We concluded our 5 day ALA Amazing Race Trip featuring 2 progressive South East Asian Countries this day. And I have to be honest, I still don't want to nip things in the bud as of yet. NOT YET. Despite being so dead tired from USS adventure and almost checking out other great places in Singapore yesterday... I was left lying on our hotel bed with nothing but thoughts of our adventures from day 1. Never really imagined that I would really be there... physically be there...
Anyway, we still have a day to savor every bits and pieces of this trip. Woke up at the exact time I set my alarm clock but was so sluggish to fix our luggage's and even myself up. We have to cover about 2 places today (SUNTEC & CLARKE Quay) before our flight back home... And we even tried to squeeze Chinatown for the second time around since there were a couple of stuffs we need to get...things that we were not able to purchase from last nights trip to Bugis and Chinatown because of our constant haggling from the aunts and uncles of the stalls, we ended up getting nothing at all.
And so we hit the road without taking our breakfast again. Well... in fact we haven't eaten a real meal since we've gotten in Singapore... Hmmm, TskTsk!
Before moving on... We grabbed something at OLD CHANG KEE. Same old Curry Puffs and some extra to bring home. Our best friend ever... Good Old Chang Kee provided us with something simple yet sumptuous to our not-so-finicky palate, accompanying our fave Curry Puffs was something which I always carry along on my every trip... Nestea Lemon Iced Tea ( it's the powdered Iced Tea by the way mixed in with the bottled water that I usually purchased from any convenience store near our checked in hotel ).
Getting to Suntec City From Amrise Hotel → From Kallang Station, Take the EW Line → Alight at City Hall MRT Station, Take NS Line → Alight at Dhoby Ghaut Interchange, Take Circle Line → Alight to Esplanade Station → From there, it took us 10 minutes to walk via the underground City Link Mall. ( Hmm, I actually forgot how but there were directions almost anywhere) and Tadah!!! We're there at last!!!
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| Here's how to... |
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| Suntec City Mall |
We arrived at Suntec City before Fountain of Wealth's opening hours. We were still able to witness the biggest fountain
boasting its mighty waters drawing down to the inner
smaller fountain. While waiting, we ate our packed breakfast from OLD Changkee... it was really satisfying and the sight was indeed breathtaking. I was anxious for the doors to open... At exactly 8:30AM, they finally opened it and we're the first tourists to circle The Fountain of Wealth. Traditionally, you need to circle 3 times around the fountain with your arms stretching through the waters
for wishes to be granted. I've been seeing this in The Living Asia Channel "Singapore Episode" many times, so I exactly know what and how to do it. But for some reason, my sparring partner here confused me. She said that we just needed to circle the fountain without touching the waters. We were done and we're just shamming around the cam when 2 tourist came in. And so we gave way to them. As we were apptoaching towards the exit when she noticed that I was indeed right. The Americans reached their hands unto the waters while circling the fountain. We ended up doing the roundabout again...
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| BREAKFAST = FAVORITE, YUMMY!!! |
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Wishing for good fortune for the upcoming 2012!!!
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We took the winding staircase going up for more photo ops of the Largest Fountain in the World.
Surrounding the Outer/ Biggest Fountain are Zodiac Signs depicting its own distinct
characters.
Our Zodiac Sign
Headed back to MTR for another train ride going to Clarke Quay.
Going to Clarke Quay from Explanade: Take Circle Line, Alight to Dhoby Ghaut. Take NE Line and Alight to Clarke Quay Station
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| Subway | |
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Just some photo ops near the river. I know that Clarke Quay has a lot to offer including the adrenaline rush of the G-MAX reverse Bungy & GX-5 Extreme Swing but really we're no thrill seekers so we skipped the Extreme adventures. Clarke Quay is also house to great gastronomic feasts and night life which we were not able to experience of course. River cruises and river taxis can also be accessed from Clarke Quay capping off the complete Singaporean Experience.
It was one hasty visit though... at 10AM, we needed to hurry since we have a flight to catch at 2PM and we need to check out at 12PM. We still have to go to CHINATOWN for more PASALUBONG Shopping. Anyway, Chinatown Heritage Center is a Train Station Away from Clarke Quay. But the real dilemma that we had here was we cannot come up to anything possible that we could get. Everything seemed to be great finds... TSK!Tsk!
Take NE Line and alight at Chinatown Station
This time upon reaching Chinatown, we went on separately with our own shopping to maximize the minimal time that we have. It was such a rush! It's as if we were on some type of a game that we needed to fill a big shopping cart and spend around 1M in just 20 minutes.
So at 11:45AM, we're heading our way back to AMRISE VIA MTR and hailed a budget cab from Kallang Station to the Hotel. I said to myself we'll not taking any taxis in SG no matter what. But I guess we were left with no resort. It's already 12:20PM and we're supposed to check out at 12PM plus we have a plane to catch. Cost us around SG$3.20 (P115.20) just for that short ride. It's a good thing that I master the habit of fixing my things before going out of my bedroom, so the same thing goes especially if we're traveling. We practically just place all the things we bought inside the free bag we got from Resorts World Sentosa and in a matter of 10 minutes were hitting the road hailing another cab for ALJUNIED Station.
It's really BYEBYE time... I was actually dragging myself to speed up. It's almost 1PM... we needed to be checked in by this time.
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| Aljunied Station |
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| We're going back home... |
We alighted at Terminal 2, a free shuttle to bring us to Changi Budget Airport. While inside the shuttle, I prepared our passport and our return ticket and noticed that our flight was still scheduled at 2:50PM. At 1:20PM, we're not yet late... HOORAY!!!
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| Free Shuttle to Changi Budget Terminal Airport |
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| Bye Singapore... We're Heading back home ... |
Our first trip ever hitting 2 countries in one travel.
And it sure was awesome!!!
