Singapore the 2nd Part 1

Two weeks in Singapore! That is a lot of days right? Yes and No. My primary goal going to Singapore this time was to find a job and earn those SG dollars. Becoming an OFW is something of a pride belt you can wear and brag, not to mention being tagged as "bagong bayani". Kidding aside, I want to experience working in a foreign land, with a different culture than my own. I worked with Japanese, Americans, Europeans but maybe it is different working with them when Im not the local and we are all foreigners. The rules are different, and most importantly the pay is!

To be brief and to the point, I did not get a job in Singapore (sad face). But I sure did see and experience it like a backpacker tourist can!

Im very thankful for the hospitability of my friend Juvy and her husband Jann for letting me stay with them for 1 week - FREE! First thing to know when going to SG is that there is no such thing as free stay. If you are not paying for your stay, then someone else is.

Almost everyone lives in an apartment (called HDB) and for each month's consumption of electricity, water and gas add up as a PUB. So it is unfair for anyone of those housemates to bring extra guest for an extended stay and everyone pays for the extra PUB charges (this maybe ok if all your housemates are close friends). Im very very thankful for welcoming me and letting me stay for free, it is a big deal.

On my first day, I was accompanied by Juvy (she was on Medical Leave) around Tampines and showed me the mall, the bus stops, the MRT, where to eat.

We went into their national library and I was amazed at how beautiful the building is, not to mention how functional it is - there are people, old, young people in the library reading, studying...I cant see this in our local library in Cebu where the books are crumbling and dusty. I purchased a Duck Tours where there are different busses you can hop in and hop off to see the various interesting places in SG.

My 2nd day and 3rd day was spent touring SG and riding the busses. It was fun! Even though I couldnt get a picture of myself because I was so shy to ask someone to take my picture. SG is a very industrialized country with tall buildings everywhere. However they did not forget that they need nature too. In their HDB swamped land, there is a playground where residents, especially the old, can walk or jog and exercise in every community. Trees are also well taken cared of in the bustling city.

Riding the bus, I've seen the different cultures integrated within SG like the Indians with their little India place and the China Town and places of Christian worship. It is a mixture of cultures that makes SG more than just a place to work and earn, it is educational at least for me.

I always buy the KOI milktea because it is addicting! Food is a thing to get used to because it is different than what Im used to, but is not that intimadating to try. Transportation is the best of all the countries I've been.

You cant get lost in SG! You just need a modern smartphone and download the app for the bus schedule, the map and the mrt route, and you are good to go, just pick a destination. The mrt gets crowded but it is tolerable and their stations are clean! I like the bus but Im not so sure where they go (I dont have a smartphone with me) so I just needed to memorize what bus number passes by Juvy's apartment.

Overall, the first week was just tourist mode. Visiting and viewing places and meeting my "bagong bayani" friends who have successfully found work in SG.