Nap Time Rocks!

Batik [LP]

isa sa mga exhibit sa Sentosa Island sa Singapore.

—

Litratong Pinoy theme ngayong linggo: Batik/mantsa (spots)

082009 | Singapore | unprocessed

Sale! [lp]

The Great Singapore Sale 2009, dito lang yan sa Singapore (san pa nga ba?)

lahat halos ng mga establishments na pinuntahan ko sa Sg ay may placard ng sale. kasi panahon ng GSS, hanggang July yata.

excited ako nung una pero nung nanghinayang nakong bilin yung isang pakay ko sa Sg, wala na. hehe. pagod lang kakalakad. pero ilang tips sa mga may balak pumunta anytime soon:

• must try ang cereal shrimps and pepper crab. sa No Signboard Seafood ko lang nakain yan, pero malamang sa ibang restaurants meron din. yaan lang orderin mo at rice, pwede na
• kailangan mo din kumain sa Makansutra or Gluttons Bay sa tabi ng Esplanade Mall. nandun lahat ng streetfood na masarap. must try and carrot cake at chicken wings
• mukhang favorite nila talaga ang chicken wings kasi lahat ng food establishments meron nun sa menu. masarap naman talaga
• IKEA! kailangan mo puntahan yun (bus 33, 64, o 195 depende kung san ka galing)
• bumili ng metro card kung walang tour guide at balak mo mag-ikot. 1 card lang for both train and bus rides. mas madali pagsakay-sakay
• at kailangan mo sakyan yung attraction rides sa Clark Quay

–

EOS 400D, cross-process. Sg, Jun2009.

Sg Part 2: all things aquatic

hay P, if you were there, you’d love these too.

an all-Australian exhibit was setup at the Marina Square right beside our hotel, and one of them was Splatter’s. i couldn’t help but smile everytime i passed by their booth because the walls were filled with nice square paintings of comic artwork by Christopher Martin (like the one on the left).

the pop artwork were all so cute, selling for about S$40 – S$100+ per piece (which are also available to order online). if it weren’t so hard to pack them and bring them with me home (had a really small luggage), i’d have bought at least one.

but since i couldn’t, i brought Buster home instead.

(click the photo to find out what’s scaring Buster)

it’s an added bedtime reading for me and Mia. it doesn’t have anything to do with water i know, but it’s still one of those things i love.

the second day was as tiring as the first. went shopping at Vivo City at the bay area, which turns out not to be such a good idea if you’re going to Sentosa afterward. you end up riding the Luge with bags in between your legs and that’s not comfortable.

one thing i realized (no, make that several) going around Sentosa’s Underwater World are:

1. not all animals appreciate being pet. take the sting rays for example. there’s a pool area where you can touch the starfishes and the sting rays, and unlike the starfishes who are good at hiding their disapproval, some fish can actually jump out of the aquarium to tell people how irritating it is to be patted and grabbed and startled all day.
2. some people are just hardheaded as much as they are probably deaf (or blind, whichever applies). i don’t want to be racist but i just cannot for the life of me appreciate how cultural differences are nice when you’re in a looong queue, it’s scorching hot, and someone really smelly pushes their way ahead of you when there’s clearly a line to be followed. darn it. it seems to be not an isolated case since it happened to us twice in separate locations. what happened to the universal rule of order?
3. and then some people have no appreciation of other living things. they go to these attractions to satiate their curiosity and to get bragging rights that they were there. it’s sad how, within a few years, the Night Safari had become a circus and it’s so hard to keep tourists at bay. it’s obviously prohibited to use flash photography in several areas where there are animals, but like i said, there were still people who couldn’t understand.
4. sometimes attractions like the Ocean Park, the Underwater World, the Night Safari, etc. are better off unknown and unpopular. i get that they have to make money, but when it gets trampled on by many people like those described above, it feels like it’s not even worth it. the cages of the animals stink, otherwise carefree species are forced to remain in 4×5ft cells, it’s really just unfair to be prodded at and be made spectacles of sorts. it’s not really in their nature to be made captive.

about 7 years ago, i saw how nice and quiet Sentosa Island was. now, i’m not so sure i’d be saying the same thing. it’s so commercialized, they’re even building resorts and a Universal Studios park there. nothing against development but for a place so small and with such booming tourism… i just don’t know…

speaking of changes, the light and water musical show has really improved a lot. it’s still amazing, but with a lot more effects.

the fireworks are great, and i bet they really spend so much on this considering they show it about twice or thrice at night everyday. anyways, need to get to postprocessing photos now..

Sg Part 1: death defying acts

i thought i wouldn’t live to tell the story.

it was a smorgasboard of seafoods and fried rice, enough to feed a whole army. and it was a bit expensive (’a bit’ is the understatement of the century). it was our first meal in Sg, and i thought it was going to be  my last.

we were served 6 courses that we had to finish off because yeah, it was that expensive. sayang naman.

but in all fairness to the No Signboard Seafood restaurant, i had a taste of the best cereal shrimp and pepper crab i’ve ever had (like i’ve ever had them before). a must try when in Sg.

and then we went to the IT Show at Suntec, right across our hotel the Marina Mandarin along Raffles Quay (or Boulevard). it was crowded. ‘crowded’ is the second understatement of the century. if i come down with flu anytime within the next 10 days, it’ll be mainly because of that.

it was a logistical nightmare, but who cares, it was the best place for all good IT deals. a section on the 3rd floor was dedicated to all Mac products and accessories. the whole 4th, 5th, and 6th floors were all for brands like Samsung, Canon, Olympus, HP, Nikon, etc. there were also booths selling generic brands and items/accessories.

i survived the shrimps, crabs, flying viruses and the catastrophic sneezing of unmindful people. maybe, maybe not. we’ll know 10 days from now.