(Photos by Bong Lacson)
SINGAPORE – With a little over three hours flying time from the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, we arrived via Cebu Pacific flight 5J537 at the rated “Best Airport in the World” at Changi Airport here, itself a tourist attraction.
It’s hardly evident that Changi Airport serves more than 100 airlines flying to 400 cities in around 100 countries and territories worldwide as there was no noticeable stress nor human traffic jams inside Terminal 4 where our group of journalists deplaned on Friday.
Shortly after arrival, our group led by Charles Lim of Selrahco PR Firm and his ward Gabriel Tomboc, was joined by Charo L. Lagamon, Cebu Pacific’s director for corporate communications who planed-in from the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.
But at Changi, the airport’s magnificence and efficiency permeate even as each week, some 7,200 flights land or depart from Changi or about one every 80 seconds.
Once outside, the city-state unravels just as picturesque with its scenic skyline marked by the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel assuring us that, indeed, we are already here.
First stop after dinner hosted by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) at the Simply Peranakan Authentic Asian Cuisine Restaurant right across Concorde Hotel where we were billeted was the Merlion Park, Singapore’s landmark at One Fullerton near the central business district.
Nothing much has changed since our last visit several years ago but what was really worth noting this time was the public transport that we took in going there via the most common public transport here – the bus.
Accompanied by our STB tour guide Lim Seok Boon or just Boon, she showed us around how easy and convenient bus travel is in this island city state.
The SBS transit buses have bus stops with monitors just like the flight information displays in airport terminals where the bus numbers, exact time of arrivals and status are displayed in real-time for the convenience of passengers. No fuss, everybody it seems is taking the bus.
Sky park
At 9:30 am the following day, Julia Janesa Jalandoon, STB manager of the Philippine International Group, joined us as we made our first stop at the Marina Bay Sands Sky Park. It was majestic at the top as it provides a 360-degree view of the island nation with an area of 72,150 hectares.
A short walk from the Marina Bay Sands Hotel was the Art-Science Museum where a brand-new experience for tourists will be discovered as the future world is revealed.
Crazy-rich day
Lunch time brought us to the CHIJMES where the epic wedding of Araminta Lee & Colin Khoo was held in the movie Crazy Rich Asians, a romantic comedy-drama which was recently shown in movies around the world.
The table is served with Chili Crab, the popular Singaporean dish of hard-shell crab cooked in semi-thick gravy with tomato chili based and Satay. It was also the same dish served in the movie. Then there was the Pulot Hitam for dessert which is actually black rice pudding with coconut milk.
Continuing with the movie, we visited Gardens by the Bay where the wedding reception of Araminta Lee & Colin Khoo was held. The area in the central region of Singapore is a nature park sitting on a 101-hectare reclaimed land near the Marina Bay Water Reservoir.
It is here where various varieties of orchids and the tallest man-made water fall in Singapore is found.
Before long, it was dinner time at the Newton Food Centre where Nick and Rachel had a hawker feast when they arrived in Singapore in the movie.
The place, about a hectare of live food stations, is a magnet for food lovers as people from all over flock to the area where the luxury is replaced by the delectable cuisines.
It finally sums up with the romantics at heart, whether young or old, enjoy reliving the scenes in the movie with their love ones.
But then there’s more…
(To be concluded)
