Thursday, August 14, 2008
Hello Sillypore!
I set the alarm to 7:30 a.m. but I woke up early. It's not a big surprise for me right now. It happened to me the last time I was here. I guess being in another country gives me a built-in alarm clock.
So I'm here again in Singapore, or as my friend calls it, "Sillypore". I'll be attending the Asian Publishing Convention for two days starting today till Friday. My first impression after getting the email was it's more for the magazine guys than us, but after reading the sessions I knew that there are a lot of interesting things here that I can learn (hopefully) and bring back to the Philippines.
The trip's been pretty good so far.
From coach, I was upgraded to Mabuhay class without me knowing it. I probably wasn't paying attention, and at 5:00 in the morning, who would be? My seat number was 14K and I was looking for it in my usual Fiesta Class area when it dawned on me that the count for the economy rows start at 30. And so yes, I travelled three and a half hours to Singapore enjoying better food, bottomless drinks (orange juice for me), a nicer, cushier and bigger seat, a tad bit better in-flight entertainment (I watched Iron Man again) and more legroom.
When I arrived at Changi Airport, I was worried about my cellphone. I had to turn it off when I boarded the plane in Manila but the power button's damaged, and so there's a big chance I won't be having a working cellphone for the whole trip. After immigration, I pulled out my mechanical pencil and started to press the power button. Nothing happened. But after a few minutes of practically pressing every point of that power button, it finally turned on. Whew!
Taking a cab from the airport to the city is a bit too expensive for me. It can set you off about S$20+ (roughly P600). The cheapest alternative would be the MRT but that would have been more viable if I wasn't lugging around with a behemoth of a suitcase (yes, blame the Pinoy in me). The next best thing is the airport shuttle. At S$9 a ride from the airport to the hotel, it's a bargain. The downside of that is you will have to share the coach with other travelers going to their hotels and wait for your turn for them to drop you off yours. Well, yesterday, I only had to wait for 10 minutes for the shuttle to arrive and - here's the good part - I was the only passenger! Oh yeah baby! So for S$9 I was traveling to my hotel with just me and the driver in a vehicle bigger than a limo!
And so yeah, I may be traveling alone but I really feel that someone's watching after me.
Yesterday's free day was mainly spent hunting and shopping for everyone's bilin and pakiusap. I met up with Carl in HMV at the Citylink Mall and bought Karen her Coldplay album. Then after having lunch at Pepper Lunch in Funan, we went up to Challenger to buy Tec's earphones, laptop cleaners for Eric and Cherry, and a 4GB thumbdrive for Gerry. We traveled by train to Orchard after and went to Kinokuniya in Takashimaya to buy Charo's Watchmen graphic novel, Uniball pens, and Tec's Hana Yori Dango Volume 37. I also met up with Irene to give her her shoes and Yay's instant pancit canton. Carl had to leave to pick up Kyan and so it was a solo flight for me from that point to Paragon for Muji stuff.
I went back to the hotel by cab after that. I was too tired (and lazy?) to take the train to Outram and walk 15 minutes.
Dinner was with my friend Ken from my previous company. It was in this nice Japanese restaurant along one of the side streets near Orchard. It was his treat. Well that and the cab ride back.
So today's the convention day. It starts at 9:00 a.m. and so I'll be getting ready in a few minutes. I just have to cross the street to get to the convention venue and so I have enough time to grab something to eat at the hotel lobby.Labels: office, Singapore, Travel, Trip
6:30 AM
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Singapore Trip: All Aboard!
I am waiting for Gate 6 to open so we could finally board our plane back to Manila. It’s my first time to see the departure area of the Budget Terminal and it’s not that bad at all. At first I thought it was between NAIA 1 and 2, but inside I’d say it could even give the latter a run for its money.
The extra day yesterday was spent in Sentosa together with Karen and Joebel. We were still unsure at first if we made the right decision in taking a tour package, but seeing the long queues for the non-chartered buses made us thank the heavens.
We met up in the hotel at about noon and had lunch in Yoshinoya at Central – a mall opposite the Swissotel Merchant Court in Clark Quay. At around 1:30 p.m., the tour company picked us up from the hotel lobby, brought us to their office at the foot of the Singapore Flyer to pay the fees, and then, together with other tourists, drove us up Mount Faber for our cable car ride to Sentosa.
I actually wouldn’t do justice if I write how the whole tour was so I wouldn’t even try. Instead, I would refer you to the video I took. (To be linked soon.)
We arrived in the hotel at little before nine in the evening. Charo went back to the hotel room while Karen and I rushed to Orchard for some last minute shopping. She got herself a nice bag from Muji, while I got three shirts on sale at Giordano for just S$5 each. Not bad at all. Dinner was chicken rice and chicken satay from the Newton Food Center.
The day was packed and tiring, but it was really fun.Labels: Singapore, Travel, Trip
11:15 PM
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Singapore Chronicles: The Amazing Race
We had quite an adventure yesterday after learning about the strong typhoon in Manila. There were no advisories from Cebu Pacific. Their website didn’t say anything, no one’s answering the phone from their offices here, and we can’t get through their offices in Manila. So to play it safe, we rebooked again to the Wednesday early morning flight to be sure.
The problem was our hotel room. We cannot extend because they’re already fully booked. So we went online and found a nice deal at the Swissotel Merchant Court in Clark Quay. We booked it for two days and bid adieu to Albert Court.
This new hotel is way better than the old one. The reception people were smiling when they greeted us, which is not the case with the previous one. We were waiting for our turn to check in and there was already someone from the staff who approached us and asked us if we need help. Wow! You can really see that they’re doing their CRM assignments.
This trip is turning out to be an Amazing Race of sorts, with all the bookings and transfers. It’s nice but I don’t want to go through it again.
Yesterday was train day for us. Since the hotel’s a few meters away from the Clark Quay station, we topped up our MRT passes and traveled around the city through this. We went to Orchard to meet up with Karen and Jobelle, then it was off to Bugis to check out their street market (which is like our Greenhills tiangge – nothing spectacular), and then back to the hotel for us to rest. We heard the 6:00 p.m. mass at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd along Bras Basah road and walked to the City Hall MRT to go back to the hotel.
Because the plan was originally for a two-day trip, I only brought a limited number of clothes and an extra set just in case. So last night, I did the most macho thing to do – wash my socks and underwear in our hotel room’s sink. I wouldn’t say that it was a pro-caliber wash but I think I managed to clean it nicely. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow when I wear it.Labels: Singapore, Travel, Trip
8:35 AM
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Singapore Chronicles: Ticket Mix Up
It was really a blessing in disguise that I brought my laptop to Singapore instead of dropping it off in the house or we would’ve had a more difficult time rebooking our flight.
It was an honest mistake, really. Charo bought tickets for the Sunday 12:05 a.m. flight thinking that it was for Monday early morning. I only noticed it when I checked it as I was lined up for immigration and immediately brought it to her attention.
We went online as soon as I arrived in our hotel room at Albert Court and got to move the flight to Monday early morning at 1:55 a.m. Of course there’s a pretty significant surcharge we had to pay as a consequence of our carelessness, but what’s important is we managed to do it and got our precious extra day back. What’s left is to have the confirmation emailed to the hotel’s business center address so they could print it. No sweat.
So it’s seven in the morning and I’m up and about. I can’t help it. Even though I slept at almost two, I always seem to wake up pretty early when I’m in a different place. I’m thinking of hitting the showers soon and get myself ready so I can go down and take pictures of good old Singapore before all the hustling and bustling starts.
Maybe.
Or I could just go back and hit the sack instead and recharge myself for a very, very busy day ahead.Labels: Singapore, Travel
7:26 AM
Friday, June 20, 2008
I know I'm excited for the trip tonight but I have to tone it down and focus on today's workday before I leave the office at 3:00 p.m. There are still a number of things to do, starting with the lighter color studies for this project.
Well, the bag's packed since last night. Although I only prepared a handful of clothes for my weekend Singapore stint, I'm bringing the biggest maleta we have plus two extra duffel bags. You never know. It's the Singapore Sale and Charo's got the head start.
Flight later's at 8:30 p.m. but I'm leaving the office at around 3:00 p.m. to be sure. It's a Friday, there's a threat of a typhoon, and it's labasan na for the students - that's a pretty lethal mix.
I'm going to be using the facilities of Park n' Fly for this trip. I'm pretty much satisfied with out first experience so I'll give it another go.
I guess that's it for updates for now. Hope I can blog when I arrive there.Labels: Singapore, Travel, Trip
6:58 AM
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Singapore again, lah!
I'm excited. I can't believe I'm going back to Singapore tomorrow evening for a nice weekend in the land of chicken rice and Sim Lim. It's a new thing for me this time as I'll be flying with Cebu Pacific and land on the Budget Terminal. I've seen the place a number of times from the outside. This is going to be the first time for me to experience it. As much as I love their Changi Airport terminals, I'm not getting my hopes up for this one.
For this trip, I'm hoping to:
1. Finally get enough energy to go to each floor of Sim Lim in search of a good find. (I don't know what that is, though.)
2. Visit their famous zoo, after enjoying the Night Safari
3. Go to Sentosa and check out their aquariums.
4. Maybe get to buy nice shoes to replace the old ones that I have.
5. Check out the red light district.
6. Shoot some nice pictures and videos.
7. Discover more food at the hawker centers.
Got any more suggestions?Labels: Singapore, Travel
7:03 AM
|
Can't
get enough servings of longanisa for one day? Get longanisa
alerts straight to your phone! Text JOVAN YES to 2366 now
for MMS updates. 
You
know how it is when you get bitten by the Pilosopo bug?
Well, I get those sometimes. And the random thought is...
