I've done this entry 2 weeks ago. :)
I’ve been
counting and counting backwards since the day that I was sure I’m going somewhere
alone, with nothing but strangers around me. I was excited more than nervous, I
thought back then. I kept telling myself that finally I would be able to fly
alone and it made me feel that I was getting a few steps higher towards
independence. Being the paranoid I am, I also kept on thinking of the worst
case scenarios and already devised plans.
Day
1- I left, I flew and I conquered
Christmas
passed and my big day came. Feeling started to turnover. I became more nervous
than I expected… So much was it that I had to **** before leaving the house.
Something that I, myself, was not aware of. When we reached the airport and
said the see-you-soon lines, I went straight to the usual procedures. Check-in,
pay travel tax, sign the embarkation card, immigration, inspection then wait
‘til forever. I remember the lady in the check-in counter even asked for my age
even if she was already holding my passports. I also slightly debated with the
man in the travel tax counter and partially insisted that I’m exempted for that
1620 thing. Gladly, I was!, which means additional 1620 pocket money. Haha
The flight
was fine. I was seated at 2D, an aisle seat. It was more than a 3-hour flight
and it was boring. When I arrived in Singapore, we went straight to some
airport restaurant then to the hotel at room 901! Must remember that.
J
We had to take the MRT which includes a few
transfers then walked for like 10 minutes in Clarke Quay then finally arrived
in the hotel. That night, we went touring Clarke Quay. Those big swings, the
nightlife, people on a river cruise and the lights were just nice. The weather,
however, was humid. I took a picture with a huge Christmas tree that I touched
a few times then saw the “DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE”
sign. Oooops. We had the Hokkaido LOW FAT ice cream. I don’t know if I just
spoke fast that the guys at the store didn’t understand which flavors I wanted.
Day 2- Oh yeah, Singapore!
We had a dose of Singapore’s charm. First had a boat
cruise on Singapore
River. We were supposed
to disembark the boat when a Filipino said, “hindi pa po tapos”. Haha Then, we
just went out of the train station, Raffles
Place, when the rain started pouring. It was a
Sunday and we got stuck in a building’s shade for around 30 minutes. We decided
to walk in the rain for us not to waste time and found out that we were not the
only ones who came near the Merlion in the rain. I was tired and a little
pissed that I remember I wasn’t in the usual high energy for photo taking
until, the sun finally showed up. Also went to Orchard road after and waited
for the glittery lights.
J
At some
random 7-11 shop, I was mistaken to be a Chinese by a Filipino and was
surprised when I answered him “opo”. I just did when I heard him talking to
another Filo in Tagalog. That night, we had to check out for an 8-hour train
ride to Malaysia.
The taxi driver was indeed friendly and kept on saying “babaero”. I guess that
the Filipino word he remembers the most because of his working girls passengers
as he termed them. I talked to a friendly Singaporean at the station whose a
fellow passenger. He warned me about the high crime rate in KL unlike in Singapore. We
were in a private cabin and it initially felt like a moving hotel. After a few minutes, we had to stop to clear Singapore
immigration. After an hour, we were already in Johore Bahru, Malaysia.
I only slept for 4 or 5 hours.. not really used to sleep when your bed’s in
motion.
Day 3- Spring Amidst
Summer
The train arrived at the KL Sentral station by 7:30. It was
one hour delayed and the next bus to Genting Highlands was at 2pm so it meant
that we had to wait for a tiresome 6 hours! We then reached Genting Skyway and
had to ride the 3.4km cable car which they said was the world’s fastest and Southeast Asia’s longest. The queue was also long. So
finally arrived at Genting Highlands. Finally, a cool place with an 18 degree
Celsius temperature that day. We stayed in First World Hotel, the biggest in
the world. It’s lobby was really glittery, shimmery bright but the check-in
process nearly took us an hour. Quick rest then toured the Indoor theme park.
We first went to Snow World which literally brought my feet to a freeze. It was
-14
̊
inside. I tried the
ride inside which I forgot the name then started going in-out. I only stayed
for 15 minutes because I only wore a shirt, cardigan, the thick jacket, gloves,
tights and boots. I had warm noodles after. How relieving! Hah.
By the way,
it was not really summer then but with the temperature, you could say it was.
Day 4- This Time It’s
Winter
It was cold… really cold. For a 16 degree
temperature, I would say I was cold because I wasn’t prepared at all. I just
wore three or two? shirts and a jacket plus the fog was just so thick. They had
to temporarily close other rides. We first rode the monorail to see the whole
Outdoor theme park but it was so damn boring and slow! It wasn’t worth it. Then
the boating because the bumper boat had a long line but the fog was so thick we
can’t see where we were going. Then we tried a few more rides but all were
closed then checked out the Berley’s Chocolate Factory and the Flying fiesta
look-a-like ride. I rode the coaster alone because nangni was afraid of
thrilling rides and a Malaysian and Sri-lankan.
We spent only 3 or 4 hours then had to leave because we had
to catch the bus but it left us! We were arrived at the terminal by 3:30 but
the the bus was supposed to be at 3 and all the other bookings were full.
L
No other choice but to take a taxi that took us
directly to the hotel. A few rest then went strolling along Bukit Bintang which
was right across our street, Jalan Pudu. We were really looking for Jalan Alor,
a popular food street but my senses were unreliable this time. Why this time?
Shoot! We ended up shopping at Bukit Bintang Plaza
and Sung-wei Plaza.
By 9pm, we were at Petaling
street.. The Chinatown.
It was a good place for shopphing for souvenirs and fake, high-end bags.
Day 5- City Experience
Had the taste of KL. The Half-day city tour took us to the
King’s Palace, Thean Hou Temple, a chocolate factory, Independence Square,
National Mosque, Old Railway Station, a Batik factory and the highlight,
Petronas Towers. As usual, took pictures here and there.
After that, went to shop more at Low
Yat Plaza,
Bukit Bintang
Plaza (again), Sung-wei
Plaza (again, too) and Lot 10.
Day 6- The Day I
Realized Water is Vital
We went to the Batu
Caves, an Indian place of
worship with a giant Golden Buddha and 272 steps that we had to climb. It was
worth it, the view was just majestic up there though the smell was off. Feast
your eyes but not your nose.
When the taxi driver knew we were tourists, he also took us
to the Pewter center, with onyx lecture along
and another
Batik Factory.
We went to Suria KLCC, the biggest mall in KL and so near the
Petronas towers. We waited til night to see the towers’ lights which were
already awesome from the hotel so much more when it was near. By the way, it
happened to be a great mallwide sale in Suria. Giordano and other shops were on
buy one, take one promos.
That night, we had our traditional medya noche at Jalan Alor.
First time I tried Stingray, which was awesomely great, qingcai (green veggies)
and fried rice plus my must-taste nai cha (milk tea). The waiter initially
talked to us in Mandarin. Proud to say that I understood some of his words but
I was afraid I couldn’t reply well so we asked him to speak in Yingwen
(English)
. We went to Bestfriend
fish spa and Reflexology. Foot massage was a fab, I guess, in Bukit Bintang.
Then went on to spent the New year in a different
way.
Their new year is just fireworks, people on the street and
snow sprays that felt like shaving cream. Hah! Iba talaga ang bagong taon sa
Pinas. It’s one of a kind and I’ve proven it myself.
Day 6- Return to the Den
It was new year. I had to go to church and I had to go there
myself. It was said that there is a Catholic church just 5 minutes walk from
the hotel. I had to look for the church myself and I found it, luckily but the
mass was in Bahasa and it was almost full with Indians. I never knew that there
is a number of Indians who are Catholics. I was supposed to leave in the middle
of the homily because I can’t understand a thing the priest was saying. Until,
I heard words that are familiar to me. The homily was in English then after, I
left. I had to because we got a plane to catch that noon.
If there was one thing I learned that day, it would be
research then assume. It was said in the internet that the airport is in Kuala Lumpur so we left
the hotel late. We took the long route with the thought that we could still make
in time for our flight. We took the monorail which was around 15 minutes and
had to get to the shuttle terminal that takes us directly to the airport. When
we arrived at the terminal, we figured out that the airport is still 40 minutes
away and check-in counters for our flight would close in about 20 minutes.
Thank God for the “teksi” driver who took all those overspeeding risks for us
to be there in a shorter time. We made it in 25 minutes or so. Why wouldn’t he?
He was driving 140 kilometers per hour for a road that has a maximum speed
limit of 80 km/hr. We made it to the check-in though it we were already a few
minutes late but we made it. Our flight was 30 minutes delayed. ;)
Everything else went fine that day and we just stayed in the
hotel for the rest of the afternoon and lavished on tv doses. Went to the mall
right across the hotel for dinner.
Day 7- Whooosh!
This is the our last day in Singapore and the last cut of our
holiday! We went to the Singapore
flyer and true enough, after the first 3 minutes it started to get boring.
Though yes, you get to see the city and this and that from bird’s eye but it
started to get a little boring. It was a 30-minute ride, by the way. We went to
the Night Safari that night. The tram ride was really great and the trekking
made me lose a few calories. It was fun and definitely an experience to
remember.
When we got to the hotel, I started packing. I felt afraid
that if my things wouldn’t fit in my luggage, how would I bring everything
home? Funny thing, I was expecting a lighter luggage on the flight home.
Day 8- End is Here
As everything comes to an end, so is this holiday that has a beginning
and an end. We weren’t late for the flight this time. I talked to guy on the
plane. No, he talked to me. First, he was curious about me studying Probability
on the plane, then a Daniel Steel book.
I was a lot calmer during the flight this time and I even
found it boring after an hour or so. I already had slept, read, studied, slept
again, talked to a random guy and still had to endure a long flight… but
everything in here is a memory. If not, why would I still find time to do this?
November 1st, 2005 at 3:51 am edit
nnaaahh…. you deserved what we did!!! =>
November 13th, 2005 at 1:08 am edit
wait……..Kelan yan? ba’t wala ako? ^o^ love yah! tc! ^^
November 13th, 2005 at 1:10 am edit
hehe seductive dance a! wala bang mas gagandang word para sa word na seductive dance ginagawa mo namang mga twoot yung 3 e! >>>>just saying mah thoughts<<
November 13th, 2005 at 1:15 am edit
ei Jem,Jemsky or anything. la lang. tc love yah! Jem,is one of my friendship in the house of ours.were 25 but Jem is the unique of them all! she’s kind,smart and guess what! 100% beautiful! o dibuh unique! bye!
April 27th, 2006 at 5:21 am edit
ok sa tagal mo tong napost ngyon lng ako nkapgcomment kasi ngyon k lng bglang naalala……well…natouch ka ba!!! haha!!! di ko lam kung…aaaahhh!!!! kung anoano nsa utak ko na prng gusto kong etype pero baka d mgkasya eh!!! basta super duper ever ang dami ng nasa utak ko….lasing ba ko or wat??!!! ah,,ewn bastac jem mbait to!! love ko to khit na minsan sobrang kulit!!!! pero maganda to….huh!?! hehe!! mis you…hope mabasa mo..saka na kita 22lungan sa friendster mo ayusin pg nasa mood na ko para mapaganda pa ntin lalo ok!!!! muwah!!! bye!! (haba ng comment noh!!!) sana testi na lng dba!!??!!!
October 13th, 2007 at 9:32 pm edit
antagal na! ngaun ko lang to nabasa. grabe. i’mso touched. teary-ayeed nga ko oh. sweet. syempre we’ll do anything for you. i love you!