Singapore-Malaysia Budget Trip with my Siblings
The trip was unplanned yet there were so many realizations after surpassing our siblings' relationship test. We booked our flight with PhP 6,000 airfare each exclusive of the PhP 1620 travel tax just to explore Singapore and Malaysia in three days.
Just for the love of work, we did not file for a leave on the date of our flight. It was God's will that we arrived at NAIA Terminal 1 one hour before our flight. We prayed inside the Grab car in order to be at the airport on time. Imagine my brother and I came all the way from Batangas on a Friday rush hour and my little sister who finished her work load at 6:00 pm. God is good to let us travel with a peace of mind. To make the story short, it took us less than 30 minutes from our arrival to surviving immigration processing to sitting down like this before our boarding. Thank you Lord!
We arrived at the Changi International Airport 15 minutes earlier but due to immigration processing, one hour passed before we rode the taxi going to my friend's house. My friend, Diane, was so generous that she let us stay for three days and kind enough to wait for us at 3am to welcome us in her humble abode in Singapore.
Since the trip was not part of our budget plan for year 2016, we have no high hopes in exploring our target places. My friend even gave us discount in our Universal Studios Singapore Tickets. For the price of almost PhP 6,000 for three tickets, I just paid PhP 2,000. But of course, I gave lots of pasalubong from Pinas as a sign of gratitude :)
Moving forward to our USS gala, we saw this colorful Merlion before the entrance. Excitement was felt and my fingers clicked for these precious photos.
And here are our mandatory shots in front of the USS globe.
We also posed for a selfie in front of the USS entrance archway.
Another one we took was with this street signage.
Among the rides we tried are: Puss in Boots' Giant Journey, Shrek 4D Adventure, Enchanted Airways, Madagascar: A Crate Adventure, Canopy Flyer, Treasure Hunters, Accelerator and our favorite Transformers The Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle. We did not earn the courage to ride The Revenge of the Mummy and Galactica.
The succeeding photos attested the fun that filled our kiddie hearts.
During our lunch break, we used our 5 SGD meal stub and purchased Roasted Chicken Rice, CHicken Rendang and Hainanese Chicken Rice that cost 11.50 SGD each alongside large Sprite that costs 4 SGD.
I also spotted the area where Dara had her Can This Be Love parody photo on her instagram account.
Of course, we took ours.
Though tired, we took time to save energy by drinking water from the public drinking water fountains. We need to refill our water container to save up since a 100 ml water bottle cost 1.50 SGD or PhP 53.
Take a look at the actual scenario. This is our EXPECTATION VERSUS REALITY version.
After resting, we fell in line at the Waterworld just to witness its last show at 3:30 pm. We sat at the splash area and it was totally one of the best shows we had.
Proof to this is our photo with the cast.
We totally enjoyed The Transformers Ride though we needed to fall in line for almost an hour.
We missed the meet and greet with the minions but we surely did not miss taking these photos with their statues near The Minions Store.
Our love for cars manifests in the series of images below.
USS then was until 6pm only due to preparations for Halloween Night. So, we explored Sentosa Island. We rode the monorail again going to Imbiah Station to see another Merlion statue.
We fell in line again for the monorail just to witness sunset in Singapore. We were in awe upon seeing this as a reminder that endings can be beautiful too.
Before 8pm, we met Diane and Mark near USS since they informed us that there will be a crane dance exhibition. We thought that it may not be shown due to technical problems but God is great to allow us watch this amazing show. Try to watch this! It is free and really breathtaking!
My friends later showed how we can reach Sentosa through walking. We did not try to find the path in the morning since we're afraid that we might get lost. Prior to our trip, I consulted Diane if we can have dinner at Makansutra and she approved. Little did I know that it was far from Sentosa Island. We have to travel via MRT and walk inside the mall. We were rewarded by not so crowded place where my friends introduced us to Singaporean dishes like satay and spicy stingray.
After our delicious meal, we walked towards the skyscrapers and then we saw a newly built bridge where we had this beautiful cite of the icons of Singapore. As we passed by, we witnessed the Wonder Full Light Show also.
We reached the end of the bridge to take a photo with the infamous Merlion statue. Oh! Beautiful memories of friendship and family love were set to be kept for a lifetime!
On our second day in Singapore, we decided to cross borders just to have our passports stamped by the Malaysian immigration people. I asked Diane how and confirmed it through google that we can go to Johor Bahru from Kranji station where we can ride the Causeway Link to JB. Take note, we just needed 1 SGD each just to cross Malaysia. That is just PhP 35 on a one round trip there!
It may be easy but we have to drop by Woodlands Immigration Checkpoint for our SG exit. All you need is have your passport stamped there and then go out while holding your Causeway Link ticket. Just present it to the driver of any similar bus you will see and you will be allowed to ride. Next thing to do is present yourself at the Johor Bahru Immigation Checkpoint and have your passport stamped there. The steps are easy going to JB. The fun can be seen here in our photo.
We did not push through our plan to go to Legoland since we arrived at JB near lunch break. Plan B was to have our mall hopping. You don't need to ride a taxi or bus, all you have to do is cross the bridge connecting the immigration checkpoint and the malls. Two malls greeted us: City Square and Komtar. But first, we had our SGD exchange into ringgit.
Before our mall tour, we managed to pick Teochew Chendul for our Nasi Goreng kind of lunch that cost 9.50 RM or PhP 110.
We roamed around after eating and found the HIPPER store playing Bigbang songs. We thought that the concept may be KPop but we were shocked that they sell BB merchandise at a cheaper price. My eyes were glued at this jacket yet we purchased different Kpop dresses there that cost 29 RM or PhP 348. The jacket here cost more than 100 RM or PhP 1,300.
City Square is an interesting place to visit because of this LED displays and cute artworks that can be in every corner of the mall.
And what we planned to see was the Gundam Expo there but it was moved to two weeks after we went there.
Little did we know also that we can buy local products at an affordable price. Just visit Kapitan Local Products and you will be greeted by large variety of products. We picked Kopi-O, lime juice and other sort of powdered drinks there. We're so delighted that we only spent PhP 500 for the pasalubong we bought. Kopi-O in tea bags is highly recommended. It tasted like Kapeng Barako. You can even put one tea bag on a 1 litter container and enjoy hot or iced coffee with consistent taste. Trust me!
We went after and we realized that JB part of Malaysia is like Manila along EDSA area.
Our feet then dragged us to Komtar all the way to Angry Birds Activity Park. We recalled how we played the game on phone and we made a sneak on what this place has to offer. We did not enter since the place was filled with kids. They might stare at us if we even joined their play time.
It was past 4pm when we decided to go back to the JB immigration checkpoint. It took us almost three hours to repeat all the steps I mentioned above. Our energy and emotion left our body. However, we were rewarded by the smile of our cousin, Bryan, who works there. He made us feel at home and at ease on our second day. That was how we ended the day. God is great to let us survive our SG-MY cross border trip.
Our three-day vacay passed by so fast. It fell on a Monday so we needed to rush since my friends needed to go to their office work.
They showed us a perfect place to have our breakfast. We had our Kaya toast, a popular smack in SG and MY, at Lau Pa Sat. The combi of toast, egg, and coffee cost 4.50 SGD or PhP 158.
We transformed into walkatourists again. Through MRT and lots of walking, we found Haji Lane. Thanks GPS and Singapore City Map :)
Our last day was also my real birth date. We searched for a nearby church and successfully paid a visit in Our Lady of Lourdes Parish there.
We also tried changing lines in MRT so we can roam around ION Orchard which is a mall filled with luxury brand outlets. Window shopping it is!
Time to give up! All we needed to fulfill together was photo shoot at Marina Bay Sands and Gardens By The Bay. From the Marina Bay station, we transferred to Bayfront station so we can walk a little to reach our destination.
Singapore then became our large playground!
There may be food stores around Gardens By The Bay yet we sought our way towards Satay by the Bay so we can save money again. It was a long way! It's located at the end of the whole area. We rewarded ourselves with a small satay set that cost 7 SGD or PhP 246 and fried rice that cost PhP 350. Our lunch may not be enough for us but our tummies were satisfied. We suddenly missed our typical Pinoy food adventures.
After lunch, we computed our expenses and believe it or not we just spent PhP 3000 each during our trip. We were all smiles en route to our last two itineraries.
But wait, more photos on our way out.
It's a must to buy pasalubong for our family. We did a research and we ended up going to Chinatown. Tip: Do not buy impulsively at the first store you will visit!
This store caught our attention! The Two Dollar Shop sells cheap souvenirs. For PhP 500, you can get lots of keychains here and shirts as well.
Near Chinatown also is Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple.
Our last stop is the Fountain of Wealth near Suntec. We tossed our coins of wishes to give us prosperity in life.
From Promenade station, we went back to Orchard station to meet Diane and Mark. We had our last dinner in Singapore. My sister and I tried authentic Bak kut teh there and it never failed our taste buds. We went home together to pack our bags.
At 10 pm, we arrived at the Changi International Airport. The trip from Punggol Central was so fast. We were three hours earlier from our flight schedule at 1 AM. We were so glad that a Pinay greeted us when we got our boarding passes. Truly, Pinoys warm hearts. Another grateful greetings for Mark and Diane for the memorable stay in Singapore.
We spent those three hours by streaming Korean drama and reality show videos through super fast internet connection. All you have to do is ask the Information desk or have your passport scanned for your password.
TigerAir did not give us bad remarks. The flight was either early or on time. We arrived in Manila before 5am, ready to work again. We wanted to thank our Grab car drivers for bringing us to the airport and home safely.
This ends my SG-MY travel diary. It was emotionally and physically draining but definitely worth remembering!
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