HSBC Tree Top Adventure!

I woke up one morning and decided to explore the "forests" of Singapore. With more than 80% of Singapore's buildings sporting 6 floors and above (that's "high-rise" according to the fire regulations), you'd think we're so hard-pressed for land that we won't be able to afford idle green zones.

Well, I was wrong. Singapore has more than idle green patches. It has a few nature reserves and wetlands - most of which are easily conquerable by even the laziest couch potatoes. The National Parks Board spend millions every year conserving, creating, sustaining and enhancing the green infrastructre of Singapore.

And so, armed in my new Adidas Microbounce Etana (which I got for a steal S$79.00 at Adidas Warehouse Sale)...



... we went "jungle-trekking". Of coz, I had to pick the most scenic for our first adventure - the infamous HSBC Tree Top Walk in MacRitchie Reservoir Park. Famed for being the first of its kind in the region, the walk features a free-standing suspension bridge that connects the two highest points (Bukit Peirce and Bukit Kalang) in MacRitchie. Spanning the distance of 250m, with its highest point from the forest floor at 25m, it offers a glimpse of how it would have felt like to be Bella, when Edward carried her up amongst the trees, in the movie Twilight.



We decided to follow the orange route, which an estimated distance of 7km taking between 3-4hours, depending on our walking speed. We weren't too sure about the canopy coverage, and so decided to get there as early as possible to avoid the afternoon sun. We left the house around 0700hours and started our journey around 0800hours.


Looked like a trail leading into some ulu kampung...


Of all things I didn't expect to find... How in the world did it even get to that?


and then, it became more like a walk in the park with a solid concrete trail...


The entrance to the bridge






Signs your camera is dying... white balance fail.


Walking amongst the tree canopies

 
Nparks really thought of everything... including little surprises on the ground


Seriously felt more like a walk in a too-lush-to-be-true park


Surprisingly, we took just 2 1/2 hours to complete the route - most probably cause we jogged the route back. We even had time for KFC breakfast!

Let's see if we'll be able to go there a few weeks later.. catch the reservoir at sunset, perhaps?

STOMP '09 @ Esplanade Theatre, Singapore

date Saturday, 10 Oct 2009
time 08:00 PM
venue Esplanade Theatre, Singapore
seat type Stalls
row (R) 9-10

stars 8/10
The world's most glorified (and most expensive) noise! Hahahahaha.. worth to watch at least once in your lifetime. Ridiculously funny~!

---

http://www.stomp.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomp_(dance_troupe)

Kota Kinabalu International Airport

Well, I thought I'd do some digging into Terminal 1... so here it is..


View from Above

The Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) is just but a mere stone throw away from the city centre. In fact, the runway path goes right through the city - almost certainly imposing a comical number as the height constraint for buildings within the city!

The airport, comprising of both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, is supposedly Malaysia's second most busiest airport after KLIA. The airport first began as a military airfield for the Japanese during WW2, and was previously known as the Jesselton Airfield.
The first terminal was built in 1957, to accomodate commercial flights and international tourists.

Around the 1980s, a newer and larger terminal - now rebranded as Terminal 2 - was built to cater for the influx of air traffic. Terminal 2 now serves as the AirAsia terminal, in addition to a few other low-cost carriers, including TigerAirways.

On August 19th, 2008, Terminal 1 re-opened its doors to the public. Built at a cost of RM720 million, the new terminal would now be able to serve up to 3,200 passengers per peak hour, or an annual capacity of 9 million passengers (as a comparison, KLIA served ~27.5million passengers in 2008).



Artistic Renderings of the Proposed New Terminal 1

At first glance, one would expect the terminal to be totally brand new - with steel structures spanning great distances, "eco-friendly" skylights, and a fat load of glass. I was surprised to find that, similiar to the National Museum of Singapore, the project was designed as an extension and reconstrucion of the original terminal. The whole project, scheduled for completion by mid-2009 (which duh~! of course didn't happen), was designed with 17 aircraft parking bays, with the new wing capable of accomodating the Airbus A380.


Where The Old (left) meets The New (right)



Architectural Features


The Departure Hall column head was inspired by the Dusun Haversack. The Dusun Haversack or ‘Wakid’, is a native practice of the Kadazan-Dusun and symbolizes preparation for a meaningful journey.


Ethnic motifs of the Bajau, or Tenunan Bajau, were found as part of the flooring pattern of the main concourse.


The skylight mimics the hull of a traditional boat of the Bajau in Semporna. The Lepa, in the language of the seafaring Bajau in the east coast of Sabah, means wooden boat of many purpose. The Lepa is commonly used by the locals for fishing, ferrying people and goods, as living quarters, and to hold weddings and cultural shows, and are mainly made out of the Ubar Sluk (or Seraya Merah) wood.



Terminal 1 Design Options



The winning scheme probably got buffed up for final presentation, so obviously that looks better than the other schemes.


Amazing Shots of KKIA


Mount Kinabalu in the Background


The Departure Hall Approach


The Departure Hall


The Transit Area

Day 5: Bye-Bye! I'll Miss You!

Sob~! The end draws near...
Ok, stop being so melodramatic! Hehe...

Me and Zhi Wei didn't have time on Tuesday morning for anything else other than last minute packing and a short trip to the Handicraft Market. I wanted to get that durian container.. but oh well, everything's fated. The stalls that sold the durian weren't open yet by the time we had to leave.

We didn't even have time for breakfast because of that... but we did get a small bonus. Our car rental company were really accommodative with our request - for us to return the vehicle at the airport. The biggest inconvenience we could have caused them - someone to follow us to the airport (and drive the car back). We had basically returned the car, not only earlier (by like 3hours), but with an additional 1/4 tank - hence, I couldn't really see why they would even refuse us in the first place.

We arrived at Terminal 1 approximately 1 1/2 hours before departure. Check-in was a breeze and after, I just HAD to roam around. Frankly, I was awed... didn't really expect such a modern looking terminal. We didn't have much time to take lots of photographs (that and the single digit on my camera memory) - i'd probably look it up when I get back...



We didn't have much time to look in-depth, but some parts of the terminal looked like it was still under heavy construction. The shops, both in the public concourse and the transit area, were unfortunately quite sad - nothing much except duty free, cafe's, mcdonald's, starbucks (inside), a super-expensive-only-for-last-minute-shopping handicraft outlet, frozen seafood, and a bookstore.

Our plane took of somewhat on-time - 10 mins behind schedule to the an incoming aircraft. It was all great as due to the location and direction of the plane (whilst waiting), I got to watch a plane land as though it was coming straight at me! Enough excitement for the next few months - it's time to go home....

2 1/2 hours later - we waltzed through the Singapore Immigrations at the Changi International Airport. Didn't do everything I wanted/planned to do.. but it wasn't too bad... Now, if only I could figure out the drama during the wedding...

View of Kota Kinabalu from Signal Hill Observatory Platform

Panoramic View from Signal Hill Observatory Platform

Day 4: Thank God For Rented Cars!

We stayed at Lavender Lodge for the remainder of our trip - mainly to save money. The place received really good reviews from http://www.hostelworld.com/ and so, we decided to go ahead with the place. Their family room, which had enough beds for 5pax, only cost us RM87.40 per night! Thats RM21.85 per person/night! The room was clean - though a little cramped. It had its own bathroom - to which we were eternally grateful. It was probably my fault for not clearing up the air about the place - I should have clarified what they meant by shared bathroom. Anyhow, they even had fresh bath towels for us everyday!

We went down for breakfast at the local mamak - and ordered the uniquely KK's Roti Cobra. Basically, it was roti canai with a bullseye on top and drenched with chicken curry. Surprisingly, it was quite nice! The bullseye gave the roti canai and the curry and added flavour. Must try!

Since I was, for lack of better term, burnt to crisp, ZW wasn't up for sand and sea, and Zul woke up with a splitting headache - we decided to just slack about in the car and go sightseeing instead. Our first 2 stops - the Atkinson Clock Tower and the Observation Platform at Signal Hill.




Stop 3 and 4 were the Sacred Heart Cathedral and the State Mosque. The cathedral had a garden trail with life-sized plaster model of The Stations of the Cross. I went on a photography rampage... snapping away at all the "stations". The most interesting thing happened on the walk back to the car - where I came face to face with a snake! I'm not sure if it was of the poisonous kind, but it sure scared the hell out of me! The only time i've seen snakes are when their caged in their pretty glass boxes! That thing was big and roamed free!!!

I practically ran back to the car, lol! We went to Sabah's very own State Mosque next. Zul heard the call to prayers - so we thought he could go do his thing while we explored the mosque. Famous for probably the bomb they spent on it, a.k.a. the gold inlays on the minarets and domes, the mosque had, to me, a very interestng feature. The main minaret was designed to pierce through the entrance foyer of the mosque, through an over-structurally designed glass roof. Seriously, the architect should have done away with the steal frame. Anyhow, the foot of that minaret features a body of water, of which Zul later found out to be where the believers performed ablution. It was quite impressive - except the dandelion-looking things that surrounded the pool (to which I still don't know what they're for).




After driving about Sutera Harbour, we visited the State Museum and Heritage Village. The State Museum was totally B.O.R.I.N.G. and stuffy! Don't think those people who work there ever heard of ventilation! The Heritage Village had about a dozen life-sized Rumah Panjang we could photograph with - which made the RM2 we paid for the ticket slightly less grumble-worthy (the same ticket could be used for both places). Lucky for us, the guards didn't check all our identities - hence, I paid the "Malaysian" price for ZhiWei (RM2 for Malaysians, and RM15 for foreigners). Thank God for that!



A quick photo stop at Jesselton Point, and we were off to the City Mosque. Built in year 2000 to commemorate Kota Kinabalu's new state as a city, the mosque was designed to "float" over the "sea". The water that wraps around the mosque, channeled through a water-gate into a lake-like structure, originates from the South China Sea. We later revisited the Tun Mustapha's Foundation building, or rather, just me and ZhiWei revisited.

Following that, curiosity got the better of us - we went snooping around Universiti Malaysia Sabah, or more commonly known as UMS. If anything, it was 100x better looking than Universiti Malaya - though, most of the students there were wrapped from head to toe! I'd take NUS any day!