Travel Tips

I was a bit surprised when I receive an SMS from Fizah inviting me to her wedding dinner on June 3... Surprised as I did not expect her to tie the knot so soon... And of course, I was most happy to accept the invitation... you see, Fizah is the very first VTer that I came to know and met when I joined VT in 2003...

We arrive in Singapore in the afternoon and proceed to the Bukit Batok Community Centre for the dinner after some window shopping at Orchard Road... We can only window shop as we poor Malaysians are handicapped by the very unfavourable MYR exchange rate... It was easy enough to locate the dinner hall and was ushered in to join Wendy and Juraidah (and her spouse, Dave) by fellow VTer Tina... Mohn Hamim and Juliana joined us after that... Soon the dinner started with the arrival of newly-weds... The bride looks radiant in yellow and the groom in white... Dinner was buffet style weith lost of food and drinks for the evening... There was even a belly dance as entertainment... As for the VTers table, there are a lot of catching up to do, as the last VT meeting I attended in Singapore was in March 2005... only this time, without Fizah, who was up on the stage... hehe...

Attendees
Chia - Chiabh
Farheen - Fudge
Juliana - Joolssg
Juraidah - JuraidahJ
Mohd Hamim - Jaka63
Tina - Gweenie
Wendy - Cheapskate
Dave - Juraidah's spouse
Diana - Chia's guest
(Farheen's guest)

Pic (from left to right) Farheen, Juliana, Tina, Diana, Dave, Juraidah, Wendy, (Farheen's guest), Chia and Mohd Hamim WITH the newly-weds, Abu Hasan and Fizah

After the dinner, we have to go our way... and we departed for Johor Baru, where we stayed the night... (again) too expensive for us to stay in Singapore!!! ... We wish Abu Hasan and Fizah all the best in the future and a blissful marriage life together...

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Indochine Restaurant @ Asian Civiliazation Musuem

With the "international" VT meeting planned for in Singapore, it was indeed too tempting to attend... The day of the VT dinner meeting on March 18, 2005 was indeed full for excitement for me, to say the least... Starting from Kuala Lumpur in the morning, there was a no show of the coach (from a reputable company) after waiting for an hour... After protesting and getting a refund, I proceed to book another reputable coach company for the journey... but alas, tragedy stuck again... this time, the air-conditioning gave way... so it was to the bus depot for repair... As it will take too much time to repair, a replacement bus was used... After this, the journey was uneventful and I reach Singapore in seven hours instead of the normal five hour...

Upon arrival and a quick shower, it was off to the NATAS travel fair at Suntec City... The "tour" was completed within an hour... This is followed by a 25 minutes walk to the Asian Civiliazation Musuem... where the VT dinner was to be...

Arriving at the Indochine Restaurant, some of the VTers, including the chief organizer - Andy - were already there... I was greeted by pretty Shelly, Malaysian working in Singapore... As time passes, more and more VTers began arriving, with a total count of more than 30 (I guess)... The tables have to be re-arranged into a long table to accommodate the crowd... Everyone was excited as everyone were introducing themselves, and talking like good long lost friends... There are also VTers who attend their first VT meetings... and to these VTers, welcome to the community...

Attendees
Aamer - NukeDoc
Alexander - Zender
Andrew - Dreks
Andy - Leonik
Arjan - Armado
Cheryl - TravelBug_sg
Chia - Chiabh
Diljaan - Smile_36
Endah - EnSu
Fazahar - Fazahar
Fizah - Traps
Hadi - Skychef
Jennifer - Imstress
Jock - Roongrot99
Josephine - Icyjo24
Juliana - Joolssg
Lin - THLIN
Mark - TeaksISU
Martin - Martin_B
May - Peerapa
Mohd Hamim - Jake63
Moon - Deadgirl
Rahul - CrazyIndy
Ramon - Ramonq
Sha - Sha_stallion
Shelly - Shelly6622
Tham - Yuet29
Tina - Gweenie
Victor - Victorwkf
Wendy - Cheapskate
Xiaomei - Xiaomei
Eoin - Endah's guest
Lawrence - Arjan's guest

There were also 5 of Jock's guests and 2 of May's guest... all from Thailand - the Land of Smiles...

As everybody is hungry, dinner were ordered... and while waiting for dinner to be served, it is photography time... there must be at least one hundred photographs taken during the meeting... group photos, portraits, small group photos and photos with all poses and backgrounds... The ambience was nice on the bank of the Singapore River overlooking Boat Quay, the food was good and the fellowship superb...

It was a long drawn affair and when it was time to part at about 11:15pm, goodbyes were said with vows to meet again, in Singapore or other cities... but the party continued... The group splited up into 3 groups... One group going to Boat Quay for coffee... another group to the Long Bar for the famous Singapore Sling... and the final group went back to their Long Bath (including me after the long tiring coach journey from Kuala Lumpur) at home to relax, reflect and cherish this night out...

So till we meet again somewhere, some place... another VT meeting... I hope you enjoy the fellowship as much as I do...

For more write-up on this meeting, check the homepages of Sha_stallion and Fazahar....

Chit Chat Cafe & Restaurant

It happened to be a dark and rainy night that we have picked for the VT meeting on October 25, 2006... We have to settled for the Chit Chat Cafe as Tiong Shian Porridge Centre where we were targeting for was closed for business that day... Another set-back was that the organier, Patricia (p_yenyen) was not able to attend due to some last minute work assignment...

Attendees
Arnie - Arni_ph075
Chia - Chiabh
Jen - imstress
Orly - arklandtravel
Timmy - TheNanyangChinaman
Diana - Chia's guest
Nancy - Orly's spouse

With the change in venue, Jen was busy trying to contact those who were coming to the dinner... With her efficiency, there were no hitches and everyone managed to find the place... After food were ordered and partaken, we settled down to our fellowship... getting to know each other, exchanging travel stories, talking about future travel plans... gathering information on places where we intend to visit, etc... it was a nice meeting albeit the consistent drizzle outside...

The rain stopped as we leave the cafe after the dinner... There were no after dinner activities as everyone need to work the following morning and me and Diana have to go to the golf course early as well...

It is to be noted that this was my first Singapore VT meeting after more than a year, the last one being on March 18, 2005...

Pic (from left to right) Jen, Arnie, Diana, Chia, Timmy, Orly and Nancy