive

  06.23.07 |Service, Travel| Permalink | 8 Comments

  I must applaud Singapore Airlines for their first class service. Every time I travel with them, it has always been pleasant. This is not a sponsored post. Why am I impressed? For one, I always get good seating for long distance flights. When I went to US, I have no one sitting beside me, giving me ample space to sleep. When I went to UK, the same thing happened. It is not just going flight but the return flight too. By the way, you can pick your seat on the Internet and check in electronically. I was too lazy to do that.

  However there was an old guy sitting near the aisle and I was at the window seat. This old guy drinks a lot of water and he never move to go to the gents. He never sleeps too. The only time I took opportunity to go to the toilet was when after meal.

  The most impressive about SIA was, my London flight that came in late. I had only 30 minutes to rush to the gate of my connecting flight from Singapore back to Penang. The steward allowed me to leave the aircraft ahead of the first class and business class passengers. Ha! I ran and barely made it. All the passengers had board the plane. Phew. Imagine when I board the plane, 10 minutes to takeoff.

  Next worry was “Did my check in luggage make it?” If not, the luggage will come in on the next available flight into Penang. It will really spoil the happiness when I cannot show the gift I got for my children, when they come and pick me up. 30 minutes for them to unload and load. I don’t know how they do it, but they did it. I was also the first one who got my check in luggage and I am not even on business class.

  Bravo SIA!

• Singapore Science Center

  05.05.07 |Science, Singapore, Technology, Travel| Permalink | 5 Comments

  
  
  To Zoom, Click on Picture.
  

  We had a choice between the Singapore Science Center and Jurong Bird Park. Both I heard were equally good. My hubby had 1 day off on Labor day, so we could only go to 1. After much discussion with him, we pick Singapore Science Center, at least it is in door and the children can learn and have fun with Science.

  Singapore Science Center is located in Jurong East, you can take MRT to Jurong East Station on East West Line and transfer to bus no 335. We took a cab instead.

  We made the right decision, there are so many things to play, learn and have fun. We started with the Omni-Theatre, a dome shape IMAX theater that gives a 4D effects movie. We learnt about the human body.

  
  
  

  There is also a mini water park for children to have fun. If we knew about it, we would have bought an extra change of clothes. My children just love playing with water. The place is huge, we could only cover the Atrium, even that we didn’t finished all the science stations. We didn’t go to the Snow City.

  Entrance fee is $6 for adult and $3 for child, for IMax theatre $10 for adult and $5 for child, per movie. We bought the special package $12.80 per adult and $6.40 for child. Food wise, there are not many places to eat, only 3. McDonalds, a buffet lunch or Rocks café. There were a crowd in all food places since it was a public holidays, even the buffet lunch have to make reservation. We ended up in McDonalds. I must say that the kid’s meals are healthy, not the nuggets but they serve milk drink and fresh apples, instead of oily fries and soft drinks.

  The most interesting thing we saw was the Lightning demo or experiment, my hubby recorded it for you to watch. Don’t worry, there is no thunder but an explosion at the end.

  More pictures on how fun and educated the day was.

  
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Lightning Experiment
  

  
  

• Tag: Where I Want To Go

  03.29.07 |Tag, Travel| Permalink | 3 Comments

  It is not even Friday yet and I got the same tag from Jess, GiddyTigers and Angeleyes. I want to go to a lot of places. Here is a picture of where I want to go. Get it?

  
  
  

  I want to go around the world and visit the wonders of the world, now I think there are more than 7. So far, I have been to Great Wall of China and Grand Canyon. I would love to visit the Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls, the Great Barrier Reef and many more. Countries that I have visited are China, US, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. I love to visit Europe and New Zealand. Opps sorry, I am a little too ambiguous but I just love to travel and see how wonderful God has made his creation to be.

  **********************************************************

  **Start Copy**

  Proposition : Where do you want to go Next, OUTSIDE OF YOUR COUNTRY, for tourism, work , study, whatever.

  Requirements: Find some info about the place, itinerary etc, pics if possible so you get MORE Traffic coming in, and maybe some people can find somewhere to go to. Excludes your NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOUR, ie Singapore,Malaysia,Brunei, a country that borders yours.You must register for MyBloglog so we can blogwalk ah…..get it?

  Quantity : FIVE PEOPLE.

  Tag Mode : Chain Link. 15 of them.
  You leave 15 people and their DEEP LINK of their Blog Name and TAGGED POST and hit out for five more. So it will look like

  Azrin going Down Under

  MaRLinda in Disneyland Paris

  Athira Baby and her Balamory Antics

  Msau to Japan

  Shoppingmum to Europe

  Angeleyes off to Bora-Bora

  Giddy Tiger snorkelling in The Maldives

  Jess to Europe

  **Add in the blog you got the tag from and tagged post.** (In this case, for example, you should add “Mybabybay wants to go Round The World“) 

  Extra Rules: you cannot Tag another person who has performed the Tagging Rights to Travel. Check yr commentators.
  You MUST PASS this tag within 7 days of receiving it , or lose a day’s worth of Blog Revenue or $10 to charity. Can?Makes it interesting anyway.So no Lazy Tags running about, and yeah, eventually, there will be less than a 1:3 chance you can’t tag that someone. And pay those people in the list a visit, you never know if you can pinch / recycle some ideas for your next entry!

  **End Copy**

  **********************************************************

  This is the first time I am tagging people:

  Zara’s mama – Since she loves to go places.
  Julian
  Shooi
  Annie-Q
  Chanel

• A Taste of KrisFlyer Bad Service

  03.04.07 |Service, Travel| Permalink | 13 Comments

  I am so very frustrated with KrisFlyer (SIA Frequent Flyer Program). Here me out and if you are in my shoe, see you will steam up. When I return from my US trip, while I was in Changi Airport, I tried to register my miles. First the SIA agent told me that they are not train to do KrisFlyer, requesting me to call the customer line. I requested them to help me to call. The agent did and she waited for 30 minutes and she didn’t manage to get through to any customer representative. Worst is they tai chi the problem instead of helping, claiming that SIA and KrisFlyer is a different entity. *faint*

  I requested to see the manager. He is very helpful, helping me to reach the KrisFlyer staff. On the other line, the KrisFlyer agent told me my card expired and I need to apply for a new membership number. They didn’t send me any notification for cancelling my membership. The agent ended the conversation with “I will put an investigation and call you back”, which she never did.

  As I am told, I went online to register for a new account and deposited my miles online. Guess what? I received a notification stating I cannot register my return flights. I called the agent again. First she told me, there is a name mismatched, I told her how come my departure flights had no problem as I have the same names on all the tickets. :think: Then she told me, it was a coach sharing flight which miles are not given. It doesn’t make sense, the price of the tickets were the same. It is like a student who doesn’t know how to answer an exam question and kept guessing (pakai hantam).Finally she ran out of excuses and told me she will investigate further and get in touch with me.

  Today, I received a mail stating they have deposited my return flight on my old card. I am back to square 1. Now I have miles on my old and new card. I want to strangle someone already. What kind of system do they have there I wonder? It is just a simple process and they cannot get it right and they represent SIA.

• Shopping Spree In US

  02.16.07 |Shopping, Travel, US| Permalink | 4 Comments

  I am pretty much “pook kai” liao, no money to celebrate Chinese New Year. Fortunately the local share market went up and my one and only share went up 5 folds. I didn’t check until last week, it gave me a shock. 😯 Anyway it is still money on paper.

  By the way, I went through 3 seasons winter (snow), springs (cherry blossoms) and summer (back home) within 2 weeks.

  What did I buy? First thing in my shopping list was Corelle dinnerware. I was surveying the market for 5 years. It was never a good price to buy here. It is 1/3 the price there even after conversion. If I can carry, I probably get 2 sets.

  
  
  

  Then I got lots of clothes for my children and my newborn niece for Chinese New Year. I got some pretty dresses from my gal and pants for my son. Tim love those with belts, he said “Look mum, seat belt on my pants.” It is cheap if you don’t do any conversion. Baby clothes were 70% discount. I just can’t resist getting those tiny little dresses. Look at the lion suit I got for my niece, isn’t tat cute?

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  Wet n Wild nail polish was selling for 99 cents. Not that I have time to put on any. I probably give it away as gift to friends or relatives. Timberland shoes were on sale too at 60% discount. I got both pairs for 29.90. I got my hubby some shirts. MIL requested for a pair of sport shoes. I got her a pair Nike shoes. She wore the same size as Vien, so she was my shoe model.

  
  
  

  I really have to thank Vien, she not only showed hospitality by offering me a place to stay but she also got my children, a computer each. My children were very excited with their new computer. They played with it night and day. The computer has 30 activities. Most important activity was spelling for my boy.

  
  
  

  Belle did the final check that I have all the stuff pack. She even sat on it to make sure I can zip it up. :giggles: She is so adorable with so many interesting face expressions.

  Finally back home with 2 cute mickey children. I miss them so much and they miss me too.

  
  
  

• Snowing Here – Colorado Springs

  02.01.07 |Travel, US, Work| Permalink | 8 Comments

  Hey I finally arrived in Colorado and the snow welcomes me. YES it is snowing! Wow, I survived 15 hours flight. First stop was Singapore, Changi Airport. I was pretty frus because last 1 hour they change the departure gate. It was from 1 end to the other end. My legs were pretty tired. I found this free foot massage by the departure gate. It was fun and after the massage my legs felt better.

  

  

  Next stop was LA, I was so tired. If not, I could just pop by Disneyland and get some gift for my children. No I didn’t. I slept in the hotel. No Jet lag for me. I had a morning flight out to Colorado. In the LA airport, things were done efficiently. They have so many rows of DIY check in counter. All you have to do is punch your confirmation flight number and a ticket will be printed out. 1-2 staff will go around, putting tags on your bag and carried it to the conveyer.

  My dinner – Baby Back Ribs – Simply Delicious
  

  DIY Checkin Counters:
  

  Snowy Airport:
  

  When I arrived at Colorado Springs, it was snowing. I was worried because I had to drive to my hotel. Yeap, I had to pick up “right hand” right here. It was aright as I arrived to the hotel safely, was about 30 mins away from the airport. I didn’t get lost, shows that the GPS was working.

  Wow, I stayed near to the Pikes Peak. The view of the snowy mountains is simply beautiful. I will post more pictures here when I have the chance to take it. Now I wish my family was here. By the way, my husband just returned from US last monday and I had to fly on Tuesday. It was a back to back trip. Next time, we will plan for the entire family to go. May my wish come true.

• Little Penang Street Market

  01.26.07 |Penang, Shopping, Travel| Permalink | 2 Comments

  This is NOT a sponsored post.

  I got this email from my friend and if you are in Penang, do go and visit little Penang market. It has a lot of local traditional crafts, hand-made stuff, decorations for your home and heritage food. Little Penang promotes Penang’s unique lifestyle & talents. It has a live band to promote local music. It will be interesting for you to come and visit especially for tourist. Little Penang is a non profit organization to promote culture and a platform for local talents in arts, craft, design and music.

  
  
  

  This Sunday! 28 January 2007….

  Location Map Here

  Penang’s trendy arts & crafts bazaar is getting bigger and better!

  Programme

  10.30 a.m. Kolam presentation by Hindu Sangam

  12.00 p.m Teaching workshop on Kolam Drawing

  Special Artist: Chinese Caligraphy Spring Couplets for Chinese New Year

  
  Market times 10am-6pm and More than 60 vendors ranging from
  Artists ~ Crafts Makers ~ Demonstration Crafts ~ Clothes ~ Scarfs ~ Accessories ~ Jewellery ~ Hand-made Gifts ~ Batik ~ Songket ~ Home décor ~ rattan, Labu Sayong, hand-painted ceramics, mats, tablecloth, lamp shades, flower arrangements, crystals.
  

  KID’S CORNER: Kolam making activity ~ Face Painting ~ Colouring Paper bags ~ Mr. Ee and his aeroplanes! ~ Mr. Wee and his Chinese puzzles!

  Info: www.lestariheritage.net/littlepenang

  Have Fun!

  
  
  

• MAS – Mana Ada System

  01.19.07 |IT, ProductReview, Service, Travel| Permalink | 5 Comments

  I don’t mean to down grade MAS but I think the online booking system needs a revamp to make it more user friendly for their customers. I guess this is one part where they are losing out to their competition the BIG AA.

  I went to their website, hoping to see some good deals on flights to KL during CNY. However I came back confused. Look at the pictures.

  They offer 2 choices Availability or Low Fares. Of coz, one will choose low fares but only for adult. Anyway, I selected 4 adults. The cost came up to RM1K.

  To do a comparison, I chose Availability, selecting the same route, same dates and the same time for 2 adult and 2 children. The cost came up to RM1.6K. Now figure it out, 4 adults are cheaper than 2 adult and 2 children. :sc:

  Tell me how am I to book the flights? Choose 2 low fares and 2 availability fare for children? Or choose 4 low adult fares, can children be treated as adult? I think I will drive down. :snooty:

  Availability Vs Low Fares:

  

  Low Fares:

  

  Availability Fares:

  

  BreakDown Fares: