Singapore Travel Kwento Day 1

Airline: Philippine Airlines
Travel Dates: January 26-29, 2012 (4D/3N)
Travel Agent: Scorpio Travel and Tours, Megaplaza, Cityland, Garnet Street, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Hotel Accommodation: Parc Sovereign Hotel, 175 Albert Street, Singapore, Singapore

Day 1:

Our flight was at 6AM. We had to get up at 1AM because I had Basic Taxi pick us up at 2AM. Since we were advised by the travel agent to be at the NAIA Terminal 2 three hours before the flight, we made sure we get there at 3am. Turns out we were too early, because airport staff normally arrives at 4am, so wala rin. Nakapila kami nang matagal, though we filled up our immigration forms na while waiting.

Time for check-in. I specifically asked the girl at the counter to make sure na hindi kami nakatapat sa pakpak ng eroplano, para may view of the sky ang daughter ko. Ayun, sakto kami sa pakpak talaga! Grrr! Eto pa, hindi kami pinagtabi! My husband and 4 yr old daughter Aliya were seated beside each other, pero ako, nasa after the aisle pa! Alam naman niya na family kami travelling together! Hmpf! Parang ewan!

Anyway, the flight departed as scheduled. Ok food, pero iba pa rin sa Singapore Airlines. There was a shortage of blankets, good thing we hand-carried my daughter’s blanket kaya may nagamit siya sa plane. Flight took 3 and a half hours, so we landed in Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 9:30am. Temp was 36degrees!

Immigration personnel were not as intimidating, mainly because they know we were travelling as a family. But as most IOs, hindi sila friendly. We found our sundo without difficulty, as there was only one exit sa terminal 2 arrival area. We got into the coach, which served as our airport transfer service. This one’s included in the package we got. Everytime we travel, gusto namin may airport transfer na, para hindi lugi sa taxi.

I learned early on that Singapore isn’t a huge place after all. Wala pang 30 minutes, nasa hotel na kami. Yun nga lang, Din (whose wife is Pinay and hails from Bacoor, Cavite), the Singaporean who served as our driver has no idea kung tuloy ang half day city tour namin that day. He just said nag-iwan na ng itinerary yung Vacation Asia (our tour operator) sa front desk ng hotel. Good thing they did indeed. At least alam namin kung ano IT namin. When we left kasi the Philippines, ang sure pa lang is that second day ang Universal Studios. Yung half day city tour, hindi pa sure kelan gagawin. Since we got to Parc Sovereign at 11am, wala pang available rooms. Check in is at 3pm, like most hotels. Romy, my husband contacted his friend who lives there and we were told he’ll meet us for lunch. Eh ang tagal dumating, so I thought I’d go look for a money changer muna. Since tanaw ko na ang Bugis Street from our hotel, I explored it right away, alone, on our second hour in Singapore. Natuwa ako sa location ng hotel namin, as in walking distance lang from Bugis, Chinatown, and all those interesting shops and food stalls! Pagbalik ko sa hotel, wala pa ang friend. We rested for a while, changed into more airy clothes, left our luggages sa hotel, and off we went to Bugis for lunch. Tuwang tuwa kami sa Bugis! Naoverwhelm ako kasi andami ko na gusto bilhin agad! And the stuff there are cheap! If only it’s not time for lunch yet, I’d beg Romy to go explore na kami! Anyway, our first lunch was in an eatery in Bugis. Mine was Sweet and Sour Pork Rice (SG$2.50), Romy got a Chili Chicken Meal with Salted Vegetable Rice (SG$2.50). Conversion is to multiply by around Php33.00. We got fruit juices for SG$1.00 each. Not bad!

After lunch, Romy and Aliya headed back to the hotel while I asked to be left for awhile so that I can go buy some stuff in Bugis. Super aliw! Parang Pratunam experience, daming bilihin! I bought keychains (12 pieces for SG$10), ref magnets (4 for SG$10), and Singapore bags (3 for SG$10), and vowed to return for more. Kung hindi lang nagtext si Romy na may room na kami, hindi pa ako babalik, eh. I did kasi the packing, so ako lang nakakaalam where to find immediate necessities like their slippers, change of clothes, vitamins, etc.

Few minutes after staying sa hotel, Romy’s barkada who now lives and works in Singapore said he’ll bring us to Orchard Road. Since I’m the OC-OC traveler who’d research muna before going to a different place, alam kong Orchard is the sosyal part of Singapore with all the nice malls and where the branded (read: expensive) stuff are. Since hindi naman kami pumunta dito para mag-mall at bumili ng branded, I wasn’t as interested. But the friend looked to eager to bring us there, andun daw ang Lucky Plaza where the Pinoys and Filipino stores are. Sa loob-loob ko lang, galing kami sa lugar na puro Pinoy, dadalhin mo kami ngayon sa lugar na puro pa rin Pinoy? Not wanting to hurt his feelings, and giving him the benefit of the doubt, hala, sige! Sama! Aysus! Taga-Singapore nga siya pero hindi pala siya expert sa commuting outside his place of work and residence! Anlayo ng nilakad naming makarating lang sa MRT Station, dalawang lipat ng trains, and pagbaba sa Orchard Road, haba pa ng lakad. Para daw makita namin ang malls! Sumesenyas na ako kay Romy na this is not what we came here for. Edi sana nag-Rustan’s or Shangrila na lang ako. Plus, si Aliya was getting irritated na. Antok and pagod na. And wala naman interesting tingnan for a kid like her. Haay, may pagka-insensitive lang talaga yung guy kasi vocal na nga kami na wag na sa mall kasi sawa na kami sa mall, lakad ever pa rin siya, wanting us to see this and that mall! Bottom line, dadating ang nanay niya at gusto niya ipasyal sa Orchard. OMG! Nadamay pa kami! Ok, he wants us to enjoy, he wants his nanay to enjoy, pero point is, this is not our idea of pasyal in Singapore. And Orchard is not in our list of places to go dahil hindi naman kami ma-branded na shoppers. Took a long time before he let us go. Antagal pa niya bago nakahanap ng taxi, hindi rin daw kasi niya alam kung pwede magpapara kung saan-saan lang. I told them kasi hindi na kaya ng powers ko mag-MRT uli. Taxi na lang kahit medyo mas mataas ang fare. Whoah! Yung metro ng taxi was only SG$5.00! Nagpakapagod pa kami kanina… pero nice experience mag-train. Pero dahil may kasama kaming bata, syempre take into consideration ko rin energy level ni Aliya.

When we got back to the hotel, it was around 415pm. Super antok kami lahat, we took a nap and woke up at 7pm. Ang liwanag pa ng 7pm dun! Parang 4pm lang ang itsura! We freshened up, then off we went to Bugis and Chinatown uli for dinner hunting. Pero hindi rin napigilan ni Romy kasi nag-pasalubong shopping na rin siya that night. Nag-ikot ikot kami sa mga RTW, bags, souvenir shops, fruit stalls, etc. Tuwa kami sa mga orchids, and the Chinese who visit and read their horoscopes along the road are interesting! May mga naghuhula din, at maraming nagpapahula. We had dinner dun sa hawkers center sa Albert corner Prinsep Street. Food this time was so-so. At SG$3.50, I got rice, nuggets, hotdogs, fries combo meal kasi gusto ni Aliya ng fries. Romy got noodles na super anghang. Price was around that range din. I saw a dessert station,, yung flavored ice with gulaman, corn and bits of what tries to look like strawberries, pero HINDI masarap! I remember kasi having something like that during our trip to Thailand years ago, masarap yun. Ito, hindi. Hmmm, hindi lang siguro ako marunong pumili.

By around 1030pm, umuwi na kami sa hotel. Hindi ko napigilan, naligo pa rin ako kahit malamig. At 1130pm, we called it a night.