So I just got back from my trip to Singapore and i’m having a little bit of separation anxiety (read: hangover) from my short-lived but nevertheless fun vacation.
My childhood friends and I have always wanted to travel together but since they all have gone to different countries for work there are only three of us left here in the Philippines, one is in California, one is in Dubai, while the other two are in Singapore. Due to life happening to all of us, Dale and Faith can’t just go and fly halfway across the world, Lorainne can’t just leave work and the kids and come with us so Pam and I decided to push through and visit Ejay and Byron in Singapore!
Changi Airport
It was Pam’s first out of the country trip so she was a little bit praning in immigration while i’m a little bit praning about the Zika virus outbreak in Singapore so I brought a bottle of insect repellent and a box of mosquito patch good for four people.
Anyway, to say that their airport was beautiful would be an understatement, I mean, they have an MRT station inside the airport! Giving you easy access to anywhere in the city. How freaking cool is that?
We stayed at the J8 Hotel in the corner of Townshend Road and Maude Road, Lavender, Jalan Besar.
J8 Hotel
For our first night, our friends took us to Chinatown for dinner. There were a lot of people, tourists mostly, enjoying different kinds of food available in that stretch of food stalls. Varied choices from stir-fried stuff, authentic Singaporean laksa, Satay, Indian Prata, and Ramen among other tasty stuff (i’m not really good with the food description, i figured! haha)
Day 2 – we had the whole day to ourselves. So while our friends went to work, we roamed around the city and the best thing we did was to buy that expensive local sim card! (Thanks to our sponsor/ ninong Ejay) Hahaha! It was 15SGD (Php 525) with 100gb (Whoa?!) of data and enough credits for call and text valid for the rest of our stay so it was worth it because you know what, we did get lost! It took us 30 minutes to find that freaking taxi stand and in one of our taxi rides the driver even dropped us off at the wrong place so thank goodness for their organized trains we we’re able to go to the River Safari, The Orchard Road, and the Ion Orchard Tower (which was closed unfortunately).
That night, after a hearty meal at Astons we went to the Gardens by the Bay to see the lights and sounds show which was A-MAH-ZING to say the least. We then went to the Marina Bay Sands for more must-have travel photos and that building just blows my mind. The architecture was genius. I can’t wrap my head around how they made that beautiful building. So after, we went to the bay front to go see that famous Merlion. The Grand Prix was in full swing so some of the roads were closed we had the walk all the way around and I tell you, it was faaaaaaar! I have never walked that much in my life! But, it was the best way to see and experience the city. Walk the streets with the locals and the other tourists. It was a new and exciting place with everything waiting to be seen and explored. It was so much painful for my feet but it was so good for my heart and soul. 🙂
The third day was meant for buying pasalubong so we went to Bugis Center. It was one of my favorite places. The boutiques in Orchard Road was too expensive for me so Bugis was right up our alley. We also went to Madame Tussaud’s and The Universal Studios later that day and it was like when we were kids and we would go on field trips together. It was also like all of us going to Star City but only with better rides, longer queues (with remarkable smell), and a whole lot of people we don’t understand.
With all the fun things we got to do, new places i got see, the precious time spent with people who are very dear to me, i’m finding it hard to go back to that “work mode” just yet. I am truly thankful for having life long friends who were so accommodating. I can’t thank you guys enough for making time for us and making us libre. You guys are the best!!!
This Singapore adventure made me realize how friendships really stand the test of time and even distance. I am amazed how we still don’t know some things about each other (Pam wants to sleep with a little bit of light on, who knew Ejay & Byron could be so patient and accommodating with us lost girls haha!) despite the fact that we’ve known each other almost all our lives. Coming from the same place and being together in a completely new and different one together and sharing this adventure was truly awesome. I wish we could all do it again together with the whole barkada.
The trip was a good reminder of how there’s more to life, you know. There’s so much of the world we have to see and explore. I’m so excited to go out of the country and meet new people and experience different cultures. It was such a great trip and I’m stoked to travel more in the coming years!
Vent-o-Machine 
Sep 20, 2016 @ 20:55:56
Till our next adventure! 😊
Dec 11, 2016 @ 15:01:29
Singapore is awesome! We visited just this November 🙂