Singapore Day 1 Photos

July 28 - Singapore to Manila

July 28, Monday, we woke up early that morning to prepare for our flight back to Manila. We had our breakfast at 8:30am. My husband and I went for our last walk at the Robertson Quay road. I am enjoying the view and playing and exploring the camera. I already taken few photos of the place, when the camera battery went low. I asked my husband to charge it before we left the hotel, because I want to take photos of the Changi Airport because we were able to take only few photos when we arrived there. At 9:45 am we left the hotel and head our way to the airport. We arrived early, because unlike our airport which requires 3 hours check in before the flight, they only require 60 minutes. We just waited for the check in officer to accept passengers to check in; we keep ourselves busy by walking around and reading magazine. Upon checking in we went to the souvenir shops and bought some items. After that we heard that our gate was transferred to a new gate, instead of F54 which is indicated in our boarding pass, it is now F58. Twenty minutes before the flight, we are all inside the plane. The plane takes off at exactly 1:20, we are just 3 hours away from Manila. At 16:45 we arrived earlier than the expected arrival time at 16:57. My husband decided to rent a taxi up to Coastal Mall only, but at the end he changed his mind and instructed the driver to transport us to Dasma. At past 6 pm we arrived at our home and we saw our son with a big smile on his face. He gave us a hug and a kiss, and he told us "mommy, daddy i miss you". We opened the laptop and show them all the places in Singapore. We ate dinner, Claire cooked ginataang manok for us.

July 27 - Singapore Day 4

July 27 - Sunday, we woke up late this morning that we have not yet taken a bath, we just wash our face and had and went to the ground floor of the hotel to take our breakfast. Breakfast is only serve until 10am, it is already past 9am then. After having breakfast we went back to our room to take a bath and some rest. It is our last day at Singapore, because tomorrow is our flight back to Manila. We do not have idea where to go, so we went first to Orchard Rd where the Singapore Visitor Center is located. After having lunch at a japanese restaurant at the food republic, my husband asked for instructions on how reach the Singapore Science Center. After getting a map and the information, we went to the nearest MRT station and went to Jurong East. After arriving at the station, we saw a posted instruction to reach the science center, one way is to ride a bus and the other way is to walk passing through road 135 and 134 - we choose to walk. At the science center, the omni theater is also to be found, the current film being shown that time is the Dinosaur Alive, but the time already lapsed and the next showing time is at 7pm. We decided to enter the science center first and then at 6 pm we had dinner at McDonalds. Before 7pm the omni theater is already open. The film lasted for 40 minutes, it is the same with the Imax at MOA, the only difference is the dome screen. After the movie, we went back to the hotel.

July 26 - Singapore Day 3

July 26, Saturday, As usual we ate breakfast at the Hotel. My husband and I decided to walk along the Quay. There also malls near the hotel, we enter those malls and look for something to buy as souvenirs. At 12nn, we are looking for a place to eat, after checking almost all of the restaurant at that mall, we decided for safety, we choose to eat at the delifrance, we had garlic bread and spaghetti and meatballs. After having lunch, we went to Sentosa Island. We went first to the cable car station that will shuttle us to the island faster. It is my first time to ride a cable car, so I am so scared, while my husband is busy taking pictures of the place. After few minutes, finally I had my heartbeat normalize upon stepping out of that cable car. We ride the Luge and then went to the bus stop which will shuttle us to the the underwater world. After seeing much on the place, we went back to the bus stop. We found a long line of people waiting for the bus, we also see other people who decide to walk to the cable car station, so we followed them. We just enjoy the view as we walk so that we may not feel tired. After walking for about 10 minutes, we arrived at the cable car station. We went back to the hotel to refresh ourselves and have dinner at Chinatown. After having dinner, my husband took some photos of the Chinatown and bought some souvenirs. We also passed by the Little India Town which is a just a street far from the Chinatown. After having some photos, we went back to the hotel.

July 25 - Singapore Day 2

July 25, Friday, in the morning we had a breakfast at the hotel, then went to a nearby mall. After having lunch at subway we then went to Botanic Garden. My husband and I enjoyed the view and we really appreciate the way it is maintained and taken care of. Singapore is a highly urbanized place, but they still manage to keep some place wherein trees and animals can still have their natural habitat. It takes almost four hours of walking to cover the whole area. There is occasional rain shower at that time so we had to stop and sit on a shade whenever the rain shower gets on our way. The view at the orchid garden worth every pain and sweat. We had our dinner at a Mongolian restaurant near the hotel. It is our first time to eat Mongolian restaurant, so we have to observed first. Then a waiter gave the menu, after scanning the pages, I did not see any food that I like. The I asked the waiter what is the line of people doing in one area of the restaurant. He said that it was their unlimited meal for 36 Singapore dollar, wherein you have to choose the ingredients for your meal. I told the waiter that we will go for that also, he provided us with a token corresponding with our table and seat number. I choose rice, kangkong and spinach, shrimp, squid, and fish, for the sauce, I asked help from the personnel at the counter, I told her that I don't like spicy. While my husband tried rice, beef, chicken, and lamb. They cooked it and served it hot. We had second batch of the food, I still tried the same ingredients, while my husband go for those seafoods. After eating we walk to the hotel, along our way are lots of bars and stalls. We actually passed by Hooters, my husband asked for a photo showing the hooters sign.

July 24 - Manila to Singapore

July 24, Thursday, we woke up early to prepare for our flight to Singapore. At around 4:30 am we left our house and go to NAIA. Our flight schedule is at 8:20 am. We have to check in 3 hours before our flight, that is why we need to arrive there at before 6:00 am. At the NAIA, upon checking in, we were advised by the check in officer to pay travel tax to the designated booth. My last travel was on year 2001 when I was sent by the company to attend a training at MA, USA. At that time there was no travel tax, luckily we still have some peso left. After paying the travel tax, we went back to get our boarding pass. After that we went to the immigration officer, after submitting a form and some interview, we then enter the gate assigned to our flight.

At 7:20, boarding of passenger starts. The plane take-off and starts to navigate its way to Singapore. It is almost lunch when we arrived at Changi Airport. We had our lunch at a chinese restaurant along the Orchard Road. After having lunch, we went to the Robertson Quay Hotel to check in. In the afternoon we went back to the orchard road to stroll in the malls.

At around 7:00 pm, we saw a sign along our way to the hotel that there is a Singapore food festival in a happening on that small place in the city. We tried Singapore food sampler, which includes some kind of pork barbecue, shrimp, noodles and bread. I was not able to recall the exact name of those food, but the food is really good.

Adrian's Birthday

July 21, Monday, we went to SM mall of Asia to celebrate Adrian's birthday. We had lunch at Yellow Cab, Adrian requested for fries, so we bought two large fries from McDonald and brought it in. After having lunch, we stroll and enjoy window shopping. Adrian saw a huge inflatable play ground and requested if he can play. His father allowed him. Adrian enjoyed jumping and bouncing; while his father tried his best to capture the moments in photos. We also passed by the ice skating rink, all of us had never experienced it before. Adrian is imitating the moves of the kids their, so I asked him if he wanted to try, he said yes. But we did not went skating immediately because Adrian wanted to buy a toy that he saw in TV as a gift. We went to toy kingdom and their we found the toy that he wanted. After paying to the cashier, we had the toy assembled there and the cashier gave us a free one hour pass the ice skating rink. We then go the the skating rink and my husband is hesitant to go because it is cold out there and Adrian was only wearing shorts and t-shirt. But my son is really eager to try it so I decided to buy him long sleeve shirt. I also bought knee length socks for the them. I stayed outside to take pictures. At first they are having difficulties, but after a while, they already got into their feet. It is worth trying because my son enjoyed it and asked if we can go back again.

July 20, Adrian's Birthday at Imus

July 20, Sunday, a day before Adrian's birthday, we had a small gathering at my parent's house at Imus to celebrate the birthday of my son in advance. As usual I cooked spaghetti and roasted chicken and pansit. My mother and father cooked inihaw na bangus and kare-kare. His Ninang Adis bought a cake from goldilocks.

July 13, Sunday

It almost rained the whole week, especially during the nights. We usually have breakfast at Imus on sundays, but because of the wheather we woke up late. We decided to have breakfast at home before going to Imus. At around 11am, my mother is cooking for lunch when we arrived at their home. She already done with sweet and sour fish and the ginataang kalabasa is almost ready. Matet had a problem on her computer, it is unable to power up, so I bring my laptop so that she can use it for her research. After having lunch, and while our son is busy playing with his cousin JC; my husband and I told my parents that we are going to SM Bacoor to buy some pasalubong to our friend in Singapore. We also told them that our trip to Singapore is already confirmed, we mentioned about it a month ago, but then the date is not yet final.

At SM Bacoor, we went to the Filipino products section of the department store. There is a big variety of products to choose from; which makes deciding on what to buy more difficult. At the end we decided to buy a wood carving of philippine eagle, just a medium size of it.

At the entertainment hall, the featured artist for that day is Toni Gonzaga, whom I am a big fan. But the people is so crowded that I don't got the chance to take at least a glimpse of my idol.

It is already getting late, so we decided to go back to my parents house; there we had our dinner, my mother prepared tinolang manok. After having some rest we decided to go home.

Marcial's Wake (from Noemi Baysa)

Our classmates went to Marcial's wake, unfortunately I was not able to come. Below is an e-mail from Noemi, our class president, she send this for all of use who were not there. While reading this e-mail, I was touched and was silent for the whole day, one of my best friend Rowena Tongco who also was not able to go to the wake texted me on how she was touched by this.

Hi! last night (Friday) nagpunta kami sa wake ni marcial sa bahay nila sa Tanza. It was truly a very sad moment for all of us. dumating sina donna (just arrived from japan last april), leah, marilyn, sion, cherry, mary jane b., michelle (with husband ross), rico jay (just arrived from singapore), fidel, rodel, roldan, bona, reden, percy solis, ralph and marvin. sobrang nakakalungkot nung marinig namin ang story ni marcial na kinuwento ng ate nya. he had fought his sickness (chronic kidney failure) for the past four years. he showed strength daw and the will to live. despite his sickness, he continued to work as a graphic artist until after holy week na hindi na talaga nya kaya pang bumiyahe. he even tried joining a contest in painting kasi may malaki daw na prize about 500,000 in the hope na makatulong sa continuous medication nya. it was so sad na wala tayong naitulong sa kanya nung mga huling sandali nya. he had financial difficulties and we thought nga na kung nalaman sana natin we could have helped him kahit paano. personally, i felt a bit guilty na parng nakalimot tayo sa kanya knowing na may sakit sya. his wife annie, according to marcial's sister wasnt able to help that much financially and it added daw to marcial's sadness na naging madalang ang pagtawag nya kay marcial. She is in japan right now and di sya makakauwi para sa libing ni marcial. marcial's parents daw also separated and he even told his mom na isa sa mga huling kahilingan nya bago sya mamatay ay magkabalikan sila ng father nya. para bang premonition. pinaakyat din kami ng kapatid ni marcial sa room nya. Nakita namin yung cabinet na nilalagyan nya ng tv. Sabi daw ni marcial noon pag napuno na nya ng dvd yung cabinet na yun pwede na syang mamatay. Napuno nga nya yung lagayan. Sabi ng ate nya kahit daw wala ng pera si marcial, basta after ng dialysis nya kahit paisa-isa ng pirata na dvd bumibili sya. Lahat daw ng dvd's don napanood ni marcial. Mula sa room nya tanaw yung baba nila. Nung mga last days ni marcial di na daw sya bumaba tinatanaw na lang nya yung mga dumadalaw sa kanya mula sa window ng room nya. Sabi daw ni marcial ayaw nya daw na makita sya na ganon ang hitsura. He changed a lot. Wala ng trace nung marcial na kilala natin yung marcial na nakita naming sa loob casket. He looked older, tapos umitim sya tapos payat na payat. We could not recognize him. We couldn't help but cry. He suffered a lot. The day na namatay si marcial, may nadaanan daw sila na mga tambay na nakahubad sa 5th avenue and nasabi daw ni marcial na pag nakakakita daw sya ng mga ganon naiiinis sya kasi bakit daw yung mga yun, wala namang silbi pero malalakas samantalang sya, wala namang bisyo pero bakit sya ang nagdadanas ng ganon. Sobrang nakakadurog ng puso ang mga kuwento ng ate nya. The only thing that comforts all of us there is the thought na finally marcial is at peace and now all his pain is over.

We were also reminded nung nandon kami na yung sister ni marcial na namatay noon also died of the same sickness. And ngayon si marcial naman. And the sad part is, yung isa pa nyang sister, si anna (2 yrs ahead sa atin sa hulo) has also been undergoing dialysis for about a year now.

Sa tuesday ang libing ni marcial sa sta. maria bulacan. Baka only a few of us would be able to go kasi may pasok karamihan. Sabi ng ate nya may magkukuha daw ng video don sa paglilibingan and I-po-post daw yun sa website nila. Ibibigay na lang daw nya sa atin yung website para mabisita natin particularly yung mga nasa abroad na di man lang nakita si marcial. I'll keep you updated na lang.

Let us just all pray for him.

Sad news about Marcial

July 8, early morning before going to work, I usually check my e-mail at home, to look on last night performance of our sets of equipment in production. An e-mail with title sad news caught my attention, the sender is our classmate Roldan Hilario. When I read on the message, it is about our classmate Marcial Bantigue, he already passed away. I was taken back by this news, although I am not became that close to Marcial. He was my classmate on grade six elementary and from 2nd year to fourth year high school. We always belong in the same group because of our surnames, groupings then were arranged in alphabetical order. He is known for his talent in drawing, he won numerous poster making contest then. He is good inside and out; it was hard to believe that he is now gone. He was really a lost for his family and friends.

Taal Vista

July 6, Sunday, we celebrate Adis 23rd birthday and our parents 37th wedding anniversary (which both falls on July 10), at Taal Vista Hotel. We rented a van (owned by my classmate/friend in TUP) to pick them up at Imus, they also pick up ate Maricel and her family along the way; while we pick up Ate Cris and Kyla. The kids enjoyed the pool while we are loving the view and simply just being together; talking and laughing at new and old stories.