Dags Marasigan

 

 

 

 

Rendezvous #3 - Singapore. March 3, 2011


Rendezvous #1 - Hongkong

Rendezvous #2 - Singapore

Rendezvous #4 - Malaysia

Rendezvous #5 - Seoul, South Korea

 

I took the 11:30pm flight via KLM from Bali to Singapore.  It was one of the most interesting flights I've had.  Passengers were still standing in the aircraft fixing their hand carry luggage in the overhead bin and the aircraft started to taxi out of the tarmac.  I guess the KLM pilot was such in a hurry since the flight was already delayed and he did not concern himself with the passengers on board.

When I arrived in Singapore, I was impressed with the cleanliness of the city state.  The roads were nifty clean and the plants were perfectly trimmed.  Since I arrived around 2:30am, Singapore taxi had to charge extra, airport fee and midnight fee.  Good thing, all Singapore cabs accepted credit cards.

I stayed at Fragrance Hotel - Emerald.  It was a chain of hotels with various gem stones named for a different location (Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire).  It was a budget hotel for ``on-the-go`` travellers like me.  It was better than a backpacker`s hostel but not as good compared to 3-star Hotel 8 or Courtyard.  I can recommend Fragrance Hotel to ``no-frills`` travellers since the rooms were very small with very basic amenities.

The Marte and Duterte couples arrived at about 7:00am.  With them were new tour members Myra Barrientos, Liza Du and Lourdes Damalerio.  I was surprised with an additional member, Rhea Chu who was supposed to be with a different group.  Apparently, Rhea`s initial two (2) tour mates decided to drop their travel plans.  Hence, Rhea met up with the Martes and Dutertes at Manila airport and joined them last minute.

We had breakfast in one of the numerous restaurants near the hotel and from there, took the bus to Marina Park.  Our first stop was Raffles Hotel and took a short walk to the Marina Bay.  Within the Marina Bay was the Singapore Flyer where we had the chance to see Singapore from the top.  Ticket was S$29.50 per person or about US$23.40.

From the big ferris wheel, we walked along Marina Bay and had pictures of The Helix, ArtScience Museum, Sands Expo and Convention Center. As we went our way to the Merlion Park, the famous Mermaid/Lion statue was covered due to a hotel construction.

The ladies were already complaining of leg cramps yet we only had a short walk!  They wanted to take the Singapore MTR subway to Orchard Road for some window shopping.  When we disembarked at Orchard station, it rained so hard so we got stuck in one of the big malls.  Paeng, Joel and I decided to stay in a coffee shop and the 2 of them were so tired that Joel had to take a nap!

From Orchard Rd., we went to Sentosa Park and took the subway to Harbour Front station for the Cable Car ride. Round trip cable card ticket was S$26 or about US$20.60.  The price included entrance to Sentosa Park. 

Sentosa Park was a theme area that also had Universal Studios.  We did not go inside Universal because it was already late in the afternoon and it would take at least 1 day to fully enjoy the Hollywood theme park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

From Sentosa, we went to Bugis which was a famous flea market in Singapore.  From Harbour station, we took the MTR subway to Bugis station.  We had dinner at the area and while some of us relaxed at the restaurant, most of the ladies went shopping.

Since the 8 members did not have any decent sleep yet, we called it a night at about 9:00 pm and took the taxi back to the hotel.

Next stop, Malaysia.