Tickets are booked, my brother exclaimed!!! 🙂 My joy knew no bounds. A dream come true after 4 years and finally parents and brother were coming down to Singapore for couple of weeks 🙂
Ever since I moved to SG, I always wanted to get my parents and brother to experience the beauty & awesomeness of this counrty. Something or the other always came in between and this trip never became a reality. Excitement was super high and their travel was approaching fast. It was my parents first ever international travel and having them here was just about the amazing feeling that I could get. Mugdha too was on her heels and counting days to 27th January 🙂
Day 1: 27th January, 2017
Final few information on call before they boarded the flight and then they were off. We could not wait for the clock to tick 6pm 🙂 Wifey had prepared welcome boards for parents as well as Mannu Bannu 🙂 Yes, that what she calls him 😀
Then we see them walking out. That Feeling!! Cannot express and I guess it is one of those moments that I will cherish through out my life. Seeing them all smiles and they seeing us all smiles – 🙂
This day was so so long! We spoke spoke and spoke as if there was no tomorrow. The happiness wasn’t sinking in, it still is not even after almost 2 weeks of they coming down. It was truly amazing. It was almost 2 when we actually thought it was a nice idea to sleep 😀
Day 2: 28th January, 2017
The iconic Marina Bay Sands was planned right before anything else. That “WOW” feeling which one gets watching the boat on top of 3 huge towers, that makes the SG trip complete 🙂
Merlion welcomed them by showering water from its mouth 😉
Even though rains spoilt most of our evening, we made it count with a back up plan and headed out towards Suntec City mall with those amazingly huge showrooms with a hell lot on display. Fountain of wealth added on to the list with beautiful evening by the fountain which was truly wonderful experience. Dad was fascinated with those sexy cars on display with Lamborgini and Ferrari taking him off his foot 🙂
I am sure this was one day we walked walked and walked! So much. Trust me, now I realise that I should not have taken them around so much right on the first day. The excitement of being in SG drove them, but otherwise it was really a tiring day. Dad & wifey went for a huge walk around the Bedok reservoir park early morning. A round trip home, is approximately 7kms and with talks and lot of talks, they both had a very good walk and talk time 🙂 This added on to their step-o-meter and by late evening, both of them were feeling each of their steps 😀
Italian Gelato – something quite new and tasty which they loved. 🙂 Always curious and ready to do something new, my parents were totally loving it here at SG.
Day 3: 29th January, 2017
Dad is a shoe freak and I am his son 🙂 So I don’t need to explain more. We both went down for some ‘Shoe Shopping’ 🙂
Nike it was! He was totally blown away with the amount of shoes on display and so with the price when compared to those in India. Just 2 shoes and he had already done his decision 🙂 Quick and fast, we were out with a wide smile on his face with a big orange box in his hand 🙂
Showing him my current client place at Changi Business Park was a proud moment.
Sentosa!!!! 🙂
Complete 2nd half dedicated solely to this amazing place. Started off with a trip on the monorail. First time experience for parents, brother as well as my wife. Even though she is in SG for the past 6 months, we did not visit the most important tourist attractions – Sentosa. So all in all, everyone were excited.
Cable car ride was thrilling. This was an internal cable car, which took us from Imbiah Station all the way till the Siloso Beach and back. To our left, it was completely sea shore with those huge ships with containers docked up. To our right we had the amazing Singapore city. It was truly mesmirizing.
Post the cable car ride, parents visited Madam Tussads as dad was so keen on meeting up with Narendra Modi 🙂 Yes, he is a huge fan and this visit to see his wax statue was worth it. His excitement is totally seen below:
Mannu, Mugdha and myself tried the skyline-luge! Luge is something very similar to Go-Kart with the only difference being, no accelerator here and this works only down the slope. Pull a bit and you are off with a little more pull applies the brakes. It is one awesome ride to experience. Go down the mountain via the luge and come up on the skyline. Skyline is similar to the cable car but an open one 🙂 Its totally worth it.
Our 3rd attraction was supposed to be Sea Aquarium but due to time constraint we could not make it and hence visited the Tiger Tower. Over 20 storeys high and rotating a very slow speed, the view is absolutely magnificient. Even Malaysia can be seen from the top.
The day ended with the absolutely brilliant and mind blowing lazer show – Wings of Time! All were floored by this one and their expression post the show said it all. An award winning show which captures everyones eyes. One cannot miss this show if you visit Sentosa Islands.
All in all an eventful day with lot of amazing things seen. Days were flying off and the happiness amongst us was just too hard to contain.
Day 4: 30th January, 2017
As it was Chineese New Year weekend, me and Mugdha both had a long weekend and it was good time for parents to come down. Fort Canning Park and Clarke Quay were on the cards.
Rains spoilt the evening with Fort Canning just did not happen. Getting wet in the rains was fun, but the overall site visit did not serve the purpose. Clarke Quay on the other hand was a silent but lovely experience. Due to rains, the crowd was less and as the evening progressed the rains drifted off. We enjoyed the lovely evening by the Boat Quay as well as the walk through those amazing restaurants across the river.
Commenting on the folks who enjoyed the reverse bungee jump was super fun! We were so much into it that we wanted the bungee to twist and turn multiple times just for us to feel the adrenaline 😛 Poor people who rode the one during those multiple turns might have had hearts in their mouth 😀
When you do not get to roam around, sitting at a place and enjoying the beauty with your loved ones gives a different kind of happiness alltogether.
We visited one amazing restaurant, Annalakshmi – where by you eat as much as you like and also pay as much as you like. Yes! That’s their model with only vegeterian food on the menu. I must say, it was delicious. After the long walks that we did, it was full-filling. Ambience of the place and the warm welcome added on to it. There was this lady who looked like a newbee cooking those ‘Aapams’ and most of the one she prepared were undercooked. People were waiting for it and she in a hurry gave away the undercooked ones as well 😀 Mannu was at his best. He waited till all left, sat around with eye on the aapams and right when it was good, he would tell us to go and get it 😀 In that way, she was not pressurized and we did not get the undercooked ones 🙂
All in all a good day to sign off.
Day 5: 31st January, 2017
5th and 6th day of their visit, I & wifey both had to return back to office. As Marina Bay Observation deck was not ticked off our list, we decided to visit in the evening. Luckily the rains took a break and the weather was perfect to enjoy the view atop 56th floor of Marina Bay Sands.
Parents, bro and wifey were awestruck from that amazing view of the skyline on one side and the garden view from the other. Even though my dad has the fear of heights, standing on top there, was he says is one of the best experiences he ever had in his life. So it was for mom and bro. Pics Pics and more pics followed before we sat down and enjoyed that amazing view. It just wasn’t sinking in for them.
A glimpse of “Infinity Pool” from one side of the deck and that was one more thing which is worth a visit. Only guests who stay at the hotel have access to the pool and hence this one is still pending for them as well as me 🙂
By now, they were well versed with the MRT and bus routes around our place and just giving them the directions would suffice. :)you
Day 6: 1st February, 2017
A day off from travel and it was a couple of meetings scheduled for dad and brother with dinner at Ambica’s place. As usual, it was super fun to be around with the hosts – ‘The Kudva’s’ 🙂 The lil kudva with his ‘bappa, bappa’ calls. Just love him more and even more every single time you meet. Away from India, parents were happy to meet Bavaji and Ambica and it felt like a family reunion they mentioned. Even though they had met only once earlier back in India, this was like a long family get together 🙂 Thanks to Bavaji & Ambica for making the evening memorable 🙂
Day 7: 2nd February, 2017
It was shopping day! 🙂 Shopping is so much fun, with parents around and buying stuffs for them is even more fun 🙂
China Town is always the goto place in SG for souvenirs and the fridge magnets which usually are given as gifts. You cannot stop yourself from filling your basket. Such are the stuffs around there, for any shopping freak, it would definitely be worth a visit. As the name goes, the street just outside the MRT station is filled up quite a lot of shops with loads and loads of eye catching things.
We took off to Little India post China Town. Any Indian coming to SG, the visit is not complete without a visit to Little India and Mustaffa 🙂 Name any Chocolates, they have it. Visiting such an enormous store which has every single thing that you would want in your life – from pin to gold 🙂 Yes, I am not joking, he does sell Gold as well. Worthy experience.
It was very kind of my boss to come down to little india to have dinner with my family. I really appreciate his care and concern, even after being my boss he did come over for dinner as a matter of respect towards my parents. Thanks boss 🙂
Day 8: 3rd February, 2017
Again a rain spoilt evening at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. My first ever visit to this amazing place (I know, staying is SG for so long and still the first trip 😛 ) and I was spell bound at the way they have constructed this whole gardens just next to the bay. If not for the rains, it would definitely be even more fun filled. Not that we could not look into any of the attractions inside there. The ones we did visit were truly majestic, specially the Supertree Groove. GoPro really does wonders in capturing this amazing view in a single shot 🙂
Mannu as usual is brilliant with his photography skills which is evident from his instagram page – www.instagram.com/mildwave . Some of his pictures were beyond amazing and the way he clicked those were also worth a watch 😛
2 umbrellas and 5 folks 🙂 Umbrella Management was the key here 😀 With me and dad being the thinnest of the lot, we took one umbrella and the other 3, not so thinnest took one more 😛 Drenched in the rains, this was an amazing walk down the gardens.
There are quite a lot of things to cover here and I am going to have a full day dedicated to this place in the coming weekend 🙂
With rains pouring down, wifey had something hot and yummy prepared – Onion Pakodas 🙂 Absolutely yummy from wifey! The weather added flavor to it 🙂
Day 9: 4th February, 2017
This was the best day I must say. All 5 at home, with no plans whatsoever 🙂 Lots of games of cards which I won 😀 😀 (obvisously 😛 ) and getting some handy tips from 2 big Chartered Accountants was worth every minute. A late evening visit to Bedok Reservoir Park summed up the day. Dad already was in awe of this place for its 5km jogging track around the reservoir which early morning has its own charm. The serene surrounding made the evening with family truly worth living. 🙂 Cannot describe sometimes the feeling of having your loved ones around. Sometimes its sad that we all are not together every single day. I really and heartily want that day to come soon!
Some more shopping followed with a visit to the nearby huge mall. The superstore here called ‘Fair Price’ had a lot to offer as well 🙂 We are always good at shopping 😀 It was a good day which ended me watching the Chelsea game on the huge screen at the Tampines Hub 😛 Yes, Chelsea won by a comfortable scoreline.
Pani Puri time it was back at home. All sitting down, waiting for their share of Puris 🙂 Ahaa, this added so much taste to the pani puri 🙂 Finger licking good 🙂
Day 10: 5th February, 2017
The feeling of having missed out on the ‘Sea Aquarium’ was too much to bear for me and I somehow managed to fit in one more day at Sentosa 🙂 Yes, dedicated to ‘Sea Aquarium’ and the lovely beaches. 🙂
‘Sea Aquarium’ – one word for this experience is “SOOTHING”.
Getting to see so many underwater creatures, some of which we would not even imagine exists is wonderful. For aqua maniacs it is bliss. Sharks, Sting Rays, Fishes – tons of them. Its just wow 🙂
Even though there is no scarcity for beaches back in Manipal for them, the Siloso beach here at Sentosa has its own charm. The lovely sunset with bunch of ships in the foreground makes the sunset worth watching 🙂
Back home, it was yummy patholi time 🙂 A konkani dish prepared with the jaggery and rice dough steamed with turmeric leaves 🙂 Yummy!! Yes, my tummy is growing 😛
Day 11: 6th February, 2017
The feeling had already started to kick in! Just one more day and they would be traveling back to India and I wanted the time to stop, rewind back 10 days and start playing in loops for ever.
Day 12: 7th February, 2017
9pm was their flight back to Bengaluru and since the previous day, eyes were moist, heart quite heavy. We all had such an amazing time and we dint want it to end. This feeling was mutual amongs all of us.
For dad, it was his long wish to travel abroad and away from his office chores, no phone calls as well, he was totally in a holiday mood. Amma on the other hand, hates travelling. Forget Singapore, she does not travel down to her mothers place Koteshwar which is hardly 30 mins from Manipal often. For her to come down, relax and spend quality time with her whole family and not feeling the tension which she usually does during travel which is something which made all of us super happy. Many more trips in the days to come for sure to SG 🙂 Just love having her around. Finally, for brother, it was a cool vacation 🙂 Enjoy till it lasts – his mantra. His one liners always a killer. As the day progresses, he gets into his groove and there is no arguing with him when it comes to his killer instincts. The atmosphere with him around just turns electric 🙂
Dad always had his morning ‘SHOPPING’ walks 😀 Post morning tea, he would go around our neighbourhood and shop for something or the other. Fruits were on top priority with a couple of new items everyday and then it came to croceries, utensils and what not 😀 and guess what he even managed to bargain and get items from here 🙂 Just can’t believe it 🙂 Parents named Murugan stores as ‘Shanmugam’ 😛 and the Tampines bus interchange as ‘Majestic’ 😀 I don’t think, we will ever call these by their right names ahead 😀
Wifey was at her super best, fully busy cooking and serving as many lovely yummy dishes as possible whenever she found time. Pizza’s, Patholi, Happla Peet, Meethi Parota, Brinjal Yennegai and the list goes on and on and on! Out of her excitement, she was confused as to what to do and what not to. Love her for everything she has done.
Overall, it was such an amazing trip that I cannot thank malshi enough for making this one a reality. A long long dream fulfilled 🙂 Wishing many more of these to come at regular intervals 🙂
Love you all!
Cheers,
Muki
Moments Through The Journey 