My brother and I, Cholo, spent three days in Singapore last March 21-23. It was our second time to visit, our first was 12 years ago. I was 12 and he was 8. We were excited to see the changes in the Little Red Dot!
Upon arriving at Changi Airport, we immediately got all the
maps that we could find, then we asked for directions to the MRT so we could get to our
hotel. We saw the ticket office after going down from the escalator. My
brother was ordering our tickets in English when the cashier suddenly
cut him off and said “Tagalog po.” (Speak
in Tagalog.) Turned out she’s a Filipino like us! We were wondering how she
knew that we were Filipinos though, and then I realized that she probably heard
me and Cholo conversing in Tagalog right before my brother spoke to her. Cholo
and I didn’t know that there’s a very good promo for tourists called the Singapore
Tourist Pass (STP). It’s a card for both MRT and bus which is priced at SGD30.
Cardholders are entitled to unlimited MRT and bus rides until their last day in
Singapore. The cashier asked us when our last day would be and she would input
the information on the card’s system and whenever you tap the card, the expiry
date would show on the ticket terminals in MRT stations and buses. The card comes with a small map of the MRT
lines in the entire country and a list of the top attractions and how you could
get there by MRT and bus. The map greatly helped us navigate our way in
Singapore. And another awesome thing about the STP is that you get SGD10
refund when you return the card to the ticketing office.
The cashier also helped us how to get to our hotel, Hotel 81
Selegie. She told us to get off at Little India MRT station as it was the
closest station to the hotel.
What I really noticed during our MRT ride to our
hotel was that there were no people on the streets at all. The ride was
around 10-15 minutes and I didn’t see anyone on the streets! It was shocking
for me because here in the Philippines, there are always a lot of people
everywhere. The streets were wide and clean and it gave me the feeling that
most likely, the people living in those houses and apartments were leading a
quiet and simple life. Everything I saw during that ride was calming, except
for the construction sites of course.
When we arrived at Little India MRT station, we were lost for
a few minutes. I realized that there were no people on the streets because they
were all in the stations trying to get to their schools or offices, there were
a lot of people but not to the point of bumping into one another. We could
still move and walk freely. MRT stations here in the Philippines are not huge
so no one really gets lost here. But the MRT stations in Singapore are really big. We found it kind of hard to get out of the station. But thanks to the
help of the staff, we got out eventually. But once we were out, we had a hard
time again. This time, it’s finding Selegie road, the street where our hotel
was. The maps were not helpful so we asked one of the Indian women on
the street. It was such a pleasant surprise to know that Hotel 81 Selegie was
just a walking distance from the station! Our check-in time was at 2:00pm, but we arrived at 12nn. So I
thought we could only leave our bags at the hotel then go somewhere for 2 hours
then come back later to check-in, but the clerk said that we could check-in
early. That was good news because we were so tired and our feet were so painful
already at that time, and it was just 12nn! We had the rest of the day ahead of
us and we had to recharge.
Our room was cute! It was small but had everything we
need. It had the basics of a hotel room such as TV, hair dryer, dresser with a
mirror, bathroom with all the toiletries, and the two beds (duh). On the dresser
were two teacups, two water bottles, and some sachets of tea and coffee.
There’s a water boiler as well so we could make our own coffee and tea. We
checked out the channels on the TV but nothing interested us, so we just rested
for around an hour.
When we got up, we headed to Orchard for a late lunch. We got
off the Orchard MRT station and had Hainanese Curry Rice at ION’s food court.
Cholo had Hainanese Chicken Curry Rice while I had Hainanese Pork Curry Rice.
It was SGD5.00 each. It was my first time to encounter a fusion of Hainanese
meat and curry. The meal was very filling and savory. The meats were tender, there were lots of curry sauce, and a side dish of sour cabbage.
After eating, we went around ION and the shops we saw were
the same with the ones we have in the Philippines: UNIQLO and The Face Shop
just to name some. I stumbled upon KOI, a milk tea store. I heard from an
online friend that KOI’s milk teas are good so I gave it a try. I had Caramel
milk tea with Vanilla ice cream. It was really creamy but not too sweet, which
I really liked.
My brother wanted to check out some anime stuff so we asked one of the
sales person where the nearest anime shop is. He said that there’s no such
store in ION and suggested for us to move to Plaza Singapura, another mall in
Orchard. Plaza Singapura was very large, spanning 7 floors. I was happy to see
a familiar store there, Etude House, where I bought facial and nail masks for
my friends.
The anime stores were at the 7th floor. Some of them
offered various types of merchandise like: comics, keychains, accessories,
stuffed toys, shirts, computer mouse. While others specialized
on a certain merchandise, there were a lot of figurine stores. We spent quite a
lot of time in those stores because my brother wanted to check out each of them
and see which items he would buy for himself and for his friends. He ended up
buying an anime shirt and keychains.
We left Plaza Singapura and headed to Singapore Flyer. I was
so excited for this because I really love Ferris wheels! And experiencing a
ride in a different country thrilled me. Right after arriving at Singapore
Flyer, we relaxed and had a drink in Singapore Food Trail, the food court under
the Ferris wheel.
 |
| A short pathway to the Singapore Food Trail and Singapore Flyer |
 |
| Singapore Food Trail |
We strolled around and saw a beautiful botanical garden with
mini waterfalls right under where people alight and ride the capsules of the
Singapore Flyer.
Took some pictures with the beautiful surroundings before boarding the Ferris wheel:
 |
After more strolling, we bought tickets and ate some
dumplings. Their tofu tastes different from the ones we have here in the Philippines. It's softer and tastier. I really love it.
After presenting our tickets, we entered into an exhibit meant to
educate the tourists about the Singapore Flyer. An interactive video showed all
the stages of construction the Ferris wheel went through.
We wanted to take the
ride at dusk so the view would be even more beautiful and breathtaking. And it
was. Riding the Singapore Flyer was a perfect way to see the city lights and
night view of Singapore. From up high, we saw Marina Bay Sands hotel, The
Shoppes at Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay’s Cloud Forest, Flower Dome, and the Supertrees with
their dancing lights, Esplanade, ArtScience Museum with its dancing lights as
well, Helix Bridge, and other buildings such as DBS and Pan Pacific. Looking over the
city, seeing the night lights, and watching the cars moving smoothly, we saw
the proof that Singapore is indeed a prosperous country. And this made me
realize even more how much I want a better life for myself and that there’s a
lot I have yet to see in this world.
 |
| The Helix Bridge |
Some pictures after going down from the ride:
After going down from the Singapore Flyer, we walked to The
Shoppes at Marina Bay via the Helix Bridge. The whole walk was an amazing
experience. It was the particular moment that I felt like I belonged to the
city. Both tourists and citizens were having a fun time walking on the bridge
with their loved ones.
While walking on the bridge, we noticed that there was a long line of people in a
specific spot. When we checked it out, we saw an old man selling
handmade ice cream sandwich! I had Blueberry and my brother got Peppermint
Choco. It was really good! Watching the old man make the ice cream sandwich was
like watching art. He would ask for your selected flavor and then he would get
a block of the ice cream from his mini freezer. The ice cream block was around
6 inches wide and 1.5 inches tall. He would slice around 1 inch of the ice
cream and sandwich it between two wafers. Voila! Handmade ice cream sandwich.
After that, we started walking again towards The Shoppes. Having a good
ice cream while walking on the very bright and uniquely-designed Helix Bridge
felt awesome.
The moment we entered The Shoppes at Marina Bay, I knew that
it was a world-class shopping mall, without a doubt. The architecture was different from any
mall I’ve seen in the Philippines. It was spacious, the ceiling was up high, and I really loved
that they used some yellow lights which gave off this classy vibe.
We roamed around for a long time
then I suddenly saw a familiar restaurant, Toast Box! Toast Box is a
Singaporean restaurant that has been in the Philippines for a few years now. I
just discovered it last year and I’m a big fan of their sandwiches, Hainanese
Chicken meal, and Horlicks drink, which I've been missing because it’s been a
long time since the last time I had it. I grabbed a Horlicks then we proceeded
to the Bayfront MRT station to go back to our hotel and call it a day.
Along
the way to the station, we saw this enormous indoor whirlpool. It was my first
time to see something like it, let alone inside a mall! I found it a bit scary
though because the water was moving around rapidly and it made a loud noise as
it fell down into the canal.
From there, the indoor canal went on. It was also
a first for me to see such thing inside a mall. Unfortunately, there was no
boat at that time so we weren’t able to experience the ride.
We got to our hotel and were very exhausted. But it was
totally worth it because it was just our first day but we already saw so much
of Singapore’s beauty and uniqueness.
