Chronicles of a First Time Turista Part 2

In Fairness,naka part two na ako.usually, the toxicity of work, plus my congenital laziness, would grip me and prevent me from finishing my posts. Lets hope for the best na matapos ko tong series na to. hehe.

Singapore, First Day

thanks to my officemates who take pictures of everything we see, I got the name of the restaurant where we had our lunch. Its Rekyo Inn. After a scrumptious meal of Tom Yum soup, two green leafy vegetable dishes, fish fillet, chicken, shrimp, chili crabs and fruity milk dessert, we headed our way to our oh-so fabulous five star hotel, right smack in the middle of Orchard Road. Can I salivate now? My BFF Laurice and I were designated to a room on the 18th floor. Too bad that the only view we had is a wall of a building and a back alley. And the best thing about staying there is... STAR MANDARIN Channel!!! Whooohooo! Non stop Hongkong blockbuster movies starring my favorites, andy Lau, Louis Khoo, Daniel Wu and I could go on and on and you still wouldnt know who they are. harhar.

Our idea of a perfect first day in Singapore is to hang out in the hotel room and sleep. Unfortunately, Laurice and I both have appetites the size of Russia, thus, we had to haul our fat asses to the streets of Singapore and find our way to Snacking Nirvana. riiiiight. A couple minutes walk outside of our hotel room and we're lost. We would have enjoyed that feeling of being 'lost in the big city' but unfortunately, that would be too tasking on our budget and we're both misers to the highest degree. We then had to retrace our steps before we found ourselves back at Orchard Road where we got to join some of our office friends eating the wafer ice cream being sold in the streets. Can I just say that this ice cream (chopped from a big block of ice cream) is pure heaven. and the best thing about it is that its only 1 SD! yehey!

Thanks to our accidental tour guides, JM (former officemate) and his girlfriend, we got a first hand experience of the Singapore life, i.e Walk,walk,walk. We also took the MRT to go to Suntec City, but 90% of our journey was on foot.

We had our first taste of Sing's landmarks at the Esplanade. I would have appreciated its grandeur more had I not been bathed in the glaring and burning 3pm sun. And when you only had 2 hours of sleep, it wont be easy faking your enjoyment.

While sightseeing at the Esplanade/Merlion/River place, we came across hundreds of children clad in red shirt. These children, according to our very reliable and informative tour guide JM, were practicing for the National Day Parade (NDP) of Singapore. this is what I truly admire about this country. Not only are the people helluva clean, they are also nationalistic and cooperative in their country's events. I have to admit, I would never stand a minute roasting myself under the sun for a June 12 celebration. but these kids are there, hundreds of them, practicing and perfecting their performances for this occasion. Amazing.

After a couple of miles and bunions later, we headed back to our hotel to take the 'nestea' plunge in our very soft and luxurious bed.

to be continued...

Chronicles of a First Time Turista Part 1

I just got back from a one-week vacation and it was awesooooome! First, everything is for free and second, no work! Actually, that is almost true except for the fact that my phone started to buzz with text and calls from client on my last three days of the tour.

So for people with a short attention span, I do not recommend reading this portion of my blog because I promise that this will be long and detailed. I, thank you.


July 11, Friday- The night before

I had to really wait till the night before my trip to pack all my stuff. Thank God for our ever reliable Ate Yen, I just had to take out all the things I need to bring and she did her magic. My mom who is known for her 'nakalunok ka ba ng mic?" voice kept on nagging me on why I forgot to buy dizzitab (anti-dizziness) for the cruise. I told her that I forgot and she need not worry because I am not byahilo by nature but she just went on talking about the possibility of me vomiting my guts out. Every fifteen minutes while packing, she would go inside my room and scrutinize the position of my clothes, shoes, toiletries etc., i just had to ask my dad if my mom downed a gallon of coffee. This went on until about 1:30am in the morning. This gave me no time to sleep because we had to be at the airport at around 4am.

July 12, Saturday First Day

Part two of my Mom's Monologue show is when I woke them up at around 3:30am. She said that we do not need to be at the airport by 4am, it was way too early, i was too excited etc. I had to remind her that I was with our president, 2 AVPs and 19 other people and I do not want to be pasaway and a COD (cause of delay). nonetheless, we were able to arrive the airport by 4:10, still late, but earlier than what my mom recommended.

First day and I already had an Ang TV moment of Nyeeee! Apparently, the camera I brought only had a 16MB memory card inserted in it. ha-ha. In short, I was able to take around 8 pictures tops, and all these were taken inside the airport. Another ha-ha. Anyway, I didnt bother taking pictures given that my friend and roommate laurice brought her new camera. Ta-daa! no more stress.


We arrived Singapore at around 11:15 and we were welcomed by Jackie, our tour guide. We converted our money from USD to Singapore dollars and went to our bus. Since checkin time in our hotel is 12 noon, our tour guide arranged for a lunch at this restaurant far from the new buildings and upon entering, I was assailed by aromas both pleasant and not so pleasant.


...to be continued

Cruise Snooze

In fairness, na eexcite na ako. Its less than a week before I sail ship, literally, and though my mind's ready, my body isn't. Kasi naman... kung kelan may scheduled suman festival, este, swimsuit display, saka naisipan naming mag todo pig out nina laurice at jenny. BAKIT ANG HIRAP MAGPAPAYAT?!?

there are still a lot of things I have to do, as i have yet to pack my stuff. I havent even drafted a list of things to bring. Bahala na si Batman, or more appropriate, bahala na si Captain Hook.

I'll try to upload some pictures but given my normal im-too-tired-to-do-anything mode, dont expect much.