Backpacking Philippines: DIY Surprising Singapore Tour Itinerary

DIY Surprising Singapore Tour Itinerary

After clearing immigration and claiming our baggage, we were greeted by the travel agency people and whisked us away to waiting vans to take us to the airport. Along the way I immediately noticed how squeaky clean Singapore really is.

One of my first photographs of the Singapura (Lion City) was the hot air baloon of DHL that I later learned offers rides to be on top of the Singapore for a few minutes-- not free flying as seen.

Checked in at Marina Mandarin, a nice hotel in Marina Bay and opposite Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Pretty faces of Marina Mandarin who gamely posed for me thinking the Tutubi is a professional photographer.

Immediately after checking in, I went outside to look for a place to eat and wander around not knowing I already lost in touch with my three other companions who went ahead of me to a nearby Starbucks but I can't find my way.

Walking further I just explored the nearby Suntec area with it's fountains and multi-colored kois feasting on food thrown by the caretaker

After eating at a nearby (and pricey) restaurant in Citylink Mall, I continued on my walking tour, without a map to guide me, following the path that pointed to the City Hall and remembering, as always, where to come back so as not to get lost.

I found myself in the historic center of Singapore serendipitously!

One of the first monuments I saw was the Cenotaph (above) that commemorates the nation's dead of the first world war.

To the right of the path is a large, open field, called Padang, where the neo-classical old city hall and supreme court buildings stand.

The Padang, I later learned is the "Kiangan" of Singapore i.e. it's here where the Japanese surrendered Singapore back to the British. (Much like Japanese surrendered to the Americans in Kiangan town)

supreme court

old city hall building

Walking slowly and releasing shutters for every opportunity, I caught sight of various other historic buildings of old Singapore: St Andrew's Cathedral, Victoria Theater (with it's clocktower), Old Parliament (now an Arts House), Singapore Cricket Club, Victoria Concert Hall, and came face to face with this man named Thomas Stamford Raffles, who discovered, in the eyes of the western world, in 1819.

A few meters from Raffles' landing site, was a wharf (quay) where a boat taking tourists on a tour of Singapore River with the modern Singapore skyline as backdrop.

Without hesitation, I hopped on to the boat and tour the historic river

The Victoria Theater (above) is a hybrid of neo-classical and rennaisance architecture adapted to tropical setting.

The colorful Clarke Quay. Note: a quay is a wharf parallel to the shore

Cavenagh Bridge, the only suspension bridge in Singapore, finished in 1870

Elgin Bridge, the predecessor is the first bridge to cross the river

The Durian-inspired Esplanade Theaters near the Tutubi's hotel

The exquisite and historic Fullerton Hotel

Singapore has to build these naked boys swimming, probably brass, frolicking in the river of which the Pasig has true ones swimming in its murky water

First sight of Singapore's iconic Merlion, its national symbol (napansin nyo ba wala national symbol ang 'pinas?)

Swissotel Merchant Court

By this time, the cruise returned to the quay near Raffle's landing site and I walked back to my hotel to meet up with my other companions and eat dinner.

When I looked at the map to see where I was able to walk, lonely planet style, I found out I wandered quite far without a guide in this place!

To be continued...

Labels: Singapore

posted by GingGoy @ 9:48 PM,

20 Comments:

At Jul 10, 2007, 5:37:00 AM, carlotta1924 said...: mas masarap ngang maglakad na walang guide. libre na, wala ka pa halos gastos. saya ng trip mo hah! =)
At Jul 10, 2007, 10:16:00 AM, Anonymous said...: sarap talaga magtravel abroad. lots of things to learn and you get to broaden your perspectives. di lang philippine centric way of thinking.

i've been to singapore pero unfortunately less than a day lang since i was just in transit. have you seen the pastel colored houses there? hehehe...
At Jul 10, 2007, 1:18:00 PM, Gypsy said...: Hope you will enjoy the great food there--go to the Visitor's Center and you will find different freebies for visitors. Since its food festival now, you might get free chilli crab dinner like my friend (who is enjoying it there now). By the way, exlink ha! Na link na kita! :)
At Jul 10, 2007, 2:06:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Wow, amazing photos of Singapore! I've yet to go there for a visit though ... Nyahaha! But thanks for sharing your experiences.

;)

Off topic; yes, that's a beautiful ring and it's 1000 CHF that makes it around 820 USD. So expensive, di ba?
At Jul 10, 2007, 3:41:00 PM, Mari said...: Great pictures, Tutubi. Someday maybe I'll get to see Singapore and those other places in Southeast Asia...and beyond.

Thanks for sharing.
At Jul 10, 2007, 6:19:00 PM, Nick Ballesteros said...: wow.... I wouldn't have dreamed of going out alone in a foreign place. oh wait... I once did pala. hehe

Sarap naman... you're really going places! I have been to Singapore but never in the places you have photographed here. Palagi kasing training dati and then when we go back to the hotel, dinnertime na. And on the last day, Sentosa ang bagsak namin. That was years, years ago...
At Jul 10, 2007, 8:17:00 PM, sheilamarie said...: lovely pictures you took, paetechie! aren't you glad you lost your way going to starbucks? ;)

it's an adventure you took to go around the city by yourself. but at least you got rewarded with these great photo opportunities/shots =D
At Jul 11, 2007, 4:19:00 AM, pieterbie said...: I am under the impression you and I are a bit alike. When I get somewhere I want to see it all in as little time as possible. Most of the time because I have little time.
Cool Singapore series!
At Jul 11, 2007, 11:14:00 AM, Resty Odon said...: omg, ang lakas ng loob mo touring singapore all by yourself!!!!!!
At Jul 11, 2007, 3:00:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Very very nice photos you've taken, tutubi!
I have lived there for almost 2 years and never seen this many places the way you did in a day (^-^)

have you been to hawker-centers yet? try them at night...great food with great crowd and great opportunity to take photos!
At Jul 11, 2007, 9:38:00 PM, Ean said...: hi tutubi... thanks for stopping by... nice photos... which reminds me... i took some tutubi pics just a few weeks ago... posting them now... hehe...
At Jul 12, 2007, 10:11:00 AM, Resty Odon said...: t2b, pls comment on the signaporean people. are they cosmopolitan like pinoys? are they syncretic in terms of lifestyle/culture?
At Jul 12, 2007, 10:56:00 AM, Anonymous said...: my much delayed replies here:

carlotta, sarap talaga travel minsan nag-iisa. ika nga "better alone than in bad company" :)

estan, half-day lang yang self-guided tour na yan kasi tnaghali na kami dumating.

gypsy, sarap nga ng free chilicrab nila

kyels, mahal nga :)

mari, yup. it's great to travel to oterh places, too :)

watson, conference din yan attend namin. first day ko na free din. kinabukasan nyan conference na :(

sheilamarie, it's mainly because I didn't enrol my phone in roaming so I can't be contacted. I used a different number and SMS-only roaming

pieterbie, so little time, so many places to see and explore

baldagyi, safe naman singapore e saka I have a sense of direction kahit first time ko dun :)

thess, saw the hawkers from a distance only. Wanted to but time is limited. we ate mostly in pricey places but not my bill :)

ean, will visit yout tutubi pics later

baldagyi (again), will do comment on them later in the last part of this series particularly the rude storekeepers and tourist traps
At Jul 13, 2007, 3:49:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Very nice pictures--made me appreciate more how beautiful and squeaky clean singapore is.
I hope you ahve more good and enjoyable times there...
At Jul 14, 2007, 5:31:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Tutubi!!!! Magkasunod lang po pala tayo sa pagbisita sa Singapura. I was just there the entire last week of June.

Anyway, I think sa tagline mong Victoria Theatre, what you have sa photo is the Empress Place, now more known as the Asian Civilisations Museum. Nakapasok ako dyan and I have posted the pics sa blog ko. There\'s a nice resto row sa harap nyan na Indochine ang name. Anyway, let me know if i am mistaken :-)

Tama ka rin po na wala tayong national symbol. In fact, the merlion was on our National Seal and Manila\'s old escudo long, long before Singapore used it to their greatest advantage. Sayang.
At Jul 16, 2007, 11:08:00 AM, Anonymous said...: superpasyal, that Victoria Theater is really incomplete. It's actually both Victoria Theater, the left side of the clocktower, and the Asian Civilizations Museum. I was planning to entering the museum but since I have no time for it, I scheduled it next time na lang.

That national symbol for the Pinas is one thing DOT and the national government's testament to inefficiency, if not stupidity.

we don't have one. We've been focusing too much on beaches, that many countries have. The rice terraces can't be it since there're also rice terraces in china.

Rizal monument in Luneta, IMHO, can't be it since it's ironic that most Filipinos don't even know or understant Rizal.

the DOT should follow the example of the SIngapore Tourism Board by creating a symbol and constructing it if necessary.
At Jul 17, 2007, 5:34:00 PM, kegler747 said...: The whole of singapore is even cleaner than my bedroom. hahaha :)
At Jul 23, 2007, 12:11:00 AM, -= dave =- said...: astig naman ng anything goes tour mo a! at di ka nawala. you are a true pathfinder :)
At Jul 11, 2009, 10:55:00 PM, eltoro said...: Hayaan mo tutubi, one of these days pasyalan ko rin mga pinasyalan mo, nakakainggit hehehe... Kung may pera, walang panahon at pag may panahon, walang pera hahaha

Nice pictures really, at kapansinpansin ang cleanliness...
At Sep 10, 2010, 11:42:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hi. we're planning to visit singapore and then kuala lumpur, where exactly in singapore is the train station going to KL?

DIY Surprising Singapore Tour Itinerary

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