All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.... Hrawr! My bags are not packed yet!!!! Haha. Alas, farewell to my singapore adventures! I'm leaving tomorrow early morning so I have to finish packing by tonight.
I sipped my last store-bought iced tea tarik from the United Square foodcourt. I sipped it on the slow walk home. I took as much of the familiar scenery as I could, pretty soon when I get back and months have passed, I might not remember every single detail.
In the beginning of this fun-filled adventure, my sister Kaye gave me a notebook from Singapore's largest bookstore, Konikinuya (mahirap shang i-remember the first "times" around hahaha) to record my thoughts (Carissa said, to report my thoughts to my sister haha). Some-sort of diary. Everyday I write something. Anything. But usually, my entries are about the places I visited, and they were a lot. As in. From the museums (Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore Nat'l Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Philatelic Museum, Malay Heritage Museum, Chinatown Heritage Museum.... )to the malls (Paragon, Takashimaya, Far East, Vivo City, Suntec City, Explanade Mall, Wisma Atria, United Square, Novena Square, Velocity.... only a few out of the 250+malls in the city!!!)to other attractions (river cruise, singapore flyer, sentosa, botanical garden, bugis village, east coast...), I went to a lot of places!!!! Time well spent resulting to achey legs (as much as 20k steps per day!!!! c/o my pedometer). Kaye made a list of food I should try... I tried most of them... Chilli crab tops my list (from no signboard)!!! Laksa closely follows and then roti prata (Jaja!!! Roti Heaven!!!! You'll love this! Remember banana leaf curry? This one is much better!), chicken rice, satay etc.... Do you know they have a dish called carrot cake? But it's not dessert, nor is it made out of carrots. Haha. It's made out of radish with the texture of tofu. Very interesting. I didn't try the fish head curry... stuck with the regular curry, and of course, ate the japanese curry kaye made at home--- I loved it so much I ate it everyday. It's vegetarian curry, tuna and mushrooms and it tastes FAB!!!
Speaking about Kaye's curry. Ahah! I dub her vege curry dish-- Curry Kee. Haha. Kee kasi mahilig sila sa ganon spelling dito. Wee Nam. Mee Goreng. CURRY KEE! This goes out to you sister!!! For making this healthy curry!!! Btw, her REF/pantry is a hodgepodge of food cultures. And what's funny is it's kind of balanced. Lotsa healthy food, and lots of sinfully delightful food too. So + and - makes 0? Haha.
I don't know, maybe because when we were growing up we would eat any kind of food (even if we were tricked into eating it... eg. Kara's Wasabi experience: The wasabi was shaped into a leaf... or was that a flower, and I asked my dad what it was, he said it was candy... so what would little me do as a kid? Eat it of course!!!) and so we've got a diverse palate, one could say. She's got fresh fruits (strawberries are abundant in her ref, unless I finish it! And lemon is for the water... for detox or to put into sugar-free iced tea, which I do), lee kum kee XO sauce, Jack Daniel's Honey Mustard (Who knew Jack had a mustard line???), cheese slices, frozen dumplings, ben and jerry's chunky monkey ice cream (which I have been consuming in secret hahaha), royce chocolates, muesli, cheerios, milo (just like home, we always have milo), bottled tuyo in olive oil, betty crocker's muffin mixes, chicharon (which I brought for her hahaha and which I consumed... she's doing a lenten sacrifice by not eating meat and chocolates, if I did that... kill me, really), Friday's chips ( hidden away at the topmost shelf of her cabinet, and for a reason. I can't reach it, she prolly can, but she's gotta stretch. Hahahaha. Put temptation outta sight.), pasta sauces, buckwheat twirly pasta, bundaberg light ginger beer (which again I consumed), vege curry (which I finished too hahaha)... italian, filipino, american, singaporean, indian, chinese etc. Although there is a GREAT ABSENCE OF MEAT. Yes, she reminded, because it's lent. Oh yeah. Mah bad. Although she doesn't impose it on me, she makes me eat regular food when we eat out.
Everyday I set out with the following things:
1. Money. (Thank you Kaye!)
2. EZ link card, Top up card 128 (load for singtel), Park Infinia entry card, house key--- The Visitor's kit we call it
3. Bottle of water
4. Snacks
5. Cellphones (singtel and globe)/ camera
6. Alcohol!
7. Maps!!!!
So far, I survived doing tours alone. Once you get the hang of how the cool public transpo works, you're good. It was fun, going wherever, walking the streets, hanging around the bus stops, foodcourts, steps by the bay, although, only problem, i had to take a lot of pictures without me in it, if ever i was in it, it was either taken by another person or my head was strategically angled to include the attraction behind me. Haha. But it was amazing! For such a small country, they know how to showcase their history really well. And they magnify their attractions too. Very good marketing!
Singapore, the land of shopping malls, high-heels, pda couples, designer bags, fake eyelashes and chilli crab! I'll miss it dearly. But most especially, my sister. (nax.) She took care of me, just like an older sister would. Plus, she gave me this opportunity, she made me discover singapore on my own, with some guidance of course, hehe. Well, I'll be seeing her on April, as she'll be diving at Tubbataha (living aboard a boat in the middle of the palawan sea for 5 days!!!)and then of course, she'll be passing by manila too hahaha. But just a visit though, because she is of course based in Singapore, I call her the expat. Sounds like such a cool term. Haha.
As for the bisyos. Cigs and Booze are expensive here (and don't bring reams of cigs in, or out, it's illegal! They are eventually banning smoking here, scary...). In secret, unbeknownst to my sis, while touring sentosa, I stumbled upon CAFE DEL MAR (Head Kandi? sound familiar now?). I paid about 23sgd at cafe del mar (siloso beach, sentosa). Had 1 drink, 1 delicious drink--- my fave, mojito, with a lychee twist, one of their best sellers. And it was happy hour, so one-for-one (aka buy 1 take 1 hahahaha) and an order of fries (big secret!!! Haha. As Kaye tells me not to eat fast food, bk, kfc, mcdo, carls jr--yes, carls is alive here). That was my first and last encounter with booze. Unless, you count the light ginger beer I'm drinking right now as booze, then again, I just checked the bottle, there's no alcohol in it). Oh and as for the CIGS? Bummed from Gen (and it was lights pa, well, beggars can't be choosers hahaha). Hooked up with highschool classmates, Gen Mariano and Carissa Cristobal aka Coco Love, along orchard for some coffee at... STARBUCKS!!! It was fun reminiscing. Deng. We're old. Crap.(Kara takes a swig of her ginger beer, kunyari may alcohol nalang hahaha).
And so this blog ends, but the memories don't.
And yes, I've got tons of pasalubong. Haha.
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