Let me continue with my blow-by-blow account of my recent trip to Singapore.....
Day 5, July 2, 2011, Saturday
This was the day when we checked out the Marina Bay area. First stop... Marina Square. We did some shopping at John Little. I bought a couple of walking shorts for S$ 10 each. A good bargain, I might say. We stopped by Starbucks Cafe to have some rest. A venti Java Chip coffee costs around S$ 7. That's roughly P 240.00. The same size of the same coffee is around P 175.00 in the Philippines. Gee, coffee in Singapor

e is much expensive than in Manila. This is Mom's first Stabucks experience as well as Chloe's. She used to decline my coffee treat saying it's so expensive and a waste of money. Now she knows the coffee is worth the price. Anyway, Mom brought Skyflakes crackers from Manila! No

w there was something to go with the coffee. Starbucks and Skyflakes. One was "sosyal," the other was "jologs." An unlikely pair but goes well together. Ate Yvonne ordered a slice of cheese cake and it was exquisite. Outside Marina Square, we could see the Marina Bay Sands. Marina Bay Sands is a unique structure. It looks like a ship on top of 3 towers. Then, we headed to Esplanade, a complex dedicated to the performing arts. One cannot miss the landmark in this area... the Esplanade - Theaters on the Bay, two buildings intriguingly shaped like a durian fruit.
We hung out by the Es

planade outdoor Theater where we had a full view of the whole Marina Bay area. Man, landmarks and attractions are everywhere in this area. In the east, there is The Helix Bridge shaped like a, well, helix. Ther

e is also the Singapore Flyer, the worlds tallest Ferris wheel but some people prefer the term "observation wheel." In the southeast, there is the Marina Bay Sands and the Art Science Museum, which interestingly shaped like a lotus flower. Up north, there is the Marina Square shopping complex. In the west, there is the Esplanade complex. In the southwest, there is the Merlion Park. We were just goofing around, taking pictures and enjoying the view.
Incidentally, Singapore celebrated 46th year of independence with their National Day Parade. It was a miltary show where they showcase their military capabilities. A few paratroopers came down from the sky and landed down the nearby The Float@Marina Bay, the worlds largest floating stage. What a sight! We could hear the cheering of the people in the grandstand. They featured their new

ly acquired Sikorsky S-79B Seahawk choppers and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) multu-rocket launchers. I wish the Philippines can afford those kinds of weapons.
Merlion Park. One cannot claim he has gone to Singapore without a photo of himself with Singapore's most famous icon, the merlion. It is a large merlion statue with a gushing water in its mouth.
At dinner, we headed to Makansutra Gluttons Bay. The area is a food haven for authentic Asian dishes. We feasted on Mang Kiko's lechon manok (Yes, a genuine Pinoy food), shrimp omelette, buffalo wings and a large serving of kangkong (just like adobong kangkong in PHL), and fried rice.
After food tripping, we
went around the bay by foot until we reached The Helix, a curved double helix bridge. There we could see clearly what was going on in The Float@Marina Bay. Oh boy, they really prepared for this celebration. The celebrations theme was "Majulah! The Singapore Spirit." The atmosphere was festive and the grandstand w
as jampacked. Students from different schools worked together to make an outstanding performance, all in colorful costumes. It was like I was watching an
opening ceremony of Asian Games or Olympics. Then fireworks display followed. The scene was breathtaking from The Helix.
At the other end of The Helix, we passed by the lotus-shaped Art Science Museum. Walking further, we reached The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. This mall is soooo huge. In this area, we had the most awesome view Singapore's cityscape at night. The reflection of the buildings in the calm water was so mesmerizing. The night got deeper so we decided to head back home. As we walked the promenade of the Marina Bay Sands towards Raffles Place MRT station, we happened to pass by the Olympic Walk, a marker that commemorates the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. It was a very tiring but fun day at the Marina Bay.


Day 6, July 3, 2011, Sunday
Sentosa.. check. Orchard
Road. .check. Universal Studios Singapore.. check. Esplanade.. check. Merlion Park.. check. The Helix.. check. Marina Bay Sands..check. Art Science Museum..check. Olympic Walk.. check. The next place we wouldn't want to miss was the Singapore Zoo. Ticket prices are S$ 20 for adults and S$ 13 for children 3-12 years old. Children b
elow 3 years old are free. Additional S$ 5 (adults) and S$ 3 (children) for those who want to avail the tram rides. Since we knew it would be eventually tiring to roam around the zoo, we decided to avail the tram rides. So, that was S$ 25 for us adults and S$ 16 for Chloe. It is by far the largest zoo I've ever been to. The stars of the zoo are the 3 white tigers. They have blue eyes, cream
y white fur with brown stripes, and a pink nose. White tigers are extremely rare animals. The ones in Singapore Zoo belong to the Bengal Tiger subspecies. There were lots of animals, some of them strange, we haven't seen in our entire life. The zoo houses over 2500 animals. Whoah. That's a lot. There are also animal shows. We watched the Rainforest Fights Back play where animals act alongside human actors. Birds flew everywhere, elephants showed up at the back of the
amph
itheater, monkeys climbed overhead, lemurs and raccoons ran around, beavers swam. The audience was amazed by the entire show. After the show we had an photo ops with the cast. Unsurprisingly, one of them was Pinoy. He let me hold a coiled snake. I was glad didn't move or else I would unintentionally throw it away. LOL.
We knew it was impossible for us to check out all the animals. We only checked out a third of the entire zoo and our feet ached already. This was where the tram ride came in a handy. We had a glimpse of the anim
als near the pathway of the tram. The ride was slow giving us the opportunity to have a better look at the animals near the road. The ride took us all around the zoo. Then we watched the elephant show called Elephants at Work and Play. Here they showcased the gentle giants' skills and humor along with their mahouts or elephant riders. It was fun to watch elephants carrying big logs and goofing around with the mothouts. Hundreds of spectators watched this show until Maya and Chloe was lost in the sea of people. The show already ended but the mother-daughter team didn't show up.
At 4:30 PM, I waved
goodbye to Mom and Ate Yvonne. They were to wait for Maya and Chloe since Maya couldn't be contacted with her cellphone. I had to meet my friends and ex-officemates at the Tampines MRT station. It was my first time to ride on an MRT alone but I didn't worry since I got the hang of it. After a couple of hours, I met hubby and wifey Mico and Shally. Then Maricar showed up a little later. Incidentally, Shally and Marics didn't see each other for a very long time. Shally took us to her favorite restaurant, Din Tai Fung. Mico wasn't able to join us because he still had to go to work. The food here was so good. I loved it. The catching up was so intense. We laughed so hard that a few customers looked our way. It was on Marics' tab so we thanked her for the splendid dinner. We decided to have some coffee. We went to the nearby Starbucks cafeteria. Mina showed up and our coffees were her treat. Elmer, Estee, and Perf joined us later. Catching up and reminiscing old stories continued. We were the noisiest group of customers but we didn't care. I miss these guys. Being with them is never a dull moment. It would have been better if Fe was with us. But she had better things to do in Malaysia. The next thing we knew was when a barista informed us that they were about to close. This was our cue to wrap things up. It was past midnight. Marics hired a taxi cab and gave me a lift since our houses were near each other. She lives in Toa Payoh and I in Bishan. Damn, I miss these guys so much.
Day 7, July 4, 2011, Monday
Our next
destination... Malaysia. The sole purpose of our trip to Malaysia was to get our passports stamped. We crossed the Johor-Singapore causeway via bus. The causeway links two countries, Johor Bahru in Malaysia and Singapore. We passed by Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex. Just across the street from the immigration is the JB Mall. We just had our lunch at Kenny Roger's, did some souvenir shopping, back to the immigration, and then headed back to Singapore. We went straight to Lucky Plaza in Orchard Road to buy souvenirs, t-shirts and pasalubongs. Late dinner was at Marche along Sommerset. Dining here is not just like any ordinary restaurant. It was so much more. But the experience here will be tackled in another blog entry.
Day 8, July 5, 2011, Tuesday

As much as we liked to stay a little bit longer, all good things had to end. Time to go back to PHL. We were due to depart at 8:50 PM and due to arrive in Manila at 12:15 AM the following day. With bags already packed, we headed for the airport late afternoon. Mom, Ate Yvonne, Maya and Chloe took a taxi cab. Caloy and I used the MRT. We arrived at the airport about half an hour later after them. Airphils Express' counter is in Terminal 2 unlike other budget airlines which are in the less classy Budget Terminal. Those in Terminal 2 along with Airphil Express include Philippine Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and many other flag carriers. Ate Yvonne and Caloy just dropped us off the airport. They left as soon as we went to the immigration. They would follow us to the Philippines in 2 days. The boarding gate was not open yet. We were 2 hours early so natu
rally, we were the first ones in the boarding gate. We haven't had our dinner yet and we ran out of Singapore dollars. We settled for 1 Dunkin Donuts each. We were to board Flight No. 2P 801 of Airphils Express. I had a window seat again. Singapore City by night is an awesome sight. The city is full of lights reminding me the people here are busy and the city never sleeps. The brightness of the city extends to the sea. A few specks of light of ships and boats could be seen in the dark waters. The dark skies tempted me to doze off. It was past midnight when we landed in Manila, took a taxi cab and went straight home. We just ate our very late dinner and slept. The next day, I went to work... my first day of being a JAM.
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