Exactly 2 week ago, I had my much awaited Singapore-Indonesia tour with few of my closest friends.
It's been a long mind over matter battle whether to go with my friends in this trip or not. First, I don't have enough vacation leaves to use. Second, I'll be having my vacation in Philippines in 3rd week of May. Third, I'll be bringing my siblings back with me here in KL for a week vacation. Needless to say, I'll be spending generously these coming weeks so I have to watch my finances carefully. But just in time, May 2 was declared holiday! Together with May 1 of course giving us 5 day off if we file VL on April 30, soooo tempting right?! To make this story short, I was persuaded to join my friends with their escapade! Ergh!
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Day 1 – Friday, April 27, 2007
I left the office at exactly 4:45pm and went straightaway home to do the final packing of my things. Around that same time, I received a text from Rye that he already arrived in KL from Manila. Rye and I rode a bus from KL to Singapore, while Anai and Mars took the train. Initially, our plan was to take the train all together, but to the last minute, Rye and I opted to ride a bus instead. Roughly 10pm, I met up with Rye at Masjid Jamek station while the rest were already on their way via train. Our bus will depart to KL at 12am, and since we still have ample time and we also feel a bit hungry we decided to grab something to eat at McDonalds Pudu Raya. I personally didn't expect that the bus is as beautiful and comfortable as that. I thought it was just an ordinary bus as it only costs us 35RM each. But in my surprise, it was one of the most beautiful buses I've ever ridden! hehe. Imagine, I am 6'4 yet I can stretch my legs comfortably. Awesome! Anyway, while on the bus, Rye and I catch up things like a never ending talk 'til we both feel sleepy. And never ever deny Rye that you snore like a cow! Haha.
Day 2 – Saturday, April 28, 2007
Our first stop over was somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I don't know where exactly we were. But we didn't stay there for long; they just let us use the restroom and continue the ride. The next thing we knew, we're already in immigration in Johor Bahru to exit Malaysia. One good thing of having the gold card, we don't need to go thru the usual process; no need for stamp or whatsoever. We just have to show our passport and card then they will let us pass just like that.
A few miles away sited the Singaporean immigration in Woodlands. There was one boo-boo thing that we made there. Rye headed first in the line before me, and when he was already being interviewed by the officer, we realized that we both don't have the embarkation form with us. So we head back, filled-up, and queue back 'til we finally enter the Singapore territory. Yehey! We're finally in Singapore… and later that day we found out that we even came first that the rest. So we're not the last team to arrive! We're still on the race for becoming the America's Next Top Model! Bwahahahahaha.
Going back, when everything was already settled, we both didn't know what to do next. We went to the bus station area not knowing whether; first, our bus is still there and will bring us to the city proper itself. Second, the bus didn't wait us and already left both of us. Or third, we really have to go by ourselves from there. After waiting for few minutes hoping that the bus will come to pick us up and bring us to the city, Rye asked someone how to go to the nearest MRT station and we decided to leave the place and start our misadventure from there hehe.
From Woodlands, we rode a bus that will bring us to the nearest MRT station (Woodlands Interchange). The fare was .90 SGD each but the smallest bill we have that time was 50 SGD. But what a good morning to start with for us as the bus driver didn't mind us to pay! So generous he was.
From there, we took the MRT and alighted at Orchard Station. Then we rode a cab to go to Regency Hotel where Polly and Alfred stay. I haven't seen her for almost a year now! She's one of my batchmates in Phoenix and one of my closest as I would say. So I was excited to finally see her. But we didn't stay there for long. After having the breakfast prepared by her of course, after using the bathroom to clean up ourselves and to change our get-ups, and after the "kulitan" and "kwentuhan" sessions, Rye and I headed straight to Bugis Backpackers Hostel where we stayed for the rest of our trip. But of course, we didn't fail to pose in front of my camera before we leave the place hehe.
Finally, when we reached the place around 1:30pm, we just checked-in and placed our bags in our room then we hurriedly went to Esplanade where Anai and Mars already waiting for Rye inside the theatre where they gonna watch Phantom of the Opera whilst I waited outside and roamed around the place for nearly 3 hours. I took pictures of Esplanade, Merlion, etc. I also ate my merienda at Thai Express. I passed by on this concert hall where the band is having their practice. I went to the nearby shore and rested for a while. The place is packed with tourists from different places and it's so amazing to see people of different colors.
After the play, we (Anai, Rye, and I) all went back to our hostel to change our outfits once again. Based from our itinerary, our plan was to go to Clark Quay, Orchard Road, Suntec, and the nearby places. But we ended up just lost inside the huge mall of Suntec. Haha. Before continuing our never ending walk, we all decided to eat our sumptuous dinner first in one of the Thai restaurants there. Yummy!
We strolled around the Esplanade place once more and took many pictures as we could. And when we all feel tired and exhausted, we grabbed something to zip at Starbucks. We weren't supposed to stay there for long as we still have a lot of places to go in our list for that day. But our exhaustion and fatigue led us to nowhere. I find myself stuck on that place with them, enjoying the still of the night, and had the deepest, most sincere, heartfelt conversation with them 'til we called the night off.
Day 3 – Sunday, April 29, 2007
We scheduled this day as our QT (quality time) day to meet our respective friends separately. Anai and Rye spent their day with their relatives while I spent mine with a friend.
I supposed to meet some of my old Filipino friends there but our time didn't allow us to do so. Wrong timing as they say because their families were there with them that time so better luck next time I guess hehe.
Fortunately, one of my 3 online friends living in Singapore was available that day while two of them were out of the country. We planned to meet at City Hall at around 12nn. But he texted me around 11am that he was already in Intercontinental Hotel near Bugis Junction which apparently near the place where I was staying. So I hurriedly fixed myself up and met him up at Bugis Junction.
Since we both had our brunch, we decided to skip lunch and watch movie instead. With no other choice, we watched the movie "The Wild Hogs". Hehe. After the movie, he toured me around the place and brought me to Chinatown.
The time ran so fast that we didn't notice that it was already 6pm. Before saying goodbye, we promised to see each other again when I get a chance to go back to Singapore or when he goes to Malaysia. I had fun and was a pleasure meeting him.
I took a nap for a while 'til Rye came back in the hostel. We supposed to go to Clark Quay and Night Safari. But again, we ended up doing something else. Instead, we roamed around Bugis place and had our dinner within the area. Just watching all these street lights and beautiful structures...so wonderful!
Day 4 – Monday, May 01, 2007
The only agenda for this day is to go to Bintan Indonesia. Meeting time was 8:45-9am at Harbourfront which was the other end of the MRT. Rye and I we're on time and not in my surprise the girls were late. What's more dissapointing was that they were late by more than an hour! So not to spoil our day, Rye and I ordered pancake meal for our breakfast in McDo and talked about happy thoughts haha. And when Anai and Mars finally arrived after 48 years, we just cheerfully smiled like as if there's nothing happened. But the truth of the matter is, we wanna kill them and rip up piece by piece! Hahaha.
And what worsen the case, when we're about to buy our tickets, we found out that we're on the wrong tail! All ticketing counters in Harbourfront stations are all going to Batam Indonesia and not Bintan! None of them were selling tickets to Bintan! The port going to Bintan was on the other side of the MRT! So not wasting our time, we ran like speed rocket just to make it as early as we can. We're like contestants of the amazing race chasing one MRT to another. We alighted at Bedok station and waited for bus 35 which didn't appear after waiting for several minutes. So we decided to take a cab instead which is always the best option for people who's running out of time haha.
When we arrived on terminal, we're a few minutes late as the ferry already sailed off. With no other choice, we took the next ferry available which will leave the place at 2pm and will arrive in Bintan at the same time since Indonesia is an hour delayed due to time difference. While waiting for the next ferry to start boarding, we ate our lunch first at Kopitiam and again took many funny pictures as possible. Of course, the "kulitan" and "asaran" sessions were always part of it.
 
We traveled for almost an hour in the sea via M.V. Bupala. It was a smooth sail that made us sleep for a while. The next thing we knew, we were already on the island of Bintan. From there, we took a cab to bring us to Nirwana Resort which was a just a couple of minutes away from the port.
As we're all eager to swim, after changing our clothes, we all jump off to the beach like kids playing in the still sea. Believe me, we're just the loud people there. It was not crowded. You can even count on your fingers the visitors that time.
The place is not as big as the other beaches. The water is not as blue as the others, and the sand is grey but fine. It may not be the best beach in town but the comfort and tranquility of the place made you feel at ease and stress-free. Relaxing it is.
Then again, we took many pictures up to the last minute we stay there. Lucky that we didn't stay there overnight because the place is plain dead at night. No lights, no music. No bars open, no people walking. Dead it is. But we all had so much fun for sure.
The taxi picked us up at around 7:30pm and brought us back to the port area for the last ferry trip that night. We arrived on the Singapore port at around 10pm already. Mars went off to the MRT station to meet someone whilst Rye, Anai, and I had our dinner at McDo (again, again, and again) by default hehe. We didn't eat dinner at Bintan because it was hell expensive! Imagine for just a small bottle of water already cost me 3 SGD! What more for the food. My goodness! So we just ate our "baon" of chocolate cookies and nuts just to nosh our empty stomach. Talking about thriftiness here… hahahaha. After dinner, Rye and I took a cab to bring us back to our hostel while Anai also took a cab to bring her home.
I was supposed to still meet Eden that night but I was so exhausted that I can barely get up on my bed so I texted her that we can just meet the next day.
Day 5 – Tuesday, May 02, 2007
This was our last day of stay in Singapore. Based from our itinerary, we will go to Sentosa to see the place and to meet with our former officemates. We will also buy souvenir items and to shop given we have enough time.
Rye and I woke up early to pack all our things as we need to check-out by 10am but good thing, they allowed us to leave our things near the counter 'til we head back home. We met up Anai at Bugis McDo where he had our breakfast and immediately strolled around Bugis place to buy souvenirs.
After that, we went straight to Sentosa to meet our former officemates. One way to get there is to ride a cable car, which we did. The view was nice, not that spectacular though, but quite short. Anyhow, we roamed the place and of course took many pictures as we could.
And when we all feel starving to death, we look for a better place to eat but unfortunately it took us walking like forever to see one. We ended up having our lunch at Delifrance which is of course expensive again because it's in SGD haha. For just some bread, soup, and drinks for about more than 20SGD! My goodness!
After a couple of minutes, our former officemates (Janjan, Hazel, Khris, and 2 of Anai's friends) just arrived. Again, we never ran of topic to talk and laugh about. It was just a short meeting but we're glad to see them again.
We didn't stay there for long. We ran like speeding bullet, chasing one train to another, back to Bugis to get our things and head back somewhere near Sentosa again where Aeroline bus is, which will bring us back to Malaysia.
I was so exhausted and my ankle was already a bit swollen so the moment we sat on our bus seat, I lay down and relaxed. But there's this one annoying kid at my back which was so screaming loud the whole time which is so irritating! Swear, I really wanna throw him out of the window that night! Hehe.
It only took us less than 5 hours to travel back to Malaysia. We spent our morning in Menara Jaya 'til Rye's flight back to Manila. We invited Tza and Miggy to meet Rye in Anai's place and spent the morning chatting and sharing our experiences in our respective escapades.
At around 4am, Rye left Anai's place to chase his flight back to Manila while I went straight away home in KL.
SUMMARY:
Our trip was not just all about fun and relaxation. For me, it's more on discovering how life goes in Singapore. For each and every country you visit, there's always had a negative aspect. For one, no doubt this place is clean, sophisticated, contrive, organize, discipline, yet very busy and always on the go. Not to mention that living there is way too expensive. I would have not imagine myself living and working their for good, not unless I'll be paid good too!
On the other hand, it was indeed a nice and memorable experience that I would never ever forget for the rest of my life. What made it more special is that I spent it with two of my closest friends Anai and Rye, and with Mars as well.
Thanks for the wonderful time travel buddies! 'Til our next (mis)adventure! |
