singapura in my eyes

I don't usually write about my travels but my first overseas trip deserves a blog. I had some high and low moments. I never thought in a million years that traveling in a foreign country, even as near as Singapore, as posh as our host's apartment, would make me miss home so bad. I missed home the entire trip. Whether that's a good or bad indication of what happened, I'm still glad I went for it.

Let me start by saying that Singapore is nothing (I repeat nothing) like the Philippines. The first time I rode the bus on our way to Roy's apartment, I was full-on turista mode, gaping at the combination of clean roads and surrounding greenery all over Singapore's highways. It felt weird. Where have all the garbage gone? Not that I like garbage but holy hell this place. Everything is so orderly, so organized, even the flowers on the bridge have a color scheme for cryin' out loud.

The food...

On our first night, Roy brought us to a "hawker" place. I'm not even going to pretend to know what that means. My first impression was "food court." The place was packed with people, mostly Chinese, and there were food stalls all over. We had, based on my poor memory and interpretation of said food, chicken bbq, grilled stingray with sambal sauce, chili crabs, and oatmeal prawns. After eating a couple more times in the city, I'd say our first meal, this meal, was the best hands down. I did not particularly like the sambal sauce at first. It was sweet and spicy in an off-putting kind of way. But the seafood was so fresh, I loved it and I could not stop eating it. We also had a big bottle of beer along with our food. If I could eat again in Singapore, I'd go to this place fo sho.

We also visited Brewerkz Microbrewery, the beer place Roy suggested (insert only beer place joke here). I wish I had pictures of the Honey Apricot Ale. Sounds delish right? It was and more! I LOVE beer. Yes, more than I love wine. There I said it. I was so happy we were going to a place where they serve "special" beer, the kind that's personally brewed. It was expensive, so yes we only tasted one kind. Haha. And boy I'm glad we only had one because it was powerFUL. Based on its name, I expected something sweet and sugary. What I tasted instead was an ultra-smooth beer, just bitter enough with a slight hint of sourness. After drinking just over a glass, I was already tipsy. The place was located at the riverside area of Clarke Quey, a night-out area that reminded me of Marikina Riverside, only more upscale and urban. It would have been perfect if Singapore wasn't such a bitch to smokers like me. Haha.

The places...

Dahil ako ay dakilang hipster, I'm not really a fan of visiting regular "tourist spots." But of course, this is my first time abroad so I had to. We went to Universal Studios, Merlion Park, Garden by the Bay, and the Singapore Flyer. Talk about tourist spots eh?

Merlion was perhaps the most challenging place to take photos of. You'll have about a minute to pose and snap. In a blink of an eye, a gazillion more tourists all hungry for photo-ops are already swarming to take your place. Exhausting would be an understatement of what this place is.

Universal Studios was okay. I did not have high expectations because I already knew it was another amusement park. Good thing the rides we had, like Transformers and The Mummy, were one-of-a-kind. One's a 3D ride and the other's a fast rollercoaster in the dark. So yes, I briefly lost my voice while I was there. I'm one to try anything once, so even if I don't like riding rollercoasters, The Mummy was supposed to be something new. Glad I did or else my visit would have been useless. I also enjoyed watching the Water World stunt show. Remember Kevin Costner's flopchina movie? It was cool to witness explosives and daredevil stunts live like some kind of fatal theater play.

My walk to the Garden by the Bay was one of the most enjoyable walks I've had in a long time. Yeah, okay, I don't walk that much, really. I was pretty exhausted during this time, so I decided to turn on my poorita ishuffle and listened to my jam while walking, kinda like jogging in UP. I loved it. I felt like I was in a movie, watching the beautiful bridge overlooking the bay on the one side and staring at the wide expanse of the city's highway on the other side, all the way to the grand stature of the Marina Bay Sands. I'm amazed how something so urban and architectural could give me such a calming emotion. I was a very happy tourist, clicking my camera like it's my effing job. I loved every minute of it. I loved it so much more than the flowers inside Garden by the Bay.

Our final tourist destination for the day was the Singapore Flyer. It's been my dream to ride a giant ferris wheel because of the London Eye (thanks to my Bachelorette obsession). Just the thought of being up in the sky and looking over the city's lights feels so romantic. Our ride was a bit underwhelming. For starters, there's no candlelight dinner on-board the flyer because, of course, we couldn't afford it. Haha. However, the view on top, plus the tingling sensation of the heights, was enough to compensate for the lack of fancy food and wine. I still dream of one day riding this giant ferris wheel while the man of my dreams goes down on one knee... and pushes me over the ledge. Enough. Haha.

The other stuff...

On our last day, we visited the World Street Food Congress in the hopes of eating delicious, one-of-a-kind street food and meeting Anthony Bourdain. There was no Anthony Bourdain, and I was gagging at the end because I could not stand some of the awful food we tasted. This event showcased 37 street food selections from various countries all over the world, mostly from Asia. I had one favorite, the seafood tostado from Mexico. The vendor asked me what level of spice I'd like, and I confidently said High. Yeah baby, let's turn-up the heat volume. It was quite spicy but not to the point of being inedible. Seafood tostado was made of a nacho base topped with seafood ceviche that's composed of crab, tomato, onions, and avocado. It's like salsa and fresh seafood in one. The other six or seven dishes were not that mindblowing, the last two may be considered mindblowing-ly bad. Tsktsk.

To cap our trip, our host brought us to the famous Clarke Quey bridge,  the melting-pot drinking hub of Singapore's locals and foreigners alike. People from all ages and nationalities flock to the sides of this bridge bringing with them their own liquor and national flare. I see a lot of our kababayans among the crowd, along with Indians, Chinese, and Caucasians. The Indians were one of the most fun to watch. They make a lot of noise using their plastic Coke bottles. I even saw an impromptu flash-mob song to the tune of Happy Birthday for a young Chinese girl. The view, the crowd, the booze, and the easy ambiance make for a great great night in the city. It was, in a way, a microcosm of what Singapore has become - Asia's New York City.

Despite my drama and tendency for homesickness, this foreign place was still a good experience for my soul. I'm easily in awe of a new environment, especially a place like Singapore where structure and culture collide. I truly felt out of my comfort zone most of the time, but I'll take the positive out of it. It's not like every day that I ride a noisy metro with Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Europeans, and Americans standing right beside me. Dali manlibak kay way makasabot. Sounds good to me. :)

I have very few photos because I'm a lazy photographer.