Singapore Trip: Planning and Result

INTRODUCTION

My family doesn’t travel much. The last time we had a complete family outing was during our elementary days. My parents, aunt, and uncle all prioritize business over pleasure, so most of our family bondings were limited to dinners outside. Then, ever since my siblings and I started working, we made a pact to make an effort to organize family travels. However, we really never had an outing where all the members are complete. Back in 2011, all of them went to the province except me because I just transferred work, so I had to make a good impression on my boss by having a perfect attendance.

Last year, my sister and I took the lead in having a trip to a beach resort while in the province. We were with our brother and cousins. This year, since no one wanted to travel besides us, we were supposed to go to either Cebu or Bohol, but we also wanted to use our passports; hence, we decided to have an overseas trip. We wanted to either go to Singapore, Japan, and South Korea; however, we settled going to Singapore because of the following reasons (when compared to Japan and SK): 1) cheapest airfare; 2) no VISA needed; 3) easiest country to enter; and 4) has the most number of Filipino residents and workers.

After purchasing our hotel accommodations (with daily breakfast) and Universal Studios vouchers last December 2012, we booked our flight in Jetstar Airways at once. Afterwards, the itinerary planning took off. I procrastinated from December up to days before our flight to finalize our itinerary for March 24, 2013 – March 27, 2013. I also consulted with friends and colleagues who have visited and are currently residing in Singapore for good places to visit. Though some of my previous travels were by air, all of them were to local destinations. As this was our first international trip and with just the two of us together, we relied heavily on the internet, guides from friends, and in our common sense.

At this point, I’ll end this post by imitating travel blogs where they state their itinerary and expenses.

 

PLANNING
With suppressed anticipation, we have prepared the following itinerary:
Day 1
– Bugis Junction
– Mint Musuem of Toys
– Marina Bay Sands

Day 2
– Universal Studios

Day 3
– Chinatown (no specific place)
– Buddha Tooth Relic (also in Chinatown)
– Little India
– Orchard Road
– Singapore Flyer

Day 4 – Rest and prepare for our departure

 

RESULTS

However, with the guide from our common friend, our itinerary got changed a bit into: Day 1
– Raffles Hotel
– Esplanade Theater
– Marina Bay Sands (includes the Merlion statue, the view of the Marina Bay Hotel, and its light show.)

Day 2
– Resorts World Sentosa
—-> Universal Studios
—-> S.E.A. Aquarium
—-> Merlion Tower
– Vivo City (Just the Vivo City mall, but still far from downtown Singapore)
– Bugis Junction

Day 3
– Chinatown
—-> Chinatown Heritage Center
—-> Sri Mariammam Temple
—-> various street shops
– Mint Museum of Toys
– Clark Quay

Day 4 – Rest and prepare for our departure

 

EXPENSES
These are in pesos and per pax. I’ll state the S$ amount if they were paid in that currency though.

Pre-Departure
Hotel + Universal Studios Ticket – 8,499.50
Jetstar Plane Ticket – 10,535.89 (became expensive since we changed the dates after initial booking)

Day 1
Taxi to Airport – 150.00 – NOTE: 300 total; split with sister
Travel Tax – 1,620.00 – NOTE: Only for Filipinos who will go out of the country
Terminal Fee – 550.00 Dinner – 0.00 (Our friend treated us dinner to welcome us in SG)

Day 2
Lunch at Universal Studios (USS) – 437.70 (S$ 13.5)
USS Souvenirs – 888.72 (S$ 27.6)
S.E.A. Aquarium – 933.80 (S$ 29)
Merlion Tower – 257.60 (S$ 8)
Merlion Tower Picture – 292.00 (S$ 15)
EZ Link Card – 386.40 (S$ 12) – Similar to the Octopus Card in Hong Kong; used only twice
Dinner – 161.00 (S$ 5)

Day 3
Chinatown Heritage Center – 322.00 (S$ 10)
Souvenir Shopping – 885.50 (S$ 27.5)
Lunch (Mc Donald’s) – 177.10 (S$ 5.5)
Mint Musuem of Toys – 483.00 (S$ 15)
Dinner (Seafood Forum) – 2,157.40 (S$ 67) – NOTE: Total bill was S$201. The bill was split into 3.
Starbucks (Venti size) – 262.40 (S$ 8) – NOTE: Original was S$7-something.

Day 4 Taxi to Changi Airport – 410.00 (S$ 12.5) – NOTE: S$25 total; split with sister
Chocolate (Duty Free) – 787.20 (S$ 24)
Taxi to house – 370 – NOTE: 740 total; split with sister

Chinatown Heritage Center (Singapore)

One reason why I sometimes skip visiting museums is because there are times when I feel indifferent towards things that are just compiled together and put on display. Yes, museums teach us a great deal about history, arts, and culture; however, most of the time, my feelings and thoughts while inside museums vanish the soonest I step out of the building.

The other day, my sister and I were strolling aimlessly along Chinatown in Singapore. While checking out various stalls and restaurants, we noticed a cart on display in front of an establishment.

We took pictures of it, not really caring why it was there, and upon tilting our heads, we finally saw the humble sign “Chinatown Heritage Center”. We were quite hesitant to enter the building since it seemed like very few people visit that place as compared to the Hindu and Buddhist temples near it. It’s also worth noting that the lobby is more like of a souvenir shop than an entrance to a museum. With an entrance fee of S$10 (Php328 / US$8), though reasonably priced for a museum, we had little expectation of the place. We were given pamphlets and were instructed to follow the guides in the pamphlet and the arrows while inside the museum.

The first floor presented an overview as to how and why the Chinese started to immigrate to Singapore. There were various objects displayed which belonged to the early Chinese settlers in Chinatown. There were passports, lamps, books, shoes, religious items, and even an abacus.

I was also glad to read the historical notes and the quotes of the early Chinese settlers plastered on the walls such as these:

I might forget all the details I learned in the museum, BUT I won’t ever forget the essential information and lessons I got there. My sister also agreed with me when I said that walking around the museum made us feel like we were trapped in another dimension, away from the busy Tuesday morning outside. It was a very surreal experience, and I still remember the Chinese authentic feeling I had whenever I look at the pictures we took (The entire floor had minimum light, and flash photography was not allowed. Thus, most photos were blurry.).

From the dim lights, the arrangement of the items, the audio effects, the video projections, the room replicas, up to the first hand interviews with the original Chinese settlers and their descendants, everything is perfect. Not only did we learn about the history of Singapore’s Chinatown and Singapore’s as well, but it also made us think of the majority of Chinese who immigrated in the other parts of the world, including our country.

Visiting this museum wasn’t part of our original itinerary in Chinatown (and Singapore as a whole), so this experience was even more memorable for me and my sister.