Sunday, May 14, 2006

Feeling Poor?

Both Sandy and I were feeling like paupers after our trip overseas. So, we racked our tiny brains for costless, or, at least the possibly lowest-costing activities we can do in Singapore. "Eh", she offered an unsavory solution, "Let's just go your house and hang out lah. Watch DVDs..."

Blah. I need something outdoors! Outdoors! We could trek the Treetop Trail (We've done that.), Kent Ridge Park (Every bloody Sunday for me and my dog)... We could do sports - cycling (mmm..?), tennis (mmmm!)... We could .... We could go laze around on the beaches of the little overhyped touristy island known as Sentosa!

And so we did, on an overcast Saturday morning, with nary a ray of sunlight in sight. Nevertheless, the bright optimistic sparks in us soldiered on (probably because we are too poor to do anything else, ha ha). We took a bus from the Harborfront Interchange, paid SGD3 for our admission and ta dah... got ourselves very comfortable among the palm trees on a spot near Siloso Beach indeed.





We dug out our treasure trove of food which consisted of packets of beehoon, tuna and cheese sandwiches, chips, biscuits, apples and drinks. The assortment of magazines we brought was amazing, ranging from serious business reads of Fortune to healthy reads of Shape to entertainment magazines like 8 days. We could stay there for days!

Instead, we spent hours yakking about our lives, mildly disturbed by a bout of rain. We shifted into the Emerald Pavilion where Sandy plugged into her iPod and duly fell asleep. I started on my new book - Tuesdays with Morrie.

After the rain ceased, we moved back onto the sandy beach, lounging around for about an hour or two, until we decided to try the new Sentosa attraction - skylifts and luge. SGD8 will pay for the skylift up to the top where you can race your luge down.

I must say the guy who ushered us to the chairlifts isn't someone whom you described as an epitome of calm. This is especially a tut-tut for placating people like Sandy, who even before going up the chairlifts, revealed "Eh, I got fear of heights one leh." Strange, isn't it? For someone who is that tall, I imagined that would be the least of her fears. *Snigger*

Anyhoo, the guy was tremendously gan chiong, because the chairlifts simply do not wait for your to slowly climb onto them. Instead, I would say the chairlifts simply SWEEP you off your feet by scooping you up. It can be extremely chaotic when I am half-wondering at the insolence of the chairlifts, half trying to concentrate on the chairlift guy who is continuously spouting "Standonthedottednumbers!Standonthedottednumbers!Sitwithyourlegsseparate!SEPARATEYOURLEGS!SEPARATE....!!!" Hello, you have to give people some time to figure out what the fark the dotted numbers are?

I swore he bearly had the time to push the safety bar down and I didn't have my chance to show him my finger. Ha ha. But ah, what a sight to behold, as the chairlift swiftly took off. And soon, it began to dawn on me how high it really was. Look! I'm on the top of the world. Look at those teeny-weeny people below at my mercy! MUHAHAHA!



Me: Eh, Sandy! Very HIGH hor! Very HIGH hor! *excited*

I turned to look at a mildly green-colored Sandy.

Sandy: Don't tell me it's very high lor! Don't tell me! I'm already not looking down. *Faint*
Me: If I don't tell you, can't you see that it's very high? (Funny hor, this Sandy.)
Sandy: Don't say already! My hands sweating!
Me: Ooo! Ooo! I feel as if my slippers're gonna drop leh!
Sandy: Ahhh, my feet are sweating too!

Being the evil menace that I am, I took advantage of the situation to snap many photographs of her looking like a shade of chlorophyll.



Subsequently, we reached the top and we were to go back down by the luge. We donned on our ill-fitting helmets, looking more ridiculous than snugly protected.



When it was our turn, an assigned instructor was to inform us on how to operate the luge. It was a no-brainer, really. All you need to do is to pull the handle-lever forward to slow down, and let it go a little to go forward. Still, for some reason I fail to comprehend, after a quick spouting of intructions, the instructor found it necessary to stamp a "PASSED" on your hand.



Oh great! Now I have a little blue "PASSED" unwashable stamp on my hand where I can flaunt to everyone proudly, exclaiming "Look! Look! I passed my luge. I would like to thank my father, my mother, my dog..."

Right.

So, the luge was pretty fun. But the fun was pretty short-lived. I wished the track could go on a little longer, though.

After the luge and laughing at our own silly photographs, we hopped on the beach tram which is utterly free. Free! That is a sweet word to us paupers, yes, it is.



We watched people frolick at the beach as the tram trotted by, finally alighting again at where we originally laid our mats. The New Zealand Natural Ice Cream store beckoned. Did I mention we were paupers? What strange inexplicable power the creamy invention has over us women. We dug into our already-impoverished wallets and I got myself a yummy cup of Mango Fruit-Flo.

Finally, we decided to board the bus back for home. The allue of free home-cooked dinner! Muhaha.

So all in all, my expenses include: SGD3 (Admission) + SGD8 (Chairlift and Luge) + SGD5 (Optional Yoghurt).

Not bad, eh. You know where to go where you are feeling poor now, don't you?

Well, the penny-pinching Saturday wasn't ended at that, there was still Shuling's Birthday Countdown that night to narrate...

2 Comments:

Blogger musette said...

u're lucky that i didn't turn totally green & puke on u! then again, u may never want to go out with me ever again after that. wouldn't want to risk that. *covers mouth with hand*

12:11 AM  
Blogger jellybeano said...

will puke one meh? Won't la. It's not a roller coaster. Just damn high only ma. Ha ha. If you puke, please aim at passers-by below!

1:30 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home