Travel With Ease In Singapore

I have read this article in the Straits Times days ago and I have been wanting to write about it since it can help commuters like me to travel in Singapore with comfort. Anyway, I have discovered a web site where in a commuter can actually plan his trip. Just visit The Public Transport Journey Planner at www.transitlink.com.sg, a one stop interactive travel guide wherein a commuter can encode their boarding and destination point as well as the complete address or landmark. The website will display the shortest time and the cheapest fare option (cash and ez-link card payment) that the commuter can choose.

This website by the way is the integrated website of both public transport operators: SBS Transit and SMRT Corp. Unlike before, a commuter has to visit the website of each public transport operators for bus or train routes. Not only it can save time, it can also save you money and wrinkles from your face.

The only down side of this online guide is that sometimes the network is too busy. The travel planner is on a three-month trial. Have it tried and the Land Transport Authority would be glad to hear your comments and suggestions.

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Makoy In Singapore

After a long flight from Clark Airport to Singapore, we arrived in "Lion City" around 8 P.M. last Friday. Would you believe that I was even cornered by an Indian national who works in the airport? I think he's an security officer or something. When I stepped in to Singapore land, I immediately took pictures of me with the airplane on the back. I did not know that it was actually prohibited to do so. I was so scared that I immediately deleted the pictures with the order of the Indian national.

While I was inside Changi Airport, I sent a text message to my friend's sister so she can fetch us. After sending the text message, I saw a signage from the Passport counter saying that mobile phones and cameras are not allowed in the premises. I was so scared that I committed another offense. I even checked if there are security cameras surrounding me. Thank God no airport officials arrested me. That's why I have no first day pictures in Singapore with the fear of being arrested.

Will post my second day pictures tomorrow. Woah! I have more than 200 pictures in my cellphone camera and one video performance from a Japanese group at the Espalanade. That's what you call a tourist!

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Boracay Tan No More

After our short visit to “Munting Talon”, we went back to our cottage then cooked “sinigang na bangus.” We even dipped on the beach when we arrived. That caused my Borcay tan into a not so good tan. Anyway, while we were cooking “sinigang na bangus”, our other colleague was assigned in grilling the stuffed bangus. Just in time for lunch, we were able to feast on our own cooked meal. We even ate on banana leaves which made the experience more fun. Sadly, we weren’t able to take pictures of our first lunch in Quezon.

After lunch and our short rest, we went to our next destination “Balagbag Falls.” We took a tricyle on our way to the falls. On some parts of our ride, we were required to walk since the tricycle was having problems in carrying us all. Would you believe that we were all eight passengers in the tricycle? Two on the drivers back, five people on the inside and one on top of the tricycle. Isn’t that fun?

Balagbag Falls by the way has an entrance fee of ten pesos. From its entrance, you just have to walk a few steps then you will be amazed with the beauty of the falls. We were all beaming when we reached the falls. Of course we didn’t miss the chance to take more pictures. I really enjoyed the massage of the falls on my body. It really cured my back pain and I felt really good. After our pictures on the top falls, I was convinced to jump the falls. It was even on video. Too bad, I still don’t have a copy of it. The only difficult part of my jump was my balls got crushed. I did not know that I should keep my legs together and I should cover my crotch.

On our way back to our cottage, we were able to take some pictures on this wonderful view on the sea. We reached the cottage feeling tired and very exhausted. My other colleagues prepared for our dinner while some of us went to take a short nap. Our friends woke us up when they were already done cooking. They cooked fried calamares, “lumpiang toge” (which I cooked by the way) and fried liempo. That was really yummy. After dinner, my friends prepared the tequila shots while I patiently waited for the bon fire. Sadly, there was no bon fire so I went to bed after two shots of tequila.

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Pics From The Airplane

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Quezon Trip

My vacation trips continued last Friday with my officemates to Real, Quezon. After office, we had our dinner at SM MegaMall then we went to a certain terminal in Manila going to Quezon. We almost occupied the van since we were eight people. It was a long trip to Quezon, that’s all I can say. When the other passengers requested to stop to the nearest gasoline station, we were able to take pictures and used the comfort room. The next stop was already in Quezon were we had “arozcaldo complete.” Complete meaning arozcaldo with chicken, egg and chicharon. That arozcaldo only costs 25 pesos, cheap right?

According to our officemate, we should be in their place within 30 minutes but it took us more than 30 minutes. Damn van driver! When we reached the resort, we waited for the housekeeper then went in to the cottage. My officemates even had the energy to take pictures and drink beer even it was almost 2 A.M. when we arrived there. I went to sleep at once with my bath towel as my blanket.

Saturday morning, I woke up some my friends already gone to the wet market to buy some food. I had sliced bread and sandwich spread for breakfast. Afterwards, I helped in preparing our lunch, “sinigang na bangus.” I was assigned in cutting the vegetables like a real chef. Hahaha! When they returned, they have a pancit luglog for us, which I wasn’t able to eat. We went straight to Munting Talon before lunch with our digital cameras. Before we climbed the mountain, we even had coconut fresh from the tree. Of course, picture taking once more!

The way to Munting Talon was cemented but on the way uphill was already rocky and muddy. I was wearing my white flip-flops with me so I had a hard time in climbing the mountain. Most of us slipped. Thank God there were wooden sticks that we can hold on to. When we reached the little falls, I was a little disappointed. Not only the falls only has a small space but also it is rocky. We only spent a small amount of time there then went back to our cottage.

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Boracay Pics Part III

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Boracay Pics Part II

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Boracay Experience Part II

After waiting for 15 minutes, we went to the beach to swim. We even forgot to take pictures. The place was spectacular or I should describe it as mesmerizing. The sand is almost powder white, the water is clear on some parts where there are no algae and the background of the beach is really wonderful. There were even yacht on the beach with different prints and color backgrounds on it. There’s a MYX yacht, VELVET, Yellow Cab and many more.

By 11 A.M., we had our early lunch at the beach. We had rice, chicken from Andok’s and Coke Zero. After our quick lunch break, we went back to the beach. It was surprisingly not crowded the whole day at Boracay. Maybe people have preferred to go to the beach on weekends. I also noticed that goods in Boracay aren’t pricey at all. I was expecting an airport price but I was wrong. You can even eat 100 grams of lobster with rice for only 220 pesos. Cool huh!

Late afternoon, we have decided to walk to Station 3 of the beach. You can actually see the difference from Station 2 to Station 3. Their sand is finer and whiter. They even controlled the algae formation on the beach. It was just disappointing that we didn’t make it to the grotto at Station 3 since it’s high tide. The grotto by the way is located near the shoreline of Station 3. On our way back, I was feeling dizzy for the long walk that we did. The only good thing that happened was we had many pictures from that walk. We were laughing that we were thought off as tourists by bystanders and were offered to use the banana boat, parasailing and so on. It might have something to do with my Tita wearing a tube. Hahaha!

We then had our snacks: hamburger, C2 and some chips. After being tired out, we decided to go to bath, rest then wait for our other folks to arrive. After taking a bath, we went to the tattoo shop then had a henna tattoo. Even Tracey and JJ, the two kids, had their henna tattoo. Tracey had a glittery butterfly tattoo on her arms while JJ had a Transformers tattoo on his shoulder. I had a Chinese word tattooed on my arm saying “Wisdom.” I liked the Chinese word “Luck” but I felt like it’s too small for 100 pesos.

Before 6 P.M., we left Boracay then headed back home to Banga. I was tired and was asleep during the trip back home. The trip was kinda scary since the road is not well lit and vehicles are moving fast. I still wanna go to Boracay. I definitely need to save again some money.

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Boracay Pics Part I

Here is the first part of my Boracay escapade pictures. How I wish I can stay longer in that island. Hopefully next year I could visit again and explore the island. I wanna try the banana boat ride, parasailing and snorkeling. That would be fun!

For those who don't know Boracay is tropical located in the province Aklan. Boracay is one of the top tourist destination of the world. According to Wikipedia, "Boracay is the site of a world-class 18-hole par 72 golf course designed by Graham Marsh. In addition, Boracay now has in excess of 350 beach resorts with more than 2,000 rooms ranging in quality from five-star to budget accommodations, so tourists are sure to find whatever they are looking for. Boracay also offers a wide range of restaurants, bars, pubs, and nightclubs that bop until morning."

Here goes the pictures! :)



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Boracay Experience Part I

By 6 A.M., we started preparing ourselves to go to Boracay. I took a bath then went to the dining to have my breakfast—rice and fried egg. I noticed that they didn’t even take a bath. We were cramming since they were waiting for us. At the last minute, I even changed my top shirt since I looked like a wrapped “suman.”

It was a long ride to Caticlan. I think we made it to Caticlan around by 9 A.M. It was a fun ride though since they were talking gossips about their neighbors. What’s fascinating with the people here is the mentality of aristocracy. You can see big and nice houses even they were just vendors of “dilis” (small fish) and hog butcher while the richer people are living modest with their simple and small houses. Anyway, during the trip, my tummy ached and it felt like I need to go the comfort room. When we arrived in Caticlan, we bought our tickets for the boat ride. Since I’m with the locals, we bought our tickets for only 20 pesos. Tickets for non-locals are 50 pesos by the way. Better leave the talking to the locals or you will pay 50 pesos.

When we entered the boat terminal, we used the comfort rooms while my Tita bought food in McDonald’s and Andoks. Caticlan Is just minutes away from the Boracay Island and the only transportation to Boracay is through water. At the dock, we took the tricycle to Station 2 of Boracay. Instead of renting a bench we just sat on the sand near a shaded tree. We were with two kids that where very ecstatic to swim at once. After their mothers have applied my Sun block lotion to them, they went to the water at once not even waiting for the 15 minutes span according to the back of the lotion. After changing my walking shorts to board shorts and taking off my polo shirt, I applied a huge amount of Sun Block to my whole body just missing my face. My last time on the beach, I was aching with the sun burn on both of my shoulders. That was really miserable.

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Hello Kalibo

Monday--I arrived in Paranaque City yesterday at around 11 A.M. I was worried that I won’t make it on time since heavy traffic builded up in Pasig City. Anyway, I thought our flight was 2 P.M. when it was actually 3 P.M. So there’s no reason to rush at all. My first airplane experience started on a bad light. I will not just explain why. On our way to the NAIA Centennial terminal, we were surprised that a beggar approached our car and asked for $5 dollars. Would you believe that? Maybe he thought we just arrived from the States and we’re “balikbayans.” It might have something to do with our luggages and big “balikbayan” box. We even thought that he was under the influence of illegal substance. What’s funnier with this beggar was when he realized that we weren’t “balikbayans”, he literally asked for loose change. He even pitched that he will buy NFA rice.

Just bare with the gist of my story since I will explore my first airport and airplane experience. Here goes to those who are unfamiliar. After loading our things to the cart, we entered the airport. The security guards checked our tickets then we went straight to the first security check. We loaded our things to the x-ray machine then went to the boarding counter. We left our check-in baggage their then waited patiently. Our next stop was the counter wherein you need to pay the 200 pesos terminal fee. I heard that payment was used for the anti-terrorism stuffs. The second security check followed. We were instructed to take off our shoes and place it on a plastic rack. Gadgets, coins and other metals should also be placed in that plastic rack followed by placing it on the x-ray machine. Body inspection will be your next ordeal. Thank God that was the last step. We just waited until we were called. At that time I was grouchy since I haven’t taken my lunch yet. We checked the hotdog outlet their then ordered hotdog on a bun. I was shocked that C2 costs 60 pesos for the smallest size—very airport price.

By 2:30 P.M., we have been informed that we can board the plane. Before doing so, I checked first the comfort room of the airport. Nothing great with that CR. Anyway, at the tube of the plane, I was like a cam whore that was so ecstatic on taking pictures. I even planned to take pictures with the flight attendants but I got shy. I got the window seat and I was very happy even I was seated on the back of the plane. Thank God it’s Philippine Airlines! For the first time, I saw some parts of Manila up there. And the clouds of course are chunky and white. I’m glad I did not throw up even I didn’t take an anti-mobility medicine. Packed snacks and drinks were served just right before we land in Kalibo. I didn’t have the chance to use the comfort room though. We arrived the Kalibo Airport at around 4 P.M. safely and complete.

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