Last July 17, a day after my birthday, I flew to Singapore to celebrate my natal day. It was not a spur of the moment thing because I bought my ticket 5 months before my flight.
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| Family pic before the flight to Singapore. Samahan mo na ako Ate Darl sa susunod. |
I was scouring the internet for cheap flight tickets to Singapore and I stumbled upon the promo fare from Cebu Pacific. Lo and behold, I chanced upon a return ticket to Manila-Singapore-Manila for Php 2,600.00 only! It was such a steal and I'm so proud of myself for bagging this very cheap return ticket to Singapore!
If you want to be able to avail of cheap domestic & international plane fares, subscribe to Cebu Pacific to be notified of their promo fares. Book your plane fares 5- 6 months before your planned trip to get these super low price airplane tickets.
Now, comes the day of my flight, it was raining very hard, so I'm keeping in touch with the road advisories and checking the status of my flight, every now and then. We left our house very early, anticipating floods, but still we were surprised that almost all routes to Marilao NLEX were not passable because of floods. We were able to find a route, along Bocaue, passing a narrow street leading to NLEX. Finally, we were able to reach NLEX and drove all the way to NAIA Terminal.
At the airport, I paid the travel tax of Php 1,620.00 and printed my boarding pass. 7 days before my flight I already checked in online so it was a breeze lining for bag drop since I only have with me a carry on baggage. If you don't want to pay for check in baggages, make sure your carry on baggage weighs 7 kgs only plus you can bring also a laptop bag or a shoulder bag.
Before lining at Immigration, we ate dinner at the fourth level of Terminal 3. It is cheaper to eat here rather than eat inside the airport lounge. At the immigration, I noticed that the IO officers look more approachable and it was quick. In a few minutes, I was finished at immigration and queuing
for final checking of baggage before entering the airport lounge.
My flight was almost 3 hours delayed but it was fine with me because the weather was bad and it is to ensure the safe flight of passengers.
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| We were assigned seats in the middle but when the plane took off, we transferred to the window side. There are plenty of empty seats during this flight. |
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| It was raining when we took off, I said a little prayer for our safe trip. |
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| Touch down in Singapore |
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| Our first picture upon arrival. That's my daughter Charmi. |
We reached Singapore in the wee morning, their airport is really very huge and elegant, it seems you're stepping in a 5 star hotel.
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| Feeling donya dito ☺ |
Passing through immigration was a breeze and I went directly to arrival area to book the shuttle ride to our hostel. The shuttle ride costs 9 SGD and I was told by the operator in charge to wait for awhile for the shuttle to arrive.
While waiting for the shuttle to arrive, I looked for the counter selling Singapore Tourist Pass, it is a contactless card for unlimited rides in buses and MRT trains for 3 days. It cost 38 SGD, I thought the 10 SGD will be refunded but that was not the way it is. The lady explained to me, that I will keep the STP, after my stay, there is no refund of 10 SGD, instead, if by chance I come back to Singapore to visit, I can use the card again by reloading it. They offer 2 walking tours, which come free with the STP card, Kampong Glam Tour and Haji Lane Tour. We did not avail these two complimentary tours anymore because there is a time schedule which we'll not be able to follow. We visited both places but at our own pace & time.
The shuttle arrived, it was a small bus,very convenient, it has an outlet for charging phones right beside your seat and I charged my phone too.
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| Dim light kasi sa bus but this is the pic of the charger outlet |
After 25 minutes, we arrived at Meadows Hostel, which I booked via Booking.com and we were dropped right infront of the hostel. We took the stairs, and there is a female receptionist, who was very kind & accomodating. There is no language barrier for everybody we met here can speak in English. We paid our bill which is 128 SGD with receipt and another 10 SGD for deposit without receipt, which was refunded on the day we checked out. See how cheap the hostel, I booked, the price is for 2 persons already and it was for 3 nights or 21 SGD or 837. 60 per day per person. Our booking is a capsule bed for 2 persons, Meadows hostel offers,unli breakfast of 3 in 1 coffee, Lipton tea, sliced bread,peanut butter, butter & jam. The hostel is very clean, from the pantry, shower rooms, toilet room complete with bidet, reception area, lounge room and own cubicle. The guests are okay, nobody was loud or rude, each one is mindful of another's space but since different people occupy the room,there is also a whiff of unpleasant smell. So if you're not so delikado and you'll be staying out most of the time, you can try this hostel if ever you'll visit Singapore. I have a referral code from Booking.com that entitles the recipient a 10% discount to any hotel or hostel. Just give me a message if you want to avail it.
Intro pa lang tayo, ang haba na ng kwentuhan! Anyways, here's our adventure on our 1st day in Singapore. We woke up late already because we were dead tired. The shower rooms were really very clean but it would be better if you wear rubber slippers just for hygienic purposes only. Before leaving the hostel, we partook the free unli breakfast of bread, coffee,peanut butter, butter & jam and it was filling. The pantry was simple & cozy it's like taking your breakfast in your own kitchen the difference is, while eating you have a view of sky rise buildings.
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| Super linis ng pantry nila. |
Kung gusto ninyo mag take out ng breakfast, ok lang din.
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| View while taking breakfast. |
Our first order of the day is to walk along our street in Hamilton just to look around and in the corner of our street is a church. The Holy Trinity Church and while googling it, I found out it is an Anglican church.
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| At first I thought it was a Catholic church but when I googled it, this is an Anglican church. |
Walking some more led us to this wall mural
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| Ang daming wall murals sa Singapore,hindi siya vinavandalize |
And to this quaint cafe shop, which I didn't get the name but the food is okay.
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From our hostel, it is 7 minutes walk to Lavender MRT station. I took note that in Lavender Station they have McDonald's, Subway and several local stores & restaurants. Right around the corner is the Topman Store.
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| When my brother in-law Rich, saw this pic in my FB, he said it looks like New York. My sister Maan & him are living in New York. |
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| Background story of this pic: group of pre schoolers na may outside from the class activity. Throughout our stay ang dami namin nakikita na group of students with teachers in tow. |
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| Ang gaganda, maaakit ka mamili kung di lang nag aalala ma over baggage! |
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| Another artsy wall, reminded me of my friend Salma. |
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| Ang linis ng streets nila, promise! |
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| Ang daming restos dito, pili na lang kayo saan type kumain. |
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| These two sets of meals cost 8 SGD. Mahalia yung coke in can 1.50 SGD. Pero ang sarap ng food. |
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| This is the stall where we ate. Ang daming mga office employees na kumakain dito, as in bihis na bihis sila. |
We visited also the Abdul Gaffoor Mosque, it is located at Dunlop Street. This mosque was constructed in 1907. We were not able to get inside so we just took pictures.
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| The mosque is huge, we wanted to get inside but there are signages saying "entrance not allowed". |
We visited Marina Bay Sands. To get there from Lavender station go to Bugis station, from Bugis alight at Bayfront station. From Bayfront walk to Marina Bay Sands. Marina Bay Sands is known as the world's most expensive standalone casino at $8 million. We watched also the Singapore Bay Sands Light Show which is free. It starts at exactly 8 p.m.
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| The light show at Singapore Bay Sands. Free and it starts at 8 pm |
That's it for now friends. Stay tuned for the next posts during my vacation in Singapore.
Have fun reading.
Middle life is beautiful.
Till next time. God bless.
Hello.
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