After staying for a week in New Zealand (yes, I went to New Zealand; blogs to follow 😉), I wanted to go home already and rest. But when I planned this trip, I intentionally picked my return flights to have a long layover in Singapore so that I could go out of the airport, roam around the island country and meet a friend.
Knowing that a 24-hour layover would be short, I didn't stress about planning the details of my itinerary in SG. I was just going to meet my friend, ask her for some recommendations, and visit the places with the amount of time that I had.
Hassle-free immigration
For the past several weeks here in the Philippines, going through immigration has become a hot topic. Troubling stories of people getting offloaded or denied entry for strange and inconsequential reasons were the highlight of the news and social media.
Even though I already went through Philippine Immigration and New Zealand Immigration, I was still a bit worried about arriving in Singapore. Before landing at Changi Airport, I prepared everything I thought was needed at the immigration. I already booked a hotel for a night, but I still questioned whether it was enough.
We landed at around 4 in the afternoon and I shortly forgot my worries when I saw the inside of Terminal 3. There were trees inside the airport! I already knew about Changi Airport but it was a different experience seeing full-grown trees inside an enclosed building.
All my worrying was useless because when I went through immigration, it was so quick and easy. No questions. Nothing. So, I was off to a good start. My friend then fetched me and there I was, riding a train out of the airport. We don't have trains in Cebu, so riding one is always an unfamiliar experience for me.
My flight from New Zealand was almost 11 hours and although I really wanted to just rest, I know I had to power through the next few hours to get the most out of SG. I wanted to sit on the train but my friend told me that apparently, there were seats prioritized for locals. I didn't want to offend anyone, so I just stood and held on the rails until we arrived at our destination.
Satays and Supertrees
I'm not sure what meals I've already eaten because of the timezone differences but Vana (my friend) and I were going to have dinner at Gardens by the Bay. It was a relief to only follow someone around and not have to think about anything. I let Vana lead the way and she brought me to a food court called Satay by the Bay. Of course, we ordered satay. We also had some seafood (prawns and squid).
We talked about food options in Singapore, and I remember her saying that food was one of her main problems after moving to SG. She said she didn't know what to get because everything was just bland to her. But after a few months, she figured out what to get and what she liked.
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After dinner, we continued walking. It was quite surreal. I was finally in SG, roaming around Gardens by the Bay, and having dinner with a friend. A few hours ago, I wanted to just go home, but at that moment, I wanted to take in everything in front of me.
We walked past the Flower Dome. Vana said our next destination was Supertree Grove. Again, I didn't plan what I'd do in SG, so I didn't have a lot of expectations. Seeing the colorful Supertrees was such an exciting experience. I was filled with awe as we walked closer to the man-made kaleidoscopic trees.
Just the perfect timing, there was an announcement that the Supertree Light Show was about to start. Even my friend hadn't seen the light show before. The show started and the lights danced and changed colors in tune with the music. All the onlookers' were glued to the Supertrees as colored lights danced on our faces.
Singapore Marina Bay
And then it was over, the music stopped and some of the lights went off. Vana and I followed the crowd toward a bridge. She said our next destination was Marina Bay. The bridge was full of people and I would have stayed longer to appreciate the sight of Marina Bay Sands, but it was just too crowded. We passed through the other tourists and went inside a mall. We exited to the other side of the building and I had a full view of the Marina. There were so many iconic buildings that caught my attention. I saw the famous Floating Orb Apple store and the ArtScience Museum.
I told Vana I wanted to see the Merlion. She told me we had to go around the Marina to get there. I opened Google Maps and saw that it was going to be a long walk. I was wearing brand-new shoes and they've been plaguing me since New Zealand. I had no choice but to endure the pain on my feet. My girlfriend later told me that I shouldn't wear brand-new shoes on a long trip. I've learned that lesson the hard way.
It was an excruciating walk to the other side of the bay but the view was just amazing. My phone doesn't have the best night-mode shots but it was still able to capture the glory of the colorful city lights of the marina.
After 20 minutes, we finally arrived at the Merlion. We sat down on the stairs to rest our feet and enjoy the view. There were restaurants nearby and I told Vana I wanted to get some beer. Just like old times, Vana and I talked over our drinks as if we were back in Cebu. We talked about the current state of our lives and the possibilities that open after considering living and working abroad. She planned to work in SG for a couple of years to save up before going back to the Philippines for good. She couldn't imagine herself migrating to another country.
I have plans of going abroad myself and seeing Vana adjusting well in SG gave me hope that maybe I will also get to adjust fine to wherever I am going.
Sleeping in a Spacepod
After finishing our beer, we decided to call it a night. We walked to the nearest train station and bid our goodbyes. I went to my hotel which was a Spacepod Hotel. It was the cheapest I could get for a night in Singapore. Vana told me that the location of the hotel was in a sketchy part of the country. To be fair, one good thing about it was that it was close to a train station.
My room was literally just a box with a pulldown cover on the side. It felt like a space pod because of the LED blue lights. It's definitely not for the claustrophobics. The bed was comfy enough and the air conditioning worked fine. The comfort rooms and showers were common, but I didn't mind. The place was full of backpackers.
Extremely tired and jetlagged, I slept without even turning off the lights and putting away the things on the bed.
That's it for now! I still had the entire next day to explore Singapore. That will be in the next part.
Cheers!
