Singapore top 10

Here is my Singapore top 10 of what I did during the week I spent there. I know that there is a lot more to do but it’s difficult to comment if I haven’t done it.

10) Public bus. If you want excitement and uncertainty in your city experience hop into public bus. Drivers are insane and the routes more or less confused. If you hop off at some stop and would like to get back where you came you cannot just cross the road and take the same bus back ‘cos it doesn’t go back via the same route. That would be waaay too easy. Well, at least they run in time and they were tidy.

Cloud forest and Marina bay sands

9) Mr. Raffles. Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, the father of Singapore (and London Zoo!). This dude is everywhere in Singapore. Well he founded it. But hotels, plazas, streets… everything. He founded Singapore in 1819 as the island wasn’t under any other european power. Just said to the local sultan that ‘dude we come here and protect you’ and the sultan was fine with it. He actually did quite a lot to establish and develop the city by building schools and stuff so maybe he has deserved the statues and all.

8) Marina Bay. The heart of Singapore, where all the pictures in the post cards are taken, the F1 gp driven and crazy buildings are built. There you can see the iconic Marina bay sands hotel and the Merlion. From here you can easily continue the stroll to Clarke quay via the riverbank and stop at some nice restaurant or cafe. Must see place in Singapore.

7) Cloud forest (and Flower dome). These huge greenhouses are totally worth checking out if you are interested of plants and flowers. We visited the Cloud forest. It had couple waterfalls, loads of orchids and apparently machinery to put up some clouds in the greenhouse. It was actually quite awesome place and had nice views to the Marina bay. From here you could easily con tune your park trip to the Gardens by the bay where are Supertrees, Chinese garden etc.

6) Jurong bird park. Take bus number 194 from Boon Lay metro stop and in ten minutes you are in Jurong bird park. The park contains birds from all over the world of course concentrating to the local ones. You can see the bigger birds like Tucans, Eagles and Hornbills in their cages and then walk in to the small forests where small undulates and other colorful birds are flying around. It took about three hours to walk around the park with out checking out the shows the park had so the size is bearable and there isn’t too much stuffed in.

Jurong Bird park

5) S.E.A. Aquarium. The largest aquarium in the world located in Sentosa island in Singapore was quite an experience. It was built nicely so that first you walk through an exhibition of history of Eastern marine trade and get to know what kind of ships and stuff they used back in the times. Then you see a short movie about sinking ship and while the movie the stand is lowered one level lower so that you end up in to a aquarium where there is the shipwreck and colorful fishes and stuff. It’s quite cool and well made. Aquarium it self has sea creatures from all over the world from sea jellies to sharks.  Sentosa island has a lot to do with Universal studios amusement park, beaches, and water parks. The island is one of the sort of must see places in Singapore, at least for families and those who like amusement parks…

4) National Stadium. Okay, most of you might disagree in this one but I’m sort of an stadium fan so the National Stadium of Singapore ended up on fourth place. The stadium is brand new. It opened in June 2014 and it has the capacity of 55 000 spectators. The stadium belongs to the Singapore sports Hub which includes also a swimming arena, water park (opens soon), leisure park and shopping mall (of course) with climbing walls and stuff. We tested the climbing wall. Lines suffered from the lack of imagination and actually we found only one line which wasn’t that straight forward physical climbing but stimulated also the brains with some nice moves.

3) Singapore F1 GP. Altough I don’t follow motor sports that eagerly It’s still interesting to see and feel huge scale sport happenings. You could really say that there is a lot money spent and time used to put up those parties! Singapore has actually build permanent pits and stands for the race and they are located right at the Marina bay which must be the most valuable ground in Singapore. Well, it brings a lot of tourists and visibility for Singapore so I guess it’s worth it. Oh yeah, and I guess Lewis Hamilton won the race. Kimi’s race was good but the car was bad and Valtteri’s steering wheel was one piece of s**t…

Frog-Fish

2) Mangrove forest. Singapore has mostly been wetlands and in its shore line there has been vast mangrove forests. These days most of them has been dried and built full of  blocks. We managed to find small piece of mangrove forest in its natural state from Pasir Ris park. It wasn’t beautiful but it was freaking awesome to see those frog-fishes and other weird animals in their real habitat. It’s just sad to see how much garbage sea (and people) brings to the forest during the high tide. This also eye opening how much crap floats in the seas. Every one interested on the nature and wildlife should see mangrove forest at least once in her life and take care that our offspring sees those too.

1) Shopping centers. Hate to admit this… But.. what the h**l.. Yes, the best part of Singapore was the shopping malls! Wait! I can explain: Air-conditioning. When there is well over 30 degrees celsius outside you really want to be in air conditioned place. Well, the best ones with beverages and snacks were the shopping malls. And you could find one from everywhere. And there was quite weird stuff also in malls. In one of them there was a canal where you could row with a boat, couple had climbing walls and all of them had big food courts where you could find dishes from all over the Asia.

Shopping center

1.28 N, 103.28 E

Hups…

Mä oon Singaporessa.

Yleensä kun jengi lähtee Sydneystä matkustamaan Australian itä-rannikkoa ylöspäin, ne pysähtyy vimeistää Cairnsissa. No mulla lipsahti pitkäks. Mut no worries. Tääl on ruoka halvempaa ja ilma kuumempaa (>30 astetta). Sunnuntaina ensimmäiseks tietty tallattiin keskustan nähtävyydet läpi. Kulkua hiukan hankaloitti Singaporen F1 kisa. Päästiinpä vähän mukaan kisatunnelmaan ja jopa nähtiin autot vilaukselta.

Yep, I’m in Singapore. Usually when people travel on Australian east coast they end in Cairns or before. Well, I didn’t. No worries. Food is cheap and weather is warm. In addition to the central walk we saw some F1 action because of the Singapore GP, National Stadium (of course), world’s biggest aquarium, Cloud Forrest and a beach on which the sand was brought from Australia. I didn’t want to swim on that beach because of tens of  cargo ships visible. I got used to quite nice and clear beaches in Australia.

There they go…

Singaporesta löytyi heti ensimmäisenä ihan komea urheilustadioni. Ei oikeastaan jalkapallostadioni, mutta kelpasi meikäläiselle. 55 000 katsojan National Stadium on saanut arvoisensa paikan Singaporen keskustan tuntumasta. Hauskoina yksityiskohtina stadionista mainittakoon suljettava katto, joka suojaa nurmea auringolta ja katsomon päälle rakennettu auringonvarjo/sateensuoja, joka suojasi kuumuudelta.

Keskustan kävelylenkin lisäksi vierailu kohteeksi valikoitui Cloud Forrest, joka on siis valtava kasvihuone, jossa on muunmuassa vesipuotouksia ja “muutama” orkidea.

Maanantai meni opiskellessa, mutta tänään käytiin vähän biitsillä ja merimaalimassa. Merimaailma oli aika makee maailman suurin akvaario. Löyty vaik’ minkä näkösiä möllöttäjiä ja uiskentelijoita. Kohokohtina vasarahai ja mustekala.

Mä en suostunu menee biitsillä uimaa. Syy: aika erilainen rantamaisema kun mihin Australiassa ehti tottumaan. Rannalta siis näkyi monta kymmentä rahtilaivaa, jotka joko olivat menossa tai tulossa maailman vilkkaimmasta satamasta. Hiekka tosin oli ihan samanlaista kuin Australiassa. Onhan se sieltä tänne rahdattu.

My favorite F1. Made of LEGOs

Penrith White Water Stadion

I had a spare day in Sydney and thought what I’d like to do. Well, the answer was easy: white water kayaking! I took a train from sydney central to Penrith which took an hour and then walked approx 4 km to the stadion. It was totally worth the travel.

I got the staff convinced that I’m ww grade 3 cabable and they gave me a plastic creeker instead of inflatable funyak. Kayaks were quite good and in good condition but the paddles and other stuff were not the latest hip, but worked.1.5 hour track time and equipment rent cost 55 AUD.

Mulla oli ylimääräinen päivä Sydneyssa käytettävissä ja mietiskelin mitäs tekisin. Vastaus löytyi peiliin katsomalla: koskimelontaa! Sattui meinaan juuri silloin olemaan päällä Socalta ostettu melonta aihenen paita… Suuntasin kohti Penrithin melontastadionia, joka sijaitsee noin tunnin junamatkan ja 4 km jalkapatikan päässä Sydneyn keskustasta. Paikka oli kaiken matkustamisen arvoinen!

Onnistuin vakuuttamaan henkilökunnan melontataidoistani ja ilmatäytettävän kajakin sijaan sain kunnon muovikajakin. Kajakkeja oli tarjolla Jacksonin rockareista ja Karmoista vanhempiin Riotin ja Pyranhan paatteihin. Kajakit olivat hyvässä kunnossa, mutta muu kalusto ei ollut yhtä päivitettyä. Heillä ei esimerkiksi ollut tarpeeksi isoa aukkopeittoa Karman aukkoon ja melat ym. olivat hieman aikansa nähneet. Mutta mikä tärkeintä, kalusto toimi.  Puolentoista tunnin kalustovuokra ja ratamaksu olivat yhteensä 55 AUD.

The track is few hundred meters long solid grade three having 5.5 m hight difference. It had powerful eddies, couple nice boofing spots and a few playable holes. The best part of course was that when you got down you just paddled to conveyor and took another round.

When planning a trip to the stadion check the scheduled folw times from the stadions home pages. The venue of olympics is totally worth checking out if you are hangin around in sydney. Sydney white water stadion serves all Australian national teams from slalom to freestyle kayaking.

Rata itsessään on hauskaa jatkuvaa kolmosen koskea, jossa pudotusta muutaman sadan metrin matkalla tuli 5.5 metriä. Radalta löytyi pari buuffireenipaikkaa, muutamat pelattavat hontot ja paljon hyviä akanvirtoja kiinni otettavaksi. Parasta radassa tietysti oli, että alaspäästyä meloi vain hihnalle, joka vei takaisin radan alkuun. Ja eikun uudestaan.

Jos ja kun suunnittelee matkaa Penrithin melontastadionille kannattaa ensin vilkaista keskuksen kotisivuilta koska radalla vesi virtaa. Vuoden 2000 olympialaisia varten rakennettu koskimelontastadion palvelee kaikkia Australian melontamaajoukkueita ja on virtaavan veden ystävälle käymisen arvoinen paikka.

Surfing – A Lifestyle or Tough Sport?

… in my point of view: both. After spending a week in a surfer camp SpotX at Arrawarra beach I found out that, in addition to hangin’ out on a beach, partying with surf mates and sunbathe, surfing is a sport which demands strict self control, excellent nerves and good fitness. To be a good surfer one needs to be able to wake up at sunrise, paddle out through crashing waves and be patient enough to wait the right wave. This is my review of MojoSurf’s 7 day surf camp.

When hitting the surf it was all about…

Camp started with ten hour bus ride to SpotX. MojoSurf sure know how to arrange a transport. The ride was done with luxury Greyhound bus with leather seats, WI-FI, USB-chargers, majestic leg room and frequent rest stops. Honestly I can say that this was the coolest bus I’ve ever been in. Therefore the ride went quickly and comfortably.

As soon as we arrived to SpotX we were welcomed by our host guide, a cool dude with cool beard, who helped us to check in and showed all the places. The camp consisted from public hang around areas with TV-room, bonfire place and dining area, surf schools “classroom” and the 10 persons mixed dormitories. 10 persons sleeping in a same room might sound a lot but when there is 10 young, dorm-experienced surfers in question it wasn’t a problem. Every one knew how to behave. Besides, not all dorms have spring mattresses!

Balance and…

inbalance

As we had our stuff thrown in the dorm the dinner was served. Ah, and the food was… incredible. Wouldn’t have figured before going to that camp that actually one of the best things in it would be the food. Brekky was served 6-9 am consisting toast, cereals, fruits, porridge and peanut butter. It wasn’t unusual that some of the most serious surfers ate two or even three breakfasts. Lunch was served at noon and it was basically salads and left overs from previous day’s lunch which everyone could put in wrap or in sandwiches. It was tasty and light enough meal which kept everyone surfing. Dinner was served at 6 pm sharp and it was the highlight of the day. The moment everyone waited. Noodles, potatoes, chicken, sausages, chili con carne, veggies, warm buns… Every day new awesome tasty dish with mixed salad… mmmmm… My thanks to the chef.

Posing and…

falling

Okay, those were the facilities and now the real business: Surfing. I had two lessons every day. Morning lesson concentrated to one aspect in surfing and the afternoon session was more relaxed do-your-thing kind of lesson. Every lesson started from the surf school where wetsuits and sunscreens were put on and boards chosen. At the beach the session was started with the condition check: wind; on- or off-shore, tide; low or high, waves; size, type, handedness and hazards; rip and rocks. After condition check there was a warm-up and finally we hit the water. In the first lesson we were showed how to pop up on board and how to stand on it. We practiced a bit on land but went to water quite quickly which was good. I actually managed to get up on my first lesson. The standing wasn’t the hardest part, eventually caching the right waves and controlling the board were the hardest bits. Unfortunately most of the instructors attention went in to those ones who struggled with pop up and had difficulties with standing on the board. Therefore most of the lessons I had to analyze my surfing my self and then make corrections that felt good for me. Instructors said that I should ask if I have questions but since these were the first tries on surfboard it was quite difficult to ask anything. And besides, I am not a question type of guy, I like to solve things my self.

…and posing while falling

I understand that it is difficult to give instructions in a big group with surfers of different levels. And I have to admit that instructors made good work on getting every one standing and getting familiar with waves. The instructors really knew their thing. From every instructor you could see the passion and love to surfing. These guys really liked their jobs and they shared their skills and tips to everyone who wanted to know. The tips I got when I asked and when I got in to smaller group with same level surfers were good, well explained and demonstrated. I’m a bit jealous to these guys. They do their hobby for their living…

Huge nose dives

Well, there was a sort of parties also. But since it wasn’t the peak season and there was only a handful of “clients”, the parties were quite small and ended early so all could start surfing early in the morning. Oh yeah, by the way, for those who didn’t know, the reason why surfers wake up early is that the waves are usually on their best in the mornings. In afternoon the wind usually turns on-shore ruining the waves.

and eventually doing the thing

If you want to be a surfer it definitely demands a certain lifestyle and good fitness. I felt every evening that someone has beaten me during the day. Tired, aching muscles and happiness were the main feelings when leaving the camp after seven days of lifestyle and tough sport. Leaving again with a luxurious Greyhound bus.

…until it was lunch time.

Special thanks to the three awesome Finns I met at SpotX. Eddy, Mia and Jamie (names changed), it was my privilege of get to know you and share the experiences in Australia.

Surf times in Australia!

I’ve now been four days in a surf camp called spotX, 10 hour bus ride north from Sydney. And it’s been sweeeet! My days has been build around surfing. Morning session at the beach starts at 8:30 am and afternoon session at 1:30 pm. When we are not in the water there is food and rest available. Also after afternoon session there is possibility to take apart to activities like ocean rafting, kayaking and kangaroo golf.

Kangaroo golf – because of hundreds of kangaroos

Surfing is much harder than what it looks like. It’s not actually difficult to get up standing on the board, the difficulties starts when you try to control where you are going and how long you’re going to stay on the wave. These couple of days the waves have been small but that haven’t been a problem when practicing the basics. The wave forecast is promising better to come and we are expecting to have proper waves tomorrow afternoon or on wednesday. The nature decides.

Olen nyt ollut neljä päivää surffi leirillä kymmenen tunnin bussimatkan päässä Sydneystä, paikassa nimeltä spotX. Ja onhan tää nyt aika siistii! Päivä rakentuu surffauksen ympärille. Aamulla 8:30 on ensimmäinen surffisessio rannalla. Iltapäivän sessio alkaa 13:30. Kun emme ole vedessä, tarjolla on ruokaa, juomaa ja lepoa. Iltapäivän surffausten jälkeen voi myös osallistua iltapivän aktiviteettiin, joka on esimerkiksi raftingia meressä, melontaa tai kengurugolfia.

Surffaus on paljon vaikeampaa kuin miltä se näyttää. Laudan päälle pystyyn nouseminen ei varsinaisesti ole se vaikein kohta, vaan se kun pitäisi päästä hyvään asentoon ja kontrolloida lautaa. Aallossa pysyminen ja kääntyminen on kontrollista kiinni. Nämä pari paäivää aallot ovat olleet aika pieniä, mutta huomisiltapäiväksi ja keskiviikoksi on ennusteltu parempia aaltoja. Pienet aallot ovat kuitenkin olleet ihan ookoo perusasioiden opiskeluun.