Countdown to Singaporean efficiency

Last night, we caught the MRT train from Bugis station to Changi Airport, to catch flight out of Singapore to Brunei. After having a brief dinner of roasted chicken with noodles at Banquet Food court at Raffles Hospital, we left Bugis station at around 710pm. It was a great hassle to drag 2 huge luggage from Arab street to the Bugis station. It was damn crowded with the Friday night crowd.

We managed to jump on a train and when it reached Aljunied, people who were getting on the train at that station mentioned about someone fell onto the track. And we could see security personnel and police rushing to the scene and a pair of slippers on the platform. We couldnt see anything else due to the crowd, but to wait inside the train.

We were worried if we would miss our flight and how we would get a taxi in this station during rush hour. Impatiently, I was thinking why the man could not fall onto the track 5 minutes later so our train would not be disrupted.

Then the announcement saying that the train would be delayed for 15 minutes, stating the reason of a fault in the track. 5 minutes later, there was another announcement. But this time, it stated the train would be delayed for 10 minutes. Wow, there was really a countdown. The next announcement came 2 minutes later saying, "doors closing".

Great! I find everything is very efficient in Singapore, and I wonder why Singaporeans still complain about it.

More story on 'a man falling onto track' can be found here

Mama Mia! in Sicily

This morning, we took a one-day excursion to Sicily with Virtu ferry and it was 116 euros each, including transport from our hostel.


The transport picked us up at 5.30am, and the ferry departed just before 7am. Ferry ride was very choppy.

After a daunting 2-hour ferry ride, we arrived at Polazzo and the bus picked us up and dropped us at a cafe for breakfast. The chocolate croissant was delicious with thick chocolate filling. And of course, a cappucino. Italians only drink cappucino in the morning. So, when in Rome, do as the Romans. In this case, it is Sicily.

The coach then zigzagged us all the way up to the beautiful hilltop village of Taormino. The streets are full of beautiful gardens and orcahrds, as well as the souvenir shops. It was a lesant change from the warmer and drier Malta. We had a simple Italian lunch overlooking the beautiful sea down below.

After lunch we zigzagged back down, and zigzagged up to Mt Etna - an active volcano. On Mt Etna, we didnt go to the summit, but at 2000m above sea-level. It was windy and cold; and that was the excuse we had to have hot drinks and snacks at the cafeteria.

The ferry ride back was not as bad, maybe due to the motion-sickness pills provided by the crew. Or maybe we were 'silently' singing along while watching the in-house movie, Mama Mia!

Click here for more pictures

The joy of flying

I was supposed to go to Japan this June school holiday. Due to the H1N1 flu scare, I have decided to cancel my trip. Then I found out that Emirates has a great deal flying from Singapore to European cities. And first city comes to my mine is Malta.

Why Malta? Firstly, not a lot of Asian airlines fly there, so the great fare deal is too good to miss. Secondly, I have never been in Malta before.

Few asked me where Malta is. People hear of drinks called Malta as well as Maltesers. None of these are related to Malta. It is a small island nation in the south of Sicily, Italy.

To get here, I flew RBA from Brunei to Singapore. I stayed at the Changi Airport for about 5 hours, before catching Emirates 7-hr flight to Dubai. From Dubai, it is 3 hour to Larnaca, Cyprus. We were not allowed to leave the plane, but stayed onboard for 1 hour. From Cyprus, it is another 2 hour flight to reach Malta. Needless to say, I was very well-fed many times onboard the Emirates.