Telunas 2014

I brought my family to Telunas last April on 18, 19 and 20th April 2014 and we had a fabulous time!

STAGE ZERO

Of course, initially, as I had recounted, my siblings were extremely reluctant about going someplace where internet was not available. 

"What the hell! There's no internet? What are we going to f------ do there?! Wahhh.... Seriously, I don't want to go there anymore." Honestly, it was like they were about to wage a protest against me. If I was a tour guide to Telunas and my whole group were a bunch of tech geeks, they would be pissssssssed.


STAGE ONE
Upon arrival at Sekupang Terminal, we were supposed to find the staff of Telunas --> They would be wearing blue and ready to pick us up the moment we arrived. True enough, they were standing there, waiting for us, return tickets and list of names on hand. 'Emily?' (She mispronounced my name, Emilia) Not wanting to embarrass her, I went ahead and acknowledged that as my name. (Which would turn out to be a bad decision considering I had to endure her calling me by a stranger's name for the next 2 days)


STAGE ONE POINT FIVE

Because we were provided the express service, us and other tourists toward Telunas were able to skip the long queue for passport check at the customs. Our passports were all placed together with a Telunas staff and we proceeded towards out Sampan boat. She explained that she would return our passports to us once she received it. However, just as we were all ready to board, a tourist started making a fuss.

"Why can't we have our passports now? If we queued the normal way, shouldn't we have our passports by now?" The staff tried to explain that it was faster this way but he insisted on having his and his family members' passports with him. I can understand where he is coming from, your passport is your identity card the moment you're overseas so you have to keep it with you at all costs. Apparently, as I found out 2 and a half days later, they kept the passports in their safe and would only return them to us the moment we paid our bill. That's sneaky is what I think.

As a result of that, the Telunas staff had no choice but to bring the guy back to the terminal (which is a 10 minutes walk away from the harbour where we were currently at) to retrieve the passports.

And so, for another 20 minutes, we just sat at the dock, waiting for the man who's wasting our beautiful beach time since we couldn't just leave him behind without a transport to Telunas (we're just too nice).

I guess it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we ended up enjoying the view and buying a few snacks at the food stands nearby.

STAGE 2: ON THE SEAS

The boat ride towards Telunas was almost an hour long and the horrible noise emanating from the engine just made it even more unbearable BUT, if it's any consolation, the sloshing sounds of the water against the boat, the slapping of the wind against your cheeks and the breeze running through your hair should be able to ease that little bump.

Of course my tech geek brother had to bring his phone, he's practically married to it

Need I repeat that it was almost an hour's ride? 

But I have to say, the waters were stunning. I guess growing up in a city like Singapore, you rarely get to immerse yourself into nature despite the abundance of trees. 

STAGE 3: TELUNAS

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

- Nelson Mandela

Telunas was a beauty in itself, everything was still the same as it was when I left in 2012. It was amazing and I'm happy I was able to share it with my family in the 3 days we were there. We kayaked, had pizza, dock jumped, went fishing and just had a very laid-back, relaxing time-something we would never have gotten had we just stayed back in Singapore during the Friday holiday + free weekend.

I'm glad my sister and youngest brother mentioned that they wish to come back again one day simply because it was peaceful and they loved the beach.

Telunas I'm Coming for Yooooooooooooou

I'll finally be introducing to my family, Telunas, the place I've been telling them so much about the first time I went there. Read the following post if you missed it.

Telunas is absolutely beautiful and relaxing, definitely somewhere you would want to go for a cheap relaxation trip. 9 people for only SGD2600.00 and this includes accommodation, food and travel! Plus a river tour and pizza making that I arranged for. Hopefully, my family will enjoy their time here. 

My only worry or so to say, 'irritation' would be my dad. He loves comparing places and making mountains out of molehills. It's super frustrating. I would love for him to just soak in the moment and enjoy the surroundings. Would have to tell him THAT before we leave LOL

Can't wait for the clear water beach!! 5 weeks more, 5 weeks more :)

3 Tips When Booking Through a Travel Agency

In the past 3 days where I was working under a travel agency as a flier/brochure girl, I managed to learn a thing or two about travel agencies and their deals. Whether it was through a customer or other sales people themselves, the insights they gave were definitely something to think about:

1. Better Free and Easy or Land Tour than take a full package guided tour. Usually, the agencies jack up the air prices for tours. If it was 500 dollars, they'd do a mark up or in simpler terms, increase the price to 560 or 600 so that they can earn the profit. So at the end of the day, it is better to buy your own air ticket.
   
2. Never fully trust a 1 for 1 package deal. Usually, it would be like this: '1 for 1 deal! Fr. $889'
   
   See that Fr.? In case you don't know, that's FROM. Which means that it does not include surcharges and taxes that can be up to an additional two hundred or so. Then sometimes there would be additional charges for the other person too since you need to charge individuals for their airport taxes. By the end of the day, you're actually paying enough for two people =_= Maybe more since that dang travel agency needs to earn some profit no?
   
3. Cheap Tours. Let me explain what i mean by this. I was looking at another travel agency for their Korean Land Tour (buy own air ticket and sometimes accommodation as well) and they had this one tour at the Namsan Tower at SGD 60. Slowly skimming the attractions they wanted to showcase to the tourists, I realised that everything was free except lunch which would be paid for. Every other thing was absolutely FREE. So basically, I would be paying 60 freaking dollars for lunch which would have costed less than 10 considering the exchange rate. I might as well just throw my money into the bin! So one thing to take note of, make sure you pay for a tour that doesn't wholly include just tours that are FOC. Because if it is, you might as well go there yourself, plus you would still be holding on to your money.

Photo via visualize us

Before Genting Part I

So ladies and gentlemen, you all know that i went to Genting a few months back and it was both a crazy and memorable (half good half bad way) experience that i would never ever forget. Now i will relay to you what happened and so i call this story...

"The days in Genting of 2012"

But before you can understand what happened in the 2 and a half days there, you need to know what happened before. So lets rewind back 3 weeks when the whole family decided to go to Genting.

It was a Sunday afternoon, all the kids were just lazing around in the house enjoying the heat slash rain of Sunday blues and dreading the coming Monday. I wasn't around at the time but my sister, Rin, and brother, Danial, were talking about the holidays approaching and that they had nothing to do. They talked and talked and the topic landed on: "When was the last time we went out as a family out of Singapore for the holidays?" The answer was years ago, back to even before my youngest brother was born. The fact is it HAS been a long time since we went overseas together.

So filled with the need to have a family vacation overseas, what do you get when you combine one stubborn mule of the family (Danial) with a girl who always speak logically pieced nonsensical garbage (Rin)?

YOU GET AN EPIC DEBATE.

PARENTS VS CHILDREN

The rest of us 3 children (my 2 brothers and i) had to pick a side so we chose the side that would most benefit us so yeah... WE WANNA GO OVERSEAS TOO! We proceeded to plan our course of action and then told our parents to meet us at the debate table (which was actually our dining table) at 1700 hours sharp.

Background Information:
Eldest, Female: Rin (20)
Second, Female: Me (19)
Third, Male: Danial (16)
Fourth, Male: Dhamir (14)
Fifth, Male: Iman (7)

-1600 hours-
All 5 of us locked ourselves in a room and started our plan of action.

-1604 hours-
One man down (Iman) who came up with "yay go overseas!" and started playing with his toys because we were discussing in his room

The rest continued to brainstorm ideas

-1610 hours-
Our points:

• Haven't been overseas for holidays in years
• Always in Singapore during holidays

After re-reading it though, we realised that they meant practically the same god damned thing.

-1630 hours-
2 more men down: Dhamir who couldn't be bothered anymore and laid on the bed to sleep or something. And me who laid down on the carpet to daydream.

The remaining two charged forward and decided to discuss on counter arguments instead

• money can earn again
• don't need to be anywhere far
• we need a memorable childhood experience

It goes without doubt that we were screwed.

-To Be Continued-

To Travel or Die Trying

I love to travel. Like many a people, our dreams are to travel the world, see things we never would in our homeland, sharpen our taste buds, make new friends and ultimately enjoying the wonders of nature and life outside our own. That has always been my dream as a kid when people asked me what i want in life and among my top three, one of them was to travel the world. The other two being finding a wonderful faithful gorgeous husband and having a career i love.

Which is why my interests have always wavered in between jobs that might get me into the 'travel the world' kind of business. What i'm studying now is Events Management and this job alone requires some transportation to and fro sometimes to another country. Even my internship interview asked me if i was okay travelling to another country when it would be required of me. I love that part of this job. I may not stay long in this industry though because i'm not really into events. What i love, is when i have to travel for my job. For example, air stewardess, events manager or something in a cruise ship etc. Anything that can bring me into a whole new world.

I don't know why but there is something in me that want to go somewhere. I need to go overseas at least once a year or i would feel like my life's slipping away. It's not a want, more like a need. Or i'd feel uneasy.

The things i most look forward to in all my trips are connections, people i would potentially make friends with. Without a doubt, you have to be careful, safety is a priority but not to the extent where we avoid trying to make connections with people. We were taught at a young age to not talk to strangers but lets face it, such a thing doesn't apply to our adult lives. It simply does not make any sense. Everyone is a stranger unless you give them a chance. You never know, that person may just end up being your friend. And if it doesn't feel right, you can simply just walk away.

Ultimately, all i want is to experience the world at its finest. Oh come on, we should enjoy all we can in this short life we have.

The day i travelled to Singapore's POI

If you haven't got it by now, POI means Places Of Interest.

In a span of less than 3 hours, i ran an errand- running from Dover to Chinatown then to Geylang at Paya Lebar. Took the wrong train at the Green line towards Pasir Ris when i should have taken the circle line towards Bishan for me to transfer to the Red line to reach Choa Chu Kang followed by a ride on the LRT to finally reach home. I practically travelled all the MRT lines today huh? (Confusing enough for you?)

All this for a bunch of children and to satisfy my cravings.

Let me start from the top...


While in Chinatown
Chinatown is a fantastic place to go when you need to find lots of cheap/value for money stuff for yourself as well as souvenirs for overseas friends. Which is the reason i went there in the first place. The moment i exited the Chinatown MRT and out onto the streets of shophouses, booths and coffeeshop, i knew i was at the right place. You see, Chinatown MRT has many exits to take to take to the ground level, Exit A to Pagoda Street, Exit B to Chinatown Complex, C to Eu Tong Sen St and a couple more exits. If you're wise, you'd look at the locality map that is available at the station and plan from there which exit to take, if not, then you would be in a hell of a roller coaster ride.

To get to the street of wonderful souvenirs, food as well as the Chinatown Heritage Centre, take Exit A, Pagoda Street. Fortunately, i found what i needed in 10 minutes and got out of there as quick as i could. The sun was blistering hot and without my sunglasses, i had to squint my eyes the whole time i was on the main street. SUCH A PAIN. I was actually finding keychains to give my children in Cambodia, not literally though. I went to Cambodia a few weeks ago under YMCA and Singapore Polytechnic to teach and interact with a bunch of children at an orphanage as well as help build infrastructure for a family at a village. The kids were always jovial and some very naughty and cunning but i managed to bond with a couple of them, especially the class that i taught english to. I miss them so much. Which is why when i found out that a few of the caretakers from Cambodia were coming to Singapore for a short while, i had to pass to them stuff to give my children there.

So i bought gift bags and filled them with chocolates and keychains (from Chinatown) for my level 1 class. I hope they will get it :)


Geylang Si Paku Geylang 
On to Geylang i went but i was stopped on my tracks because there was not one MRT on the line that said 'Geylang'. I admit, as a local, i'm such a failure to not know where Geylang's nearest MRT is. So i did what anyone in my position would do, call my mom. Turned out, she didn't know either but her friend sitting next to her who overheard the conversation immediately jumped to my rescue and said it was at Paya Lebar MRT and there i went. For a moment, i did feel like a tourist, not knowing which direction to take :)

The best time to go to Geylang is during the fasting month and Hari Raya because that is where you can absorb all the malay culture in, from the food to the traditional costumes, it's really wonderful! Every fasting month, there is a bazaar held in whatever place possible in Singapore. And Geylang had a big one just right outside the MRT entrance.

The errand was to find Sarang Semut. It is a biscuit among many others that are eaten during Hari Raya, termed Biskut Raya.

There are tons of Biskut Raya, not just these on top. So among all these, i had to find one particular snack called Sarang Semut. I searched high and low i tell you, from the bazaar to a mall and a second bazaar and a third one only to return to the first bazaar which actually had a sarang semut because i underestimated the the size of the place. So lesson learnt here is to look closely and patiently instead of rushing all over the place to find what you need.

So here it is, my darling Sarang Semut, after almost an hour of searching, i've finally found you <3

Signs of Cambodia

The first few signs I saw as I touched down on the wonder that is Cambodia

Hawker stalls on the street outside our hotel

Not sure what all these mean but it's pretty cool to look at because you don't see stuff like this back in your own country

You Learn New Things Everyday

2 weeks of Cambodian lifestyle have really changed who i am. I’m not saying that i have miraculously become patient or less testy. What i’m saying is that i now see the world in a bigger picture.

In the past, all i know and all i do are for myself, i don’t call myself a selfless person in the past. Yes i may have donated to charity from time to time but that’s all i mostly do or have done. I’ve never gone beyond that, never gone that extra mile.

Two weeks in Cambodia have taught me that I could be greater than this.

It taught me to be frugal. In Siem Reap, there was a village which my team and I went to, we had to wash and bathe the children. I thought it was as simple as that, what more could you expect? When I went there, there was more to it than I had imagined. The village area smelled like a pig sty. The only source of water came from a pipe which you had to keep pushing up and down a lever to get. And what was more shocking to me was the things they said.

“The shampoo smells so nice.” It was lice soap to get rid of those pests that are-slash-were ‘sleeping’ among their hair. When I had to dry their hair, it was so rough and their hands… they had calloused hands. For someone of their age, 5 to 12 to have such hardened skin, is saddening. After the program, it turns out that they used detergent to clean themselves because its cheaper. Detergent! It’s not even safe to use it, especially to a child.. If I knew they were in need of shampoo, I would have brought some to them, who knew it would have been so vital.

That day, I learnt to be frugal. And it was only lesson one.

Streets of Cambodia

The way the roads work in Cambodia are no different from Vietnam, (its neighbouring country) crazy with no order. The good thing is that i have been well 'trained' from my experiences in Vietnam. Yes, the disciple has become the master. I still remember back in Vietnam last year, every time i crossed the road, i'd hang on so tightly to my friend's arms and scream whenever a car brushed past me as if it was about to ram me to the ground. Throughout the 3 weeks there, never have i crossed the road without a chaperon.

The only time i crossed a road myself was in the 3rd week when my friend wanted me to learn on my own and just left me to my own devices. To cut the long story short, i nearly had an accident.

Well, at least now, i can lead my fellow mates to cross a 'Cambodian' road without breaking a sweat :)

Siem Reap is poorer compared to Phnom Penh so there aren't as much traffic in Siem Reap than in the capital. Also, the people in Siem Reap are generally more friendlier than the people of Phnom Penh.

Everyone mostly wear long sleeved clothes even though it's sweltering hot there because they need to protect their skin. Even if it's stuffy inside, the layer of clothing actually protects your skin from the rays of the direct sunlight which can be more damaging to a person not wearing long sleeves.

Kid riding a bike to school

I'm finally home

The last 2 weeks have been a blast, i made wonderful new friends, overseas and local, tasted different food, experienced a whole different lifestyle and more importantly, forged bonds that will last a lifetime. I'll cover more soon, cya!

Off to the Unknown

I'm heading off to Cambodia soon and this time tomorrow, i'd be in Siem Reap. Hopefully, everything would go well because i've already offended a number of people (members of the trip). Oh well, you can't please everybody, there's some haters and then there's lovers. I just hope i'll get along well with almost everybody. At least for the next 2 weeks because they're gonna be my family for this period of time.

But it is all going to be worth it because this is Cambodia! I get to travel to another country at an extremely subsidised cost! I'm paying actually S$600 lesser than the actual price y'know! This is one benefit of having a school trip :)

If only i get to bring along my family with me, that'd be awesome. Too bad i don't. I just hope everything goes well in the next 2 weeks, i'm worried about everything. I'm a worrier. From food to accommodation to friends. Please god, let everything run smoothly until my flight back home.

So this is me signing off! Check this space again on the 23rd June and you'll see what adventures i've gotten myself into :)

Taking a Trip To Telunas

Last September, I had the opportunity to be a part of a camp where i had a taste of nature, was isolated from the outside world and experienced many adventures which would turn out to be memories i forever will hold. 4 groups of students, about 15-20 per group, including myself, took a boat down to Telunas, Riau Island and had a 3 day camp there. 

Map

That small red balloon is where Telunas is located where we travelled all the way from Singapore which is at the top of the picture

Firstly, let me brief you in on its history... Telunas is located at one of Indonesia's mini islands, it was bought by an Ang Moh who turned the island into a getaway or leadership camp hotspots. One of the Singapore Polytechnic (SP) lecturers actually found the island and recommended it to the board to be the place for future SPOT (Singapore Polytechnic Outstanding Students) students to have their leadership camp in. And that's how this yearly camp tradition began for every 2nd year SPOT students. SPOT is actually a program to grow students to be a Leader, Humanitarian and Communicator, I'm lucky to be a part of it :) Fortunately or unfortunately, the spouse of the SP lecturer is from Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), SP's rival school and she also recommended it for some of their camps.

Upon arrival, we were treated to their speciality drink which consisted of some fruits i guess, it was a lil sour to me so i gave up on trying to finish it after a few sips. Immediately after the briefing which consisted of the lunch time, merchandise store etc. we proceeded to our bunks. Each bunk has about 8 beds and one toilet inside the bunk, you'd think it's dirty or something because this place is on some island but it's quite clean and beautiful, it's too bad i didn't bring any cameras with me, not even my handphone to take a photo :(

The reason why was because my leader, Issac, said that we should not depend on technology in this next 2 or 3 days and just enjoy ourselves. I'm glad i heeded his advice because that was one of the best decisions i have ever made. The 3 days were wonderful, i immersed myself into the beauty that was this island. Fortunately, one of the girls, brought along her Nikon Coolpix which helped take the next few photos that i'm about to show you :) Photo credits go to Alexandria, thanks babe!

The Beautiful Wonders that is this Island

The planks we had to walk on had quite a gap (about 4 or 5cm) so for the first 2 days, i would make sure that i don't step on the gaps but eventually, i realised i was being a little paranoid that i'd fall through and ended up running on them by the 3rd day.

These walkways and wooden cabins were super beyond the coast and thousands of feet (i'm exaggerating but it feels that way since i can't swim) above the sea floor. So you can understand my paranoia.

this photo was taken below the dock where we jumped off to do our jetty jump. IT WAS AWESOME...

Genting Treats

Trekking in Nepal

An acquaintance of mine went trekking in Nepal with a bunch of other school mates and i'm filled with so much travel envy. The meaning? Check this link.

Anyways, i'd like to share a couple of photos he shared on Facebook, photo credits go to Lenz and Leapions Media.

"After raining heavily in chhomrung, we checked in at the excellent view top and restaurant and was greeted by a full double rainbow across the sky. It was intense. We could see Annapurna south as the clouds cleared as well"

-Lenz

Planking in Nepal

Waterfall frozen in time