Trip to Singapore Flyer & Peranakan Museum

14 June 2009

Woke up with a painful shoulder. The jog last night must have strained my shoulder muscles. On a slightly drizzly Sunday morning, Mother, Aunt's family and myself embarked on our trip to the Singapore Flyer and Peranakan Museum. The trip is organised by Eunos Zone '2' RC, in celebration of Father's Day.

Singapore Flyer has a very competitive tour package for RCs. With just $35 per pax, we are entitled to an 8-course luncheon, a river boat ride plus tickets to the Singapore Flyer. The normal price to take the Singapore Flight would have cost $29.50. That explains why such tickets are very quickly sold out by the RCs that have organised such trips.

We enjoyed our lunch at Kia Hiang Restaurant (Kim Tian Road). Although the dishes were simple ones, they tasted superb. It is a wonderful business idea for Singapore Flyer to tie up with restaurants to maximise business during this economic downturn.

After the satisfying lunch, the 5 Eunos buses headed to the Merlion Park, where we took the river ride across Singapore's first reservoir in the city.

I seized the opportunity to take a picture with Mother with the Merlion. Although it is a "cliche" to do so, I thought it memorable to have the half-completed IR towering behind as a background.

I love the city landscape of Singapore. It reminds me of the numerous documentaries and postcards that trigger the nationalistic pride in me. The iconic buildings with the nation's short history would see newer developments that will marvel tourists and Singaporeans soon.

The river ride was a short one that ferried us to the Singapore Flyer.

We took a family photo when the capsule reached its peak of 175 metres.

As the Flight came to an end, we saw a model of the future landscape of Singapore.

There was a performance by Sponge Bob & Square Pants from Nickelodeon beside the fountain. It was hilarious to see how two of them came walking in with the trademark music and all the kids going crazy.

Our next stop was the Peranakan Museum. It was an eye-opener for myself. Didn't expect Peranakans to have such a rich culture. Their culture presents a fusion between those of the Chinese and Malays.

The Peranakan Altar:

A Peranakan wedding procession:

Female Peranakans are called Nonyas. These are their traditional costumes:

Tours are tiring. Each participant of the trip was given a small cake to celebrate Father's Day. I had an early sleep that night.