Countdown To 2010 - Chilling at Clarke Quay

Goodbye 2009, Welcoming 2010!

It's the last day of 2009 and the start of another new decade. It's amazing how we have just seen the start of one millenium and it's the start of another decade. How time flies! We did not work for the countdown event at Esplanade again this year as we reckon it will be another squeezy event at Esplanade. We headed off to Clarke Quay after our short day's of work, enjoying the roving performances at the Esplanade Park area before heading off to Saizeraya for dinner.

There was a pretty long queue by the time we arrived and thank god Thomas was there earlier to queue for us. We decided to spoil ourselves bad that day, as it is going to be another new year for all of us! Had a sumptuous varieties of Escargot, Clam Chowder, Smoked Duck, Scallop and other dishes. It is really a worthwhile eating place to dine at if you are thinking of having a gathering with your friends.

The couple watches!

They have it too!

Saw Hui min outside Saizeraya as we are about to leave and Starbuck for chilling. Of course must take a picture with on the last day of 2009!

Me and Hui Min

Thereafter, we headed down to Riverside Walk at Clarke Quay area to enjoy the festive mood and bought ourselves a lighted head band as part of our countdown gear. Took some pictures around the area before heading off to Starbucks at The Central and chill while waiting for the fireworks to take place. Though we can only see part of the fireworks amidst the tall buildings around the area, we were glad that we did not have to be drowned in the crowd somewhere else. We chatted till 2am and took more pictures before heading home to welcome 2010 in our dreamland =).

1st overseas trip with the Esplanade Peeps - Kuala Lumpur

KL Trip

This is abit overdue, but we just had to post it as it is our 1st and most memorable overseas trip thus far with our friends from Esplanade. It took me (Alan) weeks of planning and confirmations before we managed to make this trip happen, as it was hard to coordinate due to the different work/ school schedules each of us has. Special thanks also to Angela for helping out to plan the itenary for the trip...though we did not really stick to it...HEHE

Day 1

We set off bright and early at 7am from the bus terminal at Victoria Street. Took a number of photos on board the coach and arrived at Kuala Lumpur only around 4pm.

Pairing up as couple to get seated on the bus. Alan of cos is with me, the two la - Nortilla with Angela and Alvin with Pei Ling. Poor threesome who got the single seat, Meng Zhong, Andrew and Jaron.

We checked into our hotel - The Legend, a five-star hotel at the out skirt of the main city. Although the location was not really favorable for our shopping trip, the interior environment of the lavish hotel was enough to compensate for its somewhat inaccessible location.

707! Seriously is not that good, try Grassland I would say.

Though we were quite worn out from the coach ride, we decided to make full use of our time and had a quick meal at the Pizza Hut below our hotel, before heading down to Berjaya Times Square to kick off our shopping escapade.

Check out Jaron's pink camera!

Taking the lao pok monorail

It is a huge shopping mall with many levels of shops selling wide varieties of goods. Although they were not exceptionally cheap, the varieties there were enough to compensate for the price. In the end, only the guys who manage to grab many stuffs I would say. The ladies clothes there are either very old school or not worth the price buying.

Thereafter, we headed down to a row of hawker food stalls, otherwise known as Jalan Alor, which is behind Berjaya Times Square for our dinner and the food there was real cheap! We indulged ourselves in the galore of seafood which we might not be able to afford back in Singapore. It is too cheap to be true.

Our 2 food sweepers of the day

Day 2

We had our buffet breakfast at the hotel cafe. There was a huge varieties of food as well and filled our stomach so much that we hardly had any space for lunch. We headed off to LOT 10, Sungei Wang Plaza and The Pavillion, which all happens to be around the same area to continue with more shopping. We had lunch at a restaurant in The Pavillion and the food there was good, although the service is kinda slow. Thereafter, we headed off to the Patronas Tower and it started to rain on our way there. We were caught in the rain and had to seek shelter at the convention centre to dry ourselves before proceeding again. Towards dinner time, we headed to our next stop at Petaling Street for some budget shopping and local cuisine. It is one of my favourite shopping haunt for the whole trip as the things there were real cheap. We did not have much time to shop there, as we had to rush for the last train back to our hotel.

My newly bought Chip & Dale from KL

Day 3

Our schedule was quite packed for this day, as we only had half a day left before departing back to Singapore. We had a quick breakfast again at the hotel cafe before setting off to Sogo shopping mall which is just a few train stops from our hotel. However, the area was pretty disappointing, as there was literally nothing much to shop and the things there were identical to what we have in Singapore. After a few hours, we decided to head back to our hotel for some last minute shopping from The Mall below our hotel. Bought some food stuff and grab a quick lunch from the local KFC before heading off to our rooms and pack up for departure at 3pm. Though we were told that the bus would be at the hotel lobby at 3.30pm, it came pretty late and we regretted coming down to wait so early when we could have done more shopping!