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Singapore 2018

By Danica Eliana Ferino

March 10^th, 2018

Last February, I came back to Singapore together with my brother and two sets of friends. Two of these are colleagues from my current work and the other four are previous colleagues.

It's already my second time in Singapore but it's always nice to be back. I think this is the first trip outside the country for all of my companions. Singapore is always tourist-friendly and easy to navigate around.

One of the reasons why I came back is because the last time I was there, the Merlion statue is under maintenance. Aaaaand for this time around, it's again under maintenance! Talk about tough luck.

Chinatown

We arrived on a rainy Friday afternoon in Singapore. My friends and us were supposed to meet and have dinner at Chinatown during our first day. Unfortunately, our landing got delayed and the rain kind of ruined the mood for adventure. When we got to Chinatown, it was almost dusk and there were too many people flocking the streets. I still wasn't able to visit the Buddha Tooth Relic and most of the shops were already closed at 7:00 PM. Not much activity for our first day.

Resorts World Sentosa

Our second day was spent in Sentosa. All of us were supposed to meet at the Universal Studios. I really wonder why we kept missing each other.

S.E.A. Aquarium

I have now a much deeper appreciation for this place because my brother's keeping two freshwater aquariums. I now also have one tank with a male betta and two nerite snails.

There were no longer turtles at the S.E.A. Aquarium this time. Apparently, the turtles we saw last year were rescues and have now been released to the wild.

Universal Studios Singapore

The Waterworld show is amazing and is really the highlight of USS, imo.

We had breakfast here for the third day. I'm not sure if this place is really called Mongkok Dim Sum. Anyway, the food is okay but the serving's a bit small for its price. It's near our hotel and the 80069 bus station.

Kampong Glam

Masjid Sultan

It's actually my first time here despite the fact that this place is a touristy area. Last time when I was with my sister, we ran out of time because she likes to wake up late. We haven't been able to explore much.

We were here at around 8-9 AM. The stores are still closed which really weirds me out. In the Philippines, that's already late.

Haji Lane

I'm not really sure if I'm disappointed or glad that the stores open late even during weekends. Sure, I get to save money (no stores, no temptation) but still...

We got to see a wedding photoshoot at Haji Lane. And I met some of my friends and had a nice photo, finally!

Funny how we made that entourage as our background. Haha!

Singapore Art Gallery

We booked our 2018 Singapore trip last July 2017, I think. We were so lucky that the dates we chose coincide with Singapore Art Week/ Light to Night Festival (I think it's every last week of January). I was already planning to buy tickets to the Singapore Art Gallery some weeks before our trip. Thankfully, I didn't because entrance is free at that time! And there were some amazing special exhibits - teamLab's interactive light installations, Renaissance paintings that I never imagined I'll see in person, and Juan Luna's works! And we got to join the free one hour walking tour. Really, really lucky! Well, except for the part about Merlion. But still lucky!

Artskins From the Light to Night Festival

Here are some photos I took at night during the Light to Night Festival. They have live performances and special exhibits until midnight. I wanted to check out the Mirror World exhibit but the line was ridiculously long.

Back to the gallery.

Juan Luna is really amazing. Some of his works are part of the permanent exhibits in the Philippine National Gallery but I doubt only a few of the visitors there appreciate it. It disappoints me. He really is awesome - his exhibit area at the Singapore gallery is quite large. One of his masterpieces, the Spolarium, even has its own interactive exhibit at the Singapore gallery. In the Philippines, anyone can see it up close since entrance to the National Gallery is free. I just wish there's more appreciation by the locals. I've seen one time how the guards at the gallery had to drive away some teens because they were posing too close to the painting just to take an Instagram photo. It's really sad.

Century of Light

Former Supreme Court Terrace

Marina Bay Sands

We got lost here. :)

ArtScience Museum

The main reason why I bought a ticket to the ArtScience Museum is to see the Art From the Streets special exhibit. Then I also bought a ticket for FutureWorld just for the heck of it.

FutureWorld is okay. Really expensive but I guess they use more electricity to run it. I like the interactive walls where you touch the symbols and then it changes into what the symbols represent. Then there's also one where you color some shapes (fish, houses, cars, etc.) and scan them so they'll appear moving on the wall. It's awesome. The kid in me is very happy. :)

Crystal Universe is overrated. Art From the Streets is really the highlight.

I would have taken more photos but my memory card was already full at that time. And I left my spare at the hotel. I had to delete crappy photos I took earlier (wasted our time all because I didn't check earlier).