Seengapore

SEENGAPORE
-ryandgreat, bayview park hotel

when i had that first taste of travelling outside the country just few months back! i definitely want moooooore!

and since i'm on hiatus, just recently, my sister and i have decided to embark on anader fascinating out-of-the-counntry this year!

say hellow to the cleanest city i've ever seen! singapore!

Day 4| at the Merlion Park

Day 3 | at Bugis Shopping Street

Day 2 | at the Night Safari

Day 1 | aqua life at Underwater World in Sentosa

singapore is one of the top tourist destination in asia!

this small country of polish modern city blended with beautiful botanical gardens!

and parks that has stunning view beside its downtown business districts

and high-rise business and residential buildings! and huge shopping complex in between of colonial districts!

the weather in singapore is generally humid!

and while rainy season in full swing in manila, summer feels naman in singapore!

knowing full well that land area of singapore is as small as quezon city!

but surprisingly there are lotsa tourist spots to indulge

well apart from visiting some touristy sites, we get to see some old and new prens that made our trip extra special

day 1: kuya buchoy, our cousin, was our host! from the airport he brought us to his apartment at the downtown!

and then he took us to brunch early that day before he headed to work!

we then explored sentosa, one of the most popular tourist district! on our first day!

the construction of singapore's own version of universal studio can be seen from the outside

we get around sentosa by bus and tram! that took us to beaches on the side!

i've heard that these beaches of sentosa are artificial! they named one of the beach resort as palawan!

sounds familiar right? i have not been to palawan but surely our own palawan is way, way, way better than of what they have

there are also other man-made beaches nearby and were able to see some other attractions

as mentioned above, the construction of singapore's universal studio is on-going, within the land area of resorts world sentosa

later that day, we also explored singapore's underwater world

the water-themed park is known to have an underwater tunnel with view of creatures in water of all kinds! that we truly enjoyed!

Day 3 | at BBC Asia Bureau Headquarters

day 1 visits:
sentosa
palawan beach
the construction of universal studios
underwater world

day 2 visits:
night safariday 3 visits:
chinatown
marina square
bugis

bbc asia bureau

day 4 visits:
raffles place
merlion park

day 5 visits:
little india

day 6 visits:
crossing malaysia

day 2: it was pretty much laid back on our second day, we visited some prens and ended the day on the night safari

touring around by tram to see nocturnal animals in the park!

we've tried to take pictures but we're not allowed to use flash!

day 3: our third day was a walking tour at the city downtown and mostly on shopping district, chinatown, marina square and bugis!

that sells all kinds of local stuff and electronics

although the exchange rate of singapore to philippine peso is costly, 1 singapore dollar is equivalent to 35 pesos

buying stuff there is quite cheaper, because they offer tax free! so there is a huge difference, somewhat

my sister bought an acer laptop! cheaper than its manila price

but the most amazing part of the day was the bbc asia bureau headquarters tour! not exactly a tourist spot but it was something that i look forward to

a week before our flight, i tried to contact mr. rico hizon through his facebook account and asked him if i could visit bbc world and see him!

and he said yes right away and then we arranged the date and time of the visit and he indicated his office address on his reply

i was so much thrilled to see him!

i've seen him many times on tv, first when he was reporter of gma-7 and then on the business news of bbc!

were able the see the early morning newscast live! he grant us some time to experience how its like to be at the bbc asia bureau

where the bbc world business news held live from singapore

Day 3 | with Mr. Rico Hizon at BBC World Asia Bureau Headquarters

Day 5 | perfume store at Little India

day 4: on our fourth day was for most the main attraction! the merlion park where we actually stayed in that area the entire day and night!
the construction of marina bay sands from a reclaimed land can be seen from the merlion water park,

a three-tower building that being developed as casino and a luxary hotel.

day 5: there's india in singapore! an area of indian community that has commercial district of jewelry and perfume stores and indian temple 

we walked through it half of our day, mainly because it's only accessible by walking!

the best part of it, we've got some cheap perfumes from a very prenly indian manong

day 6: and on our last day in singapore,  we crossed the boarder to malaysia that's one bus away, although we did not spend so much there,

at least we've tried to cross-boarder and see how malaysia looks like! its a far different view from singapore but its looks the same as the streets of metro manila

My First Vacation Leave

MY FIRST VACATION LEAVE
-ryandgreatuno, hongkong international airport

i'm a workaholic! and i haven't spent any vacation leave in the last 3 years!

hence i've saved enough for a first travel abroad! that i've been looking forward for the longset time

to visit one of the most popular destination of all first time travelers! 

that's hong kong! in less than 2 hours, outside manila!

i've heard so many things about this place one as being also the top tourist destination in asia!

March 3 | on-board! first time-r?! 

March 3 | at the Hong Kong International Airport

March 3 | along Nathan Road

March 3 | offered a prayer and a thanksgiving

March 3 | the only passenger?! at the MTR

March 6 | the amazing cable car! to Ngong-Ping

March 6 | crossing the land, the sea and the mountains!

March 6 | the Buddha at the Ngong-Ping

March 4 | it's a small world after all!

March 4 | the Disney Parade!

March 4 | a Disney Show!

March 5 | shopping street of Hong Kong

March 5 | the famous Mongkok shopping street!

March 5 | feeling star at the Avenue of Stars

March 5 | the handprints of famous chinese actor Jet Li!

our travel agent arranged a special tour for us that includes hotel and a day-tour to disneyland! but on the first and last day, we're on our own

we first visited a popular chinese temple wong tai sin temple somewhere east of hong kong

and since we're on our own, we took public transpo to roam around

and one of those amazing and most convenient traspo available is the m-t-r!

tourist-prenly zone! with lotsa english maps and travel guide everywhere and is very reliable as travel time (to and from) is prompt

on our second day, we went to ngong-ping village where the tian tan budha is located

but the most amazing part of the journey is the cable car ride going 
there!

we literally cross the land, the sea and the mountains! and i remember being very nervous at first

there's so much of breathtaking views to enjoy in that less that 30 minutes of ride

we spent some time at a tea house to warm and but we did not proceed to the actual site of the big Buddha

March 3 | strike a tourist pose! at Wong Tai Sin Temple

March 6 | at Ngong-Ping Tea House

March 6 | the Ngong-Ping Village

March 4 | yey! Disneyland!

March 5 | the harbour view!

March 7 | at the park of the Central district!

March 7 | at the St. John's Cathedral

we went back to our hotel before night time

we took some rest for the following day's activity that i look forward to, a day at disneyland!

we literally had the entire day and night at disneyland!

it was said to be smaller than its many counterparts around the world!

we're able to see and accomplished at least 95 percent of the attractions there!

and then we get to meet and greet some famous disney characters, i felt that they're real! and we've taken most of the rides there!

we also had time to see disney parade and the fireworks show at the end of the day

and also we're able to watch some shows, the golden mickey! where there are some familiar faces on stage, mostly are filipino performers!

it's indeed a happy (but tiring) experience!

the next day, we went to the night market for shopping and street bazaar galore!

the shopping atmosphere in hong kong is mostly alive during night time!

the streets are full of tiangges ala divisoria that sell toys, apparels, watch, herbal and more

there are souvenir shops! and there's also some electronic and gadget shops where i was able to buy a sony psp at a reasonable price

it's crowded everywhere and the most challenging part is the haggling among chinese vendors!

there are so many yet to be visited places in our itinerary but here comes our last few days, despite the pouring rain! (summer in manila)

one of the most famous hong kong attraction, the avenue of stars!

where there's the hong kong version of walk of fame of some of the famous celebrities in china! along the harbour of victoria

and on our last day, we explored the central district of hong kong! where the popular victoria peak is located!

we've headed upward via peak tram ride going there!

March 7 | the Hong Kong Skyline

March 7 | our home in the last 5 days in Hong Kong!

and then there's a deck on top of the peak tower

where we've seen the beautiful panoramic view of the city's skyline!

plus there are also some retail and dine-in outlets!

it's a bittersweet that the tour on this amazing city has come to an end on the 5th day,

by the way, we also get the chance to visit a catholic church to offer a thanksgiving

i’d love to go back and see more, and i hope to do it next year with papa and mama. thank you Lord for this wonderful and worthwhile experience!