Hello Singapore! (Day 1)

November 18, 2012

I really had mixed feelings about this trip to SG. syempre I was excited kasi it will be my first time. however considering the nature of the trip and all--caused me extreme anxiety.

lone traveller
photo from my Instagram account @jobnacpil

traveling alone wasn't the problem. I think I have a way of adapting to unfamiliar situations naman. and I do enjoy flying by myself rin. this whole roll-out was really just unnerving.

my family dropped me off at about 12 nn. there was quite a line for SQ. siguro nga there was really something wrong with the site - kaya I didn't get to do the web check-in.

saw Sir Pete rin. apparently we were on the same flight. but he sped along--he must be a Kris Flyer. which reminds me--I really should have signed up for that na.

my 2nd destination in SEAA

the whole time I was worried about my e-ticket too. I noticed lang the night before that they misspelled my name. pero mukhang di na rin nila napansin sa check-in counter. or hindi lang talaga sya that important.

while waiting for boarding, i got a bit hungry - buti na lang I brought along my favorite cheese muffins from French Baker and a kid-size Chuckie

finally got in the place, and noticed they had a really good-looking cabin crew. the girls were even dressed in these cool batik dresses. and apparently color-coded sya depending on their level

from the in-flight magazine

at first I wasn't really sure what the fuss was about SQ. I couldn't differentiate much from Cathay.
though relatively its a bit more spacious? haha. siguro I just got so used to the budget airlines so anything apart from that was great for me.

on-board SQ 917

my flight left about an hour later due to runway traffic. i didn't even realize we already left MNL (haha yes I'm narcoleptic) good thing I woke up in time for the meal

SQ in-flight meal

yummm. something diff sa SQ was they shared the menu once all passengers were settled down. so for people like me who take awhile to decide on even the mundane things--that setup works pretty well for me.

and in 3 hours. just a little past 6.. touchdown Changi airport

hello Singapore!
photo from my Instagram account @jobnacpil

I read somewhere that the airport in itself is one heck of an attraction. hopefully I'd get a chance to go around before my flight back to MNL.

while in queue for a taxi. chanced upon these. not sure what purpose these things serve. but sure looks like a work of art to me haha

si Uncle naka-iphone

finally got a taxi. right hand drive nga pala sa SG. and you can use credit cards to pay for the fare. cool.. it even has a sort of GPS device that tracks distance, time and serves as a meter na rin.

absolutely enjoyed the travel to the hotel. easy driving. walang stops at all. no traffic! or maybe it was just because it was a Sunday kaya the streets had little traffic.

I didn't know where Traders was exactly kaya he had to phone someone for exact directions. I knew though that the fare from the airport to the hotel would be about S$ 23 so I was checking the meter to know if I was near na.

when I got to the hotel I rested a bit lang and shortly met Ms. Ira and Nohrin for dinner - hawker style!

as there was a considerable amount of traveling required to get to our destination we took a cab to Esplanade. it was a good way to go around the city. I knew I didn't have enough time to explore SG kaya at least kahit papano I'm able to go around

the Singapore flyer from afar

from Esplanade we walked a few meters to Makasuntra Gluttons Bay

I've come to the right place

okay so ang notion ko ng hawker style ay as in yung mga gotohan/mamihan natin dito. night market lang pala ang peg. haha

so we each went around and bought a dish we wanted.

at ang product ng aming collaboration ay fiesta!

I just had to try the roti + chicken curry

shrimp fried rice

cereal prawns

satay

sting ray

oyster cake

we shared a table with a Singaporean couple at medyo nagulat sila sa orders namin. haha.

there was nothing so different about the dishes. though exception ang cereal prawns--dahil breading palang ulam na. and the sting ray which was just incredibly exotic. haha. I liked that dish a lot though feeling ko parang kumakain lang ako ng tyan ng isda (which I don't like, btw)

me and Nohrin

ibang view naman - me and my boss

to burn off all the calories we just consumed, we walked by the bay

great view

and we arrived just in time for the light show!

what a beaut!

syempre I will not pass off an opportunity for a photo here

turista mode

I had a really good time with my SG welcome party. haha.. we didn't stay too long because we had work early in the morning pa.

what a way to start my SG trip :)

*Watch Out for Hello Singapore! (Day 2)