Sentosa and Some Misadventures Back Home

After our enjoyable day at Universal Studios Singapore, me and my friends went to Siloso Beach, Sentosa. It was last day of our trip and we only had 4 hours before our bus ride back to Kuala Lumpur. But since we’re already in Sentosa, why not make the most out of it. From Universal Studios Singapore, we walked going to the transit. No need to pay for the transit as long as you’re already inside Sentosa. But if you’re coming from Vivo City, there’s a fee, which I think is the same with the shuttle bus going inside.

If you’ve got a lot of time to spend, I suggest to walk going to the Beach point because there are lot of spots that you’ll be able to pass by like the giant Merlion park. Though, we have seen it during our transit ride going to Siloso beach.

There are three beach stations in Sentosa namely; Siloso beach, Palawan beach and Tanjong Beach. But we opted to go to Siloso Beach.

Then, photo ops!

The beach is nothing compared to what we have here in the Philippines. I love Philippine beaches. But I was impressed because it was clean despite of being part of an urbanized area, the dense of people going in Sentosa and I assume it’s near the port / docking area. Then why does Manila Bay can’t be like this?

Sentosa offers a lot of attraction and activities like Songs of the Sea, Megazip Adventure Park, Singapore Cable Car, Skyline Luge and a lot more. Oh, they also have this iFly Singapore which spans 16.5 feet wide and 56.5 feet tall, it is the only wind tunnel with an 18 feet tall acrylic glass wall that lets you enjoy an unparalleled view of South China Sea and Siloso Beach.

If we only had more time to spend, I would love to ride some of those attractions. Anyway, come 2012 and I’ll explore more from this Singapore’s famous theme park. It was already 7:00 PM. From Siloso Beach, we walked towards the train station. We rode the transit and alighted at Vivo City. From Vivo City, we rode the MRT back to our hotel in Geylang.

Our 24 Hours Trip Back Home

As soon as we arrived in our hotel room, we quickly fixed and packed our things then washed. At 8:30 PM, we checked out from the hotel then rode a cab going to the Golden Mile Complex Bus Terminal. It was just a short ride from our hotel so we’re still early for our trip. By the way, I already purchased bus tickets online from StarMart Express Air Asia Liner prior to this, the busline is affiliated with AirAsia company. The bus ticket from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia costs SGD 30.00.

We didn’t take our dinner yet so we looked for a place to eat. But the eateries were not appealing at all but because I was already famished that time I just settled in one of the eateries that sells familiar dish, sauteed bean sprout with rice. My meal costs SGD 12.00 (too expensive!).

At 10:00 PM, we boarded the bus bound to Kuala Lumpur. The bus has limited seats, 3 seats in a row which has a bigger leg room for each compared from a regular bus. It was comfortable and the seat has a built in massage. After a couple of minutes, the bus departed from the terminal. Goodbye Singapore, see you soon! 🙂

You can go to Malaysia from Singapore and vice versa overland as these countries are part of the mainland Asia. The travel time is 5 – 6 hours. At around 12:00 AM, we arrived at the Singapore exit point. We had our exit stamp for our passports. Then, we went back to the same bus. After awhile, the bus stopped again, it’s Malaysia’s immigration office. We brought our bags and went inside the immigration. We filled up the form then went to the counter. It doesn’t take us so long for us to get the stamp as we’re only in transit back to the Philippines. Anyways, you need to bring all your belongings and bags with you when entering the immigration as they need to scan it before you enter their country.

Afterwards, we went back to the bus. We’re the last person to ride then we moved on.

After a couple of minutes the bus stopped at a gasoline station along the high way to fill up some gas. A local approached us and asked us if we’re tourists because he’s a taxi driver who offers transport service. We said yes we’re tourist then he told us to wait for him. When he came back he asked us who’s the leader of our group and my colleagues pointed me out. He told me to follow him to talk about of his offer. Then one of my friends accompanied me outside. The man explained to us his offer, transport from Kuala Lumpur to LCCT. He can take us to the airport on this costs and blah blah blah. Of course, we refused his offer because we told him we’re not really in a hurry and we still have a lot of time to catch our flight in LCCT. We told him that since the last stop for this bus will be at Bandar Tasik Selatan, we’ll just going to take the KLIA transit from there going to LCCT. He even asked us to be wiser. But I told him we’ll stick to our plan. Then we went back to our seats.

At around 4:00 AM, the bus stopped. We’re already in Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur. Most of the people alighted from the bus and few left inside. I told my friends that this isn’t it yet because our destination is still at the next stop. Then the driver came and told us to get off. I asked him if this was the last stop and he answered loudly that it was (it seems he’s angry) and we need to come down. I didn’t want to argue with the bus driver anymore so we just alighted from the bus and then we just realized the man we talked to awhile ago had connived with the bus driver. We didn’t accept their offer so they got angry with us. And because the man knew that we’ll alight at the next stop to get to LCCT, they spoiled our itinerary. TIP: Never entertain such if you already have concrete plan and itinerary. Stick to what you have!

So from Berjaya Times Square we rode a cab going to KL City Air Terminal. We asked for a taxi meter but the driver refused and told us to pay him RM 35.00. We can’t do anything since we’re already on our way to our destination. (Kahit dito uso ang hindi metro, hirap maging turista!)

From KL Sentral, we rode KLIA transit going to LCCT which costs RM 12.50. The first trip is at 04:33 AM. We arrived at LCCT around 5:30 AM. Our flight was still at 7:25 AM so we had decided to take our breakfasts first. We only had few Ringgits left so we bought something which is sufficient from our money, Sausage McMuffin with egg (ala carte) for RM 5.10.

6:00 came and we checked in for our flights. Thought it’ll be pretty smooth process now back to our country but one of our colleagues were asked to go to the immigration holding area because his passport was just new. But he’s okay and was able to pass the immigration afterwards. Kahit pauwi na pahirapan?

At around 7:00 AM, we boarded the plane. When I got to my seat, I smelled something different. Maybe a spoiled milk since a passenger with her baby was sitting at the next row, so I just ignored it. The plane departed at 7:25 AM. I was really tired from all the transfer that we had since we left Singapore so I dozed off. Then after a couple of minutes, the flight attendant woke me up for an emergency landing. I was a bit shocked then I asked my colleagues, who were sitting on the other side what happened. A smoke had been detected inside the aircraft. So that explained the smell I smelled the time I got in.

There were fire trucks on the ground when we landed back in LCCT. We were advised to go back to the boarding area and wait for further announcements. Our new flight schedule was at 10:00 AM. We waited 2 hours for our new flight back to the Philippines. Unluckily, there was no free lunch for us.

At 10:00 AM we boarded the plane, it’s a different plane. I prayed for a safe trip then slept. And after 4 hours, we were already at Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga.

By the way, I was worried about the electronic device I bought in Singapore since we need to pass by the customs. I heard some horror stories about it with regards to the amount needed to pay when there are things bought abroad. Luckily, nothing horrible happened and I was able to pass the customs smoothly.

Diosdado Macapagal International Airport to Manila

There are buses from the airport going to Manila. The fare costs PHP 300.00 to PHP 350.00. We wanted to drop by at the Pure Gold Duty Free in Clark first before we head to Manila, so we rode a jeep bound to Dau Terminal. We took our lunch first then shopped for some chocolates and chips at Duty Free.

There are jeep available inside the Clark Freeport Zone bound to Clark Main Gate. From there, we took another jeep going to Dau Terminal, then rode a bus  to Cubao. Travel time from Dau Terminal to Metro Manila is 1 1/2 hour. It was already 8:00 PM when I arrived home. Finally! It has been a long and tiring ride for us. There are misadventures on the road but still were able to pass it, safely. Thank you God for guiding us during our travel! Safety must comes first during travel, right? And a life insurance could also be better, isn’t it?