Singapore Travel: Meeting the Merlion

I just came from my week-long Singapore vacation courtesy of my auntie. And I would like to share some highlights of my stay and travel in Singapore.

1. Great Transportation System

They have 2 kinds of MRT card, one is the E-Z Link card and the Standard ticket Card. For those who will be in Singapore for more than 4 days, E-Z link card is more advisable but if you will be staying for 3 days or shorter, the standard ticket will be more advisable for you.

TICKET	ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGE
E-Z LINK CARD	CARD COST:  5SGD INITIAL ADD VALUE: 7SGD TOTAL AMT: 12SGD 1. This can be bought just before you ride the Changi Airport MRT station. 2. You can add value in any MRT station. 3. Life span : 5 years	1.  Smallest add value amount is 10SGD. 2. Excess value amount is non-refundable.
STANDARD TICKET	1. 10cents as ticket deposit	1.  You need to add value in every trip, you can choose as single trip or roundtrip.

2. Chinatown 

Chinatown is where we stayed for our first 2 days in Singapore. I’ll give you 2 reasons why it is the best place to say. First, it is near an MRT station – Chinatown, and as tourist, MRT is the best mode of transportation to tour around the city. Second, food is like everywhere. We just need to walk a block or blocks away and we can buy yummy foods to satisfy our hungry stomachs. You can choose along Smith street ( home of Chinatown Food Street),  Temple Street, Maxwell Food Court, Chinatown People’s Complex and Chinatown Point . The only advantage that I liked it here is that I can speak Mandarin, and everyone else do, but if you can’t, it's all right because Singaporeans can speak their Sing-lish (Singaporean English) so there won’t be any communication barrier.

A. Food Trips

Chicken Curry along Smith Street

 Dessert in Dessert Hut 

Egg Tart in Tak Po located in Temple Street

 B. Must See Place

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Sri Mariammam Temple (Day View)

Night View 

3. Singaporeans can speak English and Mandarin, so there is less to none communication barrier if you’re going to talk with the locals.

4. Universal Studio Singapore

3D ride + roller coaster ride = one of the most memorable enjoyable ride for me

My aunt pushed me to try this, it is kinda scary for me, but I'm proud to say that I was able to make it, SOLO! :)

One of the best zone for me in USS is the Ancient Egypt

TIP: We bought our ticket in Chinatown Point Underground level wherein travel agency can be seen. My aunt read that they sell it in a cheaper price. And as expected, we were able to purchase our USS ticket for 65SGD instead of 74SGD for adult 1-day pass, and 49SGD for a child instead of 54SGD. Same goes with our Singapore Zoo tickets, we bought it for 20SGD for adult instead of 28SGD, and 15SGD for child instead of 18SGD.

5. Singapore Zoo

My favorite attraction: Polar Bear Show

Feeding the Polar Bear

African Penguin

Hi my dear Hippopotamus!

 My closest encounter with the family of monkeys JJ

Elephant Show

 TIP: They won’t be checking your bag, so you can bring food and drinks inside to save up a little, as well as in USS. J

6.  Garden’s by the Bay

** MUST SEE: They have daily night show in Garden's by the Bay every 7:45PM and 8:45PM. 

7. Marina Sand’s Bay

** They also have daily lights show here in Marina Sands Bay, but it is not as spectacular as the one seen in Garden's by the Bay.

8. Merlion

9. Singapore Flyer

During my week-long stay in Singapore, I am really impressed on how discipline Singaporeans are, how they are able to maintain the cleanliness of the entire city, how safe their country is and most especially how convenient their transport system is.  Overall, I am really happy and contended that I was able to visit Singapore once again. Thank you for all the wonderful experience, ‘till next time, Singapura! 有缘再见咯， 亲爱的新加坡！

My First Visita Iglesia

I have been hearing and seeing churches that can be visited during “visita iglesia”, but I really don’t know what it is all about. What is Visita Iglesia? I have read that Visita Iglesia is a Holy Week practice wherein devotees visit and pray in at least 7 different churches and it was introduced by the Augustinian missioners to the Philippines since 1560s. “It can be done in one day, usually on Maundy Thursday, or it can takedays until before Easter Sunday if churches are far apart. Initially, thepurpose of this Holy Week practice was to honor the Blessed Sacrament, whenJesus established the Sacrament of the Eucharist.” 

And since I haven’t done this ever in my life, I asked some friends to join me, but they already have activities with family, so I decided to do it alone. I was quite hesitant for a few seconds, I thought that it would be quite boring and lonely to do it all alone, but since I would really like to do it, I just ignored my hesitations and just decided to go for it wholeheartedly.

My first stop was San Agustine Church which is located in Intramurous, Manila. It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage churches here in the Philippines. I went here before but the church was closed, so this is my first time to go inside the church. The interior of the church is old, yet it is well-preserved.  This is one of the best interior that I have seen ( apart from the Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo City ) here in the Metro.

Inside of San Agustine Church

Entrance of San Agustine

My second stop is the newly renovated and re-opened Manila Cathedral. It is also situated just near San Agustine Church.  I was expecting more for interior since it was closed for nearly 2 years for renovation. But when I entered the church, it was a safe scenery for me. 

Organ on the Second Floor of Manila Cathedral

Entrance to Manila Cathedral

Third stop, Malate Church along M.H. del Pilar street, Malate, Manila.

Fourth stop, Sta. Cruz Church located in Sta. Cruz, Manila. What really caught my attention is the painting of deer just above the altar. It really looks familiar but I can’t remember exactly when was the first time that I saw it. I even asked my mom if we went there when I was younger, but my mom told me that she can’t remember.

Binondo Church in Binondo, Manila is my fifth stop. It was my first time to visit this church, even though I have been seeing it since I was schooling. I was impressed by the interior of the church. It has a pink tone paint of the altar and it has great paintings on the ceiling of the church. I am very happy that I’ve got the chance to visit this church.

My sixth stop was the famous Quiapo Church located in the heart of Quiapo, Manilw. It is well-known because of the Black Nazarene, the patron saint.

Entrance of Quaipo Church

People kneeling as "panata"  inside the Quiapo Church 

My feet is now hurting since I have been walking along Ongpin street, from Sta. Cruz church to Binondo Church and to Quiapo Church. I was looking for a jeepney passing through San Sebastian Church. But I was walking towards the jeepney station, I saw the tower of San Sebastian Church. Even though my feet almost wants to give up, I decided to walk towards my seventh stop,  San Sebastian Church. It is also located in Quiapo, Manila, near San Sebastian College and Centro Escolar University. The architectural and interior design of this church really stands out. It is said to be the only all-steel church or basilica in Asia, and claimed as the only prefabricated steel church in the world. It was also included in the tentative list for possible designation as a World Heritage Site last 2006.

Entrance of San Sebastian Church

My eight and ninth stop  is St. Anthony Church and Our Lady of Loreto, respectively. They are both located in just one compound in Sampaloc, Manila.

St. Anthony Church

Our Lady of Loreto

My tenth and final stop is UST Chapel: Santisimo Rosario Parish Church, which can be seen inside the UST campus.

This entire experience is both new and fulfilling for me. I was able to visit 10 churches today.  I have walked for hours; tired and thirsty along the way, but I am still able to manage to fulfil my plan and reach my target to be able to visit different churches to say my thanks and my prayers. At first, I thought that I would feel alone and lonely since I’ll be doing it all by myself, but after my first stop, I felt fulfilled and renewed after each visit to the church. I was able maximize my time to visit, pray and give thanks wholeheartedly. I don’t know when will I be able to do this again, but I am very happy and thankful that I was able to do make my first Visita Iglesia. 

Pinoy style with a twist : Kanto Freestyle Breakfast

I have been hearing this food place from my friends, but I never really tried to visit it. There was once when I had planned it with my friends, but we never got a chance because there were no longer seats available. And so when another set of friends asked me if I would like to try it, I never have to twice think about it and said a big “YES!”

From what I’ve heard, they offer Filipino known dishes and some American dishes, what’s the catch? Their food presentation and price range. And now that it is happening, I am very excited to see for myself what it really is.

This is the main entrance of Kanto Freestyle Breakfast. It may look so “kanto”, but wait till you their food presentation. Luckily, we arrived there around 11AM, so there were few costumers and we were able to get a table for us. We ordered for tapa rice, chicken rice, strawberry and blueberry pancakes and peanut butter and banana pancakes. We waited for roughly 20-3o minutes, and diiiinnnngg! The food is now served.

Beef tapa with rice

Chicken with rice

Strawberry and blueberry Pancake

Peanut Butter and Banana Pancake

How about the taste? Awesome!! It really tastes good, plus their food presentation, it makes me feel like I am dining in a fine dining place. But wait, how about the price? Very affordable! If I remembered it correctly, most of our orders are all less than a hundred pesos. Yes! Less than a hundred pesos only! I would definitely go back and try their other dish.

Tips:

1. If you want to dine in, go there as early as possible and/or in-between breakfast, lunch and dinner time. It is less crowded and cooking and serving may take faster than their usual 30 minutes waiting time.

2. They don’t have really have any parking space, but you can park your car nearby the establishment.(BTW, it is located in a residential area.)

3. They don’t have air-conditioned rooms for dine ins. But they have well ventilated space for it.

For more information, feel free to visit their Facebook page at Kanto Freestyle Breakfast

KANTO FREESTYLE BREAKFAST
Telephone: (02) 4002268
Address: 549 San Joaquin Street, Plainview, Mandaluyong City