The Tube - Only Bridge to Cut Across Orchard Road @ Orchard Gateway [Singapore]

Stroll leisurely along Singapore's busiest shopping belt and you would have noticed something; there was literally no overheard bridges connecting pedestrians on both sides of the walkway.

And it was true. No overheard bridge for the entire stretch of Orchard Road until 26 April 2014 when Orchard Gateway was officially open, together with the glass sky-bridge you see in the above picture!

I have been waiting to check it out for the past year and the chance finally came last month when the Teo siblings decided to have dinner at 313 Somerset! 

Its title as Orchard Road's first bridge didn't seem to attract much attention from the shoppers that were filling the stalls a few floor below; oh well, no complaint from me since i have always preferred places with less people.

Surrounded by a layer of glass, this bridge linking Orchard Gateway to Orchard Gateway@Emerald was air-conditioned although the setting sun created a greenhouse effect; making it slightly warmer for curious pedestrians.

The use of glass did help to provide weather-proof access for shoppers getting to the other side of the road but it somewhat distorted the view of Orchard Road that should have been more impressive! 

Didn't stop visitors from taking photographs though. 

3D artwork always injects an element of fun to a place and this particular art piece was aptly designed for the bridge! 

Given how superstitious Asians (especially Chinese) are, it was a shocker to find this on a bridge! Bet the last thing customers want is a hole in the middle of the bridge! 

Design of the bridge didn't quite blow me away in the insides even though it was a different story from the outside! 

Curvature glass panes that gave the bridge its eye catching body - really hats off to those designers / architects! Guess the bridge must have cost a bomb!

To prevent the 3D art from being a reality, do note the structure limitation and that no dancing is allowed! Okay, it wasn't mentioned explicitly that dancing is prohibited but you can infer from the words "events that generate rhythmic response / vibrations".

=====

Location

Orchard Gateway, Singapore 

[Connected to Somerset MRT Station]

Ah Seng Durian (阿城榴莲) - The Place For Durians in the West @ Ghim Moh Temporary Market [Near Buona Vista MRT Station]

I have been waiting to blog on Ah Seng Durians since last year but by the time i was done with my backlog, the durian season was already over. Whatever the case, it is the season again and i now bring to you arguably the most famous durian stall in Western Singapore; Ah Seng!

Not to be confused with the Sembawang Durian Seng (榴莲成), this Ah Seng Durian stall had a 'permanent' presence at Block 150A, Ghim Moh Road which was ironically a temporary market while the old premise was being renovated. 

A visit was scheduled two weeks ago at the start of the durian season when prices were generally still expensive. As all the species were sold out except for "gan hai", which wasn't spectacular, i decided to drop by another day with my mum.

See how crazy Singaporeans are over the thorny fruits! 

On 14 June, i went with my mum to the temporary market, happily queued up for about five minutes with about ten persons in front of me when a staff from Ah Seng asked if we have booked the durians. I replied "no" and her answer was "oh, no stock already leh.". =_=

I was back once again last Saturday and this time round, we got smart; we pre-ordered one phoenix and two cat mountain king durians! There's no way i am going to be disappointed again!

Even though we arrived on time at 1.30 pm, the stocks had yet to arrive from Malaysia; said to be traffic jam on the causeway / second link. Nevertheless, we fixed our craving by ordering one gan hai and one D13. 

D13 was much better as expected and for the three of us who had gan hai two weeks ago, we came to the conclusion that gan hai was absolutely not our cup of tea!

With the above in mind, we requested for another two D13 durians to supplement our intake. There were five of us and no way can two durians ease our insatiable craving!

Having durians alfresco style in a suburban neighbour was so my kind of thing although I would suggest coming by at night when the temperature would be much lower.

Arrival of the stocks! Or so i thought before it dawned on me that the baskets of durians were for the durian stall next to Ah Seng. Sigh, time at this moment was 2.15 pm.

Less than ten minutes later, a truck and pickup lorry were sighted delivering the king of fruits to Ah Seng! By then, the whole place was filled with people and you can feel the excitement of those who have been waiting for ages; like us! 

Time for the staff to call up the number for you to pick up your pre-orders! By the way, the man in black polo tshirt is Ah Seng; i know him but he doesn't know me; to me, I am just a hungry customer, that's all. 

Two MaoShanWangs and one phoenix! As the saying goes, go for the cat mountain king first as its rich flavour would likely render the lower species less tasty. 

And so we did; i never knew the phoenix species was so tiny! 

But we didn't regret the order; small it was yet it was compact with many seeds covered in delicious durian flesh! Every segment was just bursting with glorious durian meat that every one of us had to give it a thumbs up. 

In comparison to the puny phoenix, the maoshanwang was a giant! 

Blessed with generous yellowish flesh, it was my first cat mountain king this season and i could not wait to savour the fruit and let its texture, taste and aroma explode in my mouth!

Strangely, it wasn't as good as i remember. The taste didn't overwhelm me as it did the first time i had the species at Sindy Durians @ Balestier. It also didn't help that the meat was also rather hard. Why the seed looked so weird!?!? 

Anyway, our durian experience ended on quite an anti-climax note and that was kind of surprising! Hopefully the rest of the customers, who were still eagerly waiting for their orders when we left, had better chances with their cat mountain kings! 

=====

Location

Blk 150A, Ghim Moh Road,

#01-64, Ghim Moh Temporary Market

Operating Hours

1.30 pm to 8.00 pm (Durian Season)

Reservation

Call +6594656160

Facebook Profile Page

https://www.facebook.com/AhSengDurian

Pricing of Durians

As above (prices as of 20 June 2015)

Additional Information

Complimentary water was kindly given!

The baskets of durians were for those who had pre-ordered. Still pretty tidy then as the durian season had yet to hit its full swing and prices were not as cheap as now!

Eating durians is a messy business and if you prefer not to show your ugly side in public (especially with the burping afterwards), it might be recommended to take away your durians! That's when you would love the two machines in the picture.

Durians in tightly sealed boxes! No more injuring those passengers together with you in the trains and buses and most importantly, no pungent durian smell while you bring them home! 

Go for the vacuum pack if you need to bring them overseas to fellow Singaporeans who are residing elsewhere yet miss the delicious fruit! Said to be 100% smell free!

Signal Hill Observatory Tower / Platform & the Signal Hill Jungle Trek Trail @ Kota Kinabalu [Sabah]

Background Story 

the Signal Hill Observatory Tower / Platform was touted as a tourist attraction but some of the online reviews were so scathing; i totally didn't want to spend my precious time going there! 

I would not if not for the freed up morning time on the last day of my KK trip. The walk wasn't comfortable under the bloody hot sun although we persevered all the way; so glad that pampered Alex was in a rather good mood and didn't complain much. 

Shall share more about the journey up the observatory on day seven of the KK itinerary. Anyway, on first impression, i must say my verdict was aligned with the online reviewers who gave a low rating. 

The view, however, was breathtaking; i gave my head a knock and lamented i should have visited earlier as i bet the change from day to night at sunset would no doubt be extremely spectacular!

Built precariously on the edge of a cliff, i am hoping its structure remains sound after the shocking Sabah earthquake a few weeks ago.

One of two circular pods at the platform, i could not find any reliable information on when the structure was built although it gave out an aura of familiarity to the rocket tower in Singapore; likely constructed in the same period.

Those hoping to catch the sunset may consider sitting at the benches next to the platform. Safety wise, i thought it was a better option too. 

According to a local Sabahan (yes Mit, i am referring to you), this observatory was more popular at night with many young locals dropping by at the cafe to gaze at the night view of the city and simply, to chill out.

Some might disagree with me but i thought it was quite worth my effort to trek all the way to this place, despite losing my way a few times. Purposely, by the way. 

On a moody day, this would be the kind of place that would assist me to recollect myself, pick up the pieces and be optimistic for a better tomorrow. 

Smoking was allowed! For a non smoker, we were so used to having smoke-free premises that we tend to forget it isn't the case in many countries! 

Don't you just love zoomed / telephone lens!? This was Wisma Merdeka in the picture and behind it, past the water, was Pulau Gaya of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park!

A very tall multi-storey carpark! It was actually very near to Jesselton Hotel; basically just across the small road where our hotel room faced. 

Roundabout although i would like to draw your focus to the Nishiki Japanese Restaurant where the van was parked; which was said to be the oldest Japanese restaurant in KK. Be warned, service was renowned for being slow. 

Signal Hill Observatory Tower / Platform was marketed as the highest point in Kota Kinabalu city but i beg to differ; the white house as shown in the photo was way higher! 

Alex with the Sabah state flag; adopted in 1988, it featured the silhouette of Mount Kinabalu!

We walked up using the hard way from Atkinson Clock Tower and decided to check out Signal Hill trail instead on our way back! We also factored in time savings as the foot of this trail would likely be in close proximity to Jesselton Hotel.

Loving the downward walk! 

An appropriate shelter in the middle of the jungle trek in case it rains; give me a hundred bucks and i doubt i would use the shelter when night falls! Damn, i noted the upward climb for the staircase at the back.

Thank god the staircase was downward sloping after that! In your haste to get out of the trail, which was done in less than five minutes, do be mindful of the "dangers".

Missing and broken wooden planks! I am unsure how well lit the trail would be at night so please do exercise caution! 

Landed safely and we were right; right ahead of us was Jesselton Hotel! 

This was taken at the start of the jungle trek at the foot hill where you could still take a pretty good look of the Signal Hill Observatory Tower / Platform. 

=====

Location

Jalan Bukit Bendera, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, 

Sabah, Malaysia

How to Get There On Foot

I would recommend the jungle trek near Jesselton Hotel as it saved a lot of time and was safer (less chance of being hit by a speeding car) although you may consider the longer way if you decide to check out Atkinson Clock Tower as well.

Map

As a show of comparison, do refer to the two trails we took as demarcated above; blue signifies the signal hill jungle trek trail while yellow denotes the route we took from Atkinson Clock Tower.

For the summarised itinerary of my 7 days, 6 nights Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) trip, please click here.