My Singapore Adventure

The time came for my most awaited first out of the country trip. We booked our flight online one month in advance last June so we can take advantage of cheap fares. We used Tiger Airways as our airline since it was the cheapest at that time charging us only Php 7,437.19 for a round trip flight. We also booked one month in advance at The Inn-Crowd Hostel at Little India Singapore and so we also got it cheap at only around Php 1,400 for 2 nights stay. And they have a free breakfast, but you have to serve your own.

It seems that the round trip fare was very cheap. What's the catch? The flight schedule is quite bad. We are scheduled to arrive at Singapore Tuesday 8PM and we are supposed to depart it on Thursday at 9:20 am. So if you think, we just have 1 full day of Wednesday to do all the things we want to do.

I arrived at MRT Cubao Station at around 9am Tuesday. I rode a cab going to Partas Bus Station. This is the bus that will take us to Clark Airport where Tiger Airways was stationed. The bus fare cost was Php 300 each.

We arrived at Clark Airport around 11am. And the guard there won't let us in the airport yet since it was just too early. We should check-in 2 hours before our flight and our flight was scheduled at 4PM. We waited and waited. It was a very hot sunny afternoon then. We were very tired of waiting and we ate our lunch at Pizza Hut.

Then our flight came. We arrived Singapore at around 8PM. The flight took around 3 hours and 15 mins. At the arrival, I was asked in the Immigration. I did not have the accomplished form to be given in the Immigration of Singapore. So I grabbed a copy and accomplished it.

Since we did not get a tour package, we were all by ourselves. We don't have a tour guide. All that we have was a map leading to the direction of the hostel where we were spend the night. We rode a bus, rode their MRT and asked directions and walked and walked until we reached our destination.

I must say that the first impression I had with Singapore was very clean. I was first impressed with their MRT. It was very clean and organized. The people were very disciplined.

When we reached the hostel, all that I saw was lots of Indians! We were in Little India. We ate our diner at a nearby hawker or carinderia. And we strolled around a little before we went to sleep.

The next day was our day that we should make the most out of it. We woke up 7am. The first thing that we did was to go to Sentosa, one of the most famous attractions in Singapore. We availed of their promo and we spent around Php 1,300 for the six rides that we got.

The first one was of course the Merlion, the famous symbol of Singapore. It was a creature half lion half mermaid. We took some pictures of it. Then we went to the next which was the Tiger Sky Tower. It was the highest peak of Singapore. We were able to view the whole of Singapore when we were on top. The next was the Luge. It was the most fun part of all the rides. Then came next was the Sky Ride. It was the scariest of all the rides that we got. You just sit on a chair with just a small steel in front as your protection from falling. Your legs were just suspended as the ride goes higher and higher. Then we went to the Butterfly Park. We saw there different butterflies. I even saw a series of butterfly metamorphosis, how they evolve from cocoon to caterpillar to eventually become a full-grown butterfly. We went in a store and bought some souvenir items. Then the last ride that we have was the Cable Car. It was not as freaky as the Sky Ride. I even enjoyed the view of it.

After the tiring rides, we went back to hostel to take our lunch. Then we went to Raffles Place, their Central Business District. I submitted resumes to some companies like Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mistubishi, and ING. Some companies didn't accept walk-in applicants. Some told me to just apply thru their company's website. It was a very hot sunny day at Singapore and so we were very very tired.

We stopped by at a nearby store to buy a drink. We were very dehydrated. Then we went back to our hostel to take some break. After that we resumed and we went to Mustafa Mall to buy our pasalubong, mainly chocolates. Then we went back and took our diner and slept at around 11pm. It was a very tiring day and we were walking for almost 10 hours.

The next day, we woke up around 4am and took our breakfast. Then we rode a cab that took us to the airport. We arrived Philippines around 11:30am Thursday.

Singapore was a very clean place. I noticed that people were mostly Indians and Chinese. There was no pollution and no traffic. The traffic lights have 15-second count for people to cross streets. Their MRT was impressive compared to ours. They have 4 MRTs which were interconnected with key stops at major cities around Singapore. I also noticed that the flag of Singapore was displayed in almost all the facades that I passed. Maybe they it was a symbol of their nationalism. They had few natural resources like trees, etc. but they do have lots of man-made attractions. It was a small country but definitely worth living. I must say that even though we had a very limited time spent, we were able to maximize it.

Until our next trip... We plan to go to either Macau or at Kuala Lumpur Malaysia before the year ends.

P.S. I was glad I lived within my budget. I computed my overall expenses from plane and bus fares, shopping expenses, rides, lodging fees, food expenses, airport taxes and fees, etc. and I was just able to spend around Php 18k. Pretty cheap.