Travel: My Week in Singapore

Singapore is just a few hours away from Manila, no Visa required for Filipino citizens and I have tons of friends and family living there, so it’s surprising that it’s my first time to visit. Easily it’s one of the most visited by Filipinos because of the many attractions and even made more accessible by a lot of flights between Singapore and Manila.

My very good friend Belmond has been inviting me every year to visit him and offered his condo, so because of a cancelled business trip, I decided to go there together with Gene, who is also our good friend. The planning was a month and I contacted my friends and family so we can meet up and catch-up when I got there.

Since we booked our ticket via Jetstar, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the improvements they were doing at Terminal 1 (don’t get me wrong, it still has a long way aesthetically, but it’s slowly moving along, which is in some ways good, I think).  Note to self, for the BPO workers travelling, make sure to always bring your company ID. The immigration officer asked for my ID but since I was travelling for pleasure, I didn't bring it. Good thing I had my company phone and I showed him an email from my boss approving my leave.

Arriving in Changi, one would easily notice the size (I’m used to big airports as I frequently travel the US), and the airy openness of it. It was made easy with multiple walkalators (hello NAIA). Before heading out, 1. we needed to buy some Vodka as a present to our host and 2. we needed to have money exchanged.

It's established that Singapore has a very efficient train system, though since we were still new, we decided to take the cab instead. Note to self, not every cab driver knows their way, so make sure you are prepared with maps, as well as nearby landmarks to make the search easier. Good thing while we were getting lost in downtown, we stopped by a good Samaritan who Google mapped the directions to our cab driver (much better because they also spoke in Chinese so they communicated better).

Our accommodations for the trip was at The Clift which is a luxe condo at the CBD area. It’s in between two MRT stations, walkable from MBS and Merlion Park and it’s also in the Chinatown area so it means shopping and a lot of dining and nightlife options.

 

On our first day, Belmond was generous enough to treat us to dinner at Pizzeria Mozza at Marina Bay Sands, where I think 90% of the staff working there were Filipinos. There we met Mardel who is a good friend of his.

It was a hazy night but that wouldn’t stop us from having a good evening, walking around and touring. After dinner, we went to the Helix bridge which was beautifully illuminated at night, we walked around but since my feet was already sore (I didn’t wear any socks so my toes were already dying), we called it a night.

 

 

The next day, we went to Orchard road to have some money exchanged because we had just enough to get us to downtown CBD.  We went to Lucky Mall where they had Jollibee (and a lot of Filipinos), and where we got a good exchange rate and then walked around taking pictures. I know it’s bad because the haze was bad that day, couple that with walking with no masks, means inhaling all of that haze. After some window shopping and pictures, we decided to go back since Belmond still needs to go to Ikea to get some new stuff for his new condo.
 

     

While Belmond was out, Gene and I decided to go to Chinatown since it is a like a block or 2 away from the condo.  Just like in any Chinatown, expect a lot of stalls offering different items, and ofcourse, souvenirs. Thanks to Gene’s sweet talking to a pinoy who owns a stall, we were able to get 7 for $10 instead of 6 for $10 SGD. I got the extra since I only need one anyway. There’s a lot to see in the area, a lot and you’ll find different things.

 

One interesting thing I found is the Tintin shop. I’ve read Tintin as a kid and I was excited to come in. They sell a lot of novelty items from posters and books. I didn’t get a book however I got a postcard (I know right?!) so I can put it together with my other pictures/postcards in my wall.

The place is an explosion for the senses, with tings to see, touch and taste. Since we’ve been walking all afternoon, we decided to go back (we were also hungry and Gene wasn’t really as adventurous with food so we needed to cook food when we got home).

 

To cap the night Belmond, Gene and I decided to go to the Jacuzzi, drink some wine and enjoy some gluten free chocolate cake from Ikea.

 

Next day, we certainly needed to go and have our pictures taken with the Merlion. Being in the CBD area, Gene and I walked a couple of blocks to reach Merlion park. There we were greeted with Singapore’s icon, the Merlion, and a bunch of tourists wanting to take pictures as well. I guess it would be a good idea to go there at around 6AM so you’ll have the place to yourself.

After some pics, we walked circling to the Esplanade, then the Helix bridge back to the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands so we can go to the Gardens by the Bay. It was a hot and humid day but that didn’t stop us from exploring the gardens in the blistering heat (tip: there’s a 711 going to the gardens so you can buy water and refill it there).

 

 

The garden in general is free unless you want to go up the OCBC Skyway or go inside the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. I told Gene that we should go up the Skyway not knowing that she was afraid of heights. When we got there, she just stood there, holding on to something while I went around from end to end.

 

 

It was a nice view, you have the gardens on one side and MBS on the other.

 

After the Skyway, we walked around the gardens, we didn’t go inside the Cloud Forest or Flower Dome anymore and decided to look around the souvenir shop (I was melting by this time already and the air conditioning was nice).

Since it was already late noon and we haven’t had lunch yet, we decided to go back to Shoppes at MBS for lunch at Toastbox where they had these yummy teas.

Ofcourse we wouldn’t leave without buying anything, that wouldn’t be us. Gene got a new pair of sandals from Crocs while I bought an airplane charm at Pandora. Since this was familiar route already, we just hopped at the MRT and went down at Telok Ayer like what we did the first time we were there.

After all that walking and with nothing to do, we decided to use the condo’s amenities and use the steam room and the pool to relax and unwind.

 

Belmond messaged us that we will be going out that night since he got us as guests at 1 Altitude which is a bar 71 floors up above Singapore.

 

 

There we met with some of Belmond’s friends from Belgium and started to enjoy our Friday. The view was awesome and we were towering above Marina Bay Sands who was putting on a show.

 

The bar is posh and there are a lot of who’s who and expats partying there. I liked the music because it was more of a throwback to music I grew up with. The drinks were a little pricey but it just matches the ambience. All you can see people do is whip out their phones and take pictures because of the 360 degree views of Singapore CBD. The staff was more than happy to take pics of you and your friends.

After some partying and a couple of drinks, we decided to go to another bar at Chinatown. It was a little bummer because my friend JK was a little late but we were able to meet before we transferred. It was a very popular club because a lot of expats and pinoys were partying there. It was a little too popular as there wasn’t enough space to move in. Drinks were a little affordable which means you can order more. I was glad JK who’s my friend in Manila was able to go so we had time to also catch-up and talk about what’s going on. Since he raced to downtown after his shift (which was already late), he was hungry so we decided to have some midnight snack at a little Chinese place while Belmond was still partying the morning away. I guess he was tired because after 30 minutes or so, he came crashing a little drunk and started eating, a little funny and awkward at the same time. J He was too tired that he didn’t bother to wait for us to finish and went home. After an hour we also called it a night and tried to find our way home (we’re in a place for the first time), but we were able to manage.

The next day, with little sleep (3 hours tops), we had to wake up early because we needed to help Belmond move all his stuff from his current condo to the new one. Literally after waking up, we just had to wash our face and got to work. With boxes and furniture not to mention plants, we were surprised we were able to pull it off in half of the day. Good thing my cousin and I weren’t supposed to meet til' after lunch so we can catch-up as well.

Since I’ve quite travelled and used different train systems in Asia and US, I can say I can manage to use the train system on my own, which I was able to do so successfully. When I went out of the station I was already able to see my cousin waiting for me which was a relief.

 

She treated me to a late lunch at Marche at Somerset which was about time because I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. Marche is kinda like a big foodcourt with different food options. You get a card when you walk in, eat anything you like from different selections, then pay the value of the card when you step out, easy.  No pictures were actually taken as we were so hungry and decided to just eat (plus the lighting was a little dark). It was also nice catching-up because this was the first time I met my cousin’s husband (because unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend their wedding).  We talked for hours before deciding to go around walking off the food and getting some coffee. We went around Orchard road window shopping (the stores are high-end, I would be paying the items on installments, hahahaha), and settled at a nearby Starbucks.

I didn’t realize that they also had a kids party to attend to so they invited me instead so we can still catch-up. A pinoy kiddie party won't be complete without a party at Jollibee so we headed to Luck Plaza. I was a little tired and sitting there for 2 hours actually made me sleepy that I had to walk around for a bit. After the party, we hung-out at CBTL with Jerry’s colleagues as this is one of the few times that they were all together. After an hour, we decided to call it a day and my cousin wanted to take me home.

I wanted to take the MRT (because I'm an expert already, hahaha) but they insisted in taking a cab. Like my 1^st time riding a cab in Singapore, the cab driver didn’t know where to go and we even had to Google map the location, saying that its near Tanjong Pagar MRT. Going there, we passed by a couple of bars (since it was Saturday night and it was Chinatown) so we decided to continue our night instead (I guess the coffee from Starbucks and CBTL already kicked in). We were walking around til’ we decided on WA Bar which was a Korean place so expect K-pop music being blasted loudly inside. J The place was quite popular since we were full inside, which also made it a great hang-out spot. We took a lot of pictures and I’m glad my cousin was also happy coz she said they don’t go out much themselves (like me, nowadays, I’d prefer staying in on a Saturday night instead of going out, OMG I'm getting old!!!!).  

Since it was past 12 already (and Belmond was checking on me already like my parent, hahaha), we decided to call it a night. Since this was already in the area, we walked a good 10 – 15 minutes were we discovered more bars and hang-out spots in the area. I was shy because other than giving me 4 tickets to the Trick Eye museum, they also took the tab! I insisted in giving them cab fare to atleast give my share since they also paid for lunch earlier.

 

Back to back night outs, I was ready for a little change of pace and just chill. Today, we were gonna meet one of our good friends Kat whom I haven’t seen in a while. We were all excited because we’ll go to the beac, hang-out and at the same time catch-up. The first time we saw each other was like “Hey!!!!!” with big hugs. Before going to Sentosa, we decided to get lunch first at Food Republic which was a foodcourt at Vivo City (where we’ll also get the train to Sentosa anyway).

Originally we had planned on hanging-out at Tanjong Beach Club which was very popular however the place was full plus if we wanted a Day Bed, we had to order at least $200 SGD worth of menu. Good thing Kat knew of another place, Mambo beach club, the only challenge was finding it. We grabbed a taxi and walked for 5 minutes to reach it. It was way quieter plus there was no minimum order to be able to lounge at their beds or sit at the tables.

 

  

 

We started with some drinks to get the chill out session going and since we were already hot, decided to jump into the pool to cool off. It was nice just lounging by the pool and just enjoying the music. It was a slow and relaxing pace which I liked compared to the walking and partying the days before.

 

At first it was quiet but as the afternoon progressed, more and more people came in and that’s when it was a little more alive. After a few more hours lounging by the pool and daybeds, we decided to leave and meet with Belmond for dinner. One mistake we had was that we didn’t really bring towels (you can rent towels but you’ll deposit $15 then pay around $10 so might as well buy new ones, right?!), so we used our clothes earlier as towels. I used my boxers so I was commando after it already. It didn't help that I was wearing short shorts too, hahaha.

As Kat suggested, we met Belmond at Clarke Quay which was an area of bars and restaurants, very popular hang-out for locals and tourists alike. She suggested this place Cuba Libre since we wanted some tacos and some dancing. I guess since it was a Sunday, the place was almost empty but after an hour, people started coming in because the place was hosting a birthday party. Then the night started to get better with the dancing and the music. Food, wine, friends and dancing, good combination to me.

 

Before going home, we went to this GX5 area which was a reverse bungee. You’ll ride this ball like thing and once the cords are stretched out, you’ll be released like a rocket trough the sky. Just looking at it makes my stomach turn already, I can’t imagine being the one catapulted to the air. After watching 2 batches of brave people, we decided we won’t be trying that out soon and headed home.

 

This was our last day before leaving early tomorrow and we reserved Universal Studios last. We were still tired from last night so we met a little late already at Vivo city. Like yesterday we had lunch first at Food Republic before catching the train to Sentosa. First stop was the Trick Eye Museum since my cousin generously gave not just one ticket for me, but 4 tickets so I can also bring my friends. Trick Eye was a visual experience and this was to trick people into think what you were doing.  We had a blast posing and laughing because it looks funny initially but funnier when you try the see the complete picture already.

After an hour of laughing we headed to Universal Studios to get some adrenaline rush with the rides. It wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t have our pictures taken with the Globe.

 

For a Monday, there were still a lot of people exploring the theme park. I’ve been to Universal in LA which was a big property, this one in Singapore was tiny compared to it.

First on our list was The Mummy, good thing it was only a 30 minute wait time. No bags were allowed on the ride, good thing there were rental lockers that we can use to store our stuff (we got it for free, I dunno what Kat did).

 

After that, we went for the 4D ride Transformers which was a lot of fun. I really felt like we were diving from the top of the building to street level, good thing Bumblebee caught us, hahaha.

Kat was daring Gene and I if we can survive Battlestar Galactica but we chickened out, personally I’m not much of an adrenaline junkie and I would die if I was to ride that (probably next time). We opted for something tamer which was Jurassic Park although I know we’ll get soaked already (I already tried this in LA). We didn’t want to get our stuff wet so for $5, we rented a locker (you can use cash, credit card and even the MRT card to pay). It was also a nice way to cool off since it was a hot day and all that walking made us sweat (yuck, hahaha).

Since it was already closing time and we’re hungry, a good double cheeseburger was the fix at Mel’s Drive In diner. While eating, it suddenly poured, as in like heavy rain. It rained heavily for like 2 hours so we were stuck at the park waiting for the rain to subside (and during this time, I had time to get some souvenirs for my nephews and a ref magnet for myself) before going back to Vivo city.

 

Once we were there, we couldn’t resist the big sale sign from H&M so we decided to get some shopping done while waiting for confirmation on where we’ll meet Belmond. Although already haggard, we were still game for some drinks since this was our last night before travelling back to Manila. Gene and Kat took the opportunity to retouch at Innesfree while I was too tired and just thought I’ll rely on some photoshop to make me look fresh in the pictures.

Kat and Belmond decided to take us to Emerald Hill to No. 5 to grab some drinks. Before we could reach the place, Kat was distracted with Victoria’s Secret so we had to make a detour while she shopped for some underwear. While at the store, I couldn’t resist the 40% sign at a Henri Bendell bracelet so I bought something too.

Emerald Hill is a nice area, mixed retail and residential place so there’s a curfew. No. 5 is an old house that was converted to a bar, which adds character to the place. Plus they had a 1 + 1 offer so it was even better.

Note to self, do not sit in a place when you already know that the air conditioning is dripping. While doing our cheers, the water from the unit dropped on one of our Martini’s, good thing the manager was OK replacing it.

 

After an hour or two, we decided to get coffee to cap our evening (should I say early morning already). It was a safe city to walk in (generally), so we walked a couple of blocks to try the coffee of TCC which was open 24 hours. TCC stands for The Connoisseur  Concerto and the place serves coffees and desserts.  It was good that we had coffee because I didn’t want to sleep anymore since we only had a couple of hours before our flight back. It was funny because we started talking about college (we were college friends and classmates) and started talking about our previous schoolmates (the good, the bad and the ugly, hahaha).

 After almost 2 hours (and since we still had to prepare and pack), we decided to call it a night but not before having pictures taken.

 

All in all, I enjoyed my first time in Singapore. I got to be a tourist, going to the touristy spots in the city and at the same time kinda like be a local by going to places where locals go. It was more meaningful because I got to catch-up with friends and family I haven’t seen in a while. We’re actually already scheduled to go back in February to celebrate Belmond and Kat’s birthday. This is good because I still have a list of things I need to do/experience in Singapore. Stay tuned for that!

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