5 things to do in uniquely Singapore. Be a tourist today!

So Singapore has been name as the Number 1 country to visit in 2015 according to the Lonely Planet. Awesome news just in time for our 50 anniversary but HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? I believe most of you will be wondering about this question. So I did a little research and guess what, Lonely Planet has summed up what I thought was the most beautiful description of Singapore while we, the locals has been taking for granted since forever. (Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/singapore/singapore-city)

I love how Cristian Bonetto describes the “sharp and constant contrasts” in our entire neighbourhood where you see a church built beside a temple and a mosque. I have no doubt that many countries would be able to construct such a high level of religion tolerance around the globe.

And like a light that dawned on me, I realised these are all so true, the talk about garden city, food paradise, even more so with the recent cafes popping up in every street, adding a tone of uniqueness in our small little red dot.

For a country jammed packed with activities ranging from Universal Studios to Trick Art Museum, or our world renowned Marina Bay Sands or Sentosa Island, I am proposing 5 other top things to do in Singapore for you to appreciate what we have taken for granted!

       Explore our islands

Yes, you may have heard over and over again Pulau Ubin. But did you appreciate the dying out of our motor boatmen who ferry us from mainland to the island and back? Comb the winding roads in bicycles in the safety of our small country or immerse in the beautiful beaches at Lazarus Island. Otherwise, why not travel to Sister’s island for a relaxing day off. You can even snorkel there!! Talk about cheap thrill. Lol.

Lazarus Island (Credit: http://magazine.tripzilla.com)

        Take a local tour

How much do you know our own history and culture? Funny how tourists are often better at a country’s culture and history (since they’re always the ones who went for tours). Take a heritage tour and pretend to be a tourist while at the comforts of your home country today!

Chinatown (Credits: http://traveldelight.biz/attractions/guided-tours.html) 

Read more: http://www.societyoftouristguides.org.sg/walking.htm

        Photo-taking

To be honest, nothing’s wrong trying to pretend to be a tourist for a day and go around taking photos of our beautiful country. Like what Cristian Bonetto mentioned, head down to Tanjong Pagar to be immersed in the sharp contrast between our premium public housing (HDB) in the backdrop of the conserved shophouses. Or, stroll along the banks of Kallang River to be mesmerised by the night view of our ever stunning Marina Bay Sands and Helix Bridge.

Helix Bridge

        Museum Hopping

As you know, Singapore is really small, imagine travelling from one end to the other in less than 2 hours ride. Go museum hopping in Singapore, you can easily visit 3 museums in a day! From the renowned new ArtScience Museum to the lesser know toy museum and Changi Museum or the Singapore Airforce museum, plan your itinerary now!

Toy Museum

        Café Hopping

Another uniquely Singapore experience, personally I like this one most. It coincides with our nature of being a food lover. Unlike huge coffee chains like Starbucks or The Coffee Bean, which are still beaming with people, take a day or 2 to go around café hopping. Be it a rainbow cake, or a 3D coffee art, you will bound to find something interesting, if not, delicious to surrender to your sinful indulgence.

Shop wonderland (Credits: http://www.burpple.com/shop-wonderland-1)

Read More: http://danielfooddiary.com/2014/09/24/cafesingapore2014/

Visit soon to get ideas for a 1 day itinerary to fight really boring days!!

El Nido: Hidden Paradise

“Waking up with a sea view, crystal clear waters and embracing sea breeze, it is indeed a haven for us city dwellers.”

That is what I got at the end of the 6 hours drive. That is if they are fast. If not it might take up to 8 hours on the rocky mountain roads. To be honest, it was a painful decision my partner and I had to make while we planned for the trip. It ain’t easy, to make a 12 hour trip to and fro just to visit an area for 2D2N. But like me tell you straight up, it was all worth it. Even my partner who was so reluctant to visit El Nido had to admit it was all worth it at the end of the trip.

We took up Tour A after much research on the internet. Since we can only afford 1 island hopping tour, we took up the much recommended one. I can only say pictures and words do not do justice to the place.

Back to some introduction of the island.. For those who have been to Phuket or Krabi, the nature of the shops there are quite similar, but unspoiled by the waves of tourist who travel there. I supposed it is because of the long tedious journey to reach this unlikely haven. When you arrived at El Nido, you have to take a tuk tuk lookalike or walk into the town proper as the buses and vans are not allowed in due to the nature of narrow roads and to protect the town from massive damages that might be caused by traffic. 

There are 2 main beaches in El Nido proper, one being along the shop front of the numerous restaurants operating there and one is the infamous La Cabanas. 

We have to trek though this road for about 2 minutes to reach the beach. To be honest, It may look like nothing here, but when we reach the entrance to this road, it was a little horrifying, it looked nothing near the coast. But the view is so rewarding. 

And one thing I loved the most was the stretch of restaurants along the beach. <3 

Like a scene we see in movies, dining along the beach, soaking our feet in the cooling sea is the best feeling ever!! As we spend our night indulging in live bands, cold beer and feet in the water, our journey in Philippines is slowly coming to the end.

The following morning, we went to the long anticipated Tour A!! Wheeee! Bundles of excitement on this one. We waited for the tuk tuk to come and pick us up to the beach area where we onboard our hire for the day! Funny thing is when the tuk tuk came, there was already 2 ang mos on board. Mind you, the tuk tuks here are unlike those in Bangkok which are relatively larger. Tuk-tuks here can fetch up to 5 people or maybe 6 with petite size. But to be honest, 2 is the most comfortable number.

Anyway how, we managed to get to the shop to register our names and get our goggles and supplies for the day and we head out!!! The rustic feel of this place is no joke. Think about Phuket or Krabi or Langkawi island hopping, the boat usually gets to a dock or ferry for you to board right, this is not the case here. We have to walk like 15m into the sea? Hahahaha. It was rather shocking for me since I’m really short. The water is already almost at my chest level when I reached the boat.

And our journey starts…

Secret Lagoon

Only entrance to the secret lagoon..

 7 Commandos Beach

Donsol: The playground of the Gentle Giants

We set out way early in the morning as it takes about an hour drive away from the Legaspi city. Because it’s so early, we didn’t have proper breakfast. L Lucky we were smart and bought some bread the night before during our 1 hour journey.

The guide drove us for the full hour and the sea came into view! Yea! I actually love the ride, because they came to pick us with a Mitsubishi SUV and it was so big and comfy! Reaching the place refresh, we went to the Bicol Dive Center shop to try our fins and goggles. Afterwhich, they brought us to the tourist center to fill up a form and watch a mandatory video for all snorkelers on rules and guidelines.

To be honest, it was my first time snorkeling. Although I knew that it was nothing much, but for someone with a fear of water, it was quite a lot for me to take in. Furthermore, I was reading online prior to the trip and heard many comments about how beginners should try snorkeling in calm waters for the first time. But since we are going to search for whale sharks, calm water just don’t seemed to fit into the picture.

And so we head out!

Me and my partner was quite paiseh (Singapore dialect for embarrassed) because our BIO was actually lunging a huge bag full of our towels, goggles and snacks. Although our boat caters for 6, I guessed only we took up a full package (consisting of lunch and snacks, oh and towels and water as well).

We headed quite far out into the open sea, and we were given an option whether or not to wear a life vests. It was actually quite contradicting because the life vest keeps you safe, but you can only float on water. Since I’m not a strong swimmer, of course I wore the life vest at the first chance I’ve got.

We were actually quite worried because they said there was little to no sightings for the past few days but I insist on trying. As you may have read my previous posts, I have been secretly praying that this trip of ours wouldn’t come to vain.

It was just anxious waiting and keeping a lookout for I don’t know what, since it’s my first time, and I have no idea what to look out for in the waters.

Our eyes for the day

And suddenly the BIO just started screaming, “GET READY! GET READY!” – it was a que for us to wear our fins and goggles. And I just went YES! in my heart. At that point of time, it was just pure excitement and anxiety in my heart, since like I said, I have no prior experience to snorkeling, let alone in this choppy waters.

 

We sat by the edge of the boat and next thing we knew, “GET IN NOW!” and we JUMPED!

“LOOK DOWN! LOOK DOWN!” The BIO was screaming at the top of his head and when we peer through the waters, it can only be the most magnificent thing I have seen in my whole damn life. The whale shark was just gracing through the waters. And it was HUGE, although the word huge doesn’t seem suffice.

And as silly as I am, with my first encounter, I let out a little scream of excitement, in the water. Yes, in the water, and you can only imagine what happened next. I drank a whole lot of sea water, and I was coughing and struggling and feel like I was going to die. And yes, although I have my life vest on me.

Afterwhich we board the boat when the gentle giant was out of view. One funny thing about boarding the ship is that we have to remove our fins. So each of us just clung on to the boat and comically struggles to remove the fins. I was really really bad at doing so.

What amazed me was a pair of Iranian guys who did not wear a life vest and dives (equipped with only snorkel goggles and fins) with the shark. One of them swam a long distance away before mounting the boat. I was so so so envy of him because I know that that is something I can only dream in this lifetime.

In the midst of our trip, while we were all freezing and hungry, the BIO started handing us (only me and my partner) water, cupcakes and towels. We were once again DAMN PAISEH! But since we had enough, we shared water and the cupcakes with all on board. And luckily there were 6 cupcakes. Phew.

So this continued for another 4 times until we were all tired and fatigue and we went back on shore. When we step ashore, another mini surprise came up. I know this might sound childish but the sand was indeed soft and black and they SHIMMER! I was really amazed.

As mentioned earlier, our full package includes lunch! WHeeeeee!! We even have a place to shower and relax before we take our 1 hour ride back to our hotel at Legaspi. Talk about hospitality. Phew! Seeing that we already dirtied our previous towel and only brought a small one along, they hurried to bring us new towels.

To be honest, the package we have paid was rather expensive. However, in view of the great customer service that they are giving, I would at least rate them 8/10 even with the amount we paid.

And then we were back!

To be honest, some heartfelt opinions about this snorkel trip is that,

          -  It’s great since the whale sharks are not being kept in captive, nor are they being fed (like those in Oslob Cebu) to attract them around. I think this is extremely important because feeding them disrupt their natural cycle. SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE support whale shark snorkeling at Donsol over Oslob Cebu to support the eco tourism.

         -  Although many warnings were given to the fishermen that only 6 swimmers are allow to be near any one shark; and that we were to be at least 3m away, these advises are more than often ignored because sometimes there are just so few whale sharks in the vicinity. I can only say that it is lucky that these gentle giants can swim away fast enough.

       - I have also recently watched a documentary named “Blackfish” regarding the hunting of the very intelligent creature also more commonly known as Killer Whales, or also known as Willy from the movie Free Willy. I have always been an environmental advocate; I believe that we should cherish the environment and what’s within in as much as we cherish any other material items. So people, please try to visit them in their natural habitat, you will not regret it!!

With that, I end my amazing journey with memory I will never forget.