celebraTINg exisTENce

Our Third day a.k.a Ikot-ikot Singapore / Why you rainin' Singapore

I'll divide this day into three posts because I have a lot of pictures from Universal Studios and if I make this like our first and second day, this will be so lengthy (to think na ang haba na nga ng day 1 and day 2.) and so picture-packed.

Our third day started out okay although we were late again.

Before going to sleep, "We're waking up at 5 AM, right? So we can leave home at 6 AM and start touring before sunrise?" Sunrise in Singapore is around 7:15 in the morning and leaving home at 6 AM was the best time so we can arrive at Marina bay before twilight. When we were on our way to Golden Mile Complex, we passed by the area at ang ganda niya tignan sa gabi, e baka wala na kaming time go there at night 'cause our bus was set to leave Singapore at 10:00 PM, May 27.

Enough for overestimating ourselves, we woke up at 7. HAHAHA! Sabihin na natin na understandable kasi 'yun palang 'yung matinong tulog namin since our adventure started. Nagkita-kita kami sa airport ng 4 AM (madaling araw ng May 25), sa bus lang kami natulog (madaling araw May 26) kaya nung gabi ng May 26 pa-umaga ng May 27, ayan nakabawi-bawi. Walang nakarinig ng alarm. Kalurks.

When were in Ang Mo Kio, it was the best weather to go around. It was a bit sunny, windy and cloudy. Ano pa 'di ba? Not too hot and not too cold.

Ang Mo Kio (NS 16) we rode the red line to Marina Bay (NS 27).

I belong. <3

For some reasons, I developed this desire to stay longer there. Or maybe someday, I get to experience working/studying there even for a month or a year. I don't know what's going to happen but syempre, let's hope for the best. Basta, gusto kong bumalik sa Singapore. :))

Marina Bay Sands selfie turned out to be Marina Bay I'm so Sad selfie... Marina Bay MRT Station is an underground station so we had no idea that it was already raining hard outside. GRABE!!!! How can it rain that hard when the weather was so nice about an hour ago? Oh wells papels, ganyan siguro talaga. :)))

Late na nga kami. Nausog pa lalo because of the rain.
Oh Marina Bay, you're so close yet so far.

After waiting for 30 minutes, (hindi pa rin tumitila ang ulan!!) we decided that we' were wasting our time so we travelled to Vivo City and just pass by Marina Bay again before heading home. Duuuuh, hindi kumpleto ang SG trip pag walang picture sa Merlion.

I've never felt so lost, SG. NEVERRRRRRRRRR. Sa'yo lang talaga. :)))))
'Yung pakiramdam na alam mo sa sarili mong you're okay with directions, you understand maps well, you're good at remembering places pero kahit na alam mong tama ka, may bubulong pa rin sa'yong baka mali ka. No room for mistakes. Pamasahe at oras na naman ang mawawala niyan.

Hindi ko na maalala kung anong nangyari (selective amnesia) pero 'yung feeling na andun lang naman kami sa loob ng station, may map ng MRT pero walang-wala talaga. Sobrang lost kids. Sumakay na lang kami. Bahala na kung maikot ulit ang buong SG. hahahaha. Basta ang binayaran namin, pa Harbour Front na fare.

Ang reputasyong inalagaan ko... naglaho lang sa loob ng tatlong araw na pamamalagi ko sa ibang bansa. Pssssh! Tayo-tayo lang may alam nyan. hahahaha. Sa Pilipinas, hindi mo talaga ko mawawala ever! Jokeeee. :)

Life, I don't mind being lost again. :))))) Isa pa pls? hahaha.

Another factor that added to our whutdapak moment was when all the other passengers alighted at this station, I forgot the name. OMG, anmeron?!

Anyway, from Marina Bay (NS27) we rode until Dhoby Ghaut (NS24) transferred to DG's North East line (NE6) to Harbour Front (NE1).

Ganda ng stations nila, noh?

Singapore MRT and LRT stations map link: here.

Their public transportation is really good and well-planned but it's also very very complex especially for first timers. Madali intindihin 'yung map, okay sige, ang nakakalito lang 'yung paglipat ng line kahit iisang lugar lang naman at kahit maraming signages. Kalokaaaa. Sige, palusot pa me. hehehe. :)) They have 106 operating train stations and a lot more are still under construction and planning. Babalik ako for you, MRT/LRT bespren.

Disbelief* Uncertainty* Skepticism
Selfie pa more.

Madalas, instinct lang pinapagana ko pag ganyan pero tinanggal ng SG lahat ng magagandang (at strengths) inakala kong ako. HAHAHAHA! (Wala na si whiz kid sa directions, wiz kid na) :))))

We got lost but that experience drove us to "desire" getting lost in another country/city again. But if you're going there and that's the reason why you stumbled upon this post, you're on the right track. Kulang lang talaga siguro kami sa research. hahahaha.

But whatevs, we arrived at Vivo City/Sentosa.

I was okay again.

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Day 2 is also known as NGANGA SINGAPORE.

In order to save on accommodation costs, we decided to cross borders at night and just choose buses with reclining seats so we could sleep the whole travel time. From Pudu Sentral in Malaysia to Golden Mile Complex in Singapore, it only took us around 5-6 hours (immigration of two countries included).

We left KL at 12 midnight and arrived at SG before 6AM. Although we were lost for a lot of times and experienced several nganga moments, this, the morning of May 26, 2014 was the nganga moment that topped everything.

We arrived at Golden Mile with no SGD only with PHP and MYR. So kahit may pera kami, we couldn't do anything, we were so lost for words. Sobrang talino namin at hindi namin naisip 'yon. We walked to Lavender Station and asked the guy manning the ticket counter if there was a nearby money changer and there was. OMG, money changer at last! Until he continued his sentence and told us, "But they're still sleeping. They will open at 8AM." WTF. We saw an ATM in the MRT accepting Mastercard and Visa ganyan, so okay, pikit-mata sa international service charge, I entered my Eastwest Visa Card to withdraw SGD only that, I forgot my pin code. Shems!!!! My friend also tried withdrawing but the ATM couldn't read her card. Not sure if her bank needed an international activation whatsoever. So ang ending, wala pa rin kaming SGD. Nga pala, even if pareho lang ang oras natin sa Malaysia at Singapore, past 7 na sumisikat at lumulubong ang araw doon.

We looked like the suspicious-looking persons there so we went up the station and waited for the businesses to open. Yes, we stood there for two hours hoping for a Malaysian or Filipino person to pass by whom we could exchange our money with. Pero waleeeey! Hindi na namin alam gagawin namin but to wait and when it was almost 8 AM, we asked for the nearest money changer and the nearest they have there was in Golden Mile Complex. (Pero ngayong iniisip ko, tinatanong ko pa rin sarili kung bakit nga ba hindi kami naghanap ng upuan. Hahaha! ) Shems!!!!!!! Babalik kami doon tapos babalik kami sa Lavender Station ulit!!! For those who've been to BGC, the distance is like from Market! Market! to the Fort Strip or even a bit farther. Okay naman sana kaso bitbit kasi namin 'yung backpack and we haven't eaten anything in the last 10 hours.

So my friend's house was in Ang Mo Kio area so we rode the Eastwest Line Lavender Station (EW 11) to Jurong East (EW 24), transferred to North South Line of Jurong East (NS 1) to Ang Mo Kio (NS16). Umikot kami sa SG! My ghad!!!!! That MRT ride was the longest ride I've been to eveeeer! We took the loooong way to Ang Mo Kio only to find out that from Lavender (EW11), we could have alighted at City Hall (EW 13), transferred to the North South line of City Hall (NS25) to get to Ang Mo Kio (NS16). Diba, station codes pa lang, mas mabilis na puntahan? Isa pa, in SG buses and mrt just use one MRT card. It doesn't matter what line are you from, you just have to select your boarding and alighting points for your fare. Dyan pa kami nagkamali, we exited Eastwest line and entered again (another fare) to ride NS line.

Turista ka sa SG?! Nakapunta ka bang Ang Mo Kio? Nakita mo ba 'yung mga construction sites? Nakaabout ka ba ng Woodlands? ng Marsiling? ng Yo Chu Kang? Hindi?! Kami, oo! Nakita namin lahat lahat. Ikaw ba naman mag tour via MRT sa umaga. Ewan ko na lang. Yan na lang nga pampalubag-loob namin eh. One of the best ways to enjoy a foreign country is to live and travel like a local. Yan! Yan!! Yan!!!

After 10 years, we arrived at Ang Mo Kio station that is connected to a mall named Ang Mo Kio hub. We ate at Sizzling Pepper Lunch and this is priced s$10.00 with a sidedish and drink. Grabe, that feeling when you finally arrive at your destination after experiencing so much! Daming nangyari. The best 4 hours of my life that felt like forever. Huhuhuhu.

After washing-up and a little bit of rest, we were at it again. Hi my dearest ticketing machine bestfriend! Sa sobrang bestfriend namin nito, ayaw na niya ata kaming mahiwalay sa isa't isa.

DAY 2 started at 2PM. Late na kameeeee. :(

You have three options should you prefer riding the MRT and LRT:

1. Buy ticket per ride (this ticket is called Standard ticket which could be used up to 6 times). You won't need to pay the deposit of s$10 and no need to reload your card. We used this card.
2. Buy the regular EZ link card and just reload your fare budget.
3. Buy the Singapore tourist pass link: here.

Option number 3 could actually be the best bet should you decide to spend your day roaming around SG and if you have s$30. We were supposed to avail one but upon thinking it over more, we decided not to since we didn't have enough time to go to other "places of interest" anymore.

We arrived at Chinatown! Yeheeeey!

From Ang Mo Kio (NS16) we alighted at Dhoby Ghaut (NS24), transferred to its Northeast Line (NE6) and rode until Chinatown (NE4).

Buti na lang sanay na sanay kami sa MRT at sa LRT sa Pilipinas, chicken lang ang pagsakay sa MRT at LRT ng Singapore. Except sa paglipat-lipat ng lines ha, once a lost kid parang always a lost kid ata ang peg namin. Huwag naman sanaaaa! I'm really confident that if one day I'll be in Singapore again, I can ride the MRT and LRT encountering minimal to no problems. First time kasi 'to. Alam mo na. hehehehe

Do you want me back, SG? Ayyy, kahit ayaw mo, I'll be back. :)))

You can shop/hunt for souvenirs here in Chinatown. It's like our Divisoria or Baclaran only a lot cleaner and safer. Sana ganito rin 'yung set-up sa'tin. I bought shirts, key chains, nail cutters etc. here and used my BPI Mastercard Prepaid (Soon! I'll write a post about it soon) without international service charge. 'Yung price na na-debit sa card ko was the converted amount of SGD to PHP. (The souvenirs I bought aren't included in a day's budget.)

I never really understood the tagline "Singapore is a fine city." until I went there. Lahat talaga ng mali mong gagawin, may fine! That's the reason why we always thought twice before drinking, eating, walking at sidewalks, crossing the street etc. Who knows, baka nasama pa sa experience namin doon ang "Bail Us Out Singapore" na thankfully wala naman. hehehe. Singapore, too, is a safe country. I heard that it has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. I forgot to say that I was shocked when I first rode their MRT/LRT because almost all riders were using their phones (Sosyal phones!), tablets and the lady seated beside me was even using her laptop. Stress! Sa Pilipinas, takot na takot akong ilabas 'yung phone ko. Doon, keriboomboom lang eh.

They also have several inns and hostels in Chinatown if you're looking for accommodations.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum

We are practicing Roman Catholic but when we saw this Buddhist temple, we immediately went inside. This isn't the first time anyway that I've gone to one. This is a massive 5-story museum and it's free but we only toured around the first floor.

Each visitor is to light a free incense before entering the temple.

Not sure which is which but there is a Hundred Dragons Hall, Universal Wisdom Hall, Courtyard etc. in the first floor.

This is the Vairocana Buddha, the guardian of those born in the year of the monkey.

Vairocana Buddha represents the Dharmakaya, the true nature of reality, thus an embodiment of the highest wisdom.

When we left the temple, we went back to Pagoda street (the street on the first part of this post, not the one in the picture above), to convert our PHP to SGD for our budget on our second day in Singapore. Money changer in Chinatown gave us higher exchange rate (higher by a dollar than the first) then the money changer in Little India gave even higher exchange rate which was higher by 2 dollars I think.

Anyway, the road in the picture is named Southbridge Road.

Along Southbridge road, you can also see this Hindu temple named Sri Mariamman Temple that we weren't able to enter.
Given that there are different temples in the area, one may conclude that Singapore is a multi-religious country. What's amazing is that even if there may be a great difference in background, beliefs and ethnicity, you'd notice that the people remain to be peaceful- respecting the freedom of others in practicing the religion of their choice. Kasi kung sa aaminin man natin o hindi, may ibang lugar na chaotic dahil dyan. Mahirap minsan mag co-exist sa iisang lugar ang mga taong may iba't ibang paniniwala.

You just got to love the diversity of religious practices there. Di ba, there's more to the world than what we are aware of.

Presenting Chinatown's Food Street (Smith Street)
Don't miss this place when you're in the area!

Notice the high ceiling glass that has internal cooling spots. Sobrang okay dyan! Rain or shine. There's also a free wifi connection for those who can register. Binigo ako ng Globe Roaming ko kasi. -_-

I bought this Signature Wanton Noodle (s$4.50) at Joo Chiat Ang Moh Noodle House
This one's good! I just didn't like the vegetable included because of its bitter aftertaste.

Went back to Pagoda street because it is where the MRT station is so we could transfer to Little India.

The street of Little India called Serangoon Road.
Chinatown is NE4 while Little India (also commonly known as Tekka) is NE7.

Aside from sight-seeing, the main reason why we went here was the Mustafa Centre. It's like our Dutyfree. Hulaan mo!! Hehehe. There are lots of things to buy in the whole area but we went there for the chocolates.

I bought around s$30.00 worth of chocolates in cash, that's around P 1050.00. So all-in-all pala, our budget for two days touring in Singapore was P 3,000.00 compared to the P 4,000.00 that I put in the main page of this backpacking adventure link: here.

After our souvenir shopping, we wanted to go to another "shopping district of SG" called Bugis Street but because we were carrying a lot of things that time, we opted to skip it and just travel back home. Uyyyyy, palusot. :)))) Ayaw lang mapa-gastos. Hahahaha. Balik na lang ako for you, Bugis. Wait ka lang.

We went back to Ang Mo Kio and ate our dinner here at a nearby hawker place. We ordered steamed chicken rice for s$3.00. Not sure if this chicken is also the well-known Hainanese chicken. Medyo na- wrong order. Tignan mo 'yung dugo. -_- Yes, it was good and okay especially when dipped in its sauce except 'yung ibang parts because of the blood. Shems. But the rice was good though. Enlighten me pls, ganyan ba talaga?

While eating, we shared our table with a local named Charlie. We really think that he is one of those who clean the tables because the Auntie kept shouting at him in Chinese while he just continued conversing with us. In SG, even pensioned senior citizens continue to work! It kind of felt weird to see senior citizens cleaning after us but since it's the practice, nasanay din. Some work not because they need to but because they want to or some continues to work to supplement their income because of the high living expenses there but one thing's for sure, gamit na gamit ang human resources and that's a good thing. Gumagalaw at hindi ini-aasa lang sa iba o sa gobyerno ang buhay. Anyway, back to Charlie, he only knows two things about the Philippines. One is President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda Marcos whom he referred to as the number one woman in his generation. Second, Filipino shirts look good because of the floral designs He might have seen Mayor Lito Atienza somewhere. hehe. Naturally, he bragged about Singapore and kept on asking us if we enjoyed, we told him yes and that we were only staying there for two days, and he told us that we should have stayed longer.

Okay, Charlie, babalik na lang akooooooo!

We decided to stay in Ang Mo Kio Hub for a few minutes before heading home.

Matcha Latte Regular Size
Forgot the price but this was between s$5.00 - s$10.00

Papilay-pilay na kami when we were in Ang Mo Kio hub, our feet hurt so bad already because of too much walking until we saw this picture of Lee Min Ho. Hahahaha.

"Uy, si Lee Min Ho!!!" Akala mo andun talaga siya ehh.
Sabay napatakbo kami ng mabilis, took a picture "with him" not minding the people looking at us. #fangirlproblems

Hayy, Lee Min Ho, you're an effective energy booster and pain reliever. hahahaha. I think that I can even join a triathlon and win if you're the trophy. :))))

Bus ride to back to home.

End of Day 2. :D

The rest of our backpacking adventure link: here.

P.S. Google+ created a timeline (with pictures and locations) of my trip to Malaysia and Singapore. Link: here.

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'CAUSE 2014 is VISIT MALAYSIA YEAR.
Claim lang ng claim, di ba? Ayan, na claim ko na!! :))

Thank You po. More more more more. Yan! Yan!!!! Napagbigyan ng isang beses, nawili naman ako. hahaha. Pero please po Kayo na bahala kung may second, third, fourth... nth time ito. :D :D :D

DAY 1 a.k.a LAKAS-LOOB MALAYSIA.

After a 3 hour airplane ride from NAIA Terminal 4, we arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2.

So far, this was the longest airplane ride I've experienced. Ganun pala 'yung feeling. hehehe. Since I've only rode 1 hour and 30 minutes as my maximum flight duration before ay lagi lang ako nakadungaw sa bintana, 'yun pala pakiramdam nang matulog sa airplane, mabingi ng very very light, at magutom dahil sa amoy ng pagkain ng iba. Hindi ako kakain, hindi ako mago-order. Mas masarap kumain sa restaurant sa Malaysia. :))

KLIA2 is the newest airport in Malaysia and all flights of Airasia was moved there.

TOUCHDOWN!

At ganito kataas nga na escalator ang bumungad sa'min.

Immigration for my first ever passport stamp.

After this, we changed our P 1,000.00 for 67 MYR.

This meal was worth 14.60 MYR.

1. We were looking for a rice meal but there weren't any. Huhuhu. Whyyyy torture us early in the morning, whyyyyy?
2. Unli drinks! Fanta, iced tea, sweet tea, soda.
3. No spoon and fork for all meals without rice. Yes, you'd have to eat using your bare hands.

It's not a surprising thing since in the Philippines, we also eat using our hands. Iba lang siguro kasi pakiramdam na kumain ng naka-kamay sa labas. hehehe. Nasanay gumamit ng utensils kasi.

From KLIA2, you'd have three transportation options to get to Kuala Lumpur.

1. TAXI
2. KL EKSPRES - a train that would cost you around 30 MYR but will only last for around 30 minutes.
3. BUS - cost 10 MYR but will last for around 1 hour.

Our choice: BAS!! Syempre BAS!!!! It's BAS in Malaysia nga pala.
Hindi naman issue ang oras at layo since we were there as tourists. Ano ba naman 'yung mag-travel via bus na medyo mabagal if that means cheaper fee and another hour to sleep.

We arrived at KL Sentral which is Malaysia's largest transit hub. If you're a tourist in Malaysia, you might want to go here first just to review their transport system etc. All lines pass through KL Sentral so going to any place is possible if you're here.

KL Sentral was our HOME for day 1.

We didn't want to rent a hotel room because we'd be travelling to Singapore later that night. These lockers were heaven sent to backpackers since it's difficult to roam around the city carrying everything. You'd find a lot of these in KL Sentral and one locker cost 5 MYR for a whole day use.

Before leaving our HOME, we asked the lady from the information booth the MRT line that is closest to Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC)/ Petronas Towers.

An MRT ride only cost 1 MYR but there's a better option, guys. :)

In Malaysia, they have GO KL buses. GO KL are free city buses that are launched to improve mobility in Malaysia's Central Business District. GO KL buses have four lines which are RED, BLUE, GREEN AND PURPLE and you are just to transfer line to get to your destination. There are mixed opinions/reviews regarding the drivers of these free buses but as far as our experiences are concerned, we have NO complains at all. In all fairness, GO KL buses are even better than some buses we have that are plying EDSA.

Although these free bus rides are meant to serve locals, (budget) tourists are welcome to ride too. It's like a free hop on, hop off tour of Kuala Lumpur. You can ask the information lady at our home for the map/brochure of GO KL buses.

Down somewhere we don't know.

I forgot the stations where we alighted but we rode, RED, BLUE and GREEN respectively that took us to KLCC.

We kind of got lost somewhere in KL near SOGO Market. We were asking for a nearby bus stop from the locals but the language barrier made it hard. They didn't understand us or it was us who didn't understand so we took a break and tried eating street food here.

These cost 3 MYR.
The one with crab stick was good!

KL TOWER and a familiar looking car brand. Medyo 32nd street ng BGC ang peg.

After a little bit of walking, we found the bus stop of GO KL buses. Fortunately, the RED line driver recognized us and showed us the way to the BLUE line (Si Kuya driver na sumundo sa'min galing sa KL Sentral at si Kuya RED line ay iisa kasi nga RED line ang dumadaan dun sa bahay namin. Hehehe. Nung nakababa na kami sa bus niya bago kami nawala sa SOGO Market, nakangiti pa nga siya sa'min at buti na lang naalala niya kami nung naglakad kami sa harap niya). Then, as we alighted BLUE line at Concorde Hotel to wait for the GREEN line that will take us to KLCC, there were two Filipinas who are then waiting for a PURPLE line bus and they taught us the directions again. And! Inside the GREEN line to KLCC, a Filipina was also there and she taught us where to buy souvenirs etc. She also told us that in Malaysia, sun sets at around 7:30 PM.

Kung babasahin, medyo madali siguro pero nung nandun kami, MYGHAD SAN NA TAYO?! Pagkatapos ng medyo nakakapagod na paglipat-lipat ng bus, sa isang lugar na wala man lang kaming alam, nakarating kami sa KLCC!

Indeed, DAY 1 was LAKAS-LOOB MALAYSIA.

It rained when we arrived at KLCC so we entered KLCC SURIA MALL to window shop.

John Lloyd-Bea: Ang Pagtatapos
If you've been here before, you probably know that I am a fan of the John Lloyd-Bea loveteam and I go to most of their shooting places. HAHAHA. In their movie, "Miss You Like Crazy", they went there dibaaaaa. :)) Petronas Twin Tower is the last item on my list.

Pasig River Cruise=check, Alabang Town Center=check, Bellini's Italian Restaurant= check, Paco Park= check, Malaysia= check. :D

Hindi kagaya ni Mia at Alan, hindi ko naisip na nag-uusap 'yan dalawang 'yan. hindi ko rin naisip na magka-holding hands sila. Pero pero pero, parang gusto kong makarinig ng, "Masaya ko pag kasama kita." na sasagutin ng, "Ako rin."

Petronas Towers has 88 floors with a glass and steel facade.

Actually, Petronas Towers/Suria has a viewing deck for a price of IDK but since we were on a budget, we let go of that and just took pictures outside the skyscraper.

KLCC Park

Everything looks like 4 PM to me but it was already around 6 PM when we left KLCC.
We bought grilled corn while waiting for the bus for 3 MYR.
The vendor told us that it's, "Masarap." Yes, he knows some Tagalog.

Then, lucky us (again) the driver of the GREEN line was a former tour guide. So whenever we passed by buildings and attractions, he just naturally told us some history about the place plus instructions on how to go around KL via GO KL buses using the English and Filipino languages. It's just felt great that it was our "tour guides" who kept finding their way to us during that day. Thank You po for giving knowledgeable and trustworthy people to guide us on our first day.

"Itong bus na 'to, libre." and he also asked us, "Pa-saan kayo?" which I misheard as, "Sasagasaan kayo." Ang morbid ko. K. hahahaha. Sabi niya, "Pa-saan? Where are you going?"

And a rice meal at last! Malaysia's KFC tastes bland compared to our chicken here in the Philippines. Sanay kasi tayo sa maalat ng pagkain! And, they also didn't have unlimited gravy and only chili or tomato ketchup are available for dips. But to tell you, all chicken that we ate in Malaysia were tender! Even the breast part which I dislike was also tender and soft. I wonder how they cook those.

From 5 PM - 8 PM, KFC rice meal is priced cheaper at 6.60 MYR from the regular 8.05 MYR.

It was time to leave after eating our dinner since we have a bus ride schedule at 11:30 PM and we had to be at Pudu Sentral at 11:00 to get our tickets.

We rode the AMPANG LINE to PUDU station which turned out to be a wrong station. hahahaha. Akala namin, PUDU is the same as PUDURAYA.

So when we were about to exit the PUDU station, our token wasn't valid. Nga naman, it's not the station we were supposed to alight at. Pero mapilit kami, we insisted that we were to alight at PUDU station so we paid another train fare because we needed to buy new tokens so we can leave the station only to realize later on that the person selling MRT chips was right. We were really at a wrong station. hahaha. Na-tripleng gastos kami dito. We paid papuntang PUDU station, we paid paglabas ng PUDU station at isa pa papuntang Plaza Rakyat station.

We asked the lady in the convenience store and the only line I remember saying is, "Okay, so we're not supposed to be here and we're lost." We were lost! I can't even recall how many times we got lost.

But we arrived at PUDU Sentral on time and enjoyed my Malaysian Milo na walang lasa hoping that it'd get me through the night. :))

The only time when I let my feet rest.

This is what our bus to Singapore looked like.

It was comfortable with enough leg room for a leg rest and to comfortably recline our seat without causing an inconvenience or interrupting the person at our back. The seat also has a built in back massager.

And that's the end of our first day.

THE REST OF OUR BACKPACKING ADVENTURE LINK: HERE.

P.S. Google+ created a timeline (with pictures and locations) of my entire trip to Malaysia and Singapore link: here.

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Less than a year after writing my 2013 wishlist (I wrote the post December 2012), we found ourselves booking a flight to Kuala Lumpur (last November 2013). After months of "claiming", it happened. Thankful, forever thankful, that I was able to go on an out of the country trip. And what's more amazing? I went there using the money I saved. Hihihi. Doble kilig. :"> Grabe, mga napupundar ko eh. :))))

Anyway!
I don't know how should I start writing our adventure in a way that it becomes helpful to those who are visiting Malaysia and Singapore too but I'll try!

My friends and I agreed that our maximum budget is P 20,000.00 and we're so glad that we were able to make it back home spending less than 20k!

Join me in my attempt to relive our 5 days of backpacking Malaysia and Singapore/first out of the country trip. Yes, expenses are (sort of) included.

Pre-departure expenses: These expenses below were almost 6 months in the making. :))) Hindi isang bagsakan kaya kahit malaking tignan ang total e hindi naman ganun kabigat sa bulsa.

Roundtrip airfare via Airasia Zest cost P 3,812.00 (Kuala Lumpur - Manila)

Our tickets were booked and paid last November during their Piso fare and it could have been P 1,200.00 cheaper were we able to remove our check-in baggage since all of our things were hand carry. We only brought a backpack and a hand bag.

Roundtrip bus ticket booked via Easibook cost P 1,490.00 (Kuala Lumpur - Singapore)

Both our buses were 27-seater couches. One was Alisan and the other was from Transtar.

Universal Studios Ticket cost P 2,500.00 booked via Mastercard.

Aside from the discount of booking online, we also got s$10 food coupon and s$5 retail coupon which we used inside USS.

Grid9 Hotel accommodation at Malaysia booked via Agoda worth P 2,700.00 (La Familia).

The P 2,700 room was for us three so each paid P 900.00 for a one-night hotel accommodation.

Our accommodation in Singapore was free since a friend offered us his house. Hihihi. Saved around P 1,000.00 each.

Philippines Travel Tax - P 1,620.00

Boarding Pass - P 550.00

TOTAL PRE-DEPARTURE EXPENSES : P 10,872,00

CLICK ON THE LINKS! :D

DAY 1

Malaysia Budget: P 1,000.00

KLIA2
KL Sentral
City Tour (Sight-seeing with accidental tour guides)
KLCC (Petronas Towers, Suria, Park)
Pudu Sentral

LINK: HERE

DAY 2
Singapore Budget: P 2,000.00
(less than P 2,000.00 actually because I bought s$30 [almost P 1,050.00] worth of chocolates)

Golden Mile Complex
Lavender MRT Station
Ang Mo Kio Hub
Chinatown (Pagoda Street, Food Street, Buddha Tooth Relic and Temple Museum, Southbridge Road, Sri Mriamman Temple)
Little India (Serangoon Plaza, Mustafa Centre)
Hawker Place
Ang Mo Kio Hub

LINK: HERE.

DAY 3
Singapore Budget: P 2,000.00

Marina Bay MRT Station
Vivo City Mall
Sentosa Island (Palawan Beach, Universal Studios Singapore, Resort's World Sentosa)
Marina Bay Sands
The Shoppes at Marina Bay
Singapore River
The Merlion Park

LINK: 1, 2, 3

DAY 4
Malaysia Budget: P 1,000.00

Pudu Sentral
Grid 9 Hotel
Chinatown
Genting Highlands
Central Market
Chinatown's Night Market
Grid 9 Hotel

LINK: 1, 2

DAY 5Malaysia Budget: P 500.00

Grid 9 Hotel

KL Sentral
KLIA2
NAIA Terminal 3 (Home! That was fast)

LINK: 1

TOTAL POCKET MONEY: LESS THAN P 6,500.00

TOTAL EXPENSES: LESS THAN P 17,372.00

My day's budget was the amount of Philippine Peso that we changed to their local currency which are Malaysian Ringgit and Singaporean Dollars. I suggest that you also do it this way 'cause converting all your expenses and purchases will become a heartache. As in, masakit talaga sa puso. Example sa MRT na lang sa Singapore, a ride may cost you s$1.60 and if you convert that to PHP ay almost P 55.00 'yan. E P 14.00 lang pinakamahal na MRT ride sa'tin.. 'di ba masakit? hehe. So just change your intended budget for the day and spend your SGD or MYR without converting it back to PHP.

Total expense was less than the total amount I wrote because I still have MYR and SGD left. Also, since I was with two friends, whenever they lack coins or smaller notes, I'd pay for them and whenever it was I who runs out of coins or smaller notes, they'd pay for me. Two-way highway. Kaya hindi lahat ng gastos akin lang o kanila lang. Hati-hati.

Also, take note that aside from Universal Studios and Petronas Towers, wala kaming intinerary na matatawag. HAHAHAHA. Sabi pa nga na 'yung mga pinuntahan at ginawa namin ay malayong-malayo sa gawaing turista. Kalokaaaa. Mga turistang nagpumilit maging local.

In our own way, we made this a short, adventurous, activity-packed and sulit trip. Kaya para sa mga OC dyan, hihihi. Sarreh, ok, sarreh. Sobrang Que sera sera ang motto namin. :)

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DAY 5Malaysia Budget: P 500.00

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