It's my first travel after graduating and after working for 2 years.
The destination would be ABROAD.
My first place in mind, SINGAPORE.
August 2010 is my planned date of travel. I will be staying there for 2 weeks. I traveled with my friend, Jennifer Baguio. We are staying at my cousin's place. The ticket we have purchased would not be from Cebu to Singapore, instead we purchased one which would pass by Manila.
Excitement filled the whole environment when the date of travel grew near: Thinking of what to bring, packing things and exchanging of our money to Singaporean Dollar.
When that day came, we flew from Cebu to Manila via Cebu Pacific Air. When we arrived in Manila, we just waited for our flight going to Singapore. Both of us had to go through our own immigration officer asking different questions like "What are you going to do there?" , "Where are you going to stay", "What is your job here?". The Immigration officer even asked for an Invitation Letter since I would be staying with my cousin. Finally, after going through that tough process, I will just have to go through the scanners and wait for the plane to arrive.
After 2 1/2 or 3 hours, we have finally arrived in Singapore. It's a rainy afternoon in Singapore when we arrived. My cousin fetched us from the airport and we went to his place to put our things.
A little trivia before roaming around:
Singapore, also known as the Lion City is a very small country. You can roam around the place in just a short period of time. Let's say, about a week.
After arriving on my cousin's place, we met with his housemates and had dinner outside. First time to eat in a 'Hawker" - that is what they call their food stalls.
As the day ended, I'm glad I landed in a very nice place.
DAY 1
First thing me and Jen did is to purchase our EZ Link card. It's Singapore's way of playing for MRT and bus fares. You have to buy the card and buy load as well. It's like buying load for a cellphone.
Before taking the MRT, we also looked at the map and chose different destinations.
First stop, SCIENCE CENTRE. It's a place where you can see different inventions and things that would relate to science.
After being there, we decided to go to CHINATOWN. It's a place where you can purchase souvenirs, gadgets and other things.
We then went to Esplanade where you can see a lot of things such as the Merlion and Esplanade Theater.
You can also see the hotel that has the ship look at its ceiling, the Marina Bay Sands.
You can also see in that same area, the Singapore Flyer. You can ride that and see the whole Singapore. It's just expensive.
We then went to the busiest area in Singapore, Raffles Place. Raffles came from the name of the founder of Singapore, Stamford Raffles. He is also known as the "Father of Singapore". For me, it's the busiest place in Singapore because its like the business capital and a lot of well known company that are located there such as Bank of America, Keppel and Maybank.
On that same place, you could find a bridge that would connect Raffles place to the Singapore River -the Cavenagh Bridge.
Once you cross the bridge from Raffles place, you have reached the city of Singapore. There are a lot of things that one could see here.You could see the Asian Civilization Museum. You could find there different materials that would help us understand the Asian culture and history.
You could also find the statue of Stamford Raffles.
If Justice has to be served, it could be located in this area. You can see the Old Parliament and also the Supreme Court and City Hall.
DAY 2
It's another day to walk around and the destination - ZOO. It would be on the Singapore National Zoo. The Singapore Zoo would include the Night Safari wherein you could also see different animals. These would be our ticket and maps for the zoo. It costs us $ 20.00 for the entrance.
If you don't want to rely on the map that was given, there is a map of the whole zoo when you get inside.
These are some of the animals that you could see inside the place.
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| A kiss of a Seal |
After walking almost the whole day, next stop would be - Snow City. It's time to know how it feels like to see and touch the SNOW. It's a very, very cold place and its nice sliding around using a sledge. You could not bring the camera inside the snow area since it might cause damage to the gadget. The entrance fee here is $ 16.00.
Day 3
It's now time to see the birds. We are now off to the Jurong Bird Park with two of our housemates - Armi and John. The Jurong Bird Park showcases different types of birds. You can roam around the place in two ways: one is to use the monorail trail and second would be by walking. If your time is limited, you can choose the first option however it would cost you as well while the latter wouldn't be costly and you could also see more. The entrance fee would cost $ 18.00.
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| Jurong Bird Park Map |
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| Monorail |
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| King of the Skies Show |
Day 4
It's my first trip in Sentosa. We had to take a train from Vivo City. Once you ride the train in Vivo City, you can actually use the EZ Link Card. We took a map in Vivo City before boarding the train. Since Sentosa is a big place since it does not only have there the Universal Studios but also beaches that people could have their much needed sun burn.
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| Sentosa Map |
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| Sentosa from afar |
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| Map of Sentosa |
In Sentosa, there are a lot of restaurants that you could dine in. One of the restaurants that I find famous in the U.S. is the Hard Rock Cafe.
This is one of the most crowded place in Sentosa, the Universal Studios. There are a lot of tourists and locals that would have their pictures taken with the Universal logo that moves around and it even has a smoke effect. Since its not the day that we are going to go inside, we just took a picture outside. We then roam around Sentosa.
This is the show that we are waiting to see since a lot of people mentioned that it's really nice. This Songs of the Sea show happens at night time. Its a musical show combined with pyrotechnics. This show costs $10.00.
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| The train |
One of the beaches in Sentosa is Siloso.
Near the Siloso Beach, you can find the Underwater World. You could see here different sea creatures and some you could even touch them. It would take an hour for you to roam around the place and take pictures. There are even dolphin shows and sea lions. It has a very large aquarium that you go in to and see the fishes. The entrance fee for this is $25.90.
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| Entrance |
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| Dolphin Show |
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| Peacock |
Another attraction is the Sentosa Luge and Skyride. The skyride is like cable cars in Hong Kong. You would be able to see the view of Sentosa and Singapore. The Luge on the other hand is a non-motorised, three-wheel carrier. You will have to make sure that you know what to step on to so that you could stop and if and move. The track area is a steep hill. It's a really fun when you ride on one. This will cost you $ 12.50 for both Luge and Skyride.
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| Skyride |
Day 5
A day after walking around in Sentosa. It's back again to the same destination but would focus only on a specific place, Universal Studios.
This Universal Studios is one of the famous theme parks in the United States and it is now brought in to Asia.
One could find here different activities from different Universal Studios produced movies.
The entrance fee is $68 for a Non-Peak day and you can already ride all you want.
This is the very famous cartoon, Madagascar. You could meet and greet the different Madagascar casts.
One of the movies of Kevin Costner, the Underworld. In this very huge place, you would be able to see a role play of the movie Waterworld with real live effects like the explosion of boats and more. You might not
see the real actors but its really fun to be one of the live audiences. Just prepare your umbrella and raincoat, you might get wet.
This Revenge of the Mummy would be a roller coaster ride. You couldn't see if you are going to fall or your going up because it's too dark. I was not able to try this ride since it was closing time when we arrived.
This is the Jurassic Park ride. You will be wet so make sure you bring extra clothes. You would see here different dinosaurs.
While you are walking along the streets in Universal, you would be able to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You will see the names of different Hollywood actors and actresses.
This is one of the souvenirs one could purchase in one of the stores there. It's the Oscars Award. Below the different Oscar Awards would be a description of the person you are giving it to like Employee, Mother, Father, Brother or Sister.
One would also be amused on the very large castle located Far Far Away. This is where I experienced my first 4D. The show would be about Shrek since the Castle at the back is Fiona's.
These are the things I got when you eat in their restaurant.
This is the very famous Battlestar Galactica which is a roller coaster ride. At the time that we went there, there was a problem so their engineers were trying to fix it.
This would be the New York area. You would be able to see here the different things you would be able to see in America.
This is the famous Yellow Cab. It's where the famous Yellow Cab Pizza got its name.
A store that sells different types of hats.
These are the other places we have been to in Singapore.
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| Chapel of the Resurrection |
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| Food |
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| Preparation for the National Day in Singapore |
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| I'll never forget this house |
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| My favorite Ice Cream better than Selecta |
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| Civil War Memorial |
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| Fountain of Wealth |
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| Entrance for the 1st Singapore Youth Olympic Games |
