02 March 2006, Thursday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore
day 1 today and this is also my first time in this beautiful and clean place. warm at 26C and humid though. dahil di ako marunong sumunod sa mga direksiyong iyan, lumampas ako tuloy ng train station at kailangang bumalik pa hahaha well, nobody's perfect. tanong dito tanong doon. kailangan ko iyan kasi kahit na mayroong mapa sa bawat sulok ng mga kalye, wakaranaindesu kedo. lolzzz
just checked in few minutes ago in this hostel which is pretty cool. will have to discover more things later on.
naku, ang mahal naman pala ng tobacco tax dito. hahaha ito lamang ang airport na may ganitong tax na nakita ko. hahaha had to pay S$56 ngek
may nakita akong pinay OFW sa airport na hindi umabot sa byahe nya pabalik sa atin. 5 minutes lang daw siya nahuli pero ganyan talaga. bibili na lang siya ulit ng ticket.
teka, magsa shower muna ako. pawisan pa. plane landed at 7am.
02 March 2006, Thursday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore 2
haler. this is an impressive country. no natural resources to speak of but this place is tremendous. very wealthy!
i went to the night safari where i saw animals of different sorts. deers, buffalos, bats, hayenas, tigers, lions, tarsiers, crocodiles, etc etc. but sad to say, cant take flash fotography as i might get the animals excited and all and be bitten hahaha
food. hmmmm very deli! chinese plzzzzz.
they have 4 major languages here. english, chinese, malay and tamil from india. RP may not be a major english-speaking country in this side of the world after all. singapore would be a close rival if not better. everybody speaks english, with brit accent, ok?
i also see so many people of the following decent: indians, malays and chinese. pinoys are famous for being DH but many are also in white collar jobs. hard labor employment are for bangladeshi.
it's good that i tried this hostel were i mingle with some people, mostly from europe. at least to keep me entertained and get some infos on where to go. and it is safe to walk at all times of the day. i don't think i have seen a police man yet.
taxis are advanced, too. the cab driver didn't know the location of my hostel and with the aid of virtual reality we need not ask anybody where it is. and they give receipts, ok?
the train system is very clean and land transportation is very comprehensive. the streets are also clean, it can rival JPN. no bubble gum stains lolzzzz
it's pretty expensive though compared to thailand. death penalty for drug traffickers, and they mean it.
i told my singaporean-chinese friend that i wish we can do the same to RP. he said that we can do it if we just refrain from trying to ouster our leaders every 2 years. and that if discipline will be shared by each people. he usually goes to RP twice a year to meet with ADB and govt officials. oh well, maybe there is no real job security in our homeland not even for the RP prez hahaha the reason why i didn't dream of being one lolzzz
03 March 2006, Friday
Internet Café, Singapore
hello from Singapore 3
i started the day a bit late because i ended up late at 3am chatting with other guests from scotland, ireland, and england. i'm still confused whether to call them collectively as british since they are as confused as i am hahaha they can't even figure out the difference between UK and GB lolzzz i've had very informative exchanges with them and they travel quite a lot. very interesting.
as usual, had brunch in a chinese outdoor restaurant. accidentally met a pinoy family whose dad works here while the entire family is on vacation. as expected, they were as impressed as i am with the place. pintas dito pintas doon sa ating inang bayan. kawawang bansa.
i saw the national library of singapore which showcases mostly literary arts and history. with its 200 years of established reputation, the library houses pieces since the crown rule. i saw original letters and communiques dating back from the 19th century.
my friend told me that the library will blow my mind. yes it did. i saw a kids' book in its archive copyrighted 1977! a camera from the good old 70's! and typewriters (olivetti and remington)! whew! didn't i use them to make reports during high schools days? hahaha can't stomach something in a museum which is younger than myself hahaha pics to follow.
i visited the singapore arts museum. this place shows master pieces from SEA masters. i saw the geniuses of vicente manasala, ang kiukok and other pinoy sculptors whose names i forgot. the art pieces are very nice and interprets mostly the hard life in RP. other notable pinoy pieces include those in the religious and mythology section! imagine? catholicism is considered as mythology here? ngek! though not as extensive as those in the louvre museum, it is one of the places to see if you are interested in the arts.
04 March 2006, Saturday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore 4
it seems that i am staying up late all the time and waking up late also. no sked to follow and doing everything at the spur of the moment. a little drift from daily routine. great.
this island country is so small, there are no major traffic jams that can reach to as much as 6hrs! you can travel to the farthest destination within 2hrs. nice? hear this. out of town, which is very usual to us, may not be applicable to them. for their usual destination is thailand. i guess town here is everywhere and they have little, if any, countryside to speak of. hahaha
if you regularly get naked even within the confines of your own home and your peeping neighbor happens to see you and get fotos or video, you'll be in big trouble. sisikat ka. your sexy figure will be on national teevee and you will be fined. of course, first offense is okay. the subsequent ones will bear graver punishment from the judge. and they do it immediately. no sense in delaying the verdict. sometimes the fines will include 7 lashes. the lash master will make sure that each whipping will fall exactly on the same spot in your butt. if it falls on a different spot, that will be counted as 2 or more. i think they put some chemicals in the belt or whatever material they use. don't worry, there will always be a doctor to make sure you will be okay and heal faster ngek
i was a bit appalled upon hearing that and they opine that is it okay for you to let children see you that way? they deem that people should be responsible for their neighbors too. sounds good, ne? discipline here, it seems, is very much observed.
at last i saw some police last night. during day time the police are in their offices. they are in patrol especially late at night during the weekends. their police look like fresh-from-school-kids hahaha but these singaporeans are proud of them. they respect, follow, trust and think highly of them. they highly regard their ex-PM lee kwan yew. he really made this country. now, his son is their leader.
they are also proud of being singaporeans themselves. they used to be bullied and threatened by malaysians for their water source. but now they say that they can make their own water and not rely on them. it will take malaysia 20 years to catch up with them, economically. wow! per capita income is in the vicinity of USD26K or same as with the swiss.
since singapore was once a malaysian territory i wonder why they have dollars, like other commonwealth countries, and not pounds? they cannot explain it also. hahaha
small island nation, big productivity. their government have made plans on how to cope up with this challenge in the long term since their output may not be contained in such a small land surface area. probably land-reclamation is on way. what about if they make RP as their province? hahaha
due to government surpluses, each citizen will receive S$400~1000 cash in the days to come. and this is not bonus, ok? that is because they have an honest tax collection system, tax payment, transparent auditing and all that they themselves enjoy the benefits of good governance. the financially-challenged will receive more, of course.
with a total population of roughly 4M (3-M locals and 1-M foreigners), plateuing population growth, declining fertility rate, they welcome able professionals from outside the country.
permanent visa. even if you have stayed here for only a year, you may apply for it. they have a point system to classify whether an applicant is worthy of being a citizen. like education, skill, crime record inter alia. if not, S$1-M (~USD700K) bank account will be necessary to ensure approval.
they do not need to get visa anywhere they go, according to them. that includes china, russia, north america, and europe.
will check out sentosa island.
05 March 2006, Sunday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore 5
after having lunch, i decided to go to little india train station heading to sentosa island. guess what? i lost my way a bit and found myself in the middle of indian town. hahaha amoy india-SL combined! at siyempre indian country iyon kaya parang balik-SL muli ako lolzzz ang daming restaurants, gem stores, tindahan ng mga CDs nila na nakakatulilig ang kanta hahaha buti na lang narating ko agad ang istasyon ng tren.
i notice that people here do not yield to outgoing train passengers first before boarding the train like how japanese do.
met many pinoys on tour to sentosa. most of them are working here while some of them are on a weekend get-away package tour that costs PhP19K. their conversations are like music to my ears hahaha pero di ko pinapahalata na naiintindihan ko. wala lang. gusto ko lang makinig ng tsismisan nila. pero yung ibang pinoy ay nakikipagkilala naman ako.
mukhang nasa kultura nga natin ang super-extended family. buong barangay ang kasama ng mga pinoy magliwaliw. auntie-auntie, kuya, ate, in-laws, si nanay, si tatay, mga anak, si bayaw, si bespren etc etc. one thing in common among them...ang tataba! hahaha naghihirap nga ba ang bansa?
sentosa is a small island on the south of this country. the attractions here are the equivalent of disneyland and univ studios. this island, however, is smaller than the areas of disney and univ studios. i went to selected attractions like the underwater world, cinemania, sky tower, dolphin show and the magical fountain. as you would probably have known, the underwater world showcases marine life hahaha while cinemania is their own version of 3D cinema, it needs a little more spice to be more interesting, ne? the sky tower is a 7-minute ride about 190m high to oversee the rest of the island. the dolphin show was okay. these blue dolphins turn pink when they mature. parang litmus paper? what pleased me most was the magical fountain show. it was a lot better than disneyland's fountain show. you have to see it.
this small country is a mixture of both modern technology and nature, but both are man-made. they created their forests in the theme parks, okay? syempre, di ko rin pinatawad ang merlion. this is the symbol of singapore, the mermaid-lion. it spits water instead of fire. strange? well, according to the geomancer, water among others will bring more prosperity to this nation. agree?
just finished very heavy dinner in china town. busog meals talaga noh. as in, parang bawal na kumain bukas. pagkatapos ng konting lakad-lakad, may nakita akong indonesian tindahan ng mga kakanin. e pareho ng luto sa atin, pano na yan? puto, pandan-flavored kutsinta, at biko. ang sarap sarap! may nakilala rin akong mga pinoy doon. bumili rin hahaha
ito na ata ang pinakamalinis na china town na nakita ko. pwede kang mahiga sa gitna ng kalye. the paved road is very clean and dry. impressive noh?
05 March 2006, Sunday
Lucky Plaza, Singapore
hello from Singapore 6
im now in a place called lucky plaza. i feel lucky to come here. it is the pinoy land. parang nasa RP na rin. nakabili tuloy ng mga abubot. ang mga chiminis ay nagre relax ba. bili sila ng kung anu ano. phone cards, tsitsirya, pabango etc etc. nagkukwentuhan tungkol sa buhay nila. katuwa nga makinig sa kanila eh.
meron din nagre recruit para sumapi kay bro ellie soriano (ang dating daan) hahaha mag picnic ba ang mga chimini na kung saan may nakapaskil na no picknicking around? hahaha basta gow sila sa pag upo kahit saan, walang pakialam. yung iba merong bf na indians na karay karay nila.
yung ibang mga lalaking pinoy naman, nag iinuman ng johnny walker sa bandang labas na alley ng mall. parang sa atin rin. tubig ang chaser ok? at frito lays ang pulutan. yung mga pinay naman, cabernet sauvignon ang nilalagok hahaha
ang daming tindahang pinoy pati. yung isang restaurant, ang pangalan ay fook kee restaurant. oh laban ka?
meron ding mga salon na pang pinoy lang. gupit, kulot, facial.
syempre, dahil maraming bagong bayani rito, mawawala ba ang pera-padala. bawat sulok ay mayroong remittance centers.
kumain ako sa isang pinoy restaurant, hindi kay fook kee. syempre top of the line (sa cardiac arrest) ang kinain ko. crispy pata! pig trotter pala iyon sa ingles. makalipas ang mahigit 3 taon, ngayon lang ulit ako nakakain noon. ang sarap, ang lutong niya. at nadikit pa ng konti sa ngipin ang mga litid. panalo talaga!
pansin ko na ang mahilig na drinks nating pinoy ay coke, tubig o...iced tea! at uso pa rin ang take home pag hindi naubos ang inorder hahaha
itong katabi kong pinay ngayon sa interent cafe ay nagpapaturo mag email sa bf niyang puti. ang gusto niyang email address ay bhabes999...carry moh? ano raw ba ang password?
katuwa rito. naiintindihan ko kasi ang mga salita hahaha maya maya ay babalikan ko ang halu halo.
06 March 2006, Monday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore 7
kina-career ko na talagang maging backpacker. medyo masakit na ang binti ko kakalakad para makita ang dapat makita. at dahil mainit ang panahon, malakas uminom ng tubig. kailangang may baon na 1500mL na tubig noh. pahinga muna ngayong gabi. i have to regain extra energy for tomorrow's chapter.
i decided to extend my accommodation in this hostel to get more value for my money. the ymca hostel does not offer free 24h online services unlike this one where i am staying.
buti na lang at umalis na yung isang kasama ko sa kwarto na di ko maintindihan ang cara. i think he is japanese or chi-inese or korean. he always stay in the room from sun up till sun down. i dont think i have seen him get out. he reads very interesting books like... organic chemistry! hahaha and one morning when i woke up, i greeted him good morning, and received no reply. thinking that i may have greeted in low decibel, i repeated it. no reply again. oh well, either he is autistic or something? lolzzz
which reminds me, when i was in sentosa yesterday, i felt nostalgic that i saw the good morning towels made famous by our jeepney drivers. the pinoy tourists there hanged them around their necks. made me recall my tropical brand sandos. hahaha
as usual, i bought a lot of books here and HKG. my luggage will really be heavy.
06 March 2006, Monday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore 8
back to SIN.
before going to malaysia, i had late lunch at the lucky plaza again. there are few pinoys today because it is monday and everyone's at work but there are still some pinoys around. had mechadong dila ng baboy this time. the taste was less than i expected. nonetheless, i had a second helping of steamed rice. nakakahiyang umorder ng kalahati kasi hahaha
i asked the pinay waitresses how to get to malaysia. and like me, they were dumbfounded how to get there. they called up another pinay who is now a citizen and taught me how to get there. friendliness ok? they wanted to go with me but they still had to work.
hey, i am learning the ins and outs of the train system here. it takes a while for me to get accustomed and i notice that i have what i call 180 degrees spatial disorientation. meaning, when reading maps, most of the time i mistake the right from the left and vice versa. that is why i always ask around just to check if im heading the right way. maybe i have to seek the advise of bro eli soriano hahaha
in malaysia, i was forewarned to be extra careful as there are many challenges ahead. that's why the back pack became front pack lolzzzz just like how i did in RP. this record-breaking ultra-short visit was nonetheless uneventful and was able to get back to SIN safely.
in the malaysian immigration office, i met some pinays going back to SIN also. it is their day off today and crossed the border also to shop around.
back in SIN, they have very nice buildings here, inside and out. how come that their bldgs look brand new though they are old? maintenance perhaps? re-painting? compared to HKG, SIN seem to have better city-planning and people are more organized. the buses and trains come on time. in SL, a 1-year old building looks like more than a 5-year old one.
SIN and SL also have one thing in common. business names always bear the private limited thing. for instance acme pvt ltd (spelled that way in SL) and acme pte ltd (SIN's version). what's with being private and being limited? if all businesses were private, why make it redundant? it may save printing space and ink to delete them, ok? of course, i want an unlimited amount of service for business~ hahaha
in most places in SIN, cameras abound for security reasons. you will find them in highways, public places like parks, malls, trains, hotels, etc. could the bathrooms be...? oh no lolzzz
pag pasok ko kanina sa kuwarto namin natakot ako. akala ko may mumu. yung bagong room mate ko kasi kamukha ni palito. e mukhang namamahay at di siya makatulog, nakabalot yung ulo niya na parang sa patay. at nakakumot pa. tapos nakabuka pa yung mga mata na gumagalaw galaw pa. hahaha napailing na lang ako. di ko pa kinakausap. malay ko ba? baka pinoy pala iyon. si lolo talaga oo. hahaha
PS: ang sarap ng choc nut!
06 March 2006, Monday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore 9
gd am. just woke up few mins ago. its laundry time now and im killing the time by surfing the net.
was awakened with palito & co all in rush. they have to go to an art show this morning. tomorrow will be the inauguration of their art exhibit. wow! these 3 cambodians are national artists and showed me some of their works and write-ups. they will exhibit their paintings tomorrow which i want to attend but could not because it will be my departure time. i saw some sample paintings about khmer rouge regime and all. truly impressive. i couldn't believe i'm sharing a room with them. of course, we exchanged business cards and requested fotos from them. they look like those from myanmar. i was told that there are many pinoy english teachers in their country.
today's sked will be a bit relaxed, i hope, since it is my last lakwatsa day. the day zoo will be it.
07 March 2006, Tuesday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore 10
this is my last night in SIN. what a splendid time i had. on hind thought, i should have split the entire length of stay between malaysia-SIN so that i could have also learned more with these countries.
today i went to the zoo. apart from seeing the animal kingdom, i was impressed how they treat, train, feed, and care for these beings. the animals are not caged at all except for the ultra-dangerous snakes. how lucky these animals are, they are fed healthy. their present environment is quite close to their natural habitat.
the elephants are big and well-fed, the lions and tigers can still run fast, the mammals are in good health. the aquatic animals can swim freely. ad infinitum. beyond the zoo, the people care for these animals. i see well-trained dogs here like in JPN and europe. i don't think i have seen strays?
nearing the day's end, i had my last pinoy meal, where else? in lucky plaza. today's special is lechong kawali with 2 rice. mang tomas sarsa ng lechon is better than the malaysian-made maggi chili sauce. banana split for dessert (ube, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream). the servedoras invited me for drinking session but declined because i still have to pack, and is very sleepy. i will surely miss lucky plaza. made me muse and smile at myself upon hearing tagalog in unison. pinoy cuisine, a very delicious poison, is surely the best way to die fast. but i'd rather die on a full stomach than go hungry and die slowly. agree?
an english room mate moved to the next room because he wasn't able to sleep well last night due snoring of 2 people. well, i was sleeping alright. guilty as accused. that's what u get in a hostel dorm. go and find a single room for yourself. kaya pala masakit ang lalamunan ko pag gising kanina hahaha
RP is famous in SIN for the following: there is a road called manila street near the national library. there is magnolia ice cream but the logo is different. jollibee yumburger is a cafe serving soya drinks and other stuffs and is called jollibean, jolly-b box is a courier service most probably pinoy-owned. pics to follow. i met 2 singaporeans who are fans of the 70's hit song anak. wow! they can still remember that song so much to tell me. the english and chinese versions were the hits, of course.
the buses do not spend so much time picking up passengers in the bus stops. i observed that the bus drivers will wait for a maximum of 1 minute then gow. though they have a lot of road constructions for the new wings of MRT, they have no real traffic jams. so the bus always comes and go on time. either a passenger pays his fare electronically or gives an exact amount. drivers give no change. no fare collector nor bus crier needed. have we been left somewhere?
as one t-shirt says: no smoking, no chewing gum, no vandals, no durian, no photos, no over-speeding, monitoring cameras on queue. indeed, SIN is a fine country.
08 March 2006, Wednesday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore 11
i thought i was sleepy. but can't get to bed early. i had a short conversation with the 3 cambodian artists. they are an interesting lot. the SIN government and private companies sponsored their art show here. having a 50-50 share from the sales of their works will be a pretty good deal for them since their national government do not support their craft. they can travel when there are sponsors to bear the burden of their expenses.
they gave me an invitation for tomorrow's affair which will be attended by ambassadors, govt officials, art afficionados, ad nauseam. much that i would like to go but i have a plane to catch.
these guys are truly geniuses and they gave me some of their works. became a bit shy because i could not give anything from RP. and we do not have time to go to lucky plaza for dinner. i really feel honored to have met these treasures!
many of their oil paintings are now in the post cards of cambodia. they have previously made art shows in the art capital of the world, paris. they can barely speak english but one of them is very fluent in french.
they are kind of low-key people and feel flattered and honored to be wearing a suit for tomorrow's event. before retiring, i saw them praying to Buddha.
it is quite a disappointment that 3rd world govts do not realize the value of these kind of people. that is why developed nations tap them and get the share of credits. are we any different?
08 March 2006, Wednesday
Hangout Hotel @ Mt. Emily, Singapore
hello from Singapore 12
more about palito and co. aside from paris, they told me that they exhibited their works in the US and most parts of europe like norway, sweden, germany etc. they said that it was good for them for they can feed their families with the sales. again, they showed me the suit that they will wear tonight. hahaha one of them even designed his own and it looks very interesting. they seem to be highly-esteemed to be wearing it. but in tropical clime? it will be a great ordeal for me to wear lolzzz
it seems that these british or UK nationals travel a lot. i notice that they come and go in this hostel. i think they are a majority in this dorm and according to them, after college, most of them go in most parts of the world. btw, why didn't they stay so long in RP during colonial times? only 2 years crown rule in RP? hahaha
i have checked out already and just reading out emails before i finally go to the airport. will go to my next destination HKG in 5hrs time.
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