Singapore...part 3

And if all else fails to pique your interest...try one of the gazillion restaurants/hawkers in Singapore that can surely make one's mouth water

top three items from Food for Thought

Char Kwe Tiao from Grandma's whose owner used to be a chef at Madame Kwan's of Kuala Lumpur

a slice of pepperoni pizza from Loui's Pizza Parlor inside Universal Studios

Caramelized Banana Pancake with sausages from Cedele (which incidentally serves rich and delicious cakes as well)

Singapore...part 2

7. Ancient Egypy - where a Space Mountain-like ride is to be found. You end up riding a fast speed roller coaster in total darkness (almost) and since I was seated at the end of the coaster, I expected a 'mummy" to just grab me during the ride (which of course never happened)

So was it worth spending that much to go to Universal Studios Singapore...yes, it was worth every penny since I had a fabulous time with my cousin Carol and good friend Kim. Will i go back again...probably not until all the rides/attractions are complete and running.

So what else is there to do in Singapore? Shop til you drop! The latest shopping center along Orchard Road is 313 Sommerset or you can go to Ion where luxury brands abound

If you are a bargain hunter like me, then go to IMM in Jurong East. This mall is a bit far but the MRT will take you there...plus they have shuttle buses to the Jurong East station if walking from the station to the mall is not your thing. They have outlet shops here for Samsonite, New Balance, Esprit, Timberland, Cotton On, etc etc. Prices are definitely lower than the stores along Orchard Road but be stocks are probably of last season's.

If you're into electronics, gadgets, computer stuff, then head on to Funan Center located at the City Hall station. I recommend getting a Challenger member's card valid for two years (SGD 30 or Php 990) if you spend a lot on gadgets since this will save you a lot of money in the long run.

Also visit the Singapore Art Museum from time to time as they may offer free entrance is one is lucky.

Singapore... part 1

Pinoys, Pinoys and more Pinoys all over Singapore. You see them dishing you the tiny main course at a fine dining restaurant, or serving you your signature coffee at starbucks or coffee bean, or attending to your needs at the duty free shop at the airport, or delivering your luggage to your room at the Fairmont Hotel. Heck, even the one who refunds the GST at the airport is also a pinoy. I just love seeing them all over Singapore. The excellent hostess at Donkey's interactive show at Universal Studios was a pinoy (excellent diction and a lively act made the show even more entertaining). The only Pinoy i never liked was the one working the Nooka counter at Tang's Orchard who had this haughty attitude as if people asking cannot afford his ware!...has he imbibed the Singaporean attitude? or this his natural sour puss attitude? ok, first thing i did when i got to Singapore? of course visit the newly opened Universal Studios. I've been to the one in LA so this one suffers in comparison but i'll give it the benefit of the doubt since this is located far away from its home base and its probably geared for the asian market (much like Disney Hong Kong suffers in comparison to Disneyland in Annaheim). Entrance to the park is at SGD72 per person (or approximately Php 2300). This entitles you to all the ride except for the Rock climbing section (which you can totally ignore). The park is divided into 7 parts:

1. Hollywood - where all the souvenir shops are located. make this your last stop to shop. Even though all the other sections have their individual shops, the shops at the Hollywood section are the most comprehensive.

2. New York - where the special effects studio of Steven Spielberg is located. Plus Loui's NY Pizza Parlor is where one should take lunch with their tasty pizza (huge too)

3. Sci-Fi City - where you'll find the Battlestar Gallactica roller coaster which has two tracks weaving against each other as if the trains will collide with one another (unfortunately, at that time, the ride was closed for maintainance...i heard from sources that it was deemed unsafe!)

4. The Lost World - where a Rapids kinda ride is the attraction...expect to get wet or you can purchase disposable raincoats at around SGD 1.50 (Php 48) each. The Waterworld show ala Kevin Coster is also found in this section.

5 Far Far Away - Shrek's kingdom where attractions are mostly for kids but that didn't stop me from enjoying the attractions as well

6. Madagascar - based on the movie which as of this writing, is still closed to the public. I was told they will open this section in a couple of months (no definite date yet)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I just came back from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore last Wednesday which is why I haven't been posting anything. For lack of any proper excuse, suffice it to say that I've just been too lazy to blog. Anyway, 10 days in KUL and SIN on business was really tiring. I hate to admit it but I think my age is finally catching up with me as I can feel my thighs and calves wanting to give up. In Kuala Lumpur, stayed at Novotel Kuala Lumpur which is excellently located at the city centre and is beside Pavilion Mall (which houses numerous restaurants and shops).

twin bed...small room but clean and cozy

view from my window

Luxury brands abound in Pavilion but this shopping complex also houses numerous fast-food type of restaurants at the basement

I've been going to Kuala Lumpur for the past 12 years (average of about 2 trips a year to KUL) and I must say its biggest attraction is the wide range of food that they offer. Malay and Chinese food are at its best here as you will later see on my attached pictures. Kuala Lumpur has its share of negative aspects though:

1. taxi drivers that cheat you on your fare (they instantly peg a price and refuse to start the meter)

2. taxi drivers that are ignorant on the location of streets...c'mon, this is not like Seoul where streets are not organized in an english fashion

3. the perception that it is not safe to walk the streets specially at the tourist area (Jln Sultan Ismail/Bukit Bintang) but I guess this is true with every city that one has to be careful when walking around as a tourist.

4. nothing much to do in the city...as I always say...see one city and you've seen all cities. you have to get out of kuala lumpur to really absorb the culture and beauty of Malaysia...truly Asia!

bah kut teh from Pao Xiang in Pavilion...really tasty meat and soup..best I've tasted so far and that says a lot since I'm not a fan of bah kut teh

must-eat Madam Kwan's Nasi Lemak (chicken) at KLCC

Tenderloin steak from Angus House (japanese charcoal steak) at Pavilion

Chicken in Hot Clay Pot from one of the hawker stations at the basement of Pavilion (there's only one stall there that sells this kind of food)

Burger steak from Pepper Lunch at Sunway Lagoon

Election Time!

so D-day has finally come. all registered voters in the philippines are supposed to have voted by this time for their president, vice president, senators and local government officials. (as per the news on tv right now, Aquino is ahead with 5M votes or 40 something percent while for Vice president, its Binay with 5M or 40 percent of the total votes counted...its still a long way for the Comelec to go, counting the votes that is)

I almost gave up on my rights as a voter earlier because the process was really a huge test of one's patience. I don't want to say its also a test of one's nationalism because i would hardly label myself as a nationalist. Days ahead, I already checked my precinct and baranggay number so I wouldn't have a hard time finding the classroom assigned as my voting place. Finding the classroom was easy enough, what followed next was the the difficult part. For starters, things were not organized. There were no clear instructions on what the flow should be. It turns out the room assigned to me and about 600 other people is just a holding room. At the time that I voted, there were about a hundred or so people crammed into a classroom that can accommodate about 40-50 students. Add to this, the sweltering heat that is the norm nowadays in the Philippines and you won't see a person with a dry shirt in the room. so from the holding room, we were supposed to get a number. From there, from lowest to highest, we move to the voting room and get our ballot sheet and marker. The waiting part took me more than two hours but the voting part only took me like 5 minutes. Since this is the first time that we are having the automated elections, I kinda expected the machine to break down at some point. fortunately, the machine assigned to us did not while i was there. My cousin who was voting in another room was not as lucky. Her machine broke down as she was about to insert her ballot (talk about bad luck, although eventually her machine was fixed). during the wait, i was this close to walking out but i thought, i'm there, might as well get it over with.

To reward myself, I treated myself and my friend Kim (who's visiting from Singapore) to a buffet lunch at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

So was it worth it?

Yes, I'd say the lunch was definitely worth it hehehehe

i've been soaping my finger clean but the ink just won't go away...at least now its really indelible

Snack Time!

Almost every weekday afternoon (or at least 3x a week), around 4 pm, my tummy reminds me that it needs to be refueled again. Where do I turn to to satisfy my insatiable appetite?....I go to my favorite street food vendor, Mr Squid Ball!

Ever since I could remember, street food vendors have been around selling stuff from barbeques, fish ball, squid ball, dirty ice cream, intestines, coagulated blood (i kid you not) and almost everything under the sun that a ingenious Filipino could think of selling in the streets. I'm actually quite picky on the food I digest but I always make an exception to this squid ball vendor. First of all, i think he uses fresh cooking oil (or at least its not been used multiple times) and second, I never got physically sick eating his stuff. and lastly, his stand is located just outside of the building where my office is so I don't really have to go far. I usually spend around Php 20 (for 8 balls, a combination of chicken balls and squid balls) which are not made up of air on the inside so it is quite filling. Top this with a bottle of mountain dew at Php 15 so this is usually my cheapest meal of the day.

I'm given a stick to poke on my balls and by the way, they are soaked on a special sauce that is both sweet and spicy. You can opt for just the sweet sauce or white vinegar.

Bon Apetit!

Let's Vote In!

Election time is coming up and like a lot of Filipinos, I'm still undecided on who to vote for as the next President of the Philippines. Its like a matter of choosing who is the lesser of two evils, which is not good because it means I feel like there are no good candidates out there. Oh well, eenie-mini-minee-mo...

if you'd like to check to check your Baranggay and Municipality and where you should actually vote, check out www.comelec.gov.ph/precinctfinder/precinctresult.aspx

Summer capital

just came back from a three day vacation with my 2 nieces and nephew to the Philippines' summer capital, Baguio City. Baguio city is about 250kms away from Manila by land and is 1500 meters above sea level. Because of its high elevation, Baguio enjoys a cooler temperature than most other places in the Philippines. Which is why I enjoy visiting Baguio at least once a year. So for the second year in a row, we decided to stay at Burnham Suites. Its a small condotel located behind Burnham Park...good location, clean rooms and toilet plus affordable rates.

The facade and lobby are simply decorated (no pretensions of a fancy hotel here) but everything functions well. The staff are friendly, accommodating and courteous (and believe me, I ain't an easy customer my friends will tell you that)

What really attracts me to this hotel is its adequately sized rooms. My room comes with two double beds (perfect for the four of us), a mini kitchenette (cooking is not allowed in the rooms) and a clean toilet (shower only, no tub)

The second sink at the kitchenette is a good addition as we can wash stuff here even if the toilet is occupied. Our room came with 3 complimentary set breakfast so I had to pay for my breakfast but it was all worth it (Php 200 per additional breakfast). On my first night, the General Manager, Mr. John Leyva, an old friend of mine, even treated us to a lovely dinner at their outlet called Sunflower cafe.

So what are the usual things one can do in Baguio? You can visit Burnham Park (they have a bicycle area, a man-made lagoon for boating (Php 120 per 30 minutes), do a picnic or just simply stroll around) Burnham Park is generally safe as long as the sun is still around, but once darkness hits, it would be best for you to avoid the park.

you can see a bit of SM Baguio on the background

If you're a Catholic, you should also go visit the Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral or better known as the Baguio Cathedral. Just a few steps away from SM Baguio, the cathedral was build in 1936 and its hard to miss because of its pink facade.

Next stop was the Mansion House which is a cab ride away from the city center (not that far though). Built in 1908, the Mansion House is the official summer residence of the President of the Philippines.

Down the road from the Mansion House is where you'll find Wright Park. Wright Park is where you will bring your kids to first experience the joys of riding a horse/pony. (Php 200 per 30 minutes or Php 300 per hour). Kids will surely enjoy this specially if its a first time experience although it can be a bore for older children.

You can also visit Mine's View Park, an abandoned mine and now a popular tourist attraction where you can do some shopping, view the scenic landscape or have your picture taken with either a saint bernard, a horse or an Ibaloi (local people). When I was younger, i remember young children (beggars) with empty cans attached to long sticks that would stand in the outer area of the viewing deck waiting for tourists to throw them coins. They would chase the coin unmindful of their safety while tourists watch with amazement at their agility. Im glad this practice has since been removed since Im sure one or two got hurt one way or the other.

picture taken from the viewing deck

Amongst all the restaurants that we dined at, the one that was most memorable for me was 50s Diner. I actually passed through this restaurant a couple of times and was intrigued by its interiors but only got to dine there after the hotel staff recommended it to me. When we arrived, we knew we were in a for a long wait. People were standing outside. I eventually put my name on the list (no 11) and waited patiently. Fortunately, it only took around 30 minutes of waiting and we were finally in! Ok, the name of the restaurant is obvious...its patterned after a 50s U.S. diner. Place is decorated appropriately and had no pretensions. There was a non-working jukebox near my table. A bar and pink flourescent lights completed the ambience. Although the wait staff could be wearing a themed uniform, they were all cheerful and pleasant. After ordering their specials (hamburger and strawberry milkshake), I was hoping for the best. And the best it was, the burger was cooked right and the milkshake was how it should be. Prices were affordable (Php 90 for a cheeseburger/Php 75 for a hamburger/Php 65 for a milkshake). There was an equal number of Korean and Filipino diners enjoying steaks, burgers, ice creams, etc.