And since this is my first travel post, I’m going to start with the very first travel experience I had this year.
For the first timers who wants to travel abroad, Singapore is truly the right place to go to. And for the first timer like me, I’m glad that it’s the first out of country I visited. It’s the cleanest (so far) place ever!
I booked first week of February, so as you may expect, plane ticket doesn’t come cheap, especially when you intend to travel for the next 2 months. Here in PH you can book flight for as low as Php 700+ (domestic flights). I don’t have any idea of the cheapest flight one can get on international flights. But you have to constantly check airlines for their promos (and make sure to subscribe via e-mail so you may get updates instantly).
My round trip plane ticket costs Php7,729.21 exclusive of travel tax of Php1,620 and terminal fee of Php 550 for international flights. So before you exchange your pocket money to dollars, make sure you have Php 2,170 extra on your pocket.
I arrived at Budget Terminal, SG, around 01:30PM and the first thing I did, after seeing my aunt there, was tour around the Changi airport and eat at Burger King. Oh, I forgot to mention, that I traveled solo to Singapore and my aunt there was my tour guide, and boy I’m glad I asked for her help because I doubt I’d be able to get to my destination fast enough.
And we’re off to my hotel. The cheapest way to travel around SG is via MRT. It’s quite complicated especially for first timers, so make sure to get those SG Maps they have on stands just before you get out of the airport. And when I say MRT is cheap, you can buy one EZ Link card for SGD10, and it’ll give you so many trips to the city. Riding a cab/taxi is so expensive, their base fare is around SGD10.
My hotel is just near Dhoby Gaut station, behind YWCA, Fort Canning Lodge. The place is quite accessible to everything. I’m just near also the Orchard Road. You don’t really need expensive hotel/room when you really want to travel, you won’t really stay there much of the time anyway, since there’s a lot to see out there, right? Anyway, the price of a night in Fort Canning is around Php 6,500 (124.87 euro). It’s just a birthday present of my aunt to me, so I just got a lot of savings for that eh? =)
And after resting for an hour or so, me and my aunt’s family went out to Marina Bay. Well, luckily for me, I didn’t bought the EZ Link card since my aunt lent me her son’s card (tipid! yey!)
Welcome to Marina Bay. Went here to shop actually, but that didn’t happen, because I didn’t have my dollars exchanged to SGD yet (and no, I don’t own a credit card nor I plan to have one). So I just had some sight seeing. Which their architectures by the way is so amazing! Let me show you some of my favorites.
My aunt requested me to take a quick snap at this fab store of LV (which really looked like a boat!) And by the way, that’s my cousin Nikki.
The amazing skyline of SG’s business district.
The best thing that happened to me in Singapore is watching this spectacular show! It’s called “Wonder Full – The Story of Water and Light Creating Life” It’s so romantic I want to watch it over and over again. It’s so amazing seeing those light dancing and water splashing, I can’t help but say wow! Wow, it’s free! (Just kidding)!
Behind us is the ArtScience Museum of Singapore. Try to google it to get the top view of the architecture. See, I’m not really a big fan of architectures, nor I never knew I could truly appreciate them, but being in Singapore changed that perspective.
And here’s the newly built Helix Bridge, the pedestrian bridge that connects Marina Bay to Marina center. And behind me is the Singapore flyer. Oh no! I didn’t get the chance to ride that ferris wheel. Maybe next time. (PS: I’m already wearing my havaianas flip flops here. A word of advice, do bring one pair because it’s really one hella walking you’ll be doing on SG!)
And after those long walks, we went to Makansutra. It’s like a Mercato here in Philippines where you’ll see a bunch of Filipinos too eating and munching and being noisy.
Next day was a trip to Orchard road. And I’m just a 15minute walk away from it. And while were at it, we took a detour at Istana park and the palace. Unfortunately for us though, they didn’t open to public unless holiday.
And after having my dollars changed (and all my payables being paid), it’s shopping time! 
How I wish I have that enough money to buy bags from LV and such. No, I only bought tops and slippers, and eat and eat.
Ok, so my expenses part, my apologies because I really have a short term memory to start with, so I can’t give the details here. But for major expenses, e.g. plane tickets, food + pocket money, I can give advice for that.
- Round trip plane ticket (Cebu Pacific) : P 7,729.21
- Travel tax: P 1,620.00
- Terminal Fee: P 550.00
- Hotel Expense: P 6,500 (estimated) + SGD 20 (for hotel’s security deposit)
- Pocket Money: $450
The $450, I had it exchanged at the airport. I was having a hard time finding money changer here in Philippines, my papa advised me to have it changed to US dollars first since it’s like the monetary money accepted in different countries. So, when travelling abroad, a total of P30,000 will be sufficient.
Make sure you’ll never forget to buy all those pasalubongs for your love ones.
Take care always and enjoy the ride. =)
xx Zerah
Related articles
- Singapore, yet again (papiwasthere.wordpress.com)
- Expedia Picks: Hilton Hotel Singapore (thisitchyfeet.wordpress.com)
- Week 8: @jackyyapp from @e27sg (startupsinsg.wordpress.com)
Zerah Lakwatsera 