MNL-SG Day 1 | MNL-SG Day 2 | MNL-SG Day 3 | MNL-SG Day 4
Our last day in SG was a blast. Tiring, but a blast.It was the day it felt like we had a lot of things accomplished.
I woke up early at 6:30am and took my little cousin to school… or more like she took me to school because I didn’t know where it was lol. She’s such a cutie. I couln’t get myself back to sleep so I continued to read on my book instead.
Our day started around 11am as we met up in Tampines like usual and headed for Chinatown in the Downtown Lane (blue) through Bugis to meet up with Gian and Irene for lunch on their break. We decided to meet up in Maxwell Food Centre, which is an entire establishment with food stalls. I ordered Prawn Noodles (dry) from the store with the yellow sign for 3sgd (1.7php). They only serve prawn noodles (dry and soup variant) and laksa noodles. I also had a 1.8sgd (64php) watermelon shake, and ordered another avocado shake later on from another stall for 2.5sgd (89php).
The shop beside it, Tian Tian Chicken Rice on the other hand, got featured in Chef Andrew Bourdain’s program, No Reservations. Gian says that they serve really good chicken rice. And it shows by the long queue as well.
Maxwell Food Centre is packed over lunch especially with lots of offices surrounding the area. You’ll surely be sharing your table to someone else. The food are generally affordable as well so it also contributes to that.
We walked to Chinatown station and got on the North East Line (purple) and got off at Dhoby Ghaut station for 0.77sgd (27php). Moved to the North South Line (red) and got off at Raffles Place station for another 0.77sgd (27php).
Our day 4 itinerary involved a lot of walking. From Raffles Place, we were eyeing to walk around the signature attractions of SG starting from the Merlion, ending at the Skypark at Marina Bay Sands. Did I already mention we were walking?
Gian sent me this map for our walking escapade for our itinerary. Yes. We walked all this.
Before reaching Merlion, our first stop, we were postponed by heavy rainfall. We had to stay at Starbuck’s outdoor area as we wait for the rain to stop. After waiting around 15 minutes, we were walking again. There were lots of people hanging out the area of Merlion, most of them were also taking shelter from the rain. I wasn’t at all amused with the Merlion though since it’s already too common and there were lots of people and umbrellas that kill the vibe of the place. We didn’t stop by any more to take pictures and proceeded to head to our next destination in Gardens by the Bay – the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest.
There was A LOT (and I mean A LOT) of walking involved and it took a lot of time. The view was awesome though.
We paid 22sgd (781php) for the two areas, though the surrounding vicinity are free, through Klook again.
Multiple types of flowers and plants are inside the dome. It was actually pretty overwhelming to see so much of nature in a single place.
We stayed until 7:45 as we planned to catch up with the second light show of the Supertrees at 8:45. Sadly, we still had to get dinner as we were all pretty hungry. We decided not to push through with checking it out so we ended up by the bay admiring the cityscape. At least, we were able to get a short glimpse of the first light show from the top.
We sat by the bay and admired the view as we shared random stories about life and rant about how we’re unable to get a decent long exposure shot LOL.
Around 9am, we walked to Bayfront station of the Circle Line (yellow) and got off at Paya Lebar station for 1.16sgd (41php) then transferred to the East West Line (green). I got off at Tampines costing 1.33sgd (47php).
At home at my tita’s place, I was packing my bags along with take-home stuff my tita got for me to bring back to Manila. It was over 10pm when I arrived home. Closing to 11pm, my little cousin had to sleep. She hugged me as I bade her an advanced goodbye and told her to behave. I went to the bath to wash up afterwards. Mid-way, she knocked on the toilet door to say goodnight and goodbye again. She’s such a cutie.
When I got out, I was surprised to find her still awake. She got up from bed, hugged me again for a solid minute, looking at me with cute puppy eyes as I told her again to be a good girl and obey everyone. She’s really super adorable I want to take her home with me.
My tita and tito were nice enough to accompany me to the airport via Uber. It was around 12:30 when I arrived. Gian, Jed and Armen were already waiting for me. We easily got ourselves checked in and it was not even 1am when we only had boarding as our last task. Our flight was 2:50am. We roamed around the gorgeous airport with the heaven-sent trolleys. Dropped by McDonald’s as they ordered burgers and I got myself some hot chocolate for 2.5sgd (89php)… bland hot chocolate btw.
We took the opportunity to sit down on the available foot massagers in the airport. It was the best thing to get after a lot of walking. A built-in app in my phone counted 22 kilometers of walking done for the day.
It was funny because our names were announced on the speaker as they paged us for boarding. LOL. I wanted to include that in my bucket list just so I can cross it off too.
When we boarded, it was about time we all dozed off to sleep as we say goodbye to Singapore and hello to Philippines once again. We arrived back to NAIA around 6:30am.
I took an Uber home and slept from 9am to 5pm; 6pm to 10pm; and 12:30am to 9am the next day. It was a tiring experience. But I want to do it again.
OUR ITINERARY
| Start | Agenda | Major Expense | |
| Day 1 | 6pm | arrival at Changi | |
| Day 2 | 9:30am | USS | 61sgd |
| Day 3 | 11:30am | Chinatown | |
| Library at Orchard | |||
| Haji Lane | |||
| Meomi Cat Cafe | 13sgd | ||
| Day 4 | 11am | Chinatown | |
| Merlion | |||
| Gardens by the Bay | 22sgd | ||
| Skypark | 23sgd | ||
| Day 5 | 12:30am | checkin at Changi | |
| 6am | arrival at NAIA |
Obviously, we could have started our day earlier or have allotted things to do or places to visit in the morning, but we were all pretty tired from the day before. If you want to maximize your stay, I suggest go all out for your whole day itinerary.
Travel time is around 3.5 hours from NAIA International Airport Philippines to Changi Airport Singapore. Sun rises around 7am and sets around 7pm. Train is only until midnight. Buses last trip depends on which bus number. Some ends as early at 8pm while some until 1am. Out of rush hour, buses have longer intervals. They have an app to check duration of bus arrival as well. They have a real-time sign out of train stations as well for duration and arrival of trains on nearby stations.
EXPENSES
Bus and MRT fares costs at least 0.77sgd (27php) for short trips, while it can go as high as 2sgd up (71php). What I love best is the convenience of their transport system. Despite having to walk a lot, connecting train lines were super efficient. During our 4-day stay, I spent around 20sgd (710php) for all my bus and train transport.
Food would be pretty expensive if you’re not fond of hawkers. Restaurants serve food for at least 10sgd per meal (355php) and Singapore is not so fond of free service water or drinking stations. However you can get by with decent 5sgd (178php) and below per meal and just bring a water bottle along with you from home.
Drinking water costs around 1.5sgd (54php) for a bottle and more expensive at convenience stores or inside malls where it can go as high as 3sgd (107php). I’m talking about the standard 500mL bottle we can get for 15php here in the Philippines. They’re also more expensive when cold/iced.
There are numerous fruit juice stores everywhere and they cost 1.5sgd (54php) to over 5sgd (178php) at times.
I found economy airconditioned room advertisements in Chinatown for around 18sgd (639php) a night. So roughly that’s about how much it costs if you don’t have anyone to stay with.
Breakdown of expenses (at 35.5 conversion rate)
| RT airfare via Cebu Pacific seat sale | 132sgd (4,672php) |
| travel tax (paid at NAIA) | 36sgd (1,620php) |
| Universal Studios Singapore | 61sgd (2166php) |
| Gardens by the Bay (Flower Dome and Cloud Forest) | 22sgd (781php) |
| Skypark at Marina Bay Sands | 23sgd (817php) |
| Commute fares for 4 days | 20sgd (710php) excluing how much EZLink card is |
| Food and drinks for 4 days | 80sgd (2,840php) estimate |
| Total | 364sgd (13,277php) excluding pasalubongs and other ‘want’ items |
Singapore is awesome. I’m glad I took the opportunity with CebPac’s seat sale. Cost of living in SG is one of the top most expensive in the world, but still after visiting, I actually realized how much I want to move there. Reading and hearing about the awesome Singapore is one thing, but experiencing it yourself is another. People are organized and very courteous. Their commute system is convenient. Lots and lots of walking involved but it’s overall amazing. They may not be the friendliest lot of people, but it’s something I can deal with. Can’t wait to visit again and experience the things I wasn’t able to.
Feel free to share your experience too in the comments!
Life and Lemons 