My Pink Shoelace

Tuesday (May 13) I received a text message from my aunt (mom’s best friend) informing me that she’ll see me in Manila for a couple of days. As I didn’t like Manila that much I suggested that we go out of the country. Much to my luck and to her convenience she said yes and said we’ll go to Singapore. It;d be her stop over from Sydney (after flying from London) on her way to the Maldives.

Booked my flight the next day, I’d leave the country on the 17th of May at 7:55 PM and am expected to arrive in Singapore at 11:45 PM. She was there waiting for me and am glad I didn’t have to wait for her to come pick me up. The plane I boarded landing on Changi Airport on the Budget terminal, she told she wasn’t waiting for me that long though her plane arrived two hours earlier than mine because she had to rush from one terminal to the other to get to where am s’pose to be.

Singapore has 4 terminals, Qantas Air landed on the second terminal which was a bit far from the Budget terminal. She had to ask for directions on how to get there which involves the MRT and a bus ride.

We stayed at Holiday Inn Parkview Hotel, which if memory serves me right has the same room setup as the Heritage Hotel in Manila. Not much view from our window as it faces the street, I dropped dead on the bed the moment my head landed on the pillow and the next thing I know it was already 8 AM Sunday, woke up to the sound of knocking on the door. ‘Twas room service armed with our breakfast.

We both had American breakfast, talked about school mostly and work. I had the day all to myself, strolled along the nearby streets near the hotel and explored the Meridien Shopping Center for gifts and what nots. She gave me 1 piece of each denomination just in case I’d get lost and need to hail a cab back to the hotel.

Haven’t explored all of Singapore given the limited number of days I was there and as she’s still technically working though we’re s’pose to be on a holiday. But here’s a list of the places we’ve been to.

Chinatown - we asked the cab driver to take us there. Shops and lots of shops line the street, many tourists flock the Chinese Temple, and the whole place was bursting with activity and life. One street I’ll remember always is Mosque St. home to the finest restaurant I’ve ever been in, Sichuan Village Restaurant. Our favorites were fried rice with egg, sweet and sour pork, pan-fried beef with ginger and noodles with minced pork. You have the choice to have it cooked spicy or just the regular. Bought two of my presents from Chinatown, there’s a shop there called Arte that has awesome ladies handbags, got three there for Wafa, Mitchy and myself.

Arab Street - home of the finest tailoring. A quiet place full of shops selling scarves, carpets and shawls.

Little India - bursting with activity its given me a picture of how Bangalore might look like. Shops and restaurants line up full of people from various races.

Clarke Quay and Riverside Point - I was told Singapore only has one river and in here alongside Clarke Quay you get to take the guided cruise. We visited it at night and it was full of people locals and foreigners alike. Bars ands restaurants line up, its kinda difficult to choose where to eat. Had our dinner with a great view of the river, I had fried rice salted with silver fish and two glasses of cranberry juice. I forget what she got for herself but one thing to remember though their small size serving is good for two persons.

Haw Par Villa - Built in the 1937 by entrepreneurial and charismatic Aw Boon haw for his brother Boon Par, its a park filled with statues and dioramas of Chinese folklore.

Sentosa Island Resort and Spa - spent one whole day here, we visited the Underwater World, Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom, Cineblast and the Dolphin Lagoon. Finally I got a good view of the world’s famous and rare pink dolphins.

Singapore is truly a very clean country, I haven’t seen a single trash all throughout my stay, all one can see on the sidewalks are dried leaves. No graffiti anywhere and that truly amazed me. Also its a right hand drive there, taxi’s issue receipts and you can pay through credit card, haven’t seen a cab driver wearing shirts all of them wear short or long sleeved polos.