Travel Journal | SG and MYS 2019
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Wow it's been a while! I mean it's been a very long while LOL
I'm not really up to anything else except for the much awaited vacation I had so far. After all, it was my very first international trip!
I can finally say that our passports aren't just for valid IDs anymore 😛
And yes! Jason was with me (it's his first time as well) and we're with Ate Kameko and Pearly, the lovely author of Happy Heights and all thanks to her, this trip came true. From the itinerary, where we should stay, the places we should visit and the budget planning – she got us all covered. Waaah thanks, Gurl!
NOTE: Let's all stay tuned for Pearly's own post as I believe this won't be as detailed as much as I want it to LOL but I still want to write this since this is a fantastic memory for me ✌
We booked our plane ticket from Cebu to Singapore on September of last year for only P399! It's pretty rare to get that deal nowadays but we really got lucky!
We prepared for this for almost a year (obviously) and we paid for the lodgings, attractions and our return flights bit by bit (depends on the best and cheap deals we could find on the internet). For example, we found a great place to stay in Singapore and that would be our goal to pay for this month and for the next month, we'll look for cheap deals for the attractions or the flight. It was a wonderful idea, really, and it helped us not to be overwhelmed with all the payments and saving for our pocket money. And again, thank you so much Gurl!
In all honesty, I had a lot of doubts since as I've mentioned, it was my very first time to travel abroad. I also saved only a bit because of some bills I had to take care of and the thought of the immigration denying my chance to travel freaked me out but I prayed and I prayed to God to guide me and help me to think positively, to think that everything would go well and it did! My excitement feels heavier than the scary thought of stepping a different country, Jason and I managed to save enough (not much but enough) and the immigration was smoother than expected. Well, Jason had a problem on that part since he almost didn't managed to proceed because he had the same name from someone on the watch list. LOL it was a funny thought but I seriously don't know what I'd do if ever he really can't go. But all is well after a very long interview. Whew~
SINGAPORE
Sooo... here we go! We left the country at 8:15 in the evening of September 26 and arrived at Singapore Changi Airport after 4 hours up in the air. Woooh! This excites me still. Hahaha!
WHAT WE DID AT CHANGI AIRPORT?
★ MONEY EXCHANGE
We didn't exchanged all of our money there though since according to Pearly and to the other blogs I've read, we won't get the best rates at most airports that's why we just exchanged that's enough for our transpo to our hostel.
★ BUY EZ-LINK CARD
★ TOUR JEWEL
WHERE WE STAYED?
Pearly was very hands-on on everything especially on where to stay. She researched carefully and considered a lot of options and we end up choosing the G4 Station Backpackers Hostel located at 11 Mackenzie Rd which is near to the Little India Arcade.
WHERE TO EXCHANGE MONEY?
Every currency exchange shops have different rates that's why we better had to compare them to determine which have the highest figures. At the airport, the exchange rate of 1 USD is 1.32 SGD while when we went to Mustafa Money Changer which is a 5-minute walk from the hostel, their rate was 1.37 SGD! Those figures may not look that different but once you exchange them all to our money, we'd see the difference LOL!
WHERE WE WENT?
Day 1: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS SINGAPORE
Day 2: CITY TOUR
★ Gardens by the Bay
★ library@orchard
★ Lucky Plaza
★ Skypark Observation Deck
★ Merlion Park
It was a very long day, however, we didn't get the chance to visit the Bugis Market and it was actually one of the places that I was looking forward to though I looked forward for everything haha! I'll make sure to visit that one someday. Unta again! Hahaha!
Later that evening, we grabbed our things from the hostel and rode a bus to the Golden Mile Complex which would bring us to our next destination!
MALAYSIA
Like in Singapore, I'll write a separate post for our experience in Malaysia but here's an overview on where we stayed and went for sight seeing.
WHERE WE STAYED?
Compared to our hostel in Singapore, I looked forward for our apartment in Malaysia with high expectations because their photos from Airbnb was astonishing and it didn't disappointed us at all except for the fact that we checked-in a bit later (LOL so much later) than we wished for. But still when we got inside of it, the four of us were awed and were even thinking if we should still go out or just stay. Haha!
Here's Victoria Home Robertson located at Bukit Bintang and we're on the 43rd floor! Ha! See that!
WHERE WE WENT?
I wished we had more time in Malaysia since it's a waste to leave that kind of room all alone with our luggage but still... we can't miss these attractions as well!
Day 3: MALAYSIA
★ Sungei Wang Plaza
★ Petronas Twin Towers
★ Batu Caves
★ Berjaya Times Square
Theeeen, early the next day, we're bound to go home. It's a bit sad to thing about it but my feet were all sore after all the walking which started when we're still in Singapore but it was still a very fulfilling vacation for me. I saved it up my self and worked hard for it. I am not even sure if I'd have another chance like this one in the future but let's see where my feet would take me soon.
That's it for now, I guess... and as mentioned, stay tuned for my posts regarding the attractions soon and if y'all have questions you are free to chat with Pearly on her page or you can ask me to ask her or whatever, it's up to you. Hahaha!
See you around!
We booked our plane ticket from Cebu to Singapore on September of last year for only P399! It's pretty rare to get that deal nowadays but we really got lucky!
We prepared for this for almost a year (obviously) and we paid for the lodgings, attractions and our return flights bit by bit (depends on the best and cheap deals we could find on the internet). For example, we found a great place to stay in Singapore and that would be our goal to pay for this month and for the next month, we'll look for cheap deals for the attractions or the flight. It was a wonderful idea, really, and it helped us not to be overwhelmed with all the payments and saving for our pocket money. And again, thank you so much Gurl!
In all honesty, I had a lot of doubts since as I've mentioned, it was my very first time to travel abroad. I also saved only a bit because of some bills I had to take care of and the thought of the immigration denying my chance to travel freaked me out but I prayed and I prayed to God to guide me and help me to think positively, to think that everything would go well and it did! My excitement feels heavier than the scary thought of stepping a different country, Jason and I managed to save enough (not much but enough) and the immigration was smoother than expected. Well, Jason had a problem on that part since he almost didn't managed to proceed because he had the same name from someone on the watch list. LOL it was a funny thought but I seriously don't know what I'd do if ever he really can't go. But all is well after a very long interview. Whew~
SINGAPORE
Sooo... here we go! We left the country at 8:15 in the evening of September 26 and arrived at Singapore Changi Airport after 4 hours up in the air. Woooh! This excites me still. Hahaha!
★ MONEY EXCHANGE
We didn't exchanged all of our money there though since according to Pearly and to the other blogs I've read, we won't get the best rates at most airports that's why we just exchanged that's enough for our transpo to our hostel.
★ BUY EZ-LINK CARD
Each of us bought one EZ-Link Card at Changi Recommends for 10 Singaporean Dollars (SGD) which already have 5 SGD load and it is very convenient not just for tourists like us but also to the Singaporeans themselves as it is commonly used for transport and for other transactions. At first, I didn't really mind about it at all as long as we just "need" to buy it but to my surprise this very card was the key for me to tour around Singapore 😉
Can you believe this is part of the airport? LOL I can't either but Jewel is a nature-themed entertainment and retail complex on the landside of Changi Airport. I can't stop thinking of Tinkerbell after seeing this place... it looks so MAGICAL. I'm lost for words but yeah, that's what this place is and I believe this would also look very elegant with the sunlight.
☆☆☆
When it's time for us to go to the hostel, we went to look for the City Shuttle but to our dismay, it was already unavailable at that time but fortunately, the person-in-charge of the transports recommended to grab a taxi as it's even cheaper than the shuttle.
The driver's seat was on the right side which was totally different from our vehicles here. The driver was also very chika when he told us about the country and he was very proud of it and it was kind of heartwarming.
The shuttle costs 9 SGD for each passenger while we only paid 28 SGD after our trip with the taxi. At least we're able to save 2 SGD each! Teehee~
Pearly was very hands-on on everything especially on where to stay. She researched carefully and considered a lot of options and we end up choosing the G4 Station Backpackers Hostel located at 11 Mackenzie Rd which is near to the Little India Arcade.
The receptionist was very approachable when we arrived even though it was very late already (we arrived at Changi at midnight after all). Our room was quite small, there were 2 double decks, 4 lockers for our luggage but no bathroom which was the only downside for me. I didn't really expected much from it since it was way cheaper from the other hotels we found on the internet and it's not really a huge problem as we're not there for a staycation anyway. We rested for a bit, woke up to have breakfast and prepared for a very long day. But before we went to the first attraction (but hey, the airport was a fantastic attraction already LOL), we went to change our money first and this time it's for our entire budget – that includes our food, EZ-Link Card load and pasalubongs.
Every currency exchange shops have different rates that's why we better had to compare them to determine which have the highest figures. At the airport, the exchange rate of 1 USD is 1.32 SGD while when we went to Mustafa Money Changer which is a 5-minute walk from the hostel, their rate was 1.37 SGD! Those figures may not look that different but once you exchange them all to our money, we'd see the difference LOL!
There are so many attractions in Singapore and a lot weren't included on our itinerary anymore because we only have limited budget and time. Well... it's up to us to visit them next time, I guess. Haha! Unta! And soon, I'll write separate posts for some of the attractions we visited with more photos!
Day 1: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS SINGAPORE
Day 2: CITY TOUR
★ Gardens by the Bay
★ library@orchard
★ Lucky Plaza
★ Skypark Observation Deck
★ Merlion Park
It was a very long day, however, we didn't get the chance to visit the Bugis Market and it was actually one of the places that I was looking forward to though I looked forward for everything haha! I'll make sure to visit that one someday. Unta again! Hahaha!
☆☆☆
Later that evening, we grabbed our things from the hostel and rode a bus to the Golden Mile Complex which would bring us to our next destination!
MALAYSIA
Like in Singapore, I'll write a separate post for our experience in Malaysia but here's an overview on where we stayed and went for sight seeing.
WHERE WE STAYED?
Compared to our hostel in Singapore, I looked forward for our apartment in Malaysia with high expectations because their photos from Airbnb was astonishing and it didn't disappointed us at all except for the fact that we checked-in a bit later (LOL so much later) than we wished for. But still when we got inside of it, the four of us were awed and were even thinking if we should still go out or just stay. Haha!
Here's Victoria Home Robertson located at Bukit Bintang and we're on the 43rd floor! Ha! See that!
Isn't it marvelous? The bathroom was inside the bedroom and was camouflaged to look like a closet. I wonder where my photo of that go. Aaaand we also have a washing machine and dryer (near the kitchen where you'll see a door).
WHERE WE WENT?
I wished we had more time in Malaysia since it's a waste to leave that kind of room all alone with our luggage but still... we can't miss these attractions as well!
Day 3: MALAYSIA
★ Sungei Wang Plaza
★ Petronas Twin Towers
★ Batu Caves
★ Berjaya Times Square
Theeeen, early the next day, we're bound to go home. It's a bit sad to thing about it but my feet were all sore after all the walking which started when we're still in Singapore but it was still a very fulfilling vacation for me. I saved it up my self and worked hard for it. I am not even sure if I'd have another chance like this one in the future but let's see where my feet would take me soon.
That's it for now, I guess... and as mentioned, stay tuned for my posts regarding the attractions soon and if y'all have questions you are free to chat with Pearly on her page or you can ask me to ask her or whatever, it's up to you. Hahaha!
See you around!
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