Trips and Travels

My officemates and I have always thought about traveling out-of-the-country together. And with the interesting mix of our personalities, we expected it would be a blast.

True enough, it was nothing short of madness! Besides getting lost in the midst of starvation and meeting a drunk Spanish guy who was stunned by my Spanish speaking skills (despite my limited vocabulary), my wallet — the sole receptacle of my cash and credit card — found its way into a luggage of a friend who went back to Manila a day earlier. Yes, I had been cashless and financially incapacitated during our last day in Singapore. If a wallet that had gotten homesick and went back home without the owner’s knowledge isn’t crazy enough for you, I don’t know what is.

We purposely didn’t have an itinerary for this trip. The only solid plan we had was to go and spend half-day in LEGO Land, Malaysia. We looked forward to having fun, relaxing and enjoying the company of one another. Following a particular schedule of activities cramps our style so we decided to do away with it.

Singapore fits the bill. It is one of those cities where you can just take your sweet time exploring places and trying out local cuisine because of the very efficient public transportation (MTR) and traveler-friendly locals.

None of us were first time travelers to Singapore. I myself have been to the country three times, but every visit proves to be a different experience because of the people I’ve traveled with.

First on the list — authentic Hainanese Chicken

We stayed at Santa Grand Hotel Lai Chun Yuen (25 Trengganu Street). It would only take you a five-minute walk to the MTR from the hotel and it is very near all the shops where you can buy pasalubong (souvenirs) at very reasonable prices. There are a lot of food choices around the area too! When in doubt, resort to the restaurants in malls.