Monday, October 08, 2007

Singapore


After the Malaysia trip we decided to drop by and tour Singapore for two(2) days. If Malaysia has lovely "island bars" imagine my delight when I saw Singapore's "island bars" (refer to the picture at the right).

The bougainvillea flowers they used are just "ordinary" here in the Philippines but they used it to beautify the most part of their city! Wow. Can we not do that in our country as well? Hay. Hay. Lovely lovely. And the trees? Grabe. Salute to the people who landscaped their country. I heard Pinoys did the landscaping? Is it true? Ha? Ha?

We slept right away when we arrived. (Of course we need to recharge after the hectic non-stop travel in Malaysia).


If in Malaysia it's Genting Highlands you must visit, in Singapore it's Sentosa Island. So, by 6pm we decided to visit and watch the highlight show in Sentosa Island which is the "Songs of the Sea". It's an amazing show! They used a musical fountain and interacted it with lasers against the water particles to create 3D images. It was purely MA-GEE-CAL! I wished my sister and brother was with us that time.


We did not get to tour around the Island that much since it's already dark. But they have a nightlife in the island, I guess. Judging from the outfits of the young-uns. Hehe. There's a cable car in the island as well and it's quite different from the one in Malaysia because underneath the cable car would be minus the forest but the sea. But, I will surely try out the cable car when me and my family would visit Singapore for a vacation.

There are different ways to get in and out of the island. Renting a taxi ($35), ride a train, ride the Sentosa Bus, Cable Car, or your own private car.

We spent most of our time in Orchard Road. If you are the type of person who loves to shop, Orchard Road is the place for you. The whole of Orchard Road is filled with shopping malls. I can't name most of them, but all I remember is getting inside. Hehe. There is no trouble if you just use your feet in Singapore since everything is prolly "just-a-walk-away". Unless you are a person who can't stand walking! But, if you are a person who resides in Davao "walk-a-thon" is not a foreign word. In fact everything would be near for you. :) *walang problema pag networker ka!*



I got to visit their National Museum but not the whole of it. The building looks nice noh? :) Very attractive.







If we have the MalacaƱang Palace and U.S the White House, in Singapore they have the Istana Singapore. If you are on the way to visit the shopping malls in Orchard Road you can pass by the Istana. The home of their Prime Minister.




We took the last flight out of Singapore to Manila so we can fully enjoy our stay at the Singapore Changi Airport. It's like a big shopping mall. They have a wide array of duty free shops and eating outlets. They also have "free internet" which explains my "Greetings from Singapore post". Hehe. They have free massages located everywhere as well.

Changi Airport is the 22nd busiest airport & one of the busiest cargo airports in the world and the 6th busiest in Asia. They have six open air garden areas and during our stay I got to visit the two. I don't know where the other four are located. I only visited their Orchid and Fern garden.

I just have to salute and say thank you to the "smiling customs" in Malaysia and Singapore. They were friendly and not at all imposing compared to the ones in Philippines, sad to say. They would smile and encourage us to come back and even have the decency to ask us if we enjoyed our stay. If we forgot to fill something up in the customs form they would just smile and consult us.

I don't know if you travelers notice this but our customs here in the Philippines always have a serious face. No smiles and everything. Nada. I guess it's different if you are foreign or what? I'll keep this in mind when I go out this November I will look over the customs attending to foreign nationals. They could at least smile a bit and be forgiving to others when they forgot to fill something up. *my mom witnessed a scenario where the custom personnel would scold at a Balikbayan*. Hello! Philippines is our country, we should be welcomed with smiles! They could say "Hi Maam, Sir kumusta ang travel niyo?" or "Hi Sir welcome back to the Philippines!".

There's still a lot to improve in the Philippines. I do hope one day it would improve for the better. Seeing other countries excel inspires me and the desire to see Philippines improving is soooo strong. But, I shan't ask the government to do the improving. It is not a good question to ask because number one I don't think they can answer it and number two the government has matters and "personal agendas" to attend to. The future is not in their hands anyway. The future mga kababayan is WITH US.

So let's stop asking what our country/government can do for us instead let's ask OURSELVES "WHAT WE CAN DO FOR OUR COUNTRY". I think that's better di ba? :)

It doesn't matter if we can't do GREAT THINGS we can do SMALL THINGS in a GREAT WAY! Go go PINOY! Wag antayin ang gobyerno. Hehe. Let's do it ourselves!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

right tina!! definitely. there's still a lot to improve here in the philippines. kakainggit nga yung neighboring countries natin. XD

nice pics! inggit ako!! :D

Tinunuy said...

Singapore is really fascinating! i love how they take care of their environment.

nice wake up call Tina! :) I second the motion. :)

ychel said...

wow! i would love to visit singapore someday. :)

i agree with u tina. we should start with ourselves not always blaming the gorvenment. we should know how to serve our country and our own kababayans. i live in another country so i know how our other kababayans treat other people here..i mean..like our phil consulate here. dah! imbes na tulungan ka..lagi na lang silang masungit.hello! ur work is to serve ur fellowmen, hindi para pagalitan or gawing tanga. thats ahy pinoys hate them..we should help each other diba...oh well.

hay let me know wen ur coming here..hehe.lolz. maybe u can drop by here in Milan.

take care tina..i miss u.mwahugs.

Mari said...

You are so right, Tina. Don't wait for the government to do the change, we do it ourselves. Walang mangyayari kung maghihintay sa hindi darating.

Re: our customs/airport staff. Geez, I had experienced that when I was coming back here (California). I was filling up a form, before entering the waiting hall, when suddenly a staff grabbed one of my papers. Instinctively, I laid my hand on it. The staff said to me, "Ang tagal tagal niyo kasi." So? Does it matter to him if it takes me an hour or so to finish it? He was rude, he didn't ask me first if I'm finished with my paperwork. Geez...some people, really.

Anonymous said...

Tin, hindi lang naman ikaw ang humihingi ng pagbabago. hehe....

PS yung bougainvillea, sa Subic dati ginamit din nila yun... kaso ngayon yung ibang naitanim nila eh patay na nung huling bisita ko.

Anonymous said...

Malinis nga raw ang Singapore. Nasa tao nga siguro yan. Kung kaya ng iba kaya rin natin kaya lang mas marami kasi yung mga walang pakialam.

Dami mo nang napupuntahan lately.

Anonymous said...

Nice Shots

Sidney said...

Wow! You could write a guide book with your travels. Very informative!

Anonymous said...

you really have me green in envy here. hahahahahaha. boohoo. i hope i'll be off to japan soon.

but before that, linisin ang pilipinas! :D

Anonymous said...

I love your new layout and you already did your tour in Malaysia and singapore. Galing galing!

I agree, medyo deadma/serious ang customs natin dito sa Pinas compared to other countries.

As for Singapore, its true na dapa medyo gayahin natin yung cleanliness nila. But I find living in Singapore seeming too predictable and sanitary.

x said...

cool! cool! you obviously had a good time. :)

Anonymous said...

Waw waw. Sana makapag-out-of-the-country na ako soon.

Unknown said...

great pics Tina,nakapag tour din ako sa singapore through your blog ;)

yes,tama ka dun!bakit di gamitin sa pilipinas ang bougainvilla?i remember our old place in novaliches..our yard was full of flowers,esp roses that my mother alone spent all her effort and our small "gate" were bougainvillas.i loved it!! no wonder why singapore is so beautiful and neat!

hey,lucky you talaga,ang dami mo nang narating!haha!

ok,have a nice week ahead!
ghee

Anonymous said...

yes yes, I agree...dapat gawin din ng gobyerno or ordinary people ang pagandahin ang ating bansa.
malinis talaga diyan and very discipline ang mga tao.Sana nagpunta ka ng BUGIS JUNCTION, shopping haven!
miss here Tina, at last nakakapasok na ako sa blogger.

Ramon Jose said...

never been to singapore but i heard that it's the cleanest city in asia, and the people are so disciplined.

nice pics.