Singapore - KL Trip (Part 1)

In August of this year, my two best friends and I planned a trip to Singapore, which included a side trip to Kuala Lumpur. It would be our birthday gift to ourselves for this year. This was also the first time we were traveling out of the country together.

Ramie told us that his friend Shiela and her friend Anna would be joining us in Singapore but would travel to KL on their own.

November 19

Ramie and I went to Megamall together. We met Jo Anne at Starbucks (at around 3pm) first before getting some stuff for the trip. We were flying from the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark so we had to take a bus from Megamall to get there. Our flight was at 9pm. Btw, Jo Anne and I met Shiela and Anna for the first time that day. After the last-minute shopping, we left Megamall at around 4:30pm.

On the way to the airport, someone who was texting me turned morose, and I felt a bit sad too. It was strange because I was so looking forward to the trip since August, then suddenly, I wanted to cancel it. Anyway, we arrived at the airport at around 7:30pm and had to wait for more than an hour before boarding. I was feeling sadder and sadder as we approached departure, thanks to the morose texter. At exactly 9pm, thankfully (or was I really thankful?) the plane took off. I was expecting some delay, but no, there wasn't.
As the plane took off, I felt a bit sick. The sickness later turned into elation. There was something about flying that felt really liberating. For the first time in years, I felt some freedom. As I saw the lights dwindle, I almost cried.

Then I fell asleep.

November 20

We arrived at the Budget Terminal (yes, they had to rub it in) of the Changi Airport at around 12:15am. I was so sleepy I thought of going into a coma the moment we set foot in our hotel room. I was estimating that I'd be dormant by 1am, but unfortunately, Jo Anne's luggage got lost so we had to do some things to locate it. Shiela and Anna booked in a different hotel so we let them go ahead. Besides, they weren't Jo Anne's best friends so they didn't have to stay. To make it short, we were at the Madras Hotel Eminence at 2:30am, without Jo Anne's luggage. Ramie and I had to check in our bags first before the three of us went scouring every 7-eleven for Jo Anne's deodorant. To no avail. They were either sold out...or unheard of.


At 3am, haggard and all, we found ourselves at the Lavender Food Court (or was it Lavender Food Square, I could hardly remember). My first meal in Singapore was a bowl of Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle Soup which sold for S$3. It was great actually.


At around 3:30am, we were back at the hotel. Jo Anne had to make a few phone calls to make sure she'd get her luggage back. At 4am, we were finally snoozing. We slept (more of took a nap) until 7am. Jo Anne was again back on the phone and finally got confirmation that her luggage was found. We all took a shower, of course not together, and by 8am we were having free breakfast at the hotel's kitchen. The food wasn't much, but it was free, so who were we to complain? We had toast with fruit jam, coffee, and scrambled eggs.

At around 10am, we were at the Changi Airport, claiming Jo Anne's luggage. But it wasn't as simple as it sounded. We were asked to go to different places at the airport, and it took as at least an hour and a half to finally see the luggage. It felt like a reunion. Like a parent seeing his long lost child.

We had to drop the luggage at the hotel before meeting Shiela and Anna at the Sim Lim Square. We had to walk a good 20 minutes from the hotel. Jo Anne was probably thanking the heavens for getting back her deodorant inside her luggage. When we got there, the two girls were haggling for cameras. They were able to buy one for each, and they bragged about the many freebies they got. They both got Fuji cameras for more or less S$500 each. I thought it was too much, but they said it was worth it. Hmm. Okay.

Ramie had been wanting to get a DSLR so we went looking for one. I suggested a Nikon D40, having read that it's the best entry-level DSLR. But for some reason, he ended up buying an overpriced (at S$727) Fuji semi-DSLR. I didn't know what got to him why he bought it without even checking other stores for comparison. He begged me into checking out the other stores after he paid for his camera, and we found out that the other stores were selling it for S$350! We just had to brush it off, and settle with the cliche that shit happens.

After the camera shopping spree, we headed to Bugis to have lunch. With Jo Anne's unfortunate luggage story and Ramie's overpriced camera, I couldn't blame them for getting into each other's nerves. I was the "luckiest" of the three of us so I had to mediate. The two girls probably sensed the tension and settled for a table away from ours.

After lunch, the tension finally faded away. The feeling of being nourished actually did wonders. We went to check out the bazaar at Bugis for some souvenir items. Ramie kept on telling us though that he knew a place that sold cheaper items, a place we never got to visit anyway, so I ended up buying nothing. No souvenir item from Singapore at all.
We went to Bugis Junction right after and decided to have coffee at TCC (The Coffee Connoisseur). We were all exhausted from our flight, from the lack of sleep, and from all the walking, so we ended up spending precious time idling at the coffee shop. Anna probably was the most exhausted among us because she even managed to take a power nap at the coffee shop's couch!

After spending more time at TCC than we should, we headed to the Singapore Flyer. Shiela and Anna decided to go back to their hotel to freshen up. We met them at the lobby of the Flyer. We had to wait for a while and it was already getting dark when we finally climbed to our capsule. I've always had a terrible fear of heights and being 541 feet above the ground was a great way of conquering my fear. But then, I was in an enclosed capsule, so it wasn't really that scary. The 30-minute ride was mostly spent on taking pictures. We were only five and we had six cameras!

After descending the Flyer, we took more photos while deciding where to go for dinner. Ramie suggested the hawker stalls at the Makansutra Gluttons Bay. We hailed a taxi (by the way, we were always taking taxis that left us broke at the end of the day) and headed there. We later realized, we should have just walked, as many people from the Flyer ride did.

At Makansutra, we found a nice table, with the harbor in the backdrop, and we went picking our food. Ramie got a pasta dish, much to my frustration. I always told him, he should try local food. But he's Ramie, and that was reason enough. The rest of us settled for local food, but I ended up not eating mine. It was just TOO spicy! I ended up eating a little of everything they had. And I must admit, it was Ramie's pasta I loved most.

After dinner, we took more photos before going to the Merlion Park. We were all really tired so we just took a couple of pictures. Besides, we were running late for our bus ride to KL. :-) So after a few shots, we headed to our respective hotels, got our bags, and went to the bus terminal.