I had a full day for day two because my flight wasn’t until 1 AM. I didn’t have a fixed itinerary and the only place I truly wanted to see was iLight which I managed to tick off my checklist yesterday.
We started our day by going to the Lasalle College of Arts. I can’t remember knowing how I knew of this school, but since I went to DLSU for college it’s probably been in some conversations. When I googled it, I was pleased to know that it was located just behind my hotel! Going there, we walked to a place called “Short Street”, which was aptly named for me.
The building was really beautiful! I guess just like most DLSU campuses, it’s quite hidden but it stands out. I don’t know if you can go inside, even though it seems to be an open campus, so I just took pictures of the building.
We didn’t know the next place to go to and it was still early so we took the train to China Town. We haven’t eaten yet so we looked for a place to go that serves both meat and vegetarian choices. We saw a Thai restaurant and ate there. I haven’t had Thai food in so long. We ordered a chicken pad thai, vegetable salad, green mango salad, and sticky mango rice. Everything was so good (and cheap!). Yesterday we happened to eat out in really expensive places so I was surprised when our bill was $50 and it was already the two of us. The servings were really big. I feel bad not being able to finish the pad thai but I’m not used to a big serving.
After that, we just walked around and followed people. I don’t know what to do and where to go in Chinatown so we kinda just walked randomly.
We reached a train station and rode that to go to the Singapore Flyer!
I love heights. The higher the better. So ferris wheels are really exciting for me. I always just get nervous because I worry my stomach would act up, but that goes away once I’m inside the ride.
We shared the ride with a few people. It was so nice to be able to see a 360 view of Singapore. Tickets to the flyer cost $33. A little expensive but I think it’s a lovely ride. You’d be able to spot some places that truly stand out.
The ride was a bit quick, but there are other things to do. I remember the guy took a picture of us before we got to the flyer, but I think it costs a lot to get it printed out and it was a really touristy souvenir so we didn’t get a copy of it anymore. I took the time to buy the souvenirs in the gift shop before leaving.
After the flyer, we went back to Orchard road to have an early dinner before I needed to pack up and get ready. We shared an ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s, walked around some more and finally went back to the hotel where I needed to get ready.
The trip to Singapore was really short, but I enjoyed every single minute of it. I truly believe two days would be enough to go through all the sites as long as you plan your itinerary well and don’t dawdle (unlike me). I noticed that most attractions are either lumped in one area (such as Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay sands) or are nearby each other. The roads are planned greatly as well because most sites are easily accessible to MRT or bus stations; so if you’re a tourist, going by yourself won’t that be much of a challenge.
I’m going back here truly, for sure. I want to go to Universal Studios and see more sites that I missed out on.
I wouldn’t say Singapore is THAT expensive. It’s all about planning. For me, I delighted in taking ubers and taxis which cost quite a bit. The trains are reasonable in cost. I think the most expensive fare we had to pay for was $1.50 (around PHP 50) and it was a long ride, complete with transfers. Most of the train fares range that price versus the uber rides that I took which were between $7 – 12. You also have a plethora of food choices. Like I mentioned, the Thai place we ate at by the Chinatown MRT station was really cheap, around $5-7 (or even less) per meal. This was versus the other places we ate out which was around ~$20. It’s all about where you will eat. In my case, we were really hungry nor did I want to venture out. The attractions are expensive, but most of the places to see there are actually free. The ones you have to pay for would just be an added bonus.
Hedda Damasco 