(Photo by Bong Lacson)
SINGAPORE – Some 17.3 million tourists visited this city-state in 2017, according to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), which is more than three times the population of this country.
The STB said this excludes all Malaysian citizens arriving by land; returning Singapore citizens, permanent residents and pass holders as well as non-resident air and sea crew (except for sea crew flying in to join a ship); and air transit and transfer passengers.
But the millions of tourists visiting this island nation have little to complain since it has one of the world’s lowest crime rates while English is the dominant language spoken.
So, tourists walk about freely along the famous Orchard Road which is lined with hotels and multi-storey shopping centers where highend Italian brands like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Versace, etc. are found.
Concorde Hotel, where our group was accommodated, is along Orchard Road which made it part of our walkabout.
It was 9:30 am on Sunday when Julia Jalandoon and Boon arrived to accompany us in the last leg of our “famtour.”
But Albert Lacanlale (my roommate) and I have to run some errands and decided to just catch up with the group at Universal Studios, Resorts World Sentosa before lunch.
So, off we went via Grab Taxi to the Common Man Coffee Roasters at 22 Martin Street and then at the Apple Store. It was also a time to pick up “Irvins salted egg fish skin,” the popular Singaporean pasalubong.
Resorts World Sentosa
We caught up with the group at Resorts World Sentosa.
A visit to the “Trickeye Museum” was a special treat for Deng which made it fun for everybody. Download the app and the “augmented reality features” come alive.
It was already lunch time when it started raining. But despite the drizzle, lunch at the “Crab Session” was nothing short of delectable courtesy of Jonathan Yu Choong Tong, communications senior executive of Resorts World Sentosa.
Universal Studios
It’s a good thing the skies cleared up just as we were about to explore Universal Studios, the best attraction for the whole family to enjoy.
But getting wet, to my surprise, was all part of the fun.
The incredible special effects at the “Lights, Camera, Action” studio hosted by Steven Spielberg was literally getting close to the action. I got wet as an empty soundstage became the setting for a Category 5 major hurricane that hit New York City. As I stood in a boathouse by the harbor, the clam suddenly turned stormy and the hurricane-force wind unhooked a boat that fell into the water which made a big splash and we all got wet, especially me.
That explains why souvenir shops near the exit were selling T-shirts. I got one for S$35 courtesy of Charo.
Night Safari
As dusk fell, we were made our way to the Singapore Zoo to visit the Night Safari, described as the world’s first nocturnal zoo which is one of the most popular tourist attractions here.
Natt Haniff , senior manager for corporate communications of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, was on hand to welcome us with a buffet dinner.
Hanif said the entire zoo occupies 35 hectares of secondary rainforest and has more than a thousand animals representing over 130 species of which 38 percent are threatened species. It gets more than a million visitors per year.
At 7:30 pm, we were led to the trams (vehicles) that would bring us through the humid tropical forest.
The trip took about an hour in exploring the naturalistic enclosures that simulate the animals’ native habitat.
But just before leaving, a brief sojourn into the nearby Rainforest Lumina took us to another level as a luminous universe reveals itself into the nightscape.
Finally, the fam-trip came to an end as we hustled back to the bus to take us back to Changi Airport.
Aside from those already mentioned, our group includes Eric Jimenez of the Angeles Observer, Caesar Lacson of Punto Central Luzon, Deng Pangilinan of IOrbit News, Noel Tulabut and Chris Navarro of SunStar Pampanga, Ashley Manabat of Punto Central Luzon, Albert Lacanlale of Flagship, Efren Ramos of Ilocos Times, Jhonaliza Lea Malanum of SunStar Baguio/ Midland Courier and Jeffrey Reyes of JG Summit.
Our group is grateful to Lael Loh, STB area director, for the entire tour program.
