Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Capap Time! Just got back recently in time for Christmas. What did I miss? Apparently the Yuletide festivities here in Manila. The holiday spirit may be alive in Singapore, but there is a certain rush to it. Nevertheless, it was a long-awaited and very much deserved (YES I know I friggin deserve this for all the work I've managed to do in a span of two months!!) vacation of some sorts.
It wasn't all fun and glitters. We all had to endure the grueling lectures and the hands-on activities, not to mention the very loooong exam. Siemens Singapore is absolutely beautiful! RCBC used to be my dream office, but Siemens Center made RCBC look like some old shabby place. The outside areas of their cafeteria reminds me of the open-air resto in the middle of Gateway. So tropical!
Isabel tried to greet us at the airport, but since the Thais were at a different terminal, we just decided to meet up at the hotel. The cutie even had a "Welcome to Singapore CAPAP" poster ready to be flashed as each one of us arrived during the day.
The hotel was more than what I expected..hell it was even better than what we had in Bangkok! I love the flat TV that just hanged in a pole. Very convenient because I can turn the TV at any angle whether I'm lying in bed, ironing my clothes or brewing some coffee.
We then all used the day to do all the necessities like getting Singapore SIM cards, knowing the MRT routes, familiarizing ourselves with the road maps, getting to know the cheap food places (Food Republic and hawker markets FTW!) and finally settling down in a resto/cafeteria in Orchard Rd. The rest of the night was spent chatting away until the last batch, the Taiwanese finally arrived.
The next few days were spent mall-hopping in Orchard Rd and trying out different types of food. We went to Clark Quay to just walk around and check out the different restos. One of them had wheelchairs for seats. We decided to settle in Mind CAfe, which is actually a boardgame-themed resto where they stash thousands of boardgames that you can play and at the same time enjoy some Western food. I thought it was actually a brilliant idea, and it is actually fun!
Come Friday, we all hopped on to cable cars and headed to Sentosa Island. We had our TBA at Palawan Beach, headed by P who has since become the butt of all jokes. Golden motto: In P___ we trust! The beach is beautiful, pristine and untouched. God knows I can't find a similar beach back home, with all the pollution around. Then the CFO treated us to a buffet lunch at Shangrila. I prayed he wouldn't sit beside me (he was table-hopping trying to get to know everyone) so that I can eat like a pig. Afterwards it was all Sentosa activities starting from the Underwater World, Dolphin Show, Go-Karts (my favorite) and the Songs of the Sea. Then it was party time, as Siemens treated us to cocktail drinks at one of the frontline bars. It was cool walking along the beach while drinking away. Pook and I run down the sandy hills until the waves catch us, over and over and over...
During the weekend, we headed to Bugis Village for some serious shopping and sightseeing around the city like Esplanade, the Parliament, museums and Raffles area. Nat and Varisa just finished the famous Standard Chartered marathon in the early morning, which they have been training for for the last few months. Once again the 1st placer was from Kenya, but it has been a running joke that Kenyans always win because they are always chased by lions in Kenya. Along the way, we had an impromptu health check and it turns out my body is already 28 years old due to my current weight, health, etc. I was advised to lose more fat and drink more water. FUCK, my body is 7 years older, FUCK!!! At night, we had fish spa, which was also different because you soak your feet inside a pool full of fishes and they'll suck away your dead skin cells. Ticklish but cool! :)
Another night we headed to the Night Safari. Actually I'm not interested in zoos, but since it was different because it was at night, then game! But I didn't really enjoy it that much coz duh, animals = animals = smells like shit = still smells like shit. Just got "starstruck" because it was my first time to see crocodiles up close and no windows in-between (yes they are huge!).
And since three weeks is more than enough to tour Singapore around, we decided to head over to Malaysia for a different vibe! We visited the old town Malacca, which is famous for their chicken rice balls and old architecture. This is where I really burned some cash since their prices are way cheaper. At night, we just had the usual CCIs until the wee hours. I also love the breakfast because after having the same breakfast everyday at ParkRoyal, anything other than that was delicious! I shared a room with Tram, who was quite interesting actually. We just talked about life in Vietnam and the Philippines respectively.
On a Monday night, we had our Cook-In @ Siemens thingie wherein each country has to cook/prepare a native dish at the kitchen and eat it together with the CFO and the organizers. In fairness, everything tasted delicious contrary to my expecting we will get diahrrea from the mix-and-match of all the dishes. We prepared buko salad and leche flan, Taiwanese had some sort of chicken dish, Vietnamese had spring rolls, Thais and this healthy vegetarian wrap and rose tea, Singaporeans had fried stuffed tofus, Banglas had chicken curry (my favorite) and Indonesian had a mix of spicy grilled seafood with peanut sauce. The funny thing was we orderd for canned sliced coconuts. But what the dealers delivered were fresh, unopened bukos. Oh.My.Gulay. So K-Ann had to crack each one open using a huge butcher knife. And my wrist was ready to crack open stirring the caramel for the leche flan that wouldn't caramelize! But the end results were great and everyone loved the buko salad and think it's some kind of exotic dessert (wow!). Actually I did have a lot of fun. Kitchen activities are kick-ass and everyone looked cute in their aprons and chef hats.
The rest of th nights were spent swimming in the hotel pool, "exercising" in light of my recent body age revelation and studying for the exam. Pook and I also made an attempt to teach Vy how to swim. We also tried to eat Indian food around the corner in order to prepare ourselves for Bangladesh. I don't like the smell, period. We went back to Bugis Village to do more Christmas shopping. We also tried this upscale hawker market and ate their infamous snails, stingrays, chili crab etc. I taught everyone how to say "Pera, pera, pera" and "Alis, alis alis!". Everyone knows how to say "Bababa ba?" and "Bababa" whenever we're in an elevator.
Our last night was spent at Isabel's place where her maid, a Filipina prepared the best Singaporean meal ever! More CCIs at night until I fell asleep haha. My last day, Tee and Pook accompanied me to Orchard Rd to do some more shopping. They're actually fun shoppers to be with..very relaxed and just enjoying the moment. We ate at some food court, but because there were no tables left, we sat on the floor of the MRT station, looking like beggars. Talk bout last meal in Singapore. But did you know I was almost late for my flight back home? I got in just in time thanks to the fact that there were no lines. Was I worried? At the time, I didn't care coz I still didn't want to go home. But going home was meant to be coz I was able to make it. After landing in Centennial, I was greeted with the usual Pinoy disasters: two flights shared the same luggage terminals, making it crowded and very long to get our bags. But I cooled down while I was in the car because I realized, after passing so many familiar spots, looking at the parols and CHristmas lights, I did miss Manila. It's good to be home. It's always good to go back to the familiar, to what we have been oh so used to.
There's Nothing More To Say ;
