Just had a 5 days/4 nights stay in Singapore and I had a blast! I did the usual touristy route and then some. The usual tourist attractions are of course, Sentosa and the Merlion Park, with new attractions, Universal Studios Singapore and the Marina Sands Casino and Sky Park to boot. At the airport, I quickly made friends with one bound for Kuala Lumpur and one for Singapore. Arriving in Singapore, I immediately got a taste of their “well-known” hospitality, a lady airport personnel stopped all the arriving passengers from proceeding to the Immigration counters, because she said, it was not yet our turn as another batch just planed in too and would overwhelm the limited Immigration counters. We were told to wait at the hallway for 10 minutes. It was a breeze after that, I only spent like 30 seconds at the Immigration counter and she let me through to Singapore. Meanwhile, a male passenger who was ahead of me in the queue did not get the same treatment, he was held for further questioning. An IO pala in another booth, had been giving me quick “naughty” glances, while I am in that queue, hahaha..
After Immigration, I went to a Currency Exchange counter, had some US$ exchanged, the girl manning the booth, had some apprehension with my US$ because it had so many markings daw. I told her I got it like that from a bank here in the Philippines. She didn’t budge and told me to get another US$ moolah with less markings. I grudgingly complied but told her that I will bear that valuable info in mind, and to accept only clean and crisp US$ from banks here next time. Mataray pa din di ba! hahaha..
It was the opening of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games when I arrived and although I had a S$80 Opening Ceremonies ticket, the tamad in me, did not bother to go because getting to the venue in itself is a task, much more line up to get in to the event venue, the Marina Float. The lines were too long for me to get in the stadium, so I just got back to my hotel in Little India and rested for awhile. I truly regretted not being able to witness a historic first, all the while blaming myself to not have booked an a day earlier flight sana, sayang ang S$80! Imagine the Uniqlo or Forever 21 na nabili na sana nun!hayz..
Come night time, I went out for dinner lang sana, because I was really major major tired pa din kahit medyo I was able to rest na din naman sa hotel. I headed to City Hall MRT, good thing with my hotel is that it is like 2-3 minutes only by walking distance to the nearest MRT station, Little India. Arriving at the City Hall MRT, I walked into City Link Mall. I feasted on Rubi flipflops and sandals agad for pasalubong purposes!
Before I seriously blew all my SG budget in the mall, I followed the underground walkway and ended up at the Esplanade Theaters, the durian-shaped buildings/landmark of Singapore. When I got out of the building and on to the river, I was surprised to see so many people from all the banks of the Singapore River it seems. I also heard so many people talking in Tagalog!@! The Opening Ceremonies of the Youth Olympic Games is partly visible pala because the Marina Float is after all in the Singapore River. Lalo akong naghinayang sa S$80 ko!hahaha..the fireworks and the spectacle was a sight to behold and I told myself, what more if you’re in the venue itself, grrr..
I walked around the area and ended up in Makansutra, a medyo sosyal na hawker resto. The food is a bit expensive din but I heard of the place na din so many times and how their chili crab is famed, so I took the plunge and ordered one. It was so spicy but super yummy! Soft-shelled sya..I spent a damaging S$50 there, but is worth it. After that I tried looking for the symbol of Singapore, the Merlion and the park where it is located. It was in the other side of the river pa pala and from what I could deduce, it is a very good vantage point for the YOG din. Sayang. The way to go to the other side is closed because of the YOG so I contented myself around the Esplanade.
I went back to the hostel at around 12:20 AM through the MRT as well, the MRT closes at 12MN usually but because of the YOG, it was extended to 1 AM, said a Singaporean soldier I asked who was stationed on the MRT. Walking up to the hotel from the MRT, I marvelled at how welcome the atmosphere is walking at almost 1 AM alone in Singapore. You cannot just do that in Manila and not be overly concerned with your safety.
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