Goodbye Singapore

 It has been a blast being with you. Singapurple Iggy will miss all the fun you had together.

 (National Museum of Singapore: Favourite hang out)

We'll definitely miss your 'first times'--like that night race you've held in your ever-clean streets, where our 'pambato' (bet) won albeit the controversy (wow, who knew it got this exciting?).

 

And all the friendships we fostered, despite our anti-social 'front'.

(Miss Iggy likes 'em boy bands)

'excuse me, but is there wifi here?'

And free, public wifi all you want.

We'll meet again, Singapore.

Love,

Wander Iggy (formerly known as Singapurple Iggy)

CHIJMES

In response to Fortuitous Faery's drink-buying challenge, Singapurple Iggy thought it would be good to show her (and everyone) how she'll do it--by one hell of a good time at CHIJMES (pronounced as 'chimes'). This historic compound started out as a Catholic convent (Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, hence CHIJ), located at downtown core Victoria Street in 1840, and served the same purpose for 131 years. It housed a gothic style chapel built in 1904, now restored into a multi-purpose hall. Yes, you heard it right. The complex itself became a thriving commercial scene, with bars and high end restaurants abound. It is an Iggy fave--never fails to intrigue visitors with the line 'Oh let me show you this convent with a flourishing nightlife'. Cheers!

...of birthdays, sleepovers, exes and the Singapore River

Her Royal Purpleness Singapurple Iggy went for Becky's 'birthday sleep-over' at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront, along the Singapore River. Upon check-in, they were informed that they won't be staying in the (standard) room they booked for. They were instead 'upgraded' to the Club Room (reads: high floor, spacious, *winks* with bath tub)--thanks to the birthday girl's 'publicity' hint at the comments section of the booking form (her essay of a comment summarizes: birthday, newly wed, blogger). nice, noh? :P

miss iggy enjoying the birthday cake at past midnight.

(compliments of the hotel. yay.)

VCD cover for the birthday girl. Can you spot Miss Iggy?

posing with new found friend "Choya"--a Kimmi Doll

(Miss Iggy: yeah--she likes to keep to herself. 'brooding effect' ba. :P )

The next day: Post-breakfast buffet, Miss Iggy walked off a hearty meal along the river. You can actually take a river taxi from the back of the hotel, and go around the city via the river. The Becky has tried this twice and recommends it to both tourists or locals alike.

On the other hand, maybe Miss Iggy took gingmaganda's standing order seriously: that if ever we see her *eherm* ex here in Singapore--we'll throw him into the river. :)

SingapurpleIggy@Sentosa Island

It's official. Singapurple Iggy loves the beach. Easter Sunday saw her purple highness strolling the imported (oh yes, it is!) white sands of Sentosa Island for the annual TSOLEYT* Easter Egg Hunting. Now--"Sentosa", which means peace and tranquility in Malay--receives 5 million visitors annually. This is a must-stop for tourists, which boasts of different attractions, like the luge, cable cars, Sentosa express train, fort siloso, dolphin lagoon, animal shows (for free!), family accommodations, two five star hotels and upcoming Resorts World which will feature Universal Studios Singapore. While the beach water is incomparable to Boracay or Phuket even, the resort makes up for such loss by bringing in oh-so pampered convenience and various activities for everyone.

enjoy!

see all these signs? that's Singapore for you. heh.

they even show you where to swim! unbelievable.

While some people are not too happy with this too 'high-tech, borderline artificial' development --oh well, each to his own. You came to this beach to relax anyway, so why are you whining? :P

*Ze Becky's group of friends. responsible for late Sunday mornings, motherhood/marriage/boys counselling on Saturdays, annual events, outrageous costumes and an increase of the Singapore population by .05%.

Night walks in Singapura

After attending a 2 hour-long (now jokingly termed as 'penance mass', but that's another story altogether) after-office Ash Wednesday mass at City Hall, Singapurple Iggy tagged along to our favourite fish and chips dining place: Fishermen's Wharf along New Bridge Road (in front of Central@Clark Quay). This place is a favourite hangout for crowds of young people (so why are we here again? heh). Given the situation (it's very near the 'night scene and bars' area of Singapore--Clarke Quay), we'd say it's where one can hang out first before proceeding to the bars, to get their fill of waay cheaper beer and food (so you'll tend to order less afterwards. hehe). After dinne,r we walked around parts of the Clarke Quay promenade to check out this curious sight called GMAX reverse bungee (also along the river). Then we walked the whole stretch of Hill St. towards our bus stop on our way back, at times stopping to take pictures along the city's historical district.

the Central@Clark Quay (yes, they're not not creative with naming malls).

It's got this quirky planning that aspires to be a miniature Harajuku. Don't be surprised if you see these all dressed up (more like costumed) youngsters flocking there on weekends-- in drones. Prepare to share your bus seat with a Kakashi Hakate wannabe (it can get better--try a bus full of Kakashi's.)

GMAX reverse bungee jumping is your "tirador" (slingshot) fantasy coming to life, with you as guest star (i wonder--does situating this beside the river amount to a safety measure?--so that it won't hurt that much. heh) .

at the other side of the river is the newly revamped Clarke Quay. Now they have

phallic symbols for fans. serious.

her purpleness gets a crash course on bus routes and bus stops in the city.

Fort Canning Park is Singapore's timid response to 'UP Sunken Garden' and 'UST Carpark, infront of the hospital' --> where the magic happens. It's all wholesome in daylight, of course.

Civil Defense Heritage Gallery. The fire department--'museum-ised'. Freaky, eh?

Tired from all the walking, Miss Iggy calls it a night. Background (L-R) is Fairmont Singapore, Swissotel and Stamford House.

of transits, high places and dentists

Dearest Girls...

thanks for the warm welcome! Apologies if it took me some time to post anything. The past week has been super hectic, and Im bracing myself for more things (surprises?) to come--aside from my flaky internet connection at home, that is. :) anyway, Im still a happy camper, so here are few notes (pardon my engrish and spelling, so bad :)):

Miss Iggy, in all her purpleness made her way to Singapore last week. I was so ecstatic to find her in my mailbox I had to show her around my humble abode (although the real reason for this 'urgency' rests on the fact that I--we're flying to Manila in a few hours time, and the girls had to meet her before we leave). Talk about long haul flights and transits, huh? Logistically speaking, she's travelled from Baguio to Cainta, Cainta to New Jersey, New Jersey to Singapore, then from Singapore back to Manila (--er, Laguna). So far she's been to Tagaytay, Binondo, SM Sta Rosa and my dentist. :P

1. flying 'budget' (below): we flew via Jetstar which tickets we got cheap, cos we booked early (Nov, I think). The flight has no meals included, altho you can buy cup noodles and the like, onboard. Think cup noodles for 180 pesos (6 SGD). And yes--the seatbealts and life vests were free, no charges at all. :P

2. Taal Volcano shot #5657433. I'll give a writeup about this by the time I come back to my senses--er, post wedding. Dont worry--this will be Miss Iggy's first of how many more visits to Tagaytay this two weeks (adik!).

3. and just like any self-respecting Filipino who goes to Tagaytay (soo true), Miss Iggy gets her cuppa from wherelse... Starbucks.

4. I think everyone will agree that dental services in the Philippines are waaayyy much cheaper than... I dunno--anywhere you've been to? :) They're trying to prime up medical tourism in the country by getting some of these specialty clinics (esp the big ones) to offer packages that include hotel stay, airfare, spa, side trips (to the malls...yes, I just said malls) and what have you.