Singapore 2013 || Birthday Brunch at Casa Verde + Singapore Botanic Gardens + Gardens by the Bay + Bakerzin Birthday Cakes + Birthday Dinner

March 16, 2014 teeshLeave a comment

To be honest, for this year’s birthday, I just wanted something pretty low key. If you’ve followed me that long, you’d know how I always celebrate my birthday at home and tons of birthday meals. Not that I’m complaining, I appreciate how everyone makes time to celebrate my birthday but I just wanted a quiet time for myself. And what better way to feel relaxed than to celebrate my birthday in Singapore Botanic Gardens. The place was so serene.

..that is until we got lost. Damn those arrows pointing us everywhere. Never trust them! It’s a trap!!! The only thing that didn’t suck about walking that far was the scenery.

I did a research on places to eat in Singapore and remembered that Casa Verde serves one of the best brunches in the country. Boy, it was good! My plate kept me full until the afternoon and I swear, we did a lot of walking. Dad had salmon. And of course, C had the chicken burger. What is new with that? 🙂

Happy tummies campers!

So back to my birthday trip – we went to Gardens by the Bay right after Singapore Botanic Gardens. I don’t think I have mentioned that I come from a family of speed walkers. Sure, my mom is slower than a turtle now, what with her cancer infected bones, but we really walk fast. Meanwhile, C walks slow, I had a hard time trying to pull the two guys I’m with. C was whispering the whole time “pamilya talaga kayo ng mabilis maglakad!”. Hahahahaha!

Marina Bay Sands from below.

The last time I was in Singapore (2011), this was still under construction. It was quite gloomy when we were there. Thank God it didn’t rain! It was very windy high up though.

We chanced upon Bakerzin and yay! Cakes!

After eating cake, we walked around some more and did some shopping (which accounts to not many photos). 🙂 Since our whole stay in SG did not comprise eating in any hawker center, I asked dad to bring us to one so C could try it. Yay for birthday dinner! Noodles for long life.

We also went to Mustafa (24-hour shopping mall) to buy chocolates that night, also so I could bring C there – still no photos of that. We had an early flight the next day to Manila, and it felt like five days is not enough to spend with C. 🙂 Until next time, baby.

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Operating Hours: 5 AM – 12 MN daily

Singapore 2013 || Universal Studios Singapore

March 12, 2014 teesh2 Comments

Out of the five days, we spent together in Singapore, this was the only day where we actually woke up early! And the way to start the day is by a public display of affection in the subway station. For once, we actually arrived early! We had time to roam around Sentosa after buying our tickets. With our tickets that cost SG$ 74 each. Finally, after a really long queue, we got in! I have been to Singapore before this but never to USS.

Before roaming around the theme park, we had lunch at Mel’s Drive-In. It’s a diner themed restaurant. We had an early lunch which is why it was super easy to get a booth to ourselves. Chicken for C, as usual! And we both had burgers!

Vintage cars on display outside the diner/restaurant. I was taking a photo of this when three men approached me to ask for a photo. Initially, I said yes because I thought they were asking me to take a photo of them. But then they started posing around me and apparently they were asking to have photos taken with me. C was smoking at the time and it was so scary since there were three of them, all at least a foot taller than I am! I apologized for the confusion and started walking towards C. Good thing they stopped following me when they saw C.

T+C trivia: The first movie date we ever had, we watched Madagascar 2.

While we were in the queue, the girl in front of us was using a really cute bag!

Sesame Street!

Lights Camera Action!

Transformers – one of our favorite rides.

Battlestar Galactica ride which we were so excited to try was unavailable that day. Sigh.

The Mummy! I remember how there was a point in time where I wanted (badly) to become an archeologist. Sure, I find history subjects boring, but digging around for artifacts and discovering lost cities (still) seem appealing. Also, Egypt looks like a nice place to explore. Maybe, someday..

Jurassic Park!

This was one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed! It was realistic enough to have kids crying and some of the adults jumping in fear when the dinosaur started biting towards their direction!

Far Far Away. Have I ever mentioned how much I loved this movie? I even gave C Shrek-themed cupcakes (not made by me) for his 19th birthday. 🙂

C was disappointed because he rushed to this thinking those were a bunch of free maps in scrolls. Haha!

After our tiring stint at Universal Studios Singapore, we went and roamed around Sentosa. I really wanted C to explore Sentosa because it’s really one of the touristy things one should do in Singapore. If these were real candy, I’d be super happy!

With the biggest Merlion in all of the country! We walked upwards to the cable car station in Sentosa. So tiring!

Finally, aboard the cable car! We later found out it cost less than SG$ 100 to have a romantic dinner aboard the cable car. You’d have to book in advance though. 😦

Sentosa

Operating Hours: 8:45 AM- 10 PM

8 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Island, Singapore 098269

Opening Hours: 10 AM – 7 PM daily

Singapore 2013 || Science Centre Singapore + Mint Museum of Toys

February 23, 2014 teeshLeave a comment

I know I just said in a previous post how heartbroken I am about mom’s condition, but she insisted that we live life as usual, so here I am trying to do so by making a post. Looking back at our photos, I just wish I could go back to that carefree week where sickness, pain, and the inevitable end are just things I get paranoid about. Sigh.

Waiting for the bus to Science Centre.

I have already been here once with my siblings and I know how nerdy C is. One of the things why I enjoy being with C is we’re kids together. Oh, how I miss being happy and carefree all the time.

While we were having lunch, we were surrounded by kids with their parents. So we ate like kids. Hello, fried food! Fish and fries for me. C had fried chicken (I know, what’s new right?), fries and extra rice. *rubs C’s tummy*

..and for dessert. Hihi! We buy ‘em every time we see one of these.

The science center is huge! We saw and learned tons of stuff.

Fire tornado.

After the Science Centre, we decided to head to the MINT Museum. It was located near the upscale parts of the city, and walking there was being immersed into another side of the country. I like walking in this part of the city. I do love nature, but being surrounded by people and buildings just made me feel totally immersed in Singaporean culture (albeit knowing that it’s not all of it).

C had already started to protest that we were going the wrong way when we found the sign for the museum. Booyah! MINT (Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys) Museum of Toys is a privately owned museum. The owner decided to exhibit his own toy collection to the public. Perfect for kids and those who are young at heart. Entrance costs SG$15 per person. We arrived near closing time and almost had to beg to be let in. Fortunately, the girl in the reception accommodated us. Yay! Most of the toys in the display are vintage which is why they’re real pricey. I wonder how the owner kept all of this prior to opening it to the public.

After roaming five floors filled with toys, we were famished! There was a chicken place nearby and we decided to have our early dinner there. We had roasted chicken, veggies, and spicy tofu.

I never made a list of places to eat prior to our trip, but when we passed by this, I went “awww, we should have tried this place instead.” But then I saw Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie while walking down the subway, so yay! I bought a dozen of macarons. I also have to say they have the cutest box and paper bag (the paper bag is so sturdy too). C’s favorite was Cookies and Cream macaron!

This was not Canele’s stall (I forgot to take note of the store name) and I’m not sure whether you’re allowed to take photos of display cakes in cake stalls but I sneakily did because they are just so damn pretty to look at.

We went back to Merlion Park to take better photos since we didn’t get the chance to take photos when we went the night before. I just love Singapore at night.

Science Centre Singapore

15 Science Centre Road
Singapore 609081

Opening Hours: 10 AM – 6 PM daily

Mint Museum of Toys

26 Seah Street Singapore 188382

Opening Hours: 9:30 AM – 6 PM daily

Singapore 2013 || Singapore Zoo + River Safari

January 26, 2014 teeshLeave a comment

Last June, I was looking at cheap airfares without really planning to go anywhere. I happened on dirt cheap tickets to Taiwan (right on my birthday week) but due to the ongoing conflict between the two countries, I thought it was safer to not go. But by then I have already convinced myself that I will be going out of town on my birthday, so I scoured the net for cheap airfare and decided to go to Singapore! Who else would I go with other than my favorite travel buddy? This is actually our first foreign trip (and couple trip) together! I even bought him a Panda sleeping mask since we had a late night flight.

Dad picked us up at the airport since we were staying with him. Yay for free accommodation! We woke up real late but no worries since we’re relaxed when on vacation. It’s C’s first time in Singapore so I decided to bring him to all the places I loved going to whenever we went to visit my dad.

I absolutely love commuting in Singapore. It is so easy! C and I took the train and the bus to get to the zoo.

We bought the 3-in-1 tickets which (if I remember correctly) costs SG$ 65. We got there around lunchtime so we had lunch before entering the zoo. We both had Nasi Lemak and huge glasses of Iced Tea.

Not really C’s cup of tea, what with all the walking and the scorching heat. It took a lot of persuasions to get this guy to smile for a photo!

We were early for the elephant show, and got good seats! Pro tip: head to the amphitheater at least 30 minutes before the show to get good seats. 🙂

Amphitheater – no nice photos of the performance here but it was awesome!

Chicken Boy and Cupcake Girl with Weird Strangers

POLAR BEAR, WHERE NA U? Unfortunately, the polar bear was out of sight the whole time we were at its’ viewing area while waiting for the rain to subside. Sigh.

After the zoo, we headed to the River Safari that was located beside the Singapore Zoo. C was already tired from walking but traveling with me meant that he would have to do so – a lot. Haha! Unlike the vast Singapore zoo where it would be hard to find one path to view everything, the River Safari is easier to tour.

Scary piranhas.

They had a lot of floor to ceiling viewing areas which were calming for me but made C very queasy.

Look at this cute panda straw bottle! C was dissuading me from buying this but it was too cute!

Panda exhibit! They had both a red panda and the usual black and white pandas. And a cute panda couple!

Amazon Flooded Forest

On our way out of River Safari, we encountered a huge panda!

After the River Safari, we had an ice cream sandwich at Orchard Road before heading to Esplanade and the Merlion Park at One Fullerton. We got a little lost after getting off the train that C has started to become grumpy. But that’s okay, he still got to see the famous Marina Bay Sands.