Singapore Saga (Part 1)

I went down to Singapore for the Xmas. Managed to get a midnight bus
huluyue (well, it was 11pm) on the Friday night and back by Boxing Day. I was still working on the Friday night till the eleventh hour before I left to take my bus. Luckily, I had packed my bag on the night before. I met LM and Shadow at the KL Sentral LRT station before proceeding to take a cab to the Pudu bus station. I have never liked taking a bus from this station as it’s usually really packed and suffocating. However, since Nice didn’t have a later bus slot, we didn’t really have a choice. Anyhow, we waited for almost an hour before the bus turned up (so I was right after all, we took a midnight bus literally!) It was aggravating waiting for the bus and no replies from the people who sold the tix to us despite numerous inquiries. So, there we were, stuck in the bus station, inhaling all the carbon monoxide and carrying luggage which seemed to be getting heavier by the minute…

Finally, we got in the bus and as we bought the tix last minute, the 3 of us had to sit in different spots. The driver drove extremely fast and we reached Singapore in around 4 hours!!! The ride throughout was really bumpy with the air-cond turned on full blast and was so cold that I was shivering and curled up like a shrimp trying to get comfortable. We stopped in Yong Peng’s big and boisterous bus stopover…which I loathe actually. We reached Woodlands checkpoint around 5 am and there was such a huge traffic. (I was obviously duped as I was told that we were going in through the 2nd link) The driver dropped us off and told us to walk in as the place was congested. Queue inside was even longer!! Think we spent like 45 minutes just queuing and filling up the forms. After that, we took a cab straight to my friend’s house as it was nearly 6am. Reckon she would have gotten up kwa. Actually, felt so ‘pai seh’ cos we had to impose on my friend and her family as we couldn’t book any hotels due to the long holiday season.

After having a short nap, quickly got up, showered and had breakfast with my friend and family. Wow, the kids sure have grown!!! Just reminds me how much older I’ve gotten too! Sigh!! The newborn is really adorable plus she doesn’t scream when I carry her! I told my friend that she looked like a mini Michelin cos she’s so cuddly…We bought them Xmas presents and played with them for awhile before we started our shopping spree. First stop is Orchard Road (of cos). Practically broke our limbs just walking and walking on the endless shopping street!!! The place is packed with tourists and Singaporeans as usual, and even more with the festive season around the corner. The shops extended their shopping hours till midnight for past few weekends and it was totally crazy. We had to wait for more than half an hour just to get a table to eat our lunch...Of cos we went shopping next door while waiting… Some of the stuff were cheap even after conversion but since I’ve been going down quite frequently, I’m more selective over the things that I buy nowadays and not buy impulsively just cos it’s cheap. LM who is making her virgin trip practically went berserk but I told her to just look around before starting her shopping spree.

The Xmas decorations this year is quite normal and not as spectacular as previously. Not sure whether I’ve become too jaded or what. Anyway, I still managed to eat my durian ice-cream at the roadside stalls and Sakae Sushi. I didn’t manage to go to Sizzler or Marche as LM just finished her pox and couldn’t eat a lot of stuff so mostly we went to foodcourts as there are more food choices there. (and also filled with a lot of bland food, I must add)

We were supposed to do a combo of sight-seeing and shopping when we were down there. Even tried slotting a gym session but ultimately, in the end it all became a shopping spree!!! We scraped the Night Safari excursion as the place was too far from Orchard Road and everybody was getting listless from the endless walking. So we sat down, had a good dinner (after a long wait again!) then went to HMV for a browse. Of cos the ‘browse’ turned into a few hours culminating in us buying loads of cds and the place has to close shop for the night. I love going to HMV and each time I’m down in Singapore I’ll visit the music store. Reckon the selections are more varied than Towers and they are a great bargain. I got U2 latest singles collections (just love the group), The Killers latest album, “Sam’s Town” and Pussy Cat Dolls album (their songs just seemed to stick in my head with the catchy tunes!!).

We got back just after midnight and the MRT were packed. I mean really packed like sardines!!! I’m like speechless cos it’s the last train and it was nearing midnight oredi. The commuters includes the young and restless to tourists (like us) and families with their young kids in tow. Oh well, since the public transport is so efficient and the place is relatively safe (according to my friend) then I reckon it’s safe to travel during night times.

A Brand New Year, A Brand New U!

Well, that's the tagline of the slimming company which organised a so-called 'health talk' on Sunday. Before i go on further, i must say that had i known that it was not a proper 'health talk' as described by my friend or that i had known the whole thingy was organised by a slimming company, i would never have agreed to go. This is becos in my mind, all the slimming companies are interested in is trying to grab hold of some naive and innocent people and try to convince (or dupe) them into signing up thousands of dollars of slimming packages and wat-nots...and mind you, they don't let you go that easily or settle for an answer like "Hey, I'm not interested or I'm not fat so i don't need slimming packages!!!"

Previously, i went for a free trial session which i won with a friend from a local magazine. So, we called up the company and booked an appointment. After we arrived, we were separated into 2 rooms where a consultant (in each room) started her sales pitch and try to coax us into signing up! Which lasted for more than half an hour. Anyways, i told them that i needed to try the thingy before i decide. I mean if you don't let me try the product or undergo the session, how the heck do i know whether the whole thing works rite? So, reluctantly, they let me go through the trial. I did the machine thingy, which was supposed to burn my fats with all the rubbery nodes stuck to various parts of my body and limbs and given slight electric currents, then go for a body scrub to exfoliate and move the fats and finally, put in a sauna cubicle to sweat out all the toxins in the body...Well, since it happened a couple of years back, that's what i can remember lar....

Anyway, after the whole session, i was put into the 'interrogation room' again. I was quizzed on the whole treatment and was measured as well. I did lose 'inches' but if i'm not wrong, those were a result of the loss of water and not becos the machines performed some 'miracle'...they are not pulling a fast one on me that easily!! So when they finished their whatsoever pitch, i told them firmly that i'm not signing up! The sales consultant kept asking for the reason and i just said that exercising is a much better way to lose weight or maintainance in the long run as compared to slimming. We talked for like ages with me not budging and finally, she went out to get her manager. Then, both of then tried to convince me (again) to sign-up without signs of letting me go. By then, i was already pissed off and nearly shouted at them for such totally 'unprofessional' behaviour. I told them countlessly that i had gone for the session becos i had won it and not becos i was interested in signing-up for a slimming package! Unfortunately, they still persist and the manager had the guts to tell me that she needs to write a report on why i'm not signing-up!! I mean, does that sound logical or she thinks i'm a dolt??

Finally, my friend who managed to squirm from her sales consultant came to 'rescue' me. After the horrible incident, we went back and wrote a complaint letter to the local magazine. This has left a bad taste in my mouth on most slimming companies and that is also my first reaction when i found out that we were not going for a health talk per say but some dunno-what dupe show organised by some newbie slimming company which was based in Klang!!

Back to the wannabe 'health talk'. After me and my friends registered, we were given a redemption card where we could go around the various counters set up by the sponsors and get free sampling. First up, went for the free hand treatment. Oh, before that we were measured (height and weight bla bla bla) and filled up a form before we could do the hand treatment thingy. Basically, that's where they 'zoomed-in' to their potential targets and start the slimming sales pitch again!!! (which is really tiresome) The hand treatment is nothing extraordinary, just splatting on some hand creams, massaging it before dipping the hands into some wax stuff. So, u kinda get a wax handprint or something. The queue got quite long and nobody heeded us for awhile, which was irritating cos there was nothing that we could do with both hands covered with wax....

Afterwards, they started the talk, which was basically to promote the company and what they specialised in. The GM gave a talk and it tickled me that she has a somewhat gruffy horsey voice...muhaahhaha. Next up was the Marketing Manager. She spoke in English, interspersed with Mandarin or Canto in between. I don't want to sound mean but i had problems listening to some of her diction and pronounciation. We heard words like Nowsaday?? that's mean?? hmmm....

Anyways, they managed to get a gullible dummy to go on stage to do a facial and bust enhancement presentation. Interesting huh? And they were doing it like on half of the girl's face and bust to show the audience the 'difference'. Urm, like i said earlier, i had my reservations about this kind of supposedly 'miracles' so i was bored to death. On top of that, i was having gastric as i didn't eat much before i went for my steps class in the morning. My friend told me there was a high-tea and i was consoled on the fact that at least there's a high-tea included with the RM50 tix! Waited till like 4pm and high-tea still did not materialise. We were treated to some amateurish dancing by amateur dancers, who didn't have co-ordinated dance steps in between. Made me wonder whether they were also staff of the company chosen to entertain us poor souls. Very cheapskate....

The sampling by the sponsors were also nothing to shout about. There were supposedly 2 stamps on our redemption card for the chicken essence but the guy told us that we could only sample 1 type, which he chose for us. And it's only a miserable quarter of the cup that i used to gargle my Listerine with...Hmmmpphhhh. Next up,. went to the bridal and photo counter where we were supposed to get 3 free photos taken. The lady told us that make-up, hair and outfit is not included in the free thingy. The hair and make-up is free if we signed-up for the slimming package or if we pay additional RM150!!! Next stop is to get our goodie bag. Apparently, we had to see the sales consultant and listen to some more sales pitch to get the goodie bag!! Since, nobody was free to entertain us, we just grabbed the goodie bag ourselves and left waiting outside the hall for our 'high-tea'! Guess what was served? Just sandwiches, fried popiah and some meehoon. Ahem, i think this is called refreshments and not 'high-tea'. Anyway, as i was really hungry, i ate the food and we left immeadiately. The goodie bag was just as cheapskate as the whole thing.

They gave us some bust ampoules, face tonic (all in trial sizes of course) and some vouchers, which can only be utilised at selected outlets (read as in Klang!!) The only thing which i found useful was the Aussino hand towel, which is really not that expensive. Oh well, lesson learnt. No more going for something without knowing the full info in future....

Quickly went home to bathe and get dressed to attend a wedding dinner. Both the bride and groom were my-colleagues and so, i met a lot of my ex-colleagues at the wedding dinner. For a 5-star hotel, the food is not that great. Anyway, it was fun catching up with some old friends...