did some important stuff in the morning, but for the life of me, i can no longer recall what they were! lol! hmmm... i probably went to the bank to pick up my passport and get some $$$ from the vault. in the afternoon, tub and i had to rush to the Pasay City post office to find out why they were levying about $50 in taxes on my scrap supplies. ugh! after some enquiries and cajoling, i managed to get them to lower the amount by about 30%. still a considerable amount, but i guess it's better than what i was originally being asked to pay. so after a long wait, I finally have my Bad Girls august kit in my hands. whew! i hope next month's kit won't experience the same fate. apparently, customs officers randomly pick out parcels to inspect and tax! i gathered this while i patiently waited for my package to be released. i had no idea it was going to take a little more than an hour's worth of wait! good thing G patiently waited in the car and graciously accompanied me while I sweet-talked the customs supervisor into giving me a better tax rate.
so from there, i had to rush to AAV to pick Nikki up from a friend's house - yep, this girl's in a party mode these days. every week, there always seems to be a party to go off to. well, to my surprise, Nik wasn't quite done at 7 even when the party was supposed to have ended at 6PM. not only that, the birthday celebrant's mom, who happens to be a co-PC (parent coordinator) from way back when Nikki was still in pre-school, had some activities going on (a mini spa of sorts) for moms who happened to be waiting for their daughters to be done. I told Malou I was just there to pick Nikki up but she wouldn't have any of it and I ended up grabbing some dinner and generally chatting and having a great time. I decided to pass on the massages and stuff.
I was meaning to make a stop at the grocery store to pick up some stuff for my trip. So, after leaving the party at a little past 9PM, the kids and I had to make a pit stop at Shopwise. We were done by about 10, thereabouts.
Then I had to rush to Loyola in Sucat to pay respects to the mom of my mom's friend, Tita Dina. I came really late so I ended up staying a little before midnight. Good thing my mom and my sister Mela were there to chat with.
OK. so much for that bit of background. I just had to say it as I ended up packing my suitcase really, really late that I decided to forego sleep as I had to be at Tuna's house by 330A.
We were at the NAIA 3 Terminal soon thereafter and took off on schedule, sometime past 6, I think. I forget.
The ride was a little bumpy, but thank God we arrived without a hitch.
a preview of Singapore. haha. was I excited or what? It's just that I was really glad I was going to spend 3 full days this time around. Definitely beats the time we only got to stay for a day! HAHA!
oh. we got free shuttle service :) that's Jason, our driver.
Bencoolen Street. Wasn't too thrilled we were billeted at the Summer View Hotel but after seeing the room and going around a bit, there's not much to complain about. I'd actually recommend it if you intend to explore and shop in Singapore. Not bad. Not bad at all. The hotel's just next door neighbors with Sim Lim Square - the hub of computers and lots of electronic goods. definitely the place to go to, if you're a technocrat.
lounged around the room a bit then had lunch when Tuna's friends, Lody, Joy and Glenn (Lody's hubby) showed up. Can't recall what the name of the dish we had for lunch was, but I definitely loved the ice kachang. yum.
while Tuna and her MIL, together with her Singapore-based friends hied off to Sentosa Island (yup, I decided not to go as I've already gone before), Glenn toured me around Sim Lim. WOW! talk about electronic-bargain shopping! darnit! i wish I had my financier with me! hehe! Tub, you'd better take me back here.... *wink!* the only thing I managed to get with my budget were a couple of iphone leather cases for my sister and myself. haha.
Glenn dropped me off at the Plaza Singapura mall, one of the places I was so itching to visit on this trip. you'll soon find out why.
yeah-huh. this is probably the only place in all of Singapore that carries yummy scrappy goodies. heck, this is where Asia's largest scrapbook store is supposed to be :)
hmmm... actually, after going around the store a bit, I've come to the conclusion that no, I'd have to say we now have bigger scrappy stores in Manila :D thank heavens for that! lol!
after going around the store 3x, I only got a piece of stamp. yup. i decided to be a good girl. hehe. of course, i also went around the mall and found some great deals on clothing for my family. family meaning, G and the kids, as well as my mom, brothers and in-laws. even on a very limited budget, I don't think I can ever get out of the country without getting anything for "family". i wonder why that is.
Tuna and I decided to meet at my favorite mall in Singapore - Paragon Shopping Centre - at 615PM. I was there a bit early so I went around a bit. Got a couple of playthings for the kids, among other things. too bad i wasn't able to take more photos.
En route to the mall though, I walked along the Orchard Road and noticed some welcome changes. Construction was still ongoing, but several restaurants that populated the sidewalk were already in operation.
Aaaah. I wonder when I'd get the chance to sit down in one of those restaurants and just watch people walk by?
Here are a couple of photos, from among several shots I took while traveling on foot.
loving Singapore every minute I was there. lol!Lody and Glenn hosted dinner at Din Tai Fung located at the basement of the Paragon. it was a lovely affair with food :) especially after tiring day of shopping, shopping, and more shopping.
so, what's for dinner? Glenn did the queueing and the ordering while everybody was out shopping :)
Hot and Sour Soup, a tofu dish, Braised Beef Noodle Soup, vegetable wontons, Fried Rice with Egg and Fried Pork Cutlet (highly recommended by Glenn - notice his thumb?), a vegetable dish (i forget what it's called), Shrimp and Pork Shao-Mai, Steamed Pork Dumplings, plus a dessert filled with something made out of peanuts.
thanks so much for a yummy dinner, Glenn and Lody! it was quite early to retire for the evening, so we decided to go around the mall a bit. went to Marks and Spencer and the Apple store, and got a few nice things :) but not before stopping by this cool piece of metal displayed on one of the floors.
the mall was quite a distance from our hotel so we decided to queue for a cab. whew! what a full day this certainly was!
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