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As I promised myself to go to one country per year, it came to my mind to visit Singapore. Some of my friends are already there working their hearts out to provide financial assistance to their family back in the Philippines. Actually, I once before liked to work there.
My adventure in SG was scheduled last April 7-12, 2013. While still in Doha, Qatar I planned to visit my friends in Singapore. A colleague having heard of my dream became interested in my plans and asked if she can join me. The first plan was to visit Singapore then Malaysia, but it ended on visiting only the Lion City. It was a quick preparation not unlike my pass trips before that I purchased tickets ahead of time. In this trip we bought the airline tickets 1 week before the said tour.
I arrived in Manila from Qatar last April 3, 2013. Luckily, my cousin and her 2 sons had scheduled a vacation in the Philippines, they came from Thailand by the way. Ate Daisy, Carl and Carlos arrived in Manila at around 12nn (April 3) I followed after 5 hours. After exchange of stories and listening to the rambling kids whom I missed so dearly, we went to have dinner at Shakey's Pizza. I felt like I'm so relieved to be back home. Home to the people I trust and loved so much.
The following day, we went shopping and toured the visitors. I was the cooked for 2 days, the kids often shout "Chef Jean, the food tasted good" But the only dish I cooked was pork barbeque. Sunday came and I was chatting with a friend asking her for some information's about SG. Then suddenly she asked "When is your flight?" I answered "tomorrow". "Check your ticket first!" she said. And when I opened my email I saw that my flight was scheduled Sunday evening not Monday. Silly me, maybe I was just preoccupied by other matters. While on shocked I rush to the nearest internet shop in our area to print the tickets. I immediately called Bely, my travel companion, but to my dismay I cannot reached her by her mobile number. So I just called her home phone number, by the way if I arrived last April 3, Bely arrived in Manila from Qatar last April 6 (Saturday). I called her, but she's not around I just talked to her mom reminding her to meet me in the airport that night. After fixing my things, I left Cavite to go to SM Mall of Asia because it is the nearest mall going to the airport. 1 am was my departure time from Mla-SG. At 4pm I was inside the mall looking for a place where I can stay until 9pm before my departure. Bely and I met at the airport at around 9:30. I was relieved to see her. I am a bit nervous that because after I left Doha, I haven't spoke to her at all because I was busy with my family.
April 8 - We left Manila at around 1:30 am and arrived at Singapore before 5am. MRT was not opened until 5:30am so we just stayed at the airport lobby trying to sleep. We took lots of Maps so we can familiarized ourselves in SG. At 5:45am we were already inside the MRT, so excited to the new adventure of our lives. We alighted in Bugis station, at 6am SG is still dark. A couple of blocks, we reached our destination, Hotel 81 Bugis. We decided to sleep first since it was still dark, unluckily we woke up at around 10am. We rushed to our first destination: Singapore Gardens by the Bay . Points of interest are the Flower Dome, cloud Forest, Supertree Grove, Heritage Gardens, The World of Plants, Dragonfly Lake, Kingfisher Lake and bay East Garden. It was an opportunity to took some photos and it's free except for the golf cart ride from main gate to the garden. Some establishments have tickets but we opted to go to the free zone.
We proceeded next to Marina Bay Sands Mall, we passed thru Marina Bay Sands Hotel. It was a huge mall with gondola in the middle. Some of the high end Shops were located in the mall. We ate late lunch in the food court area. Still tired from the flight, we decided to outside to see the other side of the establishment, but to our dismay, it was raining hard. My friend told me that Singapore is like Melbourne, Australia both have unpredictable climate. After a few hours inside the mall, the rain stopped and we went out to enjoy the view. We saw the LV store but we don't have the courage to enter the store. Dinner came and we met my old friend Elaine with her son Nevan and daughter Neeya. Elaine is my friend back in college. She is a professional dentist but opted to be a plain housewife to take care of the kids. She treated us for dinner consist of hainanese chicken, noodles and some food I didn't know but it taste good. We went home at around 11pm.
April 9 - Monday, we started the day early because the next part of our itinerary was Sentosa. We took the MRT then bus going to Sentosa Island. We bought the tickets way ahead of time and we also took the package of Singapore Aquarium + Universal Studio. We went to see the spinning globe of the Universal Studio but my camera was not functioning. It was humid in SG and our hotel room was so cold so our cameras had moist inside and it was not good. We tried to clean the camera and took us a while before the moist disappeared.
We went first to the SEA Aquarium, they said it was the largest aquarium, it contains 800 species or marine animal. We saw dolphins, sharks, and other types of fishes. Then we took another round of photos in the spinning globe. Finally, the moment we were waiting for - Universal Studio Singapore…
It is consist of Seven Zones namely:
Hollywood - Monster Rock,
New York - lights, Camera, Action by Steven Spielberg, Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase
Sci -Fi city - The Accelerator, Transformers the ride
Ancient Egypt - Revenge of the Mummy, Treasure hunt
Lost World - Canopy Flyer, Amber Rock Climb, Dino-Soarin, Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure, Water World
Far Far Away - Shrek 4D Adventure, Magic Potion Spin
Madagascar - King Julien's Beach Party-Go-Round, Madagascar: A Crate Adventure
The best part for me was the Transformers whom I liked best. After a whole day in Sentosa, we looked for the the 2 merlion in the Island. It was dark so we decided to go home
April 10 - When took the MRT then Bus going to our next destination - Singapore Zoo. We watched the elephant show, saw different species of monkeys, snakes and many more. It was so hot but still we managed to enjoy the trip.
Our friends from Manila who are currently working in SG today invited us for dinner at a Thai Resturant near Esplanade - Theatre's by the Bay. We then proceed to see the famous Merlion in Merlion Park.
April 11 - We just roamed around the city on foot, We went to an Indian Temple, entered a Chinese Temple, bought some souvenirs. Then finally we went to Clarke Quay, a riverside festival village dedicated to good times. Stayed there for a couple of hours then bought my latest Starbucks Tumbler collection. We went back to the hotel to get our bags and proceeded to the airport. It was a blast. Our supposedly 8 days' vacation was cut down to 4 days only. But it was a good one. Another country was added to my memories, another sets of photos in my computer, another culture was added to my mind, another taste bud added to my palate. Indeed Singapore is a lovely City, am I going to go back there again? The answer is yes, for another tour perhaps but I won't go there to work. I rather stay here in Doha.
April 12 - We arrived in Manila at around 5am, I took the bus going to Cavite, slept for 2 hours then went to the office again in Manila. Travel time is longer than my sleep.
So for now, I will think of what country to conquer next. Will it be Korea, Taipei or Europe… So help me God…. Need to save again for my future endeavours.
"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." - Lin Yutang
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