Throwback Thursday: College ID

One photo for this week’s Throwback. This was my college ID issued in 2002. I even had a dorm sticker on my ID since I lived on campus.

Parents Visit SG: Day 4

The fourth and last day of my parents’ visit to the Lion City.

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Parents Visit SG: Day 3

Third and last full day in Singapore for my parents.

I recommended my parents visit the Singapore Art Museum for the ongoing Singapore Biennale.
Check-out from our first hotel.
Taxi ride to our one-night stay at MBS. I surprised my parents with this one because I originally told them we were staying at a hotel in Lavender. Wish you could join us Paul!
We were given a room upgrade! 🙂 –so it took a while to take it all in
Lunch at Rasapura food court at The Shoppes. The only place you can get cheaper meals in the vicinity of MBS. Even if the Beef Bulgogi meal is twice the price you’d find in Bishan.
Swimming at the infinity edge pool at the top of MBS. The weather is chilly recently (chilly by Singapore standards of hot and humid). Wind blowing..
Quick shower so we could reach the nearby Flower Dome before the sun set. We made it and Neil joined us here straight from his work.
Flower Dome followed by the Cloud Forest, which is one of my favourite spots in Singapore. Mom was a bit scared when we were on the higher parts where the flooring is just railing above a hundred meters of space.
Taxi to Makansutra where Suzie joined us. Ran into my former boss… or rather, the boss of my former boss… ASV! Winner.
A night time stroll back to MBS via the Floating Stadium and Helix Bridge.
Back at the room, my parents had time to look back at photos taken on my mom’s iPad mini. Neil is asleep next to me now.
Lovely but tiring day. My parents are returning to Manila already tomorrow! The four-day ‘state visit’ I prepped is coming to a close.

The photos:

Parents Visit SG: Day 2

More photos of my parents’ trip to Singapore. The set below was taken on the 2nd full day of their stay here in the Lion City.

Heard the 11:00 am English mass at the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Bras Basah (behind the Singapore Art Museum). Neil and I used to go to church there during our job hunt days. (Nearest MRT: Bras Basah)
Lunch at Just Acia in Dhoby Ghaut. This is a favourite when we have guests visit Singapore. They offer set meals that come with bottomless sodas and ice cream.
Took the train to Harbourfront (VivoCity) followed by the Sentosa monorail to Imbiah Hill. Mostly touristy stuff like photos by the big Merlion and the surrounding fountains.
Walked down towards Resorts World Sentosa. Photos at the Universal Studios globe.
Neil shared some Garret’s Popcorn while we did a little people-watching.
Walk back to VivoCity via Sentosa Boardwalk.
Train back City Hall MRT (via Dhoby Ghaut). Sampled (what a touristy word!) kaya toast and soft-boiled egg at Ya Kun Kaya Toast Raffles City.
Walked back to the hotel to rest for about an hour. I enjoyed watching the skies dim over the cityscape.
Parents’ first public bus ride was from the hotel to Clarke Quay.
Dinner at Song Fa Bak Kut Teh. Dad really enjoyed!
A walk around Clarke Quay.
Surprised my parents with tickets for the Singapore River Cruise. We boarded around 9:20 PM and it took us down the river towards Marina Bay. It was actually… romantic! I’ve never seen Singapore from that vantage point… and it’s beautiful. Like all the urban noise gets muted away from the sound of light waves brushing the side of our boat.
Alighted at Clarke Quay (after making a full circle) where we took a bus back to Bras Basah. Neil and I dropped my parents off at the front of the hotel before we went home to our flat in Bishan.

The photos taken today:

My Parents Visit Singapore: Day 1

An important and meaningful item on my bucket list is to be able to bring my parents to Singapore for a tour. The Lion City means so much to me as a sign of personal independence. This is the city where I made a living for myself without an allowance from my parents. Ever since I got a good offer to stay and work in Singapore, I have always wanted to pay back my parents for all the support they have given me all these years.

Okay enough na the senti!

Neil and I picked them up at Changi Airport on Friday. For the first night, I wanted my parents to see our HDB flat in Bishan. So we took a cab from the airport and settled down at the house.

Neil prepared breakfast for everybody this morning. By breakfast it was more like steamed rice with spam and corned beef. I showed my parents the TV channel that I work for.

The itinerary for the first day:

First MRT Ride: Bishan to Dhoby Ghaut
Walk to the National Museum of Singapore to visit the Singapore History Gallery
Lunch at Wee Nam Kee (United Square). Take train from Dhoby Ghaut to Novena MRT
A quick pictorial at Chjmes (old church turned into a bar-resto conclave)
Check-in at Carlton Hotel and rest
Try Garret’s Popcorn (those free samples only at CityLink)
Walk to The Esplanade Theatres by the Bay, Merlion Park, and The Fullerton Hotel. Pictorial along the mouth of the Singapore River.
Try Pineapple Tarts at Mr. Bean (at Raffles Place MRT)
Mom’s Shopping at Orchard (Forever 21 at 313@Somerset and H&M Orchard Road). Pictorial in front of Ngee Ann City.
Dinner at Menya Musashi (ION Orchard). Tried White Cha Shu Ramen.
Mom’s shopping continues at Forever 21 at ION. Neil buys my mom a few gifts in advance of her upcoming birthday.
New SingTel SIM for my parents so I could contact them. (Passport and IC registration required as usual)
Popeyes Louisiana Chicken for take-away.
Parted ways with parents at Orchard MRT

The day in photos.

SG Flashback Friday No. 4

Every Flashback Friday I'll share photos that were taken at some point in the past two years during my blogging hiatus.

My parents are visiting town this weekend so I’ll just dump a few photos here for SG Flashback Friday. Last week I shared my first few days in Singapore and living in a backpackers’ hostel. This week on Flashback, I’m sharing photos from my August 2012 folder.

We lived in Yew Tee which is almost in Malaysia. lol. Lovely quiet neighborhood though!

I imported my shark from the Philippines. He was like 40% of my checked luggage!

I still had colour in my hair.

Wanting to integrate into Singapore further, I bought swim trunks. Nobody wears those basketball-sized swim shorts that’s so common at Philippine swimming pools. Mahigpit dito!

We frequented our friend’s condo at Normanton Park. Parang 2nd home na rin!

How much the initial fare for the cheapest type of cab is. August 2012.

Yew Tee to Orchard took one hour on the MRT! Grabe. I finished a book on those long rides.

HDB love. This one was taken near downtown already. Modern HDB love.

Some Japanese takeaway + The King’s Speech with Mandarin subtitles.

Cotton On days.

SG Nextbus App.

All photos were taken in August 2012 in Singapore.

Throwback Thursday: Dorm Days in 2004

Because I was a spoiled brat back in college I got to dorm on campus. We had a 9:00 pm curfew. Boys were separated from girls (don’t get any ideas, I was still questioning then). It was like after school hours there were orgs… and after orgs there was dinner outside DLSU-D at Fiat, Inasal or Briyanna Cafe… then everyone was back at their dorms before 9:00 pm.

This isn’t some Imbestigador segment where you’d imagine gay orgies happening on a Catholic campus. No! My male dorm mates were about 90-95% straight (including yours truly, as in 2004 the concept of falling in love with another boy was more blur than Jacqueline Bisset’s speech at the recent Golden Globe awards). My dorm mates were quite respectable people that St. La Salle would be proud of. The nuns that run the dormitory even said that they were impressed that most of the boys dorm rooms were cleaner than the girls’ dorms across the fence.

Nights were spent sharing FHM magazines (omg talaga, may collection ako at napunta ito sa isa kong lesbian friend…)… panahon pa ito nila Maui Taylor and Patricia Javier hahaha!

There was gossip (yes, boys do gossip quite a lot!). Some snuck Red Horse into the dorms during birthdays and it was a thrill to hide ’em from manong guard. I had a dorm mate who was infatuated with one of my high school batchmates and even fantasied about her having the pinkest nipples… omg, I’M NOT INTERESTED IN THAT FANTASY AT ALL. Mahilig kasi ako maglagay ng photos sa table ko.

My roomies that year were two Computer Science students. One of my roomies played games on his HP laptop all night. The other ComSci roomie read comics. Very innocent lang!

May mga isyu sa dorm but really, it’s not like something you’d find in one of Aris’ erotic stories. The male dorm at DLSU-D during my days was pretty decent. The people were fun to be with. It was a college dormitory setup without drugs or crazy sex addicts… only good-hearted Pinoy humour, a few pa-tago na nag-yo-yosi moments, with some Ja Rule J. Lo MP3 playing somewhere.

With Kevin. He plays all the best MP3s on his computer. Best speaker set at the dorm!

With Lance, my friend since high school. We were roomies in freshmen year.

Notice the towels we hung up on the walls.

This is Tony who I never ran out of stories with since we were the only liberal arts male dormers.

Dude on the right is Joel, comic book guy. I forgot who the guy on the left is!

I have to give credit to those Bohemian years for fuelling the creativity I have used all these years since.

Photos don’t do justice. I’ll find better ones next time!

SG Flashback Friday No. 3

Every Flashback Friday I'll share photos that were taken at some point in the past two years during my blogging hiatus.

In today’s edition I’ll share photos from our first week in Singapore which was in March 2012. Grabe, parang last month lang kami dumating sa Singapore ang feeling. Time flies!

Some of my friends already had job offers in Singapore. So for them it was more like just taking a plane to the Lion City and worrying about what to wear on their first day. It was a different case for me, my boyfriend, and two of our friends. We flew to Singapore within the same week with nothing but hopes, dreams… and CVs. lol

Exciting times! I remember Singapore feeling so massive then. Like, when you would mention places like “Woodlands” or “Jurong” I would imagine forests like those in Twilight or windmills over scenic valleys. Okay, exaggerating. But seriously, my eyes were wide-open. I was excited to be in Singapore. It was a concept or an idea that was materializing. The thrill of not knowing what was next. Questions in my mind lingered… was I going to use that return ticket to Manila? Was I going to get a call back from my desired employer? Will I have enough cash to enjoy a decent burger at Wendy’s?

We stayed at a nice backpackers’ hostel along historic Joo Chiat Road during our first week in Singapore. The name of the hostel is Betel Box and it was a great place to stay. Free wi-fi, free breakfast, and lots of interesting travellers sitting around.

Other photos in this set include some taken from our first visit to Sentosa.

My December holidays in the Philippines Pt. 2: Kabarkada

Sharing more photos from my recent trip to the Philippines.

Christmas at ABS-CBN is always magical.

This is the big Christmas tree at the ELJ lobby.

Hard liquor at my friend Toni’s house. Rye tagged along!

At Mister Kabab with my former colleague and my former boss!

Dropped by Studio 23 where I worked previously. I miss my colleagues!

Lara’s stayed on with Studio 23 longer than I have. More than five years!

My seniors DJ (L) and Jerome (R) with Rye in the center.

Singing and dancing to Beyonce’s COUNTDOWN.

Ayala UP Technohub.

Mister Kabab!

Nice to still see Bistro Deli at The Loop ABS-CBN!

KUBU is still around. Last time I ate here was two years ago!

Some programs that were assigned to Neil before. Saw it still posted on the office wall!

With Joan the trailers production coordinator. Ask for more spots!

Rye and Lara outside ABS-CBN studios.

This is real! We encountered a giant rat in the office back in 2007!

Thanks Toni for hosting me for that one night! I had so much fun catching up with my kabarkadas.

It’s nice to see that ABS-CBN is still the way I remembered it from two years ago. There were plenty of new things and new faces. But the best part was reconnecting with old friends and old colleagues. I also loved revisiting places like The Loop (where we ate most of the time) and my old table at Studio 23.

Sinulit ko talaga ang bakasyon na ‘to! Including fixing my BDO at ELJ and seeing my cute dentist again.

@bekpackr

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