Buhay Bahay-Bahayan

Singapore was beautiful! Coming from the Philippines, one of the things that will strike first-time visitors is its cleanliness. It’s like a newly built city. During our stay, I didn’t even see one dilapidated building. And the cars are new too. I didn’t even see one old car. Commuting is such a breeze. Their MRT/LRT transit system is so efficient and spacious. Maybe someday our transit system would be like that too. Here are a few highlights of our trip.

Orchard Road

Any trip to Singapore wouldn’t be complete without stopping by Orchard Road. What’s a vacation without a little shopping anyway? And Orchard Road will not disappoint you. It seems like every building here is a mall. And every mall seems to have it’s own Prada, LV, Forever 21, and Charles and Keith shops. The ladies also went gaga over the Muji store. They actually shrieked and ran when we saw Muji.

If ever you find yourself in Singapore one of these days, don’t forget to visit the Royce shop! You know how much I like them, right? Try finding Takashimaya Mall. I don’t know why but their chocolates are cheaper. This Royce shop below was in Someret Mall, and a few shops away from Muji.

Try to find an Old Chang Kee branch and enjoy sotong on stick, chicken wings, breaded prawn on stick, crab claw on stick, etc. This is their version of street food (I think), and we absolutely loved this. They have branches scattered all over Singapore, and we saw one along Orchard Road in front of Ngee Ann City Mall.

We also met a Filipina waitress while having lunch at Jack’s Place. KG and I had their Fish and Chips.  The fish (cream dory) that came with fries and steamed veggies was delicious: soft and firm. The Sirloin Steak with mixed herd sauce topped with grilled onions that also came with fries and steamed veggies, which my wife ordered, was really flavorful. I actually had a piece. And the beef steak burger that our friend J. had was superb. There was an actual slab of soft beef inside that burger. Plus the service was excellent. We also had an apple pie with strawberry sauce and a cup of tea with milk to cap it all off.

Oooh, don’t forget to try their version of dirty ice cream sold along Orchard Road.

Chinatown

I think tourists shouldn’t miss Chinatown. It just seems so alive and exciting. I recommend getting the perennial souvenir shirts and keychains here too. There seems to be a lot of choices and varieties. One thing to also notice in Chinatown is the FREE food. You read that right, FREE! And there were a lot of it. You will see mountains upon mountains of food. We actually had a lot of fun tasting samples from every food vendor. We literally had our merienda (snack) while going around. This is where we also saw so many variants/flavors of mochi. Get some for yourself and as pasalubong after helping yourself to the free taste.

Also located in Chinatown is the Budda Tooth Relic Temple and Museum.

This temple houses the Sacred Budda Tooth Relic in a stupa made of 320 kg of gold donated by devotees. The architecture and interiors are inspired by the Tang Dynasty, and you can just stare in awe at how grand this temple is. It has four floors, so make sure you see all of it. Don’t forget to visit the Tong Heng Bakery too just across the Budda Tooth Relic Temple and Museum.

I guess that’s all for now.  Will update this soon. I’ll try to squeeze the rest of our Singapore trip in Part 2. Have a great week eveyone!

When I say beautiful, I just don’t mean my wife.

Since she’s so into paper and notebooks, which was why she was sooo ecstatic when we visited a Muji store in Singapore, for this year’s V-day, instead of flowers, like I did last year (read here), I thought of giving her a hand-made notebook.

So I paired up with one of the craftiest persons I know to come up with my gift, i.e., Glenda of Oodles of Goodles and Paper Atelier. We edited her laundry note card design, which I really liked, to serve as front cover for the notebook to something more us. The blue PJs to depict me look alright, but the dress was chucked. Instead, I asked Glenda to replace it with my wife’s favorite PJs with pink polka dots. Then, to highlight our coming baby, the onesie was pimped with an argyle design from one of the onesie designs I sent her. Printed using Gocco, the resulting design of the notebook was so much more than I expected. It measures 4 1/2 by 6 inches and comes with 50 pages of pale peach paper inside. Not too big and not too small either! Just as I specified. Perfect! Beautiful!

In addition, she generously added a few notecards and a bookmark that my wife has been eyeing! Coolness!

So excuse me if I gush over them for a bit. And in case you’re still looking for a wonderful V-day gift, why not try your luck visiting the Paper Atelier shop. You might find something you like. Contact them too if you have ideas. They’re very sweet and accommodating. Just look at how mine end up. I’m sure you’re wanting one too!

I have long imagined what I’d write when a time like this comes.

I thought of writing something poignant, or maybe I’m better off writing something funny.

I thought of telling the story of how we found out and maybe share the emotions we felt.

But I guess there’s no sense beating around the bush. There’s no other way to say it.

I’m going to be a dad.